What Style of Bike For Comfort To Replace My Hybrid

[Chris Jeggo]

When you say

.... while keeping ~5mm clearance around the tyre ....

do you mean 5mm each side or 2.5mm each side?

Edit: Worked it out - 5mm.

[AndyB1]

The Thorn Touring bars are at sjs cycles again, mounting diameter is 25.4mm. They are very comfortable but their diameter where they mount in the stem may not be right for your bike so do check.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/handlebars/ ... tin-black/

[AndyB1]

Tyres - what exact size do you now have? It will say on the sidewalls.
I think you have said you have reduced them to 60psi - pressures on my bikes are much lower than this, 35 - 45psi.

[bertie1969]

Changing stems and bars can be done for fairly sane amounts of money.

I use back-swept Pashley "North Road" bars on my Moulton (which is usually supplied with either flats or drops) and that lets me sit quite upright and thus no need to brace my arms. If you brace with your arms that will put weight on tour hands.


As well as a swept back bar you can get a stem that comes up much more steeply/further than the one you have to raise the bars, and combined with the style of bar that can get things higher with the grips further back (the stem on my bike isn't representative, Moulton make it for their own very much non-standard bikes, but steeper and longer are readily available, ones with adjustable angle can be had for less than £15 on eBay).

Pete.

Many thanks for your reply. I think i need to raise the bar height for sure, those stem risers are a bit cheapo looking, so are the adjustable stems, it has been suggested regarding getting a riser handlebar, my bike stem is 31.8mm and it would be good if i could find a 75mm rise bar. I also dont know what bar design to go for one with a slight slope back or one like yours.

[bertie1969]

1. Check whether the steerer tube is aluminium or carbon. I strongly suspect it is aluminium, but to make sure undo the top cap on the top of the steerer tube, and look down inside. You will probably see a star fangled nut inside a metal (aluminium) steerer tube. If aluminium it will look like this:


2. Provided it is aluminium, order one of these:


3. Also order a shorter stem from SJS at the same time. Check the clamp diameter of your bars - I suspect it is 31.8mm (as opposed to 35mm or 25.4mm). If so, order one of the two stems below. Ignore the misleading photograph of the System X stem, which is of a much longer version of that stem. The Cinelli stem is 10mm shorter but costs £8 more.


4. Measure your tyre clearances. Do this by sliding allen keys in the gaps btween the tyre and fork, and between the tyre and chainstays (NOT seatstays, because chainstay clearance will be less). Calculate how much wider a tyre than your current tyre you could fit while keeping ~5mm clearance around the tyre. Tell us what that figure is, so that we can suggest suitable good value tyres. It is possible that you might be directed towards tyres sold by SJS, if so include them in the order for the stem raiser and stem in order to have just one delivery charge.

It is almost certain that you will also need larger inner tubes than those in your current tyres, and again we will be able to advise. Check whether you have presta or schraeder valves on your bike, so that you order the right type for the new tyres.

You do not need new rims. There is a lot of lattitude in how wide or narrow a tyre can be used on a given rim width. It is unlikely that the clearances of your bike would enable you to exceed the upper limit (Cannondale clearly designed the bike to be able to be fitted with wider tyres).

5. In your order from SJS include a mirror.


In your shoes, I would get the one in the link below, because the mirror is large and high quality, the support is rigid and does not vibrate, and it positions the mirror relatively high, which reduces the amount of bending your neck to look down at it. Like similar designs, it will require a hole to be cut in the end of your handlebar grip (unless you want to buy new grips of the type with a removable end). It is not a cheap mirror, but it is a lot less expensive than having an accident.

When you have the stem raiser and stem, let us know and we can advise on installing them (the stem raiser in particular adds a bit of fiddling compared with just fitting a stem).


In summary, you have got the saddle back as far as it will go, so the only significant variable now to experiment with is bar height/position. The stem raiser and shorter stem will enable you to do that, and they will reduce the weight on your hands. Note that in doing so they will make the steering feel lighter, so be prepared for it to feel different.

Furthermore, your comments about being/feeling wobbly make me suspect you are nervous and lacking the confidence that generally comes with regularly riding. Cycling skills are largely things that people do without even thinking about it. That includes things like picking lines that avoid the worst of the road surfaces and instinctively raising themselves just off the saddle when going over a bump or similar. If someone picks poor lines and/or stays sat on the saddle at all times like a sack of potatoes, then the ride will inevitably feel harsh.

Many thanks for your reply mate. I dont like the stem risers they look a bit cheap and i thought i would keep my current stem and find a 31.8mm handlebar with a 75mm rise.

[bertie1969]

The Thorn Touring bars are at sjs cycles again, mounting diameter is 25.4mm. They are very comfortable but their diameter where they mount in the stem may not be right for your bike so do check.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/handlebars/ ... tin-black/

many thanks for your reply mate. I think i would rather go for riser handlebars than replace my stem or buy a stem riser or buy an adjustable stem. My stem clamp is 31.8mm so i might need to buy an adapter or find a similar 31.8mm bar.

[rareposter]

The Thorn Touring bars are at sjs cycles again, mounting diameter is 25.4mm. They are very comfortable but their diameter where they mount in the stem may not be right for your bike so do check.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/handlebars/ ... tin-black/

many thanks for your reply mate. I think i would rather go for riser handlebars than replace my stem or buy a stem riser or buy an adjustable stem. My stem clamp is 31.8mm so i might need to buy an adapter or find a similar 31.8mm bar.

The first thing to do is simply flip your existing stem. That requires 15 minutes with a couple of allen keys and £0 (assuming you own some allen keys).

On that stem you have, it should give you an extra inch of height straight away.

If you're at all unsure of the process, go to your local bike shop and ask them to do it for you, it's a quick job. Also, searching for whatever the job is on YouTube will invariably reveal a load of "how to..." guides (some more useful that others, as a general rule try and stick to the more professional and more recent channels, the Park Tool one is always good).

See if that works, if not then we can look at riser bars, a higher stem, an adjustable stem and so on.

You have two related but distinct issues:
1) getting the existing bike to fit you
2) making it more comfortable

If you fail to get (1) right then (2) will never happen so we can park all the stuff about wider tyres etc for the moment, that'll come later. Change ONE thing at a time, make a note of what you've changed and the effect it's had. And start with the free or cheap options, that way you're not spending £££ buying new bars or new stem or new saddle then finding that it hasn't solved the issue(s).

[cc1085]

Did you seek medical advice for the "wobble" while cycling ? Maybe it's vertigo which can be treated. Replace your bicycle with any aluminium or carbon framed hybrid that has hydraulic disc brakes, 26x2.0 or larger tyres and upswept handlebars. Unless you are competing in mountain biking or gravel races you do not need suspension.

[pjclinch]

Many thanks for your reply. I think i need to raise the bar height for sure, those stem risers are a bit cheapo looking, so are the adjustable stems, it has been suggested regarding getting a riser handlebar, my bike stem is 31.8mm and it would be good if i could find a 75mm rise bar. I also dont know what bar design to go for one with a slight slope back or one like yours.

The North Road bars pictured on my Moulton now slope a little more than they did in that picture, that was the day I picked it up and I adjusted them a bit soon after (dipping them slightly down and rotating the grips).

The adjustable stems are, all else being equal, not as good as the right rigid stem... but they do let you change your setup easily and are good enough for most riding most of the time. For anyone not regularly not heaving on the bars they're typically okay and they let you find a good position for your bars which you can subsequently follow up with a better rigid stem that you know will work.

Nobody knows what designs will work until they try them, you just need to make educated guesses based on what you already know does/doesn't work and getting a general vibe about something from others' reviews and experiences. I knew from riding Dutch rental bikes that swept back would work and the shop had fitted those to other Moultons for apparently happy customers, worst case was have them swapped back out after my first test ride. The loop bars on my off-road tourer (swept back but wider overall and a 45 degree sweep) were also an educated guess and have also worked well for me. The original is the Jones Loop but those are £££s and there are cheaper versions like the Cinelli Double Trouble as alternatives.

Pete.

[AndyB1]

Bertie, I don’t know where you live but in Taunton near the rail station is a cycle charity shop that has loads of good secondhand parts - you may have a similar place near you? A useful place to find stems, handlebars etc, and to return unwanted parts to.

[bertie1969]

I try and buy from Amazon when i can as they have free shipping if you spend £35 or more. I ordered ergotec Handlebar Riser Bar 70mm 780mm 31, 8mm, brake shoes and ergon GA2 fat grips. I got the bar for £36 but it wont arrive until next week, the grips were £14. It will give me a rise of 70mm and i will likely need to trim the ends to length too.

[freiston]

Nobody knows what designs will work until they try them, you just need to make educated guesses based on what you already know does/doesn't work and getting a general vibe about something from others' reviews and experiences.

I'm sure I'm not the only one on these boards who has a collection of saddles and handlebars