Bike of the day
Out of context: Reply #421
- Started
- Last post
- 440 Responses
- BuddhaHat1
For Hijo
My priority list for being comfortable on the bike:
1. Kit - comfy knicks/shorts with a good pad for long rides is a must - Assos is the top of the range, hands down the most comfortable pads you can buy. Rapha Classic, Pearl Izumi and MAAP are other brands I've tried, of the 3 Pearl Izumi was best balance of comfort and budget - the others costs heaps
2. Tires - Get the widest set you can comfortably fit within the chainstays and fork of your bike - if you can fit 30mm or bigger definitely go for it, everybody has moved up a bit over the last few years. I am a Schwalbe or Continental guy, but Pirelli, Vittoria and a few others are making good tires too. The extra surface contact and lower pressure of a bigger tire makes everything a bit easier.
3. Cockpit - get fitted for a correct width saddle and correct width set of handlebars. You said your frame was a bit on the big side so a shorter stem might help too. I switched from alloy to carbon for both saddle and bars and aside from tires, they do the most to improve ride comfort. As I said in another note, if you get bad vibrations a second layer of tape on the bars can absorb some of that too.
Gloves, proper bike shoes, helmet, wheel upgrades are all things that can come down the track, but I'd go these other upgrades first where budget allows :)
- yeah, wear gloves everytime on a bike... you can really f**k up your hands in any silly fall, and you need them to work ;)OBBTKN
- I use Specialized ones with extra padding:
https://i.imgur.com/…OBBTKN - Tes definitely any kind of hand covering for gloves is a must; I have the full finger Giro gloves that Safa wears and they're great. Specialized also goodBuddhaHat