Hi everyone, first post here!
I am considering the Canyon Roadlite CF 8 which seems a good fit for my intended purpose: a fast, light and fun to drive bike to commute to work with flat bars.
My main concern regards its maximum tire width of 30mm, and as I cannot test-drive this bike I am searching for advice from people more knowledgeable on the topic.
Some background:
I am currently driving an e-bike, not really sporty, the Yamaha PAS VIENTA5 (sorry, I cannot post links yet...).
In order to get an idea of how it would be to commute with a not assisted bike, especially as my 7.5km commute includes 3 steep slopes, I rented a Giant Contend SL1 over the weekend (same here...), which is the closest I could find for rental, unfortunately with drop bars.
It turns out that the slopes are fine, but I found that the bike transmitted a bit more vibrations/shocks than I liked. For instance I could clearly feel the rough texture of the asphalt when the asphalt was not perfectly nice and smooth (I am not talking about cracks, just a coarse texture).
Now, compared to the Giant Contend SL1, the Roadlite CF 8 should offer a smoother ride thanks to (correct me if I am wrong):
1. carbon frame vs aluminium frame
2. the wider tires: 30mm vs 28mm, and maybe the kind of tyre too?
3. VCLS 2.0 leaf spring carbon seatpost vs standard seat pillar
I know that I am fine with the level of vibrations/shocks that I get from VIENTA5, which does not feature any suspension or shock absorbing mechanism at all, but has a much wider tire ~39mm.
Basically, I do not know to what extent a really wide tire is responsible for a smooth ride, compared to points 1 and 3 above, and whether I can achieve improvements in other ways: grips / seatpost / saddle / tire pressure.
As such, I would really appreciate your opinion on how the Roadlite CF 8 could compare in terms of smoothness/comfort with the Giant Contend SL1, which I am using here as a reference.
In terms of alternatives: I am not considering the Pathlite, which offers wider tires, because of the higher weight and less aggressive driving posture.
I am looking for a bike that pushes me a bit to ride faster and exercise, but I want to avoid drop bars at this stage.
I should also mention that I almost never venture outside of asphalted roads, I counted a maximum of 15 minutes over 6 months with my current bike.
Apologies for the quite long first message
