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| Made a change to hopefully make this smoother. |
Anyway, I happened to have one item in the parts bin that I could employ to make things a bit nicer on my paws, and that is a Redshift ShockStop Stem. Disclaimer: Redshift Sports sent this stem for test and review at no charge to RidingGravel.com and let me keep it afterward. Okay, so with that bit out of the way, I went ahead and decided to swap out my Easton stem for this ShockStop stem.
Now there is a bit of a conundrum here regarding what Redshift says about a handle bar like the Winston Bar and use of their stem. They do not recommend using a flat bar with a lot of back-sweep with their stem. They don't really tell you why, but I think many of you out there can figure it out if you stop to think about how this stem works. The stem pivots just ahead of the steer tube and your stem clamp and anything at that extension from the steer tube and further out acts like a lever on that pivot and the elastomers inside. Applying a lever behind that pivot point renders the stem inactive. That is an observance I made once I got the Winston Bar matched up with the ShockStop Stem.
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| A close-up of the ShockStop Stem. Note the pivot placement. |
The Winston Bar is a bit of an odd-ball in terms of handlebars in several ways, but one of the main features of the bar is that it has a lot of forward-of-the-stem real estate and just as much that extends behind the face plate of the stem. So, it kind of is a 'both worlds' bar. As I ride with the Winston Bar, I am on the extensions near to the brake perch, or my hands are somewhere on the brake levers most of the time. Of course, I use other hand positions as well, but my main ones are ahead of where that pivot would be, and thus the stem should be active.
When I grip back on the extensions, the further back I grip the less active the stem is until at one point it quits working. All the way back on the ends of the Winston bar all I am getting is the natural flex from the carbon fiber. Conversely, the further up those extensions towards the brakes, the less flex in the bar. So, in a way, the stem and the carbon fiber handle bar compliment each other. I detest the over-used saying 'best of both worlds', but if there ever were a proper example of that, this may be it. Maybe.....
Now the proof will be in the riding, and that will happen soon enough. While I have this on a single speed bike, I am not fearing that this stem will have any hint of twisting flex or weird 'play' in the mechanism. This design has convinced me that the stem should be able to withstand my efforts in 'mashing' a single speed gear. I know I can cancel out the stem's movement, and that's a good thing on a single speed at times. Plus the obvious suspension/vibration absorbing bit is present now with the ShockStop stem on there.
I'm very hopeful that this takes the zing out of these wheels and tires. I'm running lower 20's for psi in these Gravel King SK+ tires but there seems to be no real good way to get them to be smooth feeling. I'm sure I could stick with the 650B format if I had a better riding tire, but I'm not buying new tires just for those wheels. 650B has other traits I'm not particularly fond of anyway, so I will be going back to a 700c carbon wheel set and smoother 40mm tires at some point here. I'm pretty sure I know exactly what I am going to do as well.
So, that's the latest on my search for a smoother ride for the time being.
7 comments:
Can we talk tires an PSI? I was running 700x43 Panaracer GK SS, and I had them at 28psi Fr and 30psi rear. That seemed to be the bees knees. I am trying to run WTB Riddlers that are 60TPI 700x45 at that same PSI. I tried a few different variations of it and no matter what I do the tires seem dead. I think it has more to do with the 60tpi than anything. I am running them on Hunt 35 carbon wheels. This weekend when ridding Blackhawk county chunck gravel I could hear the tires droning on. You know that creepy sound when you are running tubeless and just got a flat? Yeah that noise. I am racing the Rule of 3 in Bentonville this weekend and wanted a 45 or 44 wide tire with grip for the single track sections of the course. This race appears to be more monster cross inspired than anything. Regardless, would you entertain a 25psi as acceptable or worth trying?
@N.Y. Roll - WTB tires vary a lot from model to model. I never felt like the Riddler 45's were anything to write home about in as far as ride feel either. I think they feel a bit 'dead' as well and especially as the surfaces you ride get harder. On smooth pavement I felt they were less free and felt a tiny bit 'draggy', if that makes any sense. So, no- I don't think going lower in air pressures than you have will 'fix' what you are feeling.
Conversely, the Resolute 42's, which seem to have a different build, feel awesome. They actually roll better in my experience than any Riddler I have tried. They feel nicer, in terms of smoothness, and despite the tread pattern, I have always found them to be faster than a Riddler.
That said, batch samples can vary with WTB and occasionally they use different factories which can affect how their tires ride, even though you might be using the same model as before. (See the famous Nanoraptor issues from the late 00's)
Another example: WTB sells two versions of the Nano 40- A blackwall which has always been the same, and then they came out with a tanwall version, with a completely different casing and thus, ride feel and performance. Upon further review, it looked like the tanwall Nano was eerily similar to the Resolute tanwall tire casing. It looked just as though they swapped tread patterns. Again- NOTHING like the black wall Nano 40.
So, here's the takeaway- There are WTB tires and then there are WTB tires- I would not swap now for your event, but after this I would be super choosy and careful when looking at WTB tires. They do not seem to have a consistency of ride feel or quality of construction across their range. That makes choosing a new tire from them a bit more difficult than say from Panaracer, Vittoria, etc. I don't think your problem is air pressure. I think it is just that tire model and the way WTB has it made.
@GT yup, the dragging effect I call the Velcro sensation, lol. This is the first set of WTBs i have had other than Nano40s that felt dead. The riddler 37s I had, felt to roll nicely. Basically i bought a 45 wide tire I could find a set of. WTBs generally have never failed me on durability before, so I am hoping that a few more miles will round the corners out and help them roll nicer. - Thanks for the advice.
GT - Timely post. I've been riding a (rim brake) Monstercross for some time and love the fork's ride quality. (What's really interesting is how much faster it is coasting than a similar, but stiffer frame & fork setup.) I'm planning a custom steel build, mainly because I want disc brakes. I'm wary of giving up the steel rim brake fork ride quality. Are there carbon disc forks that can compete with a nice steel rim brake fork? Sounds like your Rando is overly stiff. Curious how it compares to the Noble and/or MCD front ends?
@Blain - Yeah, the original Monster Cross fork on my bike is really pretty smooth. I tried a carbon fork on it and went back after a few weeks. It just wasn’t the same.
I’d probably compare and contrast what I did with my Raleigh Tamland. That bike came stock with a unicrown steel fork and disc brakes. That fork is HEAVY but it rode really pretty nicely. I ended up testing a Fyxation carbon fork on the bike and ultimately kept that on there as the bike only gained a touch more roughness but the weight difference was huge and it actually made the bike easier to move over the rough stuff.
I’d say the MCD with its steel disc fork is noticeably stiffer than the Raleigh. So you have to find the right fork. Not very many carbon forks have a decent ride. I’ve lucked into a couple that do, including the Noble GX5.
I figured I would follow up on how those WTB Riddler 45s 60TPI did at Rule Of Three this weekend. Not gonna lie, they surprised me in the wet single track and rain soak clay gravel roads. I wonder if tires need to be broken in and road and the brunnel on the tire softens and the tires can become more supple? The tires shed the single track mud, and on a few gravel descents when I watched a guy pack it in, due the slop. the Riddler 45 stay on track and gripped through.
@ N.Y. Roll - I do believe tires break in to a degree. Casings stretch, for sure, and so I think that the casings also can gain a bit of better ride feel after they get worked in a bit. I notice that more on some tires than on others.
Sounds like the ride was a good one.
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