Originally Posted by
goldfilm
Questions to +50 road bike riders:
- Bigger tires in the newer bikes will help too and I’ll also get a professional fitting service… but would you say features like Giant D-Fuse or Trek IsoSpeed are key for your back or arms pain?
I think tyres are the main factor in ride comfort. My Giant Defy has the D-Fuse seatpost and bars. I think the carbon D-Fuse seatpost is pretty effective, but mine has the alloy D-fuse bars and they still transmit a fair amount of road buzz on rougher road surfaces, even with thick cushioned bar tape. The integrated carbon bars/stem on my Canyon are much better at damping out road buzz. So whatever bike you choose, I would consider upgrading to carbon bars if not already in the spec. In hindsight I wish I'd upgraded to the carbon D-fuse bars on my Defy. I suspect it would have been a big improvement.
But if I was looking for the very best possible ride comfort in a fast road bike I would probably look closely at the Specialized Roubaix, with the latest FutureShock. But for me that would be probably overkill. The Carbon Domane is probably a good choice too.