Hi folks, I'm in the process of choosing a new hybrid bike, something like this:
My question is will a suspension make much difference when riding on a steep edinburgh cobbled street? or am i just better off going for ridged forks?
Cheers!
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Commuting
suspension on a hybrid bike for cobbles
(9 posts)-
Posted 5 years ago #
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Suspension helps, wider tyres help too
Posted 5 years ago # -
Tyre choice is best way I reckon. My hybrid E-bike demo has 700s and 32mm tyres and a sus fork - bump up kerbs with few bike handling skills which is good for me.
(on my hack recliner I have an air shock rear suspension and that does help to make smooth ride with 35mm wide Kojak).@ArobComp had Big Ben 47mm tyres on his VanMoof and they are very nice. Big Apples are good too or anything over 32mm for city use. Not that slow really and tram track proof at same time!
@MarkusStitz would say get a fat bike...(!)Posted 5 years ago # -
cheers for the replies chaps. @LaidBack you mention someone with a vanmoof, was looking at their ebikes, are they any good?
Posted 5 years ago # -
Big tyres with lots of air in them better on cobbles than any suspension
Posted 5 years ago # -
@monostereo, if you look at the thread (is it PY this Friday?)from the most recent cafe meet up the most normal looking bike in any of the pictures is @arobcomp's van Moof. Think it might have a hidden motor assist, but you can't tell. The lights are integrated into the frame, there is a burglar alarm and a tracking device and it also looks very nice. Obviously very pricey but David Byrne is probably cycling one around New York as I type. If I drove I would give up the car and buy a van Moof.
With electric bikes you do not need to follow the rules so closely. Thus, @arobcomp has some fattish tyres on his Van Moof. The Lecky bike I have been using also has enormous (for me) Schwalbe fat tyres.also some suspension and disc brakes. These three are new to me. But 16.6 mph is a given. Over that the magnets start working against you so not really worth it.
On Friday I was catching a couple of the regular commuters. Reeling them in, the castelli racer lad turned off at Currie but the lad I think of as Australian came into my ambit. He did not like this one single iota and finished his home commute with a brilliant sprint on the flat. This is his funny kind of way of acknowledging the sibling hoods of the road. His tyres do be skinny
Posted 5 years ago # -
@gembo lol at the lad you think of as Australian.
Yeah i am tempted by the vanmoof but not sure about the fact that it doesn't use a bocsh motor (which seems to be the standard) and have read reviews saying they aren't powerful enough for steep hills, so would be very interested to speak to a local owner.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@monostereo, yeah Oz Guy gives no reaction. Maybe he is shy. We were wheel sucking him the other night, me and my pal Tom and trying to do The Bantz but got Nada.
@arobcomp was saying he was surprised just how much he used the van Moof. I am the same with the lecky bike. If you have meetings dotted around Edinburgh it is more efficient for arriving in your suit. I amazed young Mike by wearing my suit in the commute the other day. It has been very dry and indeed mild but tend to put the gilet under the suit jacket. Etc.
@arobcomp resembles a handsome outdoor Victorian brick convenience. He used to run the pedicabs in Edinburgh, he probably doesn't even have the motor on most of the time as it drains the battery
Posted 5 years ago #
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