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
Some time ago, I spent a lot of time and money making my ride more plush simply because it was getting hard on me as I got older. I ride around 4000 miles a year and it was just starting to add up in wear and tear on me. When I started this project it was the days of 100psi 23 or 25mm tires. So I did it all - I swapped out forks for more compliant forks (carbon vs steel), I went to carbon seat posts and handlebars and I fiddled with saddles. Nothing seemed to really help at all. I got to hate that particular bike with its stiff frame or so I thought that was the problem.
Then the whole thing with tire inflation started and the move to wider tires. I started riding gravel and started following what Josh Poertner was preaching on tire inflation over at Silca based on world tour results and working with world tour teams. Getting the tire inflation right at much lower pressures and wider tires than I had been riding changed that harsh riding bike into a cadillac ride and it was faster to boot. From there, and Poertner says it all the time now, about 90-95% of the plush ride or overall compliance comes from the tires and tire pressure. Getting tire pressure (and as little as 5psi can matter) is the key to riding on rough roads. Anyhow, that "stiff" bike that I had come to hate became my favorite bike probably because it was the only bike I had at the time (other than an mtb) that would accommodate tires wider than 28mm.
I have actually bought the Red Shift stem. There is a slightly noticeable effect but I don't think it's worth the money and the time experimenting to get the right elastomer. You also get an up to 20mm or so deflection in the handlebars which I find a bit disconcerting. It also can become a problem if you have a handlebar pack as it did for me.
So bottom line, if you want a plush ride, fix the tire problem. Your tires are pretty wide but I'd guess that your tire pressure is way too high. Those Marathons are not at all supple so a switch to tubeless tires and sealant will fix most reliability problems you were concerned about and if you get the tire pressure right, you'll have a smooth and plush ride. Like I said, I had exactly the same problem as you did - a very harsh bike that was exceedingly uncomfortable that was changed into a very plush ride all through tire pressure properly adjusted (after a detour of an embarrassingly amount of money).
Silca has a pressure calculator that will help get you in the right ballpark. Sort there and experiment with progressively less in 3-5psi increments to hone in on the right number for you. This is going to do one heck of a lot more in getting a comfortable ride (and likely make you faster) and it's going to do more than the stem which I feel is largely a gimmick.