Really? I feel like the more material down there, the more dampened the vibrations would feel.

Compared to DP-18's, my open pros feel like I'm riding on porcelain wheels.

Tubular wheels with some nice 700x23 300TPI Challenge tires, that should smooth the ride some even on an aluminum frame.

thats what i thought too. Cuz i rode my friends bike that had b43 and it was smooth.

My Fuji Feather is steel, with a triple butted steel fork. ??

You can just lower tire pressure without changing tires. It primarily depends on how good the rider is at missing big holes and other objects. One needs to scan the road ahead for traffic and also the ground in front of you.
If you are running 120 psi 23mm tires, lower the pressure to 100psi. Most tires actually say what is recommended and what is the maximum.
Most riders I know run the maximum. On my 125psi tires the recommended pressure is 100 psi. I can ride all day with 40 psi in my 23mm tires. But, I have to be extra carefull and it is slow. I don't recommend this to others. On bumpy 23mm tires a good rider can go with 90psi. I ride a SS 23mm tire bike at 65psi. No one understands. I'm used to scanning the ground on a dirt bike at 40mph on a foot path. After doing it for a few decades it becomes auotmatic. And scanning the ground and traffic at 20 mph is super easy. Pinch flats can be avoided with proper technique.
A new rider can ride 100psi on a 120 psi tire. The difference in ride is noticable, but the pinch flat protection difference is small.

Then I'm wrong about the plushness of deeep rims :]

Why has nobody mentioned this yet?

+1
120 is too much for most people anyway because most roads are not super smooth clean asphalt. I'm 200lbs, I do not inflate my rear 23 past 100psi and I never get pinch flats.

When I picked up my new, super stiff track bike, it only had 75 psi in the tires. I was really impressed with the smooth ride, and the ability to lean the thing way over on a corner.
Then I got home and checked the tires. oops.
It's so stiff I can feel the difference from my other road bikes.

that tape is tacky but ultimately does little for harshness.

Yeah, I feel the same way regarding LSkins.

Fizik microtex does a good job dampening road irregularities with the gel pad system.

Personally, I hate gel tape and or gel inserts, I like a thin grip on the mtb and a thin tape on the 930.

Same here, I was just pointing out what could work.

I'm a cotton kind of guy, as thin as it gets.

Do you wear gloves? I can't ride my touring bike, currently with cloth, without gloves for more than an hour.

Only for warmth. I guess I'm weird, but on prolonged rides, with any kind of real padding, my pinkies go numb in about an hour. Exact same bar set up, saddle height, etc, with no padding, I never have numbness.

I just use the Planet Bike kevlar gloves, they seem to be minimal and good for palm protection in case of a crash. The cloth just allows the bar to dig into my hand

How many layers of cloth? If you've only got one wrap, try wrapping it again, and then if you still have problems, wrap it again. Whenever I re-wrap my bars i just tape over the old layer. I only unwrap them all when they get too padded and my pinkies get tingly, which is 4 or more layers for me, 3 and under and I love it.

ive tried both fizik and specialized gel systems and didnt like em. i pull on my lizard skins to get them to lay down a bit. thin tape wins. im comfortable in the drops all day with full finger mechanix gloves, no padding, but im considering some long gloves with carpal tunnel padding for precautionary reasons. the giro gloves i got a while ago have a gap right there. why, giro?

The gap is to keep pressure off the carpal tunnel nerves, isn't it?

that makes sense, but if i recall, as ive been using the unpadded gloves exclusively for a while, sometimes the bar gets right in the middle and doesnt rest on either side. maybe im just equivocating with myself so i can justify some touchscreen compatible long finger gloves.

In the summertime when the weather is fine I use the Cinelli x Supreme collabo gloves and they solve all my problems!

Longer spokes = smoother ride. If you're using high flange hubs, ditch them in favor of low flange. Likewise if you have deep profile rims.

Padded gloves are to reduce impact and pressure to your hands and all of your upper body. The medical problems and solutions are many different things.
Could be carpal tunnel like symptoms, arthritis in any of your upper body joints, and other things we I can't think of right now. For me they help arthritis in my hands, wrists, elbows,shoulders, and for me the worst one is, my neck. Everyone can be different. No way way to know what happens to another rider. Way to many variables.

sorry, but the mash x karl lagerfeld for nicki by nicki minaj in collaboration with radiohead gloves are better.

Compared to tires, everything else added together is just small potatoes.

Not only that but a slightly wider tire with a little less air pressure might not be any slower either.

OBVIOUSLY mash x anything is far superior to anything else!