Cycling UK Forum

I am curious about this, as its probably not the material, but is it all in the geometry and tires?

Also just to complicate it - are they compatible?

Attitude - and personal preference.

Saddle (or, better still, a nicely tensioned mesh seat), bars and shoes are the only things that can 'directly' impact comfort.

Chosen position is critical.

'Vertical compliance' as well as surface will have an impact on the behaviour of the contact points. That compliance will come from tyres and materials.

A large, nasty dog, 100m astern.

Fast _and_ comfortable is interesting as I'm sure that a lot of people mistake discomfort for speed. A bike that feels stiff (lots of road buzz) feels fast because you think that you are getting the maximum amount of power through the machine and down to the road. In reality it ain't necessarily so.

What you need to start with is what is "fast"? My lightweight race bike is stiff and accelerates well...feels 'fast'. My old chameleon certainly wasn't stiff as it had suspension and fatter tyres. It didn't feel like it accelerated like the race bike. But on a, say, 100mile ride it appeared faster than the race bike - probably because of the added comfort and lack of being beat up by road buzz.

I reckon it's all in the lap of the gods.

If you're lucky, the frame material, the frame geometry, the forks, the saddle, your personal geometry, the positions of the handlebars and the saddle will all come together to make you comfortable and fast.

Tyres and tyre width will be dictated by the above.

I was lucky - very lucky - with my Mercian. It's fast, light, comfortable, and beautiful too.

there is only one answer to the fast part - a tail wind?
I still remember an occasion as a kid bowling along from Kings Lynn to Lowestoft via Norwich, across East Anglia, with such a tail wind. Best ride I have ever had. And the bike in question was nothing special not like the ones you can get these days

The only bike I have really felt fast on (and note that was nearly 35 years ago and the memory still lingers) is when I took literally around the block someone else's race bike (I think it had tubs on). I belonged to a cycle workshop club and it was one of the guy's there who owned it. It felt like floating on air!

Mighty botty,comfy saddle,madly whirring legs.

Andy

mercalia wrote:there is only one answer to the fast part - a tail wind?
s

Yep.

29miles into a head wind the other day, averaged 11.2mph (To be fair it was a morning after, leisure ride, with the majority of the miles a slow, steady incline). I seriously believed it was due to lack of fitness, as it was a slow, steady slog of a ride.

Changed direction, 32mph for the next nine miles with no effort by myself, well over 20mph for the next 10-14 miles with minimal effort. Having estimated it'd take 2-3 hours to get to the nearest town, I was there in an hour and ten minutes.

Are we discussing actual achieved speeds or relative perceptions ?

the things I changed to make my bike feel more comfortable -
tyres - went from the "average" ones it came with to one size larger in a much higher quality, rolled faster, softer feel (pumped up harder).
saddle - found one that resembled by bum. Im my case a B17, once broken in of course.
Neither of these gets me anywhere noticeable quicker but does increase enjoyment.

Si wrote:Fast _and_ comfortable is interesting as I'm sure that a lot of people mistake discomfort for speed. A bike that feels stiff (lots of road buzz) feels fast because you think that you are getting the maximum amount of power through the machine and down to the road. In reality it ain't necessarily so.

Spot on, IMHO

Comfort is produced by a combination of good position and good contact points.

Speed, over a longer ride, is also partly down to a good position. For three reasons. Comfort. Aerodynamics. (Usually a compromise between those two) And good pedaling mechanics.

Perception of speed can be a bit different to actual speed. Many cyclists find that cycling in the dark feels faster than it actually is, for example.

Personally, I think nothing beats a good tailwind.

A tailwind, and a nice destination! (In my case recently to see my newborn first grandson - yay!)

Q. what makes a bike feel fast and comfortable?

A. a suitable anaesthetic...?...

samsbike wrote:I am curious about this, as its probably not the material, but is it all in the geometry and tires?

those are important but every single part of the bike that accepts load (and a few that don't) can affect how the bike feels as well as how well it goes.

Also just to complicate it - are they compatible?

yes of course. But there are compromises. The biggest one of these is not really to do with the bike per se; it is that the bulk of the effort you expend is against air resistance and the bulk of that is spent pushing your body through the air.

Getting your body out of the wind isn't easy; it requires a riding position that results in what most people regard as 'discomfort', and/or some kind of a fairing; neither is to be undertaken lightly.

cheers