Ditch the fully rigid steel bike, and try a full suss, or change the tyres from my city slickers for something with more volume, and some spongier grips. Hands were numb to the point where I couldn’t change gear.
The commute accross Oxford was breathtaking mind you.
Deserted canal, old developments, new stuff, wildlife, Port Meadow, river, boat houses, rowers. Just ace. I think the miserable road commute is no longer.

lumpy tyres, fat grips and rigid easy to look after bike is the way

Had similar problems last year. Took the skinny slicks off and replaced them with some raceking supersonics. Loads lighter, rolled much faster especially on rough roads and i stopped getting tingly hands

Great, I’ve got a few tyres to try. Gives me an excuse to breath new life into the 20yr old GT. Still on original chain, cassette, and the hubs haven’t been looked at.
Is it worth seeking out the posher 8 speed stuff, or just buy whatever is on sale?

Just ride til it doesn’t, simples…….

Tubless and run tyres at 25psi, also try ergon grips or simlar.

MTFU obviously 😉

2.3″ jump bike/street tyres made my commuter much more comfy than skinny slicks, seem faster too.

Hands were numb to the point where I couldn’t change gear

Singlespeed

160/150 #enduro trailbike is the only way to be sure

By any chance are you going from town out to Kidlington?
I used to do that on the tow path and found the same thing, the ride is pleasant, but the surface is pretty bad on anything fully rigid.
Instead i now follow the sustrans route 5 out of town, through Jericho and only joining the tow path near the woodstock road for a very short section.
cheers

What’s your route? I used to get on the towpath at Osney and ride up to Donnington Bridge Road without any problems, and on Tuesday I rode across Port Meadow from Walton Well Road and then down the river to Botley Road, all on my rigid hybrid with 26×1.75 Schwalbe Marathons. If I was doing it every day I’d probably stick some fatter tyres on. Other things worth trying might include: Ergon grips, a more upright stem, and Mary bars or something similar.

Bar ends or similar. Change hand position lots. Bigger volume tyre.

Maybe borrow a full suss and compare and contrast the real life improvement – If it were me however I’d volume-up on tyres .. And defo go tubeless for canals .

If the slicks are providing enough grip then Schwalbe do a few high volume slick tyres that are nice and light.

I use their Kojak tyre which I think it their lightest high volume slick. It’s very light and quick but poor on puncture resistance. They also do a few more tougher versions. I can run them soft at ~35 psi for a nice bit of comfort or super hard at 60 psi if I’m doing a TDF road time trail.

raceking supersonics

These are soooo comfy (anything conti Supersonic is) but the carcass is so thin, problem is they’ll puncture if someone so much as sneezes nearby so not really an ideal tyre for a commute in my eyes.

Try a bit less pressure first before splashing out cash would be my suggestion, but bigger volume tyres will be the best option run at sensible pressures, you’ll get so much more small bump comfort from tyres than you ever will from suspension. The full armoured tyres are great for reliability but the carcasses are often quite stiff so worth running them softer than you would think to get some comfort back unless they start getting too draggy.

As a left-field recommendation Michelin Wild Run’r tyres in 26×1.4 flavour have been a really surprising tyre for me, fast, very comfy, grippy on tarmac and hardpack for a slick, and when I bought them only a tenner an end, no punctures in the last 12 months of commuting and lugging a trailer around for shopping.

I have the same tyres as jairaj, 35c Kojaks they’re ace- light, bit of puncture protection, basically they’re more like a fat road tyre where most fat slicks are heavy, punctureproof lumps. If it’s 26 inch you’re after, I might still have my old set in the garage.

Fatbike

Cheers all
I drove down from South of Banbury parked at Bonhams, although they left me a curt message not to do so.
On the canal at Thrupp then accross to the river at Wolvercote then on past Donnington bridge onto the bike path and round the ring road to Cowley.
I’ve got some wider tyres to try, and some ergo grips. I can try my full suss, it’s probably lighter than the old steel bike anyway.
Any suggestions about where else I could park would be handy.

You should:

Wind us up with lovely morning photos from port meadow
Heckle the rowers (but always be nice to Keble ;-))
Use some larger volume slick or semi slick tyres
Try Ergon grips and foam grips

Speed helps a little. 32C tyres here 🙂

Oddball answer – Buy a slingshot, ace bikes on bumpy jittery tracks.

wiggles – Member
2.3″ jump bike/street tyres made my commuter much more comfy than skinny slicks, seem faster too.

This. Stocking up on 26″ folding Schwalbe Tabletops before they disappear!

If money wasn’t an issues…
> 29×3.0” tyre on 50mm rim set up tubeless
> ESI grips
> XC or ‘Chewy’ carbon bars

I use this on my daily commute on the Stooge along 4 miles of rocky and lumpy canal path. Lovely setup.