Racing tyres suitable for irish secondary roads

darabbit

I just purchased my first road bike, a lapiere road bike. It has MICHELIN LITHION 700X23 tyres. I am new to road racing so I had planned to spend the weekend leaning how to use the clipless pedals without getting hopped off the road and changing the gears.

Anyhow I got used to the clipless pedals pretty quickly on the tarmcadam on my driveway so I decided to take to the road. I live out the country so it is all secondary roads and lanes. I wasn't prepared for the suface to be so rough. For some reason the council don't roll the last coating on the roads anymore so the surface is very rough. I was very rattled and my hands were left red and smarting after a half an hour spin.

Can anyone tell me if this is something I am to get used to or should I change the tyres on my bike??

I plan to use this bike for gaelforce next year but I am having second thoughts now.

Thanks for any advice offered.

Muller_1

You will get used to it. You should be able to use the same tyres on any road.
Make sure that you have your wheels pumped to the correct pressure 100 - 120 psi. Also you may be hold the bars a bit too tight.

darabbit

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. I think it will take a while to get used to. i had a headache after it too. I will check the pressure of the tyres this eve to see what they are set at. Maybe I am holding on to the handlebars too tightly but I am still quite nervous or falling witht the clipless pedals. I suppose it will relax a bit more after a few rides.

ednwireland

did you have gloves ?

i ride donegal roads on schwalbe lugano 23mm yes you can get your teeth rattled out (carbon focus cayo)

but its not better on my steel framed bike with 25mm tyres

but a lot of the time i have my hands resting on the bars,rarely gripping.

thicker gloves dont help me either (i have some very thin craft saxobank ones, and some thicker vermarc milram ones both thin trade team gloves, have soem six six one with thick gel padding and find i get numb hands after 3 hours or so - cant really figure gloves out tbh)

tyre pressures are 110psi (but i'm a fat git)

CheGuedara

+1 on gloves and loosing any death grip you might have on the bars.

If you don't have some already pony up for a good pair of gloves and you wont regret it. There are some gloves out there with quite a bit of padding in the palm to help take the edge off vibrations coming through the bar (in my experience specialized do some good ones).

Outside of that you could change the 700x23 tyres for something bigger like 700x25 or even x27 but this will only make so much difference if the road surface is plainly bad, so stickin with the x23s and seeing if you can get used to it with good gloves is prob the best move before going to the expense of new tyres

darabbit

Thanks guys for the advice. I have ordered gel gloves, I am jsut waiting for them to arrive. I will take a few more spins before changing the tyres.
Lets hope I can stop my brain from getting rattled around so much.:rolleyes:

Smithzer

darabbit wrote: »

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. I think it will take a while to get used to. i had a headache after it too. I will check the pressure of the tyres this eve to see what they are set at. Maybe I am holding on to the handlebars too tightly but I am still quite nervous or falling witht the clipless pedals. I suppose it will relax a bit more after a few rides.

Headache is prob going from cold temps into extreme warm temps, I get them after eve spins lately as the temps have dropped in the last few weeks.
S

Captain Havoc

Also slightly bend the elbows, if they're straight you'll feel every bump.

Greyspoke

As well as gel gloves, you can get bar tape with added gel cushioning which can help a lot. Unfortunately it's largely a case of getting used to it and run the tyres at the lower end of the recommended range (though you might pick up more punctures).
I agree, the way they "resurface" our country roads is shocking (quite literally!).
This year in Kildare they seem to have started employing a truck that squirts tar onto the road while at the same time dumping a pile of chippings before driving off. Why can't they roll it?? It would make such a difference.

feltAR2

lads i train six days or about 20 hrs a week. tyre pressure or size has nothing to do with the problems mentioned above. rough roads do take rough roads or roads with chippings are rough regardless but certain tyres are more durable than others

Gavin

feltAR2 wrote: »

lads i train six days or about 20 hrs a week. tyre pressure or size has nothing to do with the problems mentioned above.

You reckon a tyre at 70 psi is going to transmit the harshness of the ride as well as 110 psi ? On surfaces like that, it's all about the pressure, as Greyspoke said, if you want to reduce vibrations. Could try Gatorskins, or Armadillos at a lower pressure. Hopefully the puncture proof nature of the tyres would cancel out the low pressure.

ROK ON

OP: Wait a few weeks even a few months. It can sometimes take time to settle into a new bike and get used to the feeling of the road.
Reality is that most roads frequented by cyclists in Ireland are secondary in nature. You should get used to the after a few weeks on the bike.

The dvice about not locking arms and keeping a loose-medium grip is spot on.

To be honest, I am not sure that your tyretype (manufacturer) will help you in this regard, however good gloves do lessen road vibration IMO.

Some roads are just very bumpy, you sort of get used to it in the sense that after a while you dont really notice that you are on bad road surfaces, but you do notice when you are on smooth good ones, if that makes any sense.

Lumen

Tyre pressure does make a significant difference to ride quality.

I run 23mm tyres at 90F/100R, and have not had a puncture. I'm currently under 70kg.

dave2pvd

feltAR2 wrote: »

lads i train six days or about 20 hrs a week. tyre pressure or size has nothing to do with the problems mentioned above.

You must train on rollers!

Most people run their tyres at too high a pressure. Even experienced cyclists. Lumen's tyre pressure would be considered correct (not just by me, also the Michelin man - see packaging for the ProRace 3). I am ~77Kg and using ~100/105 F/R; varies depending on a number of factors.

Specialized has some great vibration dampening bar tape. I like to use it and not bother with the super-squishy gel gloves.

I think an excellent idea is to do what some Tour of Ireland teams have done in the past: use 25mm tyres.

Lastly, it would be remiss of me to not suggest to: HTFU

Canis Lupus

Buy padded cycling shorts as well if you don't own any. Your arse will die once you hit the 20-25 km mark without them.

Least my botty wotty does.