Front suspension for Dawes Galaxy Plus

[kylecycler]

Still contemplating on whether I need to do this or if I'm just being a big girl's blouse.......

However, googling trekking bikes brought up this;

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-mu ... A6rQ-3A6rR

Anyone any thoughts?

Looks quite spanky to me (for those who don't know that term it's a technical term exclusively used by novice cyclists)

I don't think you're being a big girl's blouse - ride compliance is the elephant in the room Freddie and the rest of the crowd are discussing on other threads right now, albeit for road use.

I was going to post a link to Rose trekking bikes when I saw your first post. It seems to be a different culture over there - 'trekking' as opposed to 'touring'. Trouble is, I don't know if there's anyone on the forum with a Rose trekking bike. You'd think there's bound to be someone. It's a bit of a shot in the dark for you to take the plunge all by yourself, but Rose always seems a class operation and I like the look of their bikes - wouldn't use the term spanky myself but I know what you mean! )

Also it's a question of which one - you have to think of ruggedness, reliablity, running costs, etc. I kind of hope you go for it though.

[johnmillward74]

I kind of hope you go for it though.

What's the worst that can happen - I drop £1.5k and end up in the middle of nowhere in Denmark with a bike that falls apart on me . . . .Ha

All of the reviews I can find suggest that they are a good company and the bikes are getting better year on year. I think at least on something like that I wouldn't cringe whenever I had reason to hit slightly rough terrain. I think "trekking" is the right term for what I like to do - So not road biking to get there as fast as possible, but find the smaller roads and footpaths and take my time getting to places, enjoying the surroundings, without wanting to be a mountain goat and climb vertical rock faces!

[kylecycler]

It's reassuring that you've found good reviews, although I figured you might. At least a few folk on the forum might advise on the pros and cons of the different types they offer. Don't ask me, I'm rubbish at choices - I agonize over everything and finish up back where I started - but someone else might come along to help.

Don't know if you saw this excellent video, posted recently on the forum, but the lad is German and I thought the bike was probably a Rose, although it might be a Koga. He wouldn't have wanted suspension for doing what he was doing, of course, so it's not the type you're looking for, but you could even PM him for advice on Rose bikes - he's bound to know...

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=102523

[Freddie]

OP, as nobody has yet asked the question, what tyres are you running, at what pressure?

A supple, large tyre like the Voyager Hyper in 38mm section will solve many of your problems, providing you don't have any fitting issues and you run it at low enough pressures. I can't overstate how much low pressures are necessary with these larger tyres. They will feel a little like a under-inflated smaller tyre and I think this makes people pump them up too much, which kills their shock absorbing ability. One should aim for about 15% depression of the tyre when seated, so pressures around 50 PSI would be right for many.

I think given prevailing road conditions, even wider tyres up to about 50mm could be used, but they'd have to be supple and light as opposed to the 1kg rigid beasts they often are today. These certainly looks interesting: http://www.schwalbe.com/gb/tour-reader/ ... g-one.html

With respect to suspension, the consensus seems to be that road suspension forks are quite poor and are often designed down to a price. There's this thread http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=102231, if you want to read more on the topic.

[reohn2]

Freddie's right about a lightweight high TPI,high quality,supple tyre like Vittoria Voyager Hypers.Low pressures(I run mine @ 45F,65R PSI for a 95kg all up eight ,including the bike) and these things rock good style,roll well,soak up bad trails and tarmac like you wouldn't believe and rarely puncture.
I'm a 63 year old beat up individual and ride some pretty rough trails,bridleways and towpaths on them.They transform any touring bike for comfort and speed IME.

EDIT

[rmurphy195]

Good point about the raked forks....hadn't really thought that through. Suspension seat post may not be a bad idea - or just don't take it off roading too often I guess....

even a suspension stem? http://road.cc/content/news/137536-susp ... s-are-back

[johnmillward74]

OP, as nobody has yet asked the question, what tyres are you running, at what pressure?

I have the factory supplied Schwalbe Marathon 700 x 32C tyres on. As a novice rider I've never really paid much attention to tyre pressure - maybe that's something I should experiment with. Are you suggesting that tyre pressure would be modified during a ride? Or does one guess at the terrain before each day's riding and set them up for the day? I don't tend to ride week in, week out - but do a tour each year. Given that I'm not riding a regular route I never know in advance what type of terrain I'm going to encounter until I get there!

To be honest I've just been going by feel......

[Brucey]

those tyres prioritise puncture resistance over ride comfort and rolling resistance. IME if you deflate them enough to be comfortable (which means a lower pressure than some other tyres), they start to be pretty draggy and noticeably slow to ride on.

On this forum there are numerous recommendations for lighter, faster, more supple tyres than the Marathons; these can be both faster and more comfy than what you have at present. The penalty is that you may have an increased risk of punctures but for most folk this is no more than maybe one or two a year. Personally I can live with that.

Until quite recently Planet X were selling folding Vittoria Hypers at bargain prices; they have run out of those now (they have a few Brown non-folding ones left I think) but even bought elsewhere at a higher price they are probably worth it, they really do ride very well. If you fit (say) 700x37 or 700x40 hypers the rolling resistance and comfort will be vastly improved vs the marathons you have at present. There is little in the way of tread on hypers (which is one reason why they roll so well) so maybe they are not ideal for lots of muddy bridlepaths etc but that aside they are worth a look.

cheers

[rmurphy195]

those tyres prioritise puncture resistance over ride comfort and rolling resistance. IME if you deflate them enough to be comfortable (which means a lower pressure than some other tyres), they start to be pretty draggy and noticeably slow to ride on.cheers

Totally agree - I found this by accident on my Brompton, felt as if the brakes were binding until I put more air in!

But since I wanted to go "off piste" on my new tourer from time to time (towpaths/railway trails etc.) I had Marathons put on to cope with the rough surfaces and odd bit of mud. Now I'm having second thoughts, especially since the first puncture I've had for years (no, really!) is on one of the new Marathons!

Been looking at some well-priced Vittoria Randonneurs at Decathlon and wondering if its worth swopping ...

[Brucey]

ordinary Randonneurs are a pretty draggy tyre too, and not as puncture resistant as alternatives.

Randonneur hypers are a completely different tyre, no comparison.

cheers

[Freddie]

I think they have dropped the Randonneur name from the Hyper, probably due to confusion (this is perhaps why some were available with the old name at Planet X) and now call just them Voyager Hyper:

http://www.vittoria.com/tire/voyager-hyper/

[reohn2]

those tyres prioritise puncture resistance over ride comfort and rolling resistance. IME if you deflate them enough to be comfortable (which means a lower pressure than some other tyres), they start to be pretty draggy and noticeably slow to ride on.cheers

Totally agree - I found this by accident on my Brompton, felt as if the brakes were binding until I put more air in!

But since I wanted to go "off piste" on my new tourer from time to time (towpaths/railway trails etc.) I had Marathons put on to cope with the rough surfaces and odd bit of mud. Now I'm having second thoughts, especially since the first puncture I've had for years (no, really!) is on one of the new Marathons!

Been looking at some well-priced Vittoria Randonneurs at Decathlon and wondering if its worth swopping ...

The Randonneurs sold by Decathlon are a utility version of the better quality Randonneur Pro.
The Pro has a much higher quality and far more supple 120tpi carcass,whereas the ordinary Decathlon Rando's have a much less supple and course 30tpi carcass.
Higher tpi carcass equals supple,which in turn means a far better ride quality,better rolling and better puncture resistance.
The more course a tyre carcass and more tread on that carcass needs less air in it to support the load it carries.
What comes with that is that the tyre doesn't deform to bad road surfaces and bounces from highspot to highspot,this translates to speed loss and high vibrations transmitted directly to the rider.
To get the courser carcass to deform enough means running it even softer which make it drag and energy is wasted to keep it rolling.
A supple carcass,with less tread covering it,run at the right(higher)psi for load,deforms more readily smoothing out bad surfaces,rolling faster with less vibration transmission,and little if any,increase in puncture rate.
If,in an effort to make the better more supple tyre go faster,it's overinflated it too begins to bounce on the high spots and becomes more uncomfortable with no speed increase.

IME the only time the tread pattern on a tyre such as Marathons beats a slick is on wet grass or slimey mud,and Marathon's performance in such conditions isn't sparkling at that so any gain is marginal.
If riding mostly in such conditions I'd be inclined to go with something a more aggressive tread such as Schwalbe Land Cruisers or similar.
I find Voyager Hypers handle,bad tarmac,gravel and hardpack incredibly well,and are my ideal all round tyre .

[MacBludgeon]

Having floated the idea of a dedicated trekking bike with front suspension I feel a little guilty as it wouldn't be my choice. Looking just at the Rose range I'd have opted for:-

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-bl ... aid:830994

it comes with 700x50 Marathon Supreme tires which means you have room up front to run large enough tires, at low enough pressure, to provide the sorts of benefits you'd see with roadish front suspension. You'd also not have the drawbacks of suspension forks in weight and complexity....less to go wrong.

However that particular bike wouldn't be my choice either I've only linked as an example as I do like the European idea of a complete package. Dynamo, lights, mudguards, rack, etc...all of which can be expensive after market additions. But we are seeing an increase in allround capable bikes, often under the gravel grinder name, appearing.