From what I gather, it seems that there is a trade off between aero tubing on a bicycle and its ride quality. For example, I always read how fast the Litespeed Blade is, but also that it rides like a brick. In comparison, the Litespeed Saber is known to be a very comfortable bike. The aero tubing is much more “toned down” on the Saber. Yes, it also has carbon seat stays, but I don’t think that’s going to make a huge difference in ride quality (it used to have titanium stays and was always touted as a nice riding bike).
So what thinks you all?
The reason I’m looking into this is for the design of my own custom ti bike. It will have an aero down tube and seat stays, but I’m trying to decide if I want an aero seat tube or not. I really don’t think that it will make much of a difference, aerodynamically speaking. I currently ride a P3, which is definitely a fast ride, but gets to be pretty harsh after about 3 hours in the saddle. I have yet to do an Ironman distance race, but I’ll be doing Wisconsin next year. A big part of me thinks that ride quality overshadows aerodynamics for 1/2 Ironman distances and up.
I would guess that a 10-20psi reduction in tire pressure would make a larger difference between two REASONABLY designed frames than the tubing shapes. The early 2000s Blades were NOT reasonably designed, at least for smaller folks. Newer Blades are an almost completely different bike…about the only thing they have in common with previous incarnations is the 6/4 Ti material.
I’d pit your P3, outfitted with a reasonable spoke count, lower spoke tension, lower tire pressure setup against a comfort queen like the Vitus 979, outfitted with low spoke count, high spoke tensioned, maxed out tire psi setup anyday of the week in terms of long term comfort.
From what I gather, it seems that there is a trade off between aero tubing on a bicycle and its ride quality. For example, I always read how fast the Litespeed Blade is, but also that it rides like a brick. In comparison, the Litespeed Saber is known to be a very comfortable bike. The aero tubing is much more “toned down” on the Saber. Yes, it also has carbon seat stays, but I don’t think that’s going to make a huge difference in ride quality (it used to have titanium stays and was always touted as a nice riding bike).
So what thinks you all?
I think it is nonsense. The geometry (wheelbase, seat tube angle) will have much more effect on “ride quality” than the shape of the tubes. As will tire choice and pressure.
I train on handbuilt (by me) 32 spoke wheels at a reasonable spoke tension. Also, 700x23 tires at 105 psi. Still, when I hit about that 3 hour mark my bones start to rattle.
I do ride steep, but I don’t know if that will really affect ride quality much. I am lengthening the wheelbase of the new bike in comparison to my P3 via slightly longer chainstays and a slacker head tube angle. I’m also using an Easton EC90 Aero fork, which is a nice riding fork from what I read.
I just don’t know if an ovalized tube would tend to be more rigid than a round tube, in terms of shock transfer. The aero seat tube I’d be using is actually sort of a round tube with a 6/4 titanium fairing and a rear wheel cutout.
I do ride steep, but I don’t know if that will really affect ride quality much. I am lengthening the wheelbase of the new bike in comparison to my P3 via slightly longer chainstays and a slacker head tube angle. I’m also using an Easton EC90 Aero fork, which is a nice riding fork from what I read.
I just don’t know if an ovalized tube would tend to be more rigid than a round tube, in terms of shock transfer. The aero seat tube I’d be using is actually sort of a round tube with a 6/4 titanium fairing and a rear wheel cutout.
I think that the closer the rear wheel is to the seattube, and the steeper the seattube is, the less shock can be absorbed. A longer wheelbase might help. Again, I doubt that the shape of the seat tube has any effect.