Ok I don't want to turn this into a bike fit thread, but does anyone else find their winter bike far more uncomfortable than their summer bike?
Summer bike is carbon frame and fork, carbon seatpost, carbon railed saddle, carbon bars, 30mm GP5000 with TPU tubes. It's set up a tiny bit more aggressively than the winter bike but generally the positions are very similar.
Winter bike is aluminium frame, carbon fork, carbon seatpost, same model saddle but with alloy rails, aluminium bars, slightly fatter bar tape, 26mm Pirelli Cinturato Velo TLR set up tubeless.
The winter bike is a bit older, and has mudguards, hence the narrower tyres, but they're pretty robust tyres and tubeless, so are only marginally (75psi vs 70psi) harder than the wider tyres on the summer bike. I could try drop this a wee bit more but I don't really think it's a road buzz thing.
I just wonder if winter riding by it's nature (for me: slower, more upright, generally aiming for Z2) puts more weight on the saddle and bars as you're not taking the weight with your legs as much? I've dialled in the reach recently so am not getting the elbow pain I was getting (turns out the top tube on the winter bike is longer, so it was just a fit issue) but I'm still really uncomfortable on the saddle, same saddle I use on the summer road bike and have quite happily used on the gravel bike in the past. Maybe just plodding along requires a more comfortable saddle?
Or is the frame just cursed? I would love to build up a nice steel audax type machine for winter road duties but finances don't allow it...
Worth swapping the saddles over, see if the rails make any difference or is there more deterioration on the padding?
Frame makes a massive difference. My winter bike - a steel Genesis Equilibrium - is much more comfortable than my carbon summer bike, even with tyres that are ~4mm(!) narrower. Genesis is running 27mm tyres and it just glides over everything.
Wish you hadn't said that, I remember looking at the Equilibrium and there's one on sale in my size too, looks lovely.
Wife would murder me though ☹️
Will swap saddle in the meantime for the more padded Power Arc Elaston from my gravel bike..
In my experience some saddies pack down after a while. I was a big fan of the Charge Spoon (and its clones) but found they lost all support after a year or so and I'd need to replace them.
A different riding position will also have an effect. As someone once explained to me, on a mountain bike you tend to be sitting on the saddle but on a road bike you are more sitting along the saddle.
Meanwhile I'm laughing at 26mm tyres 😂 (my Amazon is currently sporting 47mm)
Alu frame and narrower tyres certainly won't be helping, possibly saddle to. Not a cheap fix though (unless swapping saddles around does the trick), I assume the alu frame has more limited tyre clearance?
I had intended to use my gravel bike as my winter road bike but later realised using full mudguards for road means I then can't really use it for off-road rides (without the faff of taking the guards off each time). So ended up putting the full mudguards on my road bike and have been using that instead but running 35mm GP5000ASTR instead of 32mm STR's I was using (although I hate that it now looks trashed after every ride due to the crap weather recently!).
So in your case if it's a choice of riding an uncomfortable bike all winter vs putting mudguards on your summer bike and using that instead I'd do the latter. In reality although it might look crap caked in mud it's probably not wearing much significantly and cheaper to replace drive train bits than a whole bike.
Yeah, I can't quite believe it's just a harshness thing, it doesn't feel harsh over individual bumps really, but I'm definitely far more aware of the saddle! It's a brand new saddle so won't have packed down, although it is a Fizik Antares which are never the plushest to begin with, but again, I've used them for big days on other bikes quite happily.
A left-field idea sort of inspired by Fuzzywuzzy is to sell both the Allez and (breaks my heart to say this) the Charge Plug singlespeed to raise enough funds for a second set of gravel wheels. As it is, my good, 853 gravel bike gets hung up for winter and I do my gravel riding on the CX bike, but both bikes share a wheelset (135mm OLD rim brake, so not compatible with any of my road wheels).
A second set of wheels (and some mudguards) mean I can turn the summer gravel bike into a winter road bike while the CX bike does off-road duties. This way my wife sees the total number of bikes in the garage reduce even if there's no financial gain involved 🙄
Would be quite nice having two fewer bikes to maintain as well...
So in your case if it's a choice of riding an uncomfortable bike all winter vs putting mudguards on your summer bike and using that instead I'd do the latter. In reality although it might look crap caked in mud it's probably not wearing much significantly and cheaper to replace drive train bits than a whole bike.
Yeah nah, there's absolutely zero chance I'm taking the Basso off the turbo trainer and riding it outside, even if I could fit mudguards to it. Far too pretty, far too impractical 😆
My guess, frame.
I have carbon for both summer and winter, set up the same reach and stack (as close as I can reasonably get between two different frames) and same saddle (Antares braided)
Due to limited clearance the winter bike has 25/28mm tyres on 19mm internal rims (70/75 psi).
Also has aluminium post (Thomson) and aluminium 'bars (ZippSL)
Yet rides noticeably smoother than my summer bike on 28/28 23mm internal (65 psi) with carbon bars and post.
same bike winter and summer. 725 steel tourer. sofa comfort running 700 x 47 tyres in summer and 700 x 40 puncture proof in winter. saddle comfort is a issue i have. still cant find a comfy one. tried a saddle fitting at Specialized. outcome was i needed a 145mm wide saddle. bought one and it crippled me. tried a cambium c19 for a couple of year, it was pretty good until it died. ned to source something.
26mm tyres are very narrow these days. The narrowest I run are 28mm GP5000s at 60PSI. I think 28mm tyres are a bit narrow this time of year so my road bike hasn’t been out for ages. If you can’t go up to 30mm tyres on that bike you need a different bike. I’m currently shopping for a new summer race bike and clearance for at least 30mm is a must.
That reminds me - it's Global Fatbike Day tomorrow.
Both my road bikes have had bike fits, so position matches.
The dry/summer bike is a Scott Addict carbon, running 30mm tyres with tubes.
The winter/wet/audax bike is titanium and on 32mm tyres. It's noticeably heavier and slower but can't say I have more discomfort on either.
I solve the problem by riding the same bikes all year round.