Pinarello has an electronically controlled full-suspension road bike for Paris-Roubaix. Big-S redesigned the Roubaix. Trek has quasi-suspended road bikes. How long until someone comes out with suspension tri bikes. Seems like it would be helpful for fatigue from road vibration, comfort, and handling if you don’t mind adding a little weight to the bike.
Perhaps we could call it soft ride.
Perhaps we could call it soft ride.
Or TitanFlex
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The posts above me basically refer to rear suspension tri bikes. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a full suspension TT bike at some point in the future. I agree that suspension could potentially reduce fatigue.
There’s a gravel loop about 15 minutes away from my house. The loop as I do it is about 15 miles of somewhat coarse, chunky gravel and the road is in pretty rough shape in some parts. I’ve ridden the loop on three bikes: my Culprit RAD (no suspension, 700x45mm tires, my Cannondale F-Si (100mm front suspension, 29x2.3" tires), and my Trek Fuel EX (130 full suspension, 29x2.6" tires). I’ve thrown my Powertap pedals on all three bikes. The Culprit RAD is the fastest bike around the loop: it takes me about 55 minutes holding a comfortable 200 watts but I feel a bit “beat up” by the time I’m done. On my F-Si it takes me exactly an hour at the same wattage but I don’t feel beat up at all: my butt is just a bit sore. On the Fuel EX the ride is so smooth that I might as well be on freshly paved tarmac though it takes me closer to 1:08 to finish the loop on 200 watts.
Far from scientific but three things to consider: Specialized did a really sophisticated study of the speed benefits of suspension in the last Roubaix and found that suspension did indeed make the bike faster (granted not by much and it was over cobbles). Pinarello did their own testing and is making some pretty big claims for the Dogma FS. A final point is that relative perceived exertion definitely has an impact on performance. Regardless of how fit you are it’s hard to push near threshold for an extended period of time if you have a pebble in your shoe or your saddle is rubbing you the wrong way.
Since it’s apparent we’ve hit peak aero, the next logical place for the bike market to go is aero + comfort.
or Zipp.
or Titanflex.
or Pearson.
or Slingshot.
or Headshox.
or. . .
it’s all been done before. tri bikes are more boring now than they were in the 90s.
Top tube Isospeed like the latest Madone has would seem to be a no-brainer for the next Speed Concept.
or Zipp.
or Titanflex.
or Pearson.
or Slingshot.
or Headshox.
or. . .
it’s all been done before. tri bikes are more boring now than they were in the 90s.
I have an old Softride, and while the rear is very comfy, I think a tri bike would benefit a lot more from just a bit of front suspension. Unlike a road bike, when in aero position any shocks from the road can get transmitted straight up my arms and into my shoulders and neck. When riding my Softride (or old P3C) over joints in the local trail it can really start to bother me.
The more even front to back weight distribution on a tri bike makes some front shock absorbtion much more beneficial.
Top tube Isospeed like the latest Madone has would seem to be a no-brainer for the next Speed Concept.
Seat tube angle doesn’t lend itself to that sort of suspension design.
I once road a full suspension mountain bike in two triathlons…it was horrible.
I think suspension like the new pinarello is overkill for road TT/Tri. A little compliance to take edge off for rough roads I think would be a good thing.
Now if we are talking about mixed surface tri’s a little suspension could be beneficial. For off road tri’s like Xterra we already have full susspension bikes.
The more even front to back weight distribution on a tri bike makes some front shock absorbtion much more beneficial.
Minor point, but I swapped some ripped stock armpads on my Argon to cushy pads (just because I could find them available but not stock) and I honestly thought I’d got a puncture for the first ride. Made huge difference to the comfort. Potentially moving that ‘absorption’ into the fork would be more efficient by limiting the movement of the frame, but comfort wise then it’s a simple and light fix.
https://bikerumor.com/2019/04/11/niner-mcr-full-suspension-gravel-bike-flies-closer-to-production/
A truly full-suspension bike (front and rear)
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Check out Lauf Forks… https://www.laufcycling.com/product/lauf-true-grit
Top tube Isospeed like the latest Madone has would seem to be a no-brainer for the next Speed Concept.
Seat tube angle doesn’t lend itself to that sort of suspension design.
It doesn’t, but I fully anticipate Trek doing this. Also, if aerobar armpad risers could be telescoping with an elastomer inside, I think this would be great. Having even this minimal ‘suspension’ in addition to lower tire pressure could make rough road sections so much safer, and I think that’s a big plus, and would make long training days and long race bike segments much more comfortable and thus faster
I rode my Cannondale SuperV full suspension mountain bike with slick tires on it before I got my first decent road bike and it was amazing. Especially in hilly races. I pumped up the rear shock to the max so it had only a little travel and I would lock out the headshock for climbing. The descents was where where it really shined. The front and rear suspension would soak up the chatter and give you crazy speeds and confidence. I did the same races later on road & tri bikes and it took years of getting fitter before I was any faster.
I could see a tri bike with front and rear suspension being faster IF you can lock out the suspension. Then you get great climbing with it being rigid, and smoother and faster on downhills and on flat rough roads if you want it. Just flip a switch, like you do to drop a dropper seatpost.
A big upgrade in the meantime is to get CeeGees elbow pads. Those things greatly improve the ride on chipseal roads.
The Pinarello FS has magnetic fluid in its hydraulic system which allows it to lock/unlock very quickly. My interpretation is that it acts like the Fox Live Valve system where it locks/unlocks automatically based on certain vibration thresholds.
Top tube Isospeed like the latest Madone has would seem to be a no-brainer for the next Speed Concept.
Seat tube angle doesn’t lend itself to that sort of suspension design.
It doesn’t, but I fully anticipate Trek doing this. **Also, if aerobar armpad risers could be telescoping with an elastomer inside, I think this would be great. **Having even this minimal ‘suspension’ in addition to lower tire pressure could make rough road sections so much safer, and I think that’s a big plus, and would make long training days and long race bike segments much more comfortable and thus faster
syntace C2s, baby - 30 years old and still rockin’!
Sure why not? Big Bike is in its last throws of innovation when it came out with disc brakes for a TT bike. Aero has pretty much hits its peak, integration has some room for improvement, maybe some kind of smart bike that talks to you or some kind of new material but what not suspension. All big bike has to do is convince you that suspension is the new solution to a problem you didn’t know you had and now its the must thing so open up your wallet.
Anybody ever try one of these? https://www.ebay.com/p/Spring-Steel-Saddle-Suspension-Device-Shock-Absorber-for-MTB-Mountain-Road-Bikes/25023572151?iid=352458148630&chn=ps
Pretty sure Rock Shox did a road suspension fork a long time ago. If I recall Paula Newby Frasier used one. Modern suspension tech combined with an aero profile would be cool.