I don’t care what you call it but I currently ride my cross bike a lot on mixed trails, road, forestry, routes normally used for MTBing. It’s got 40mm tyres and is very light but too rigid as aluminium, I get really shaken about which is wearing for longer routes

What frame material would you recommend for a new bike for 2-4 hour rides, as well as hopefully in the future some longer bikepacking or mixed touring, and I did my first CX sportive with another next month

Preferred options so far seem to be Titanium or Steel, I’ve looked at the Kinesis ATR, On one Pickenflick ( but no pannier racks available) Shand Stoater, Niner steel frame (v expensive) or I’d consider a local steel frame builder

Material has less impact on comfort than the application of that material in the design of the frame.

There are Alu bikes that are comfy, and steel bikes that will beat you to hell, same with Carbon.

I’d recommend letting some air out of your tyres first, a few PSI can make a big difference and if you’re already running 40mm then there’s good chance you’re running them too hard if you still feel beat up.

And then if you are still convinced your frame is beating you up, go looking for more comfy/flexible frames, not necessarily one built out of a particular material.

(one important detail you missed out is what your current bike is)

i’ve got CX bikes in steel, alloy and titanium that i use for both racing and longer days in the saddle and they all shake me about, that’s the nature of a CX bike really

what tyres you put on them, what pressure you run them at, and what wheels you put on any of those makes a big difference to how they ride

as above, look at the design of the frame rather than the material, the Ti one i have is quite chunkily built and so quite solid, but you can hoon it like an MTB 😉

Currently have a TrekX02, super light
I have previously run my tyres softer but then had a few punctures and you do go faster if pumped up hard!
I think part of the problem is that its a small frame, I think 49 or 50cm and I’m 5 ft 7 and a bit. I get lots of lower back ache after longer hard rides, so I think I probably need a longer frame , but I’d quite like to get a frame with longer rides and comfort in mind too

captcaveman – Member

you do go faster if pumped up hard!

mostly it just feels faster.

even more so off-road.

Sounds like you need a cutthroat…

Mucho-spendy…

Lower tyre pressures will make the most difference to comfort. Worth thinking about tubeless if punctures are an issue.

I have previously run my tyres softer but then had a few punctures and you do go faster if pumped up hard!

Perhaps disingenuously, you don’t, especially offroad.

Big tyre, lower pressure, supple sidewall = faster and more comfy.
Even the roadies are waking up to this, high pressures and skinny tyres are only faster on super smooth surfaces (ie: the track and/or VERY smooth tarmac)

If you’re getting penetration punctures then that was likely co-incidence rather than lower pressure that caused it, if you pinch puncturing then look into tubeless, or riding smoother 😉

Just out of interest what pressures are you running them at, and how much do you weigh?

For ref, with my onroad/offroad/tourer thing, with a 77kg me on top, runs 38mm tyres 35/45PSI when unloaded, and 40/50 when I have all 4 panniers on or the trailer attached. Only had one puncture in the last 1000 miles and that was when I rode into a pointy rock in a quarry, at speed, with 20kg in the panniers, so entirely deserved I think.

a frame that fits you will also make a big difference to comfort

^ that too 😀

Bigger tyres at lower pressures – you may have to get hold of a different frame so these will fit.

Possibly a different position may help depending where you’re getting bashed about from.

I’ve ridden cx bikes since the mid 90s, both for racing and for general riding off road. I’ve ridden steel, aluminium and carbon and there’s no real difference between them in terms of comfort. What does make a difference is tyre size, tyre pressure and riding technique.
Much as everyone has already said above.
Obviously my Ti Fargo is a completely different level of riding ability and comfort 😉

What about something like the Singular Gryphon that can take bigger tyres? Think Shand made a bigger tyre version of the stoater at some point too. Probably give you more comfort than frame material.

I’ve got the new salsa warbird in alu which is super comfy run it with really wide drops

Hadn’t really looked at the Fargo before, could be a good choice, but dont want to go as far as the Deadwood