Touring on an alu bike - steel/carbon forks?

[Percy]

Planning a short (10 day) tour in France with the wife to introduce her to the delights of cycle touring. Her bike was bought for occasional short commutes and weekend rides and is a fully aluminium Specialized (can't remember the exact model). Anything more than ten miles or so and she suffers from numb fingers and finds the vibrations from riding quite uncomfortable. She is adament that she can't 'tour' on this bike, as she would find it unbearable.

A perfect solution would be to get her a steel tourer, but we can't afford that at the moment. As a second option, what are people's thoughts on fitting her current bike with a carbon or steel fork, in an effort to make it more comfortable for her? Would this have such a marked effect as to make her bike comfortable enough for a few days in a row on the road?

She won't be carrying much weight - two small rear panniers. I'll be hauling the rest!

 

[Dave Davenport]

What model is it? Fatter tyres and extra padding on the bars would probably help more than changing the fork.

 

[HelenD123]

Is the bike set up properly for her? I had problems with my hands and wrists but changing the length of the stem and raising the bars fixed it. Also, does she have bar ends so that she can change position? This would help with numbness. My steel-framed tourer is definitely a smoother ride than my alu hybrid but I still quite happily did 108 miles on my hybrid in a day.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

What model is it? Fatter tyres and extra padding on the bars would probably help more than changing the fork.

+1. Tyres with a good volume of air and supple sidewall run at moderate pressure will be more effective than any rigid fork and indeed any frame material in taking out vibration, unless the fork and rear triangle have limited tyre width and height clearance making that impossible. If clearances allow I would recommend Schwalbe's Big Apples. The fatter they are the more effective but the disadvantage of the fattest versions is that they are heavier.

If she has flat handlebar, Ergon grips are specifically designed to alleviate numb fingers. They are brilliant.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

and if drops put some gel under the tape.

 

[Globalti]

I've just put a set of carbon forks on my MTB, they are so smooth that you hardly know they are not suspension forks unless you take a big hit.

Here: http://www.carboncycles.cc/?s=0&t=0&c=43&p=200&

Good prices too.

 

[Percy]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

I've found the model she has - a Crossroads Sport:

http://www.specialized.com/gb/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=21620&menuItemId=0&gold_ses=

She had a lot of trouble finding one to fit her at the time - she's short. That's a pretty big tyre on there already for me - 700x38 - but it might be worth a go with some fatter ones. Similarly I will review her riding position and moot the idea of bar ends for position changes. Maybe even a butterfly bar? She definitely won't ride drops though - I've already suggested that!

 

[headcoat]

Sound like she's just making excuses

I would second bar ends definatly.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

I've found the model she has - a Crossroads Sport:

http://www.specializ...mId=0&gold_ses=

She had a lot of trouble finding one to fit her at the time - she's short. That's a pretty big tyre on there already for me - 700x38 - but it might be worth a go with some fatter ones. Similarly I will review her riding position and moot the idea of bar ends for position changes. Maybe even a butterfly bar? She definitely won't ride drops though - I've already suggested that!

That model has steel forks and 700x38 is a pretty fat tyre. As others have said, it's just going to be a matter of set up/position and fitting some bar ends.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

While 38c is quite fat, but if the tyres are rated 70-100 psi and are running at such pressure, tyres such as the Big Apples designed to run at 30-70 psi will offer a much plusher ride. However the smallest 700c Big Apples is the 622-50, i.e. nearly 2 inches wide and high which may or may not fit the frame and fork. Many Ergon grip models also have integrated bar ends.

 

[Jezston]

Having flat bars where you cant change hand position was the cause of my discomfort when I started doing a 20 mile commute, that combined with alu forks! I made the rather drastic step of swapping to bullhorns which solved most of my woes. Bar ends should do the trick - your hands should be fine if you get to move them around a bit when they get uncomfortable.

 

[mickle]

I would reiterate what has been suggested earlier re tyres and position rather than replacing the fork. If she is suffering from numbness with a 38c tyre it's all to do with wrist position.

Bar ends will allow a change of position which will certainly alleviate the symptoms but they don't address the cause. Many 'flat bar' bikes come fitted with bars which would be more at home on a mountain bike. Ie, wide and with minimal backsweep. Mountain bike bars are designed for the mountain bike 'attack' position which is an elbows bent and elbows high type of thing. I'll bet that your missus is riding with straight arms, which, on a mountain bar has two profoundly negative side effects. The first is that road shock isn't disipated by flex in the wrist and elbow but travels straight through the arm. Secondly, because her elbows aren't bent her wrists are presenting to the bars at the wrong angle so that road shock is impacting through her wrist at an angle which the wrist simply isn't designed to take. This is causing the numbness and is compounded by fact that the bars are too wide - forcing her wrists into a very unnatural position.

The solution is a simple one; track down a narrow (around the width of her shoulders) bar with a lot of backsweep. If you really love her you'll also buy an adjustable stem. It cannot be overstated just how awesome adjustable stems are for fine tuning bike ergonomics.

 

[snailracer]

...
The solution is a simple one; track down a narrow (around the width of her shoulders) bar with a lot of backsweep. If you really love her you'll also buy an adjustable stem. It cannot be overstated just how awesome adjustable stems are for fine tuning bike ergonomics.

Raleigh North Rounder bar, £15 from SJS Cycles. Positions the wrists at a comfy angle. Check it's the same diameter as the existing flat bar (22mm) so you can reuse the brakes, grips, etc. I also suspect the existing flat bar is too low/too far away - the resulting leaning down & forward results in a lot of weight on the wrists, so I would second the suggestion of an adjustable stem.

 

[mcshroom]

Both my Tourer and Hybrid are alu with steel forks, and I don't have any real problem with road vibration, even on pumped up 32s. I would suggest that it is more likely to be a problem with the bike not being set up exactly right for her. This is a good article on bike fitting

Looking at the bike in the picture it has a quill stem, so you could try lifting that a bit. Otherwise you may want either a quill to ahead adaptor or an adjustable quill stem.


I also found that my hands went numb if my seat was at the wrong angle. If it's tilted slightly forwards then all your weight gets transferred to your hands. I find that I need the saddle very slightly nose up, but everyone is different so it's whatever is most comfortable for her.

You could try going out for a few shorter rides adjusting as you go until it feels right (good excuse to get out cycling as well )