Doing Paris Roubaix in April so looking at the road bikes comfort. Have finally admitted that the Brooks isn’t that comfortable (2 years so yes it is warn in!) so have tried a Gobi off my MTB. It’s better but not as comfortable as it is on the MTB – presumably as I have a more aggressive position on the road bike which make me wonder if I should change to the road equivalent.

I’d probably qualify for their ‘snake’ in flexibility but I fail to see how being able to touch my toes makes a tiny board comfortable over cobbles?

What is the road equivalent to Gobi? Anyone comfortable with a Gobi Kium on their MTB and the road equivalent?

Fizik work on the basis of how flexible you are, to which seat the recommend,

http://www.fizik.it/spineconcept/

don’t know if it works out, i just bought the Antares 00 (i have a Gobi 00 on the Tallboy and a standard Gobi on the Krampus) as it was light, comfy enough never to bother me, its couple with a decent pair of padded shorts, which i guess helps a lot

the gobi looks a lot like the aliante, although the aliante has a
bigger dip.

I ride an Aliante for all drop bar and a Gobi for all flat bar.
I will be riding on an Aliante at Paris Roubaix again this year.
I will also hedging my bets on the weather and taking either 32mm road tyres for dry conditions or 33mm Clement Limus cx tyres if its looking damp.

Cheers – Continental Gp4000ii in 28c for me (can’t fit any bigger)and gel under bar tape.

Did it 2 years ago with GP4 Seasons in 28, always have Fizik gel under bar tape 🙂
Last year used 32mm touring tyres as I’d punctured after following someone into a track I regretted and hit a large blue edge cobble face on.

I’d forget about comfort over the cobbles, just accept that those sectors are going to hurt! The sectors are relatively short compared to the overall distance though. Just get something that works well for you over the distance on normal roads.

Does their spine concept thing cover MTB? Doesn’t seem to. Think it’s a bit pointless to look for road “equivalents” anyway as your mtb position may have little relevance to your road position.

FWIW, I ride a Gobi on the trail bike and an Selle Italia SLR on XC race. On the road bikes I have a mix of Antares and SLR.

Are you doing the ride with a company, or just entered yourselves on the website?

Entered ourselves, booked the bus to the start and our own accommodation.

Will try some more miles on the Gobi and play with adjustments. I run quite an aggressive XC position on the MTB and it was comfortable for 13hrs on the XC bike.

Cheers – Continental Gp4000ii in 28c for me (can’t fit any bigger)and gel under bar tape.

Brave man ! Take plenty of tubes!

Why can’t you ride a Gobi on the road? I have one on the CX bike which I do a fair few road miles on and I don’t feel its a problem.

Also them cobbles bloody hurt your bum!

Brave man ! Take plenty of tubes

Why? Thought they were viewed as pretty good? Granted not the heaviest construction but I though grip would be better than Durano Plus etc

IMHO 28mm is at the lower end of tyre sizes in order to get be reasonably confident of not puncturing. A friend of mine did the full bi-annual event last summer and was going to ride with 23mm until I suggested that he really would regret it and he borrowed a pair of 28mm GP4 Season from me. He, to his credit, did come back afterwards and say that he now saw why I recommended that he did that.
The Paris Roubaix cobbles are “quite extreme”, some of them are the size of paving slabs, and may have been laid before the First World War – they also fought part of the Second World War there as well. There may not have been any maintenance carried out since then and they’re not all level with the road surface (or dirt surface to be more accurate). Some of the sectors have significantly more technical riding than some UK cyclocross races.
There will be a lot of punctures on the day.

Maybe I’ll take my XC 29er……..not much difference in weight and I do a lot of road miles on it.

No – I’m sure you’ll be fine – but, there’s nothing really in the UK that compares to Roubaix cobble sectors. Flanders is easypeasy in comparison (except for the hills…)

adsh – Member

Brave man ! Take plenty of tubes

Why? Thought they were viewed as pretty good? Granted not the heaviest construction but I though grip would be better than Durano Plus etc

adsh – I helped out at the London Ride last year. We ran out of spare tubes, mainly handed out to people using GP4000’s. Great tyre for speed and traction, you’re right. But a bit puncture prone. You do know you’ll be riding in the gutter grovelling in mud and crap in the Roubaix don’t you?

Thanks – Durano Plus 28s it is.

I’ve done P-R a few times, good giggle, hard on the body. of the 3 times I’ve done it I’ve chosen GP4S’s in 25’s and last time riding it had 4 punctures, previous 2 no punctures. It’s just the way it is sometimes. All I would say is take a spare tube, possibly a tyre patch or superglue.

As for the saddle, thought about this? Fizik Tundra 2.. a few mates run them on their CX’ers and love em’