How much does comfort matter to you?

[morrisond]

You want to talk comfort? I have many Road bikes - but after riding my Carbon Salsa Warbird with 38mm Compass Tires it's hard to get back on a skinny tire bike.

I live in Oakville Ontario and the roads are not that great. In reality the Warbird with 38mm tires may be .5 of a km/h slower in a straight line at the same effort on erfect pavement. However it's absolutely magical how well it rides at 50-55PSI and what crap on the road (cracks/ sewer grates/dirt/gravel) you can just roll right over. It handles great as well.

I have set many of my PB's on Strava with that bike. A 1-2km/h difference in apparent wind is a bigger difference than any potential lost aero or increased rolling resistance.

For those of use that aren't in an actual CAT 1 race - bigger tires and more Comfort make cycling a lot more enjoyable. It's also a lot less stressful as the big tires are a lot safer as they do stop better and you can roll over so much more crap that would have you on your ass on a skinny tire bike. On a skinny tire bike I cringe every time I see a crack bigger than 1cm in width.

On especially beat up segments of Tarmac (Lakeshore Road going East from Burlington to Oakville) I think I am actually faster on the 38mm bike as I can hold my speed and line over all the crap versus having to stop pedalling and brace for impact or swerve on the skinny tire bikes.

Try big tires they are magic. I would also argue they are especially suited for Group riding where you do not have perfect vision on what is in front of you.

Now I'm going to stop writing and go try my new Steel Road Bike that has room for 34ish tires (Currently running 28mm GP4's that measure about 32mm) on that crap piece of road and see how it does. I think it will be better than a lot my skinny tire bikes but no where near the 38mm Warbird.

[morrisond]

You want to talk comfort? I have many Road bikes - but after riding my Carbon Salsa Warbird with 38mm Compass Tires it's hard to get back on a skinny tire bike.

I live in Oakville Ontario and the roads are not that great. In reality the Warbird with 38mm tires may be .5 of a km/h slower in a straight line at the same effort on erfect pavement. However it's absolutely magical how well it rides at 50-55PSI and what crap on the road (cracks/ sewer grates/dirt/gravel) you can just roll right over. It handles great as well.

I have set many of my PB's on Strava with that bike. A 1-2km/h difference in apparent wind is a bigger difference than any potential lost aero or increased rolling resistance.

For those of use that aren't in an actual CAT 1 race - bigger tires and more Comfort make cycling a lot more enjoyable. It's also a lot less stressful as the big tires are a lot safer as they do stop better and you can roll over so much more crap that would have you on your ass on a skinny tire bike. On a skinny tire bike I cringe every time I see a crack bigger than 1cm in width.

On especially beat up segments of Tarmac (Lakeshore Road going East from Burlington to Oakville) I think I am actually faster on the 38mm bike as I can hold my speed and line over all the crap versus having to stop pedalling and brace for impact or swerve on the skinny tire bikes.

Try big tires they are magic. I would also argue they are especially suited for Group riding where you do not have perfect vision on what is in front of you.

Now I'm going to stop writing and go try my new Steel Road Bike that has room for 34ish tires (Currently running 28mm GP4's that measure about 32mm) on that crap piece of road and see how it does. I think it will be better than a lot my skinny tire bikes but no where near the 38mm Warbird.

So I just got back from the ride on the Bike with 28mm GP4's - nope didn't ride as good as the Carbon Bike with 38s - but that might have to do something with the fact that GP4's don't ride like Compass's, I had the builder use basically the stiffest bigest tubes he could use (Columbus HSS) or the fact that it's 1C here right now which means everything is stiffer and the asphalt is harder than normal and lots of frost heaves(which don't bother the 38's at all).

That being said it was a lot of fun as the frame transfers power a lot better and mechanically functions better. I'm running 11sp SR H11 on it with Campy Shamal DB wheels - I love the wheels and how instantaneously they transmit power.

I'm using i9 AR25's which aren't that stiff on the Warbird which isn't the stiffest frame out there either - maybe it's time for a stiff Campy wheeled bike that can take 38's...

And a final plug for Campy disc brakes - they are phenominal - very little free stroke before they start doing a lot. I've had a number of Shimano Disc bikes and was never that impressed.