GrainBrain

Usually I can ride in a vehicle track and it's a little better. Also running your front tire lower would help. You're running tubeless right? Drop the front to 25psi from 35psi, and as long as it's not folding over itself in a turn you should be good.

As others pointed out your arms turn into suspension so don't death grip the bars, strengthen your core up a bit with situps and crunches. Still tough on me for fast, long rides! My neck is the worst.

Momokahn

Living in SC Kansas where sand is the primary product on the back roads, wash boards can go on for miles and miles. This is especially true when when we have extended dry spells. Instead of me going out and jumping on the gravel bike (marketing campaign) band wagon, I just continue enjoying my rides (45 miles yesterday) on my 10 year old 29er Trek Cobia all original. Getting ready to head out again in about an hour. Hands feel fine, butt feels fine, and my bike does just fine. I run 2.1's front and back, with tubes at 5 pounds over max pressure. Last flat was in 2019. Average speed yesterday was 15.4 mph. Fast over wash boards works for me.

unterhausen

I can't understand why you would do this. Are you sure you aren't running your rims over max pressure? Stan's, as one example, has many rims that will only take 37psi with a 2.1" tire. They dont really specify what will happen if you exceed this, but I'm thinking they will split.

Also, you seem to have gotten lost from the MTB forum.

Momokahn

I've ran 5 or 10 over for decades on bike tires. Never an issue with any rim. Weighing 145 lbs helps too.

Lost from MTB forum? My 29er can be whatever I want it to be. It's my commuter, climber, racer, and road bike. ; )

mstateglfr 

What is the reasoning for running tires over max pressure on washboarded roads? I would think when you have such a wide tire as 2.1, you would want it to have less pressure to allow the tire to absorb more of the road imperfections.

unterhausen

I see no reason to over pressure any tire or rim ever. There is a reason there is a max pressure, and higher pressures don't help anything. Mechanical losses will make up for any rolling resistance gains. Plus, I need to see a picture of miles of washboarded road. One of the roads I ride on occasionally has washboards on more of it than I would like, but it's a pretty steep downhill. Usually washboards happen where people brake

ksryder

As someone else who rides in Kansas I can assure you that is not a widespread practice.

mattcalifornia

I was thinking about this thread on my ride yesterday! Not a washboard road, but some pretty rough mountain bike trails. A few of the single-track trails were fairly fast but heavily potted, and there was just no way to avoid them. That was the most brain-rattling ride I've had so far. I probably should have let some air out of the tires (47mm tires at 30-35psi), but I'm not sure even that would have helped much.

revcp 

This is going to come from way out in left field. Last week I did a gravel packing trip with three friends in northeast, Minnesota. We ran into many washboard roads. Oddly, I found that running them at speed was the best way of dealing with them. Granted, I was riding my Salsa El Mariachi with 2.5" tires, so had some float, but taking them fast, riding the crests, was so much better than riding them slowly. Sounds completely counterintuitive, but that was my experience.

mattcalifornia

Yep - that sounds completely intuitive to me. I've had the same experience (in cars too). Unfortunately, it doesn't work on gnarly trails (well, maybe it would if you could get yourself going fast enough!)

unterhausen

It's usually best to shift up one gear from where you would normally ride on rough roads. I'm not sure if that puts more pressure on your hands or not, but it mostly puts more pressure on your feet and off of your butt.

Wspsux

On roads with washboardish surface or alot of micro vibrations I usually pop into a bigger gear get my hands on the hoods loosely and stand up like I'm mashing a hill. I Let the bike drift and guide it with suggestion. Stay loose and keep - ass off the saddle.

Noonievut

Unfortunately where I encounter wash board are the steep, twisty gravel roads. Hard to keep tension low in the body when you’re needing to brake and choose the best line. I’ve gotten better at this but I would flatten those roads if I could!