Originally Posted by
teachndad
Hi,
I recently bought the REI ADV 1.1 tourer and have been working on getting some mileage in on it. Daily rides vary from 12 to 20 miles on suburban roads. I would say about half the roads in my area are in fair to good condition. It's really hard to find a smooth shoulder anywhere. Even the added recent slurry coat over the existing road bed brings in a lot of vibration through the forks to my hands. The handlebars are covered in padded handlebar tape. I have lowered my air pressure from the first day at 70 psi to 45 psi as of right now. The ride still feels harsh.The tires are new 38mm Marathons. It could be that for years I have been riding full suspension mountain bikes on both road and dirt and I just got hugely spoiled.
Many of the roads in my area also have what I will describe as expansion cracks in the asphalt. So, when you are riding about every 15 to 20 feet, there's an expansion crack, so it's a hit on the front tire. These cracks are typically @ an inch tall. Speed bumps on streets feel can be jaring. I am over 60 and the body isn't as forgiving as it used to be. I do ride with my weight balanced and unweight over bumps as much as possible using both my hips, elbows and shoulders. I do not have excessive weight body weight over my handlebars or at least I don't think so.
So, I did some research and discovered Redshift stems and seat posts. They have great reviews on youtube. People really love them. Is anyone riding/touring with them or really like them during the training phase? They are currently on sale before Black Friday for 25% off bringing it down to $139 USD.
An aside, I also looked at the Redshift seatpost. But, my seatpost is 25.4 and Redshift doesn't make the seatposts that narrow.
Cheers,
Rod
Pretty darn hard, who are we kidding, impossible, to know how one rider perceives a whole range of riding " things" vs another rider--but I can point out that if you get a floor pump with a gauge and can play with small differences if pressures, you'll notice how often just 5 psi makes a big difference in a less harsh ride.
One of my bikes that I commute on has 35mm regular Marathons (Marathons come in many many flavours, your might be the "Plus" versions, that are tougher than the regular). Tires that have stiffer sidewalls for protection, and thicker and stiffer main sections, ride more harshly than tires that are more flexible--this could be a factor for you, but I ride in the city all the time, on roads that you folks from the south would be shocked at how potholey and rough they can be, due to our harsh winters and super wide temperature fluctuations during the year (+35c to -35c, maybe 100f to -25f?)
I regularly run my 35mm tires at 35psi front, and about 40, 45 at rear (depending on how much weight I have in my panniers) and the harshness factor really reduces with about 35psi in front, compared to 40psi or 45.
To be clear, I run 35psi in front because the roads here in Montreal are so crappy and rough.
Yes, I am not a heavy rider, and yes, I "ride light", as you described yourself (I don't smash into stuff fully weighted) and so this 35psi works fine--for me--.
I don't know if you have a standalone tire pressure gauge, or a floor pump with a gauge, but if you can, try to see if the gauge you use is somewhat accurate, and even if it isnt perfect, thats fine too, just use it as a reference so you can try slightly different pressures and do the same route that you are familiar with to compare how things feel.
Its very very common for riders to think that "higher pressures=faster" and part of that is from getting high frequency vibrations back at you feels what one considers "fast"---and doing a known route that you often do is great because you can compare comfort levels AND compare sort of ride times---winds, how you are feeling that day etc all play a big part in how "fast" one rides, but at least you can get a ball park figure, and from my experience of commuting and touring for a long time, a more comfortable pressure is a win-win, because you are less beat up from the jarring, and less tire pressure really doesnt slow you down like you might think.
the more you play with tire pressures, the more you hopefully will get a feel for paying attention to ride quality--and this isn't even touching on how different tires ride differently due to their construction. Marathons have a rep for being well made, tough, long lasting tires--but uncomfortable---Ive ridden a lot on different tires and find regular marathons to be fine enough, but just don't overinflate them, thats the key thing.
what do you weigh btw, and are you carrying weight in rear panniers?
I'm only 135lb, so well under the average male of my height
Yes, one increases the risk of pinch flats with "too" low pressures, but the only way to know what is too low is to experiment with pressures and be observant-- but I realize completely that some people have no interest in doing this. I have good friends and family who have ridden regularly most of their lives, but still are pretty clueless about thinking about putting air in their bike tires (or car tires) and just cannot remember what pressures to pump their bike tires to, and or pump them up in the spring and never think of it again for months and months.
re "too low"--what is too low? You certainly cannot describe in words what "too low" feels like when riding or cornering, but a hopefully good description is when you can feel the tire "moving" around a bit too much, especially when cornering--but man, this is pretty darn hard to quantify in words on the internets--so it comes back to using comparison pressures, lowering pressures by lets say 5psi, start at 50, ride a good section with cracks, bumps, whatever, then drop to 45, repeat etc and try to compare.
and hate to say it, but if you don't ride much, this too is a factor-- the more you ride, the stronger you get, the more. consistent power you'll put out with your legs and along with getting stronger core wise, you'll reduce the weight on your hands because by pedalling slightly harder more consistently, there will be less weight on your arse and hands--but experimenting with tire pressures and how it affects less jarring is really important.
have fun playing around with this.