THE END FOR RIDGID FORKS !!

[jonny jeez]

Astounded that no one has mentioned this!

Get a suspension fork with a remote lock out, I.e you can turn them on and off using a button for your thumb next to your gear shifter. Also get a fork that's adjustable enough (i.e. air based) which you can tune easily to your riding style.

I was going to say the same but then spotted the picture of the bike on Brads profile.

putting shocks on a road bike would look really weird...or is that just me.

Brad, I would agree with dellzeqq here, a pal of mine had similar issues that he could not overcome by simple riding stance ( ie surprise/constant bumps or virtually invisible lumps in the road) and swears by his carbon forks...I think they were pretty pricey tho?

I thank the god of shocks for my forks (however dated) each night as I crawl out of catford into bellingham...the road is a nightmare of ditches-grooves-bumps and ruts that i just cant get over by coasting in an MTB pose.


G-G-G-G-G-o-o-o-o-d-l-l-lu-u-uc-c-k-k

Jonny

 

[John the Monkey]

Jonny - Bianchi once made a full sus road bike for Paris Roubaix;

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=5800

 

[jonny jeez]

Jonny - Bianchi once made a full sus road bike for Paris Roubaix;

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=5800

U.G.L.Y you aint got not alibi,
you UGLY (umph umph),
you UGLY (umph umph).

Did it go better than it looked?

 

[Arch]

Where did the name Jarred come from? Strange that as it's my son’s name, I thought I may have entered it some where but cannot find any mention of it in my profile.

You said:

"jard (is that how you spell it)"

No, it isn't. 'Jarred' is how you spell it. Which is what those people were telling you....

The name, as far as I know, is spelt Jared.

 

[Twanger]

Perhaps softer geometry as well as carbon fork? I have a sirrus elite with carbon fork and stays and road shock is negligible compared to my old 531c road bike. Tyres are 28s pumped up to 110.

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

Now I understand Arch, forgive me for being so slow.

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

I have put the adjustable stem back on and adjusted it so the bars are much higher, Then went out yesterday on a 50 mile trip. My wrists and hands went num after about 10 miles and I had to keep taking one hand at a time from the bars to get the feeling back. There is a horrible vibration through the bars which doesn’t help with the wrists/ Hands at all (I must add here I always ride on the bar ends). The only time this stopped was when I hit a piece of new road surface (Very rare here in the Midlands)
and the thing felt like a Rolls Royce (or Pashley). I will try the fatter tyres as I really need to fit some winter tyres anyway but think the main problem is with the design of the bike and my use of the thing. As it's designed as a courier bike (where only short distances are covered in any one trip) I think 50 miles may be a bit much! The thing is great on my short commute although a very harsh ride it turns fast and handles like a dream when pushed hard.

 

[jonny jeez]

Now I understand Arch, forgive me for being so slow.

Spooky none the less!!

 

[bonj2]

... that you're supposed to steer around.

i think that's the answer. just steer round the potholes rather than blundering straight through the middle of them.

 

[bonj2]

To be fair though, you could fit some good quality (second hand) suspension forks for well under £100 and see how much they slow you down, if at all, and if you don't like how much they do, then you could probably sell them for just as much.
A few years ago I bought a carrera subway and found the road surfaces jolted my wrists quite a lot, and was in exactly the same boat as you. I asked my mate whether I could fit suspension forks and what sort to get, he was a proper MTBer and that was the start of him getting me into proper MTBing - that bike basically got converted into a proper MTB, and I used it for proper MTBing until such time as I recognised that a proper road bike would be faster on the road and just learnt to avoid the potholes, which even without suspension weren't that bumpy anyway compared to where I cut my teeth on the MTB round blacka moor WITH suspension.
So if I hand't ever fitted suspension forks to a hybrid then I could still be a bumbling hybriddist now.

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

I finally added the fatter tyres and have gone even higher with the bars, what do you think? I had them fitted to my winter hack bike last winter (I didn't buy these ones they were recycled) but have always fitted the same tread pattern of tyre for the past 15 years or so to my hack bikes. There is a centre line but I find you still get plenty of grip off road. The ride quality has improved on the bike no end, with the Contis you could feel a constant buzz through the bars and even minor bumps jolted my hands this is now not the case. This should make the bike much more useful to me as I can now use it as a direct route bike taking in fields, canal towpaths local horse tracks and commute through snow and slush this winter without the worry of slipping or the harsh ride quality. The only problem I can see with these tyres is I'm going to look even more of an idiot than usual ! It shouldn't surprise me any more but I'm amazed the difference a set of tyres can make.
Here the pics

 

[Archie_tect]

You can always paint them black with rubberised paint.......