Suspension on Road Bikes

CatFromHue

I'm guessing it's due to the extra weight but is there any other reason why there's no suspension on road or hybrid bikes?

You could really do with it on some of the roads in Dublin!

Lumen

Somewhat depends on how you define "road bike".

Suspension tends to make road bikes slower and worse handling.

The comfort benefits are not really worth the compromises.

CatFromHue

I've a racer myself. It's really only a beginners racer but I only use it for commuting and pleasure cycles.

I didn't know about the worse handling part.

CramCycle

If you have the clearance for it, larger tyres are a quicker and simpler solution with no where as many drawbacks. eg if you can get 28s (or even 35s) you will notice the difference.

daragh_

Careful now. No good can come of this conversation.

Lumen

CatFromHue wrote: »

I've a racer myself. It's really only a beginners racer but I only use it for commuting and pleasure cycles.

I didn't know about the worse handling part.

The problem is mainly at the front end. If you read some reviews of the Trek Domane (developed at huge expense) which has very limited rear suspension but nothing at the front, you come across people saying that it feels like two bikes stuck together - the back end absorbs the bumps but they still come through your hands.

I used to have (almost 20 years ago) a road bike with a suspension seatpost and liked it, but they never caught on as people didn't like the pedal-saddle distance changing under effort.

Seweryn

CatFromHue wrote: »

why there's no suspension on road or hybrid bikes?

Hybrid bikes are quite common to have suspension on the front wheel:



Road bikes are not so much, but some models are / were manufactured with front suspension:

del_boy13

I have a La Pierre hybrid for commuting that uses a single shock on the front wheel. For getting in and out to work its fine and the shock takes the sting out of the bigger hits. No shock in the back though and you can still feel it there right through the saddle.

The front wheel can get a bit unstable if you get really moving anything over 50 km/h (very rare) and it feels like you are only partially in control. Over 60 km/h (only once) and it feels like the bike is deciding which way to go.

I keep using it because it is a lot less likely to be nicked than a newer shinier model and its nice and quick accelerating.

I wouldn't buy another one because there is really no point to it. The other problem is parts smashed the fork a year ago when I was flying over a car and was lucky that Bee Cycles were able to source another one for me.