[SwissTony]

I am the lucky owner of a Fairlight Strael 2.0. I like it, but don’t quite love it. I was drawn to steel by the promise of a comfortable ride. I’ve had an old steel frame in the past, and loved the feel, but the Fairlight has always seemed a little bumpy, barely smoother than my alu racer. 

That was until last week, when I loaded up with a heavy rucksack which I had to deliver to a friend. Suddenly the road buzz was gone, smooth as butter. Once I dropped the bag off, the buzz was back.

Am I imagining this, or is this a thing? I’m hoping someone might be able to give an explanation.

What I think is this… the tolerances in the frame (as all bikes) are calculated with the rider weight in mind. I’m relatively light (but not that light – 65kg), and the bag was probably 7-8kg. Being temporarily heavier meant the tension in the frame was just so.

If that’s the case, presumably that’s true of all bikes, not just steel. Is there a solution other than putting on some weight?

Topic

[Chris Hayes]

Nah…my son rides one and he

Nah…my son rides one and he’s 29kg…on 32mm tyres, however.  Moderate PSI for an 8yr old. 

[Nick T]

Yep

Yep

[Welsh boy]

I think you are overthinking

I think you are overthinking things, the extra weight probably squashed your tyres a bit, try letting a few psi out of your tyres and see how that feels 

[Author]

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