rumbly tyres

[Geraint Jones]

In the course of some mutual bicycle maintenance (well, that's what we call it anyway) I found
myself this afternoon cycling a bike with a women's frame several inches too small for me in small
circles around a nice bit of smooth tarmac. Apart from entertaining passers by, I was trying to
assess the smoothness of gearchanges, but let this not distract us. What troubled me was a
disconcerting rumbling from the frame. It took me a long while to decide that the back wheel must be
rubbing in the frame, but of course it wasn't. It was just the tread on the road.

How do people cope on road with tyres that have so much tread that you can feel it in your coccyx? I
confess to using tyres with flat centre treads, and next to nothing to either side, but I don't
remember ever having such an unpleasant experience from any tyres of my own.

[Pete Biggs]

Geraint Jones wrote:
> How do people cope on road with tyres that have so much tread that you can feel it in your coccyx?

By letting the pressure down a bit, or by not being used to anything smoother or having more
saddle/buttock padding?

~PB

[Elyob]

"Geraint Jones" <Geraint.Jones@wolfson.oxford.ac-spam.uk.invalid> wrote in message
news:bfuviu$hpf$1@daedalus.wolf.ox.ac.uk...
> In the course of some mutual bicycle maintenance (well, that's what we call it anyway) I found
> myself this afternoon cycling a bike with a women's frame several inches too small for me in small
> circles around a nice bit of smooth tarmac. Apart from entertaining passers by, I was trying to
> assess the smoothness of gearchanges, but let this not distract us. What troubled me was a
> disconcerting rumbling from the frame. It took me a long while to decide that the back wheel must
> be rubbing in the frame, but of course it wasn't. It was just the tread on the road.
>
> How do people cope on road with tyres that have so much tread that you can feel it in your coccyx?
> I confess to using tyres with flat centre treads, and next to nothing to either side, but I don't
> remember ever having such an unpleasant experience from any tyres of my own.

I've gone for a road cassette and lycra/gel .... find what suits you best .... my new rear cassette
didn't speed me up. Just gpt me wanting to do 20m a day :)

[Phil.Winterbour]

Geraint Jones wrote:
>
[snip]
> How do people cope on road with tyres that have so much tread that you can feel it in your coccyx?
> I confess to using tyres with flat centre treads, and next to nothing to either side, but I don't
> remember ever having such an unpleasant experience from any tyres of my own.

It's easy! If you are usually using your knobbly tyred bike for what it's designed for (rutted
fields, rooty woods, tracks with rocks the size of babies heads, little jumps, 2 foot drop offs at
speed, etc.) a little tyre rumble goes completely un-noticed. When ever I pull of the trail on to a
nice smooth bit of tarmac it's like turning round away from a 20 mph headwind!

If I'm doing anything long I'd usually put some slicks on. Partly for the speed but mainly because I
don't want to waste my 'good' tyres by wearing them out on the road.

When I have the cash I'll get a nice road bike, but I suspect I'll want a suspension seat post as
I'm used to nice big 2.3 inch tyres and 5 inches of travel to soak up any bumps ;-)

Phil