zippy753

I知 looking at bikes in the $500-$650 range, maybe something like the urban bikes manufacturers advertise with 700 or 29 wheels and thinner tires. I値l use it for my daily commute to work, vigorous riding along the beach, and some fitness riding on mountain roads. Some of the bikes I look at have front shocks and some don稚. What is the benefit of having them (or not having them) on a bike? The streets in LA are pretty bad and I do tend to jump up and down curbs while zipping around obstacles. Do I need shocks for doing these types of things?

Thanks for any advice

RT

If you're spending most of your time on the road, you'll want rigid forks. I removed the Rock Shox on my two MTBs (now Frankenbikes) and replaced with Surly 1X1 rigids from webcyclery.com. More power per pedal stroke as the shocks are not absorbing all of your power. I like rigid because I can 'feel' the road.

Sixty Fiver

Of 12 bikes, 1 has a suspension and it lives to play in the dirt and rocks.

I can't ever see myself running a commuter with a suspension unless I decide to run skinnies on my folder.

lil brown bat

No shocks on pavement, or even on most hard-packed dirt. Waste of energy.

zippy753

Sounds like a NO for shocks on a city bike. There are a lot of options to choose and I'm just starting to learn. Thanks for the replies!

bdinger

+1 to no shocks. I'm currently running the stock el-cheapo RST on my MTB frankencommuter, but I'm going to switch to rigid + less tire pressure on the front tire. I figure 65 psi without a shock will dampen enough as opposed to 80 + shock. It gets annoying watching the front end "bob and weave" as you power into the wind, lemme tell you...

bigbenaugust 

Skip the shocks and get fatter tires instead.

Sixty Fiver

+1 on fatter tyres and fatter does not have to mean slower.

I run 26 by 2 semi slicks on my Kuwahara and 20 by 1.95 semi slicks on my fixed Twenty and both cruise pretty nicely at 30 kmh while sucking up all the bumps.

BikEthan

No point. If you want a softer ride on road you'll get more out of fatter (but not knobby) tires than you would out of suspension.

Ngchen

I'll dissent and say that a shock does have a few advantages.
(1) Easier on your hands and wrists
(2) Less rattling of your lights and whatever else you have on your handlebars
(3) (conjectural) less chance of going over the handlebars in an emergency stop

I say (3) because the shock sucks up energy. In an emergency stop, every bit of sucked up energy is less energy to have you thrown with. On MTBs, the shocks also help keep the tire in contact with the road.

Of course shocks have disadvantages that people have noted. They are (1) added weight, (2) more cost (they don't last forever, in addition to their initial price), and (3) sucking up some of your energy.