Getting old, time to soften the (bike) ride

[wilnj]

I used to do a fair bit of cycling, started with a MTB. Found that I didn't have the time necessary to get to the ride so I put slicks on it and got into road riding.

After a couple years, I bought a steel framed road bike. With 3 young kids, I fell into the slump of not making time for myself and got away from riding altogether.

Now that they're older, I bought a bike with the intent of getting back in but I'm having some buyer's remorse. The bike is a Giant Escape city bike, like this



The ride is very stiff. While it's not my first AL frame, a hardtail MTB with 1.5" tires will ride much softer. I don't have a problem with the rear half of the bike, I know I need to anticipate road surface changes and get my weight off the seat if needed. I'm thinking of how to approach the front half of the bike. I was thinking a carbon fork or handlebars or both might do the trick.

Anyone with other ideas?

[vash]

maybe a steel fork?

[wilnj]

Originally Posted by vash

maybe a steel fork?

Hadn’t really considered that but I think most steel forks will change the geometry of the bike since they’re typically curved and will put the wheel a little further out.

While a slightly longer wheelbase will soften the ride in and of itself, finding a steel fork that fits will be the same work as a carbon, the limited choices will likely mean it is harder to find.

[vash]

good point.

i ride a steel bike and i think that is harsh sometimes. nice bike tho..i like it!!

[LWJ]

Funny. You sound a lot like me. 54. 3 kids. Getting back into riding...

I have gone full throttle into mountain biking. It helps my 18 year old son loves it and I live in the PNW where we have trails everywhere.

First, not sure if this will fit but it is sitting in my basement looking for a new home. It is yours for the shipping. A cool vintage part. PM me and I can put a caliper on it and give you dimensions:




Other solutions are.

1) Larger, low pressure front tire. On my mountain bike, I have ridden a 2.5'' tire well under 20 psi and it rolls pretty well. The resistance is supposedly on the rear tire. I am not suggesting going this low for street riding, but I bet you can go fatter and lower.

2) You may consider a shock fork? Here is a link for many many such forks: https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/list/?category=9

You will want to do some research. There are a number of variables that determine fork fit. For your needs, you can buy an older, now not desirable lower travel fork. You are not smashing rock gardens, but absorbing small bumps. Something around 80mm travel should be cheap and take the bumps out.

Note: I would not do all three of these. One solution will probably solve this.

[look 171]

Reduce tire pressure. What's max pressure on those tires? Don't mind what's written on the sidewall reduce 10 lbs and start from there.

[ramonesfreak]

check out the redshift suspension stem

they also make a great suspension seatpost

[JeremyD]

57 here - bought a specialized sirrus X - it has a small shock absorber in front fork



The CF absorbs a fair amount too

[wilnj]

Thanks for the thoughts about tire pressure. Never thought about that. I always assumed more is better.

I’ll start there.

[ramonesfreak]

unless riding off road, i’m not a fan of riding with lower than the suggested tire pressure. there are trade offs to doing so

[David]

I run 700x35mm on my gravel bike and run 45 psi. Granted they're tubeless, but with the wider wheels most bikes come with these days, you can run lower pressure than you're used to.

[gtc]

If the seatpost diameter is not too large and you have a fairly long exposed section of post, a carbon post could help. A pair of wide carbon bars might help also.

Honestly, though, I think it might make more sense to find another bike that rides smoother to begin with.

[David]

You could also change tires. Lower priced tires tend to be heavy with stiff sidewalls so they’ll ride stiffer at the same pressure vs a lighter tire.

[ckelly78z]

At 55 years old, I have found that my hands were going numb/tingling from leaning over too far on my 29" full suspension MTB. I installed a new adjustable stem that seemes to help by moving the handlebars upward, and closer to my body.

https://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-Stem-130mm-25-4-threadless/dp/B0026A1FKQ

[look 171]

Originally Posted by ramonesfreak

unless riding off road, i’m not a fan of riding with lower than the suggested tire pressure. there are trade offs to doing so

Its normally ok. I jsut did 20+ miles of none stop climbing this morning (kicked my ass pretty good, btw). The down hill was wicked fast at over 35mph of twist and turns. I ride those skinny 25mm road tires. The recommended PSI is 120 but they are always pumped up to 95 -100 psi for a slightly more forgiving ride. I was leaning and pushing on them pretty hard today.

[HardDrive]

Get yourself a recumbent my friend. I ride an old RANS rocket. Plush ride. And plenty of kids pointing and saying, "WHOA! Look at that guys bike!".

Mine is similar to below:

[Otter74]

Good tires - high-volume tires with a good casing - make a world of difference, particularly on the small, high-frequency stuff. Looks like a seet of 700x45 gravel kings or whatever compass calls its tires in that size would fit.

I run my 650bx45 tires at around 50-55psi on the road, and that's considered a bit high. Take 5psi off for dirt.

[aigel]

Get rid of that POS. I had the same bike and commuted on it for thousands of miles. It was super uncomfortable and I had neck issues and was never really happy with it. I also cracked the stock rim on the rear. Seriously, I would not modify that bike. Sell it. It is a low budget bike for someone that rarely rides or has a 2 mile commute.

Then look at a steel or modern carbon frame bike. Stay away from Al. If you want something that can go on gravel, get a gravel/cyclocross bike. Or get a mountain bike with suspension if you want something even more off road.

I have a Salsa Marrakesh steel touring bike I use for commuting now. It is super comfortable even though it is built strong for touring. It is good on gravel too. I ride it off road quite a bit. I bought it used for what a new **** bike would have cost. Granted I put a nicer saddle and some hand built wheels, but it has served me extremely well.

G

[aigel]

And how old are you!?

[KevinTodd]

I'm 58. I run 6 miles 4x weekly and ride this ^^^ on the days between. My typical route is 14 miles in/out, with 8 of that being gravel and/or single track. The only modification so far has been to tubeless tires, which can be utilized at lower pressure. I also wear a padded bib-short, and plaster my junk with chamois butter. I couldn't expect more comfort.