Improving rigid MTB comfort

My “gravel” bike is a rigid steel MTB on fast 2.2 tyres with full mudguards. Normal handlebar not drop. It’s great for evening rides from home on old railways, old tracks that never became roads, farm tracks, and bridleways. On a suspension fork you’d call it smooth, but a lot of it isn’t really – a lot of hard packed stone.

Hand comfort predictably isn’t very good. I do slow down and pick my lines where necessary. It’s not painful but after a 2 hour evening ride I’m still feeling it the next morning and even into the evening slightly. Can’t be good for me long term. Contrast with doing the same ride on my trail full suspension (less appropriate overall for the route) and my hands feel normal at the end of the ride.

What are your comfort tips for rigid?

The fork is a steel Kona P2. I’ve read that carbon forks help with comfort but I’m not sure it’d help much. I like the low maintenance of this bike, cargo mounts, and running full guards, so not really interested in a suspension fork. The now discontinued Lauf elastomer forks do half what I want.

The first change I’m about to do is swap the 9deg backsweep handlebar for a 12deg. Because I was amazed on my trail bike how much better going from 8 to 9 and then 10 degrees was.

I’m also planning to try Ergon GA3 mini wing grips after reading some recommendations here.

Other things I’ve seen are RevGrips, Fasst Flex suspension handlebar (expensive and rise is too low), and suspension stem (expensive and too long). No room in the mudguards for a bigger tyre. Saddle comfort is fine so no need for suspension seatposts or elastomer saddles (BikeYoke Sagma, SQlab).

Oh and I’ve already done the free one and lowered the front tyre pressure to 26psi on 2.2″ XC tyres for my 70kg weight. It did help with smaller chatter. They balloon out a bit much for my liking below that, feel slower on the smooth, and have me a bit worried about damaging them or the rim – I used to run 2.4″ trail tyres at 23psi on my suspension bike before I fitted inserts.

So what have you tried and what have you settled with?

4″ tyres.

As well as backsweep what about a bit of rise in the new bars? Might take a bit of weight off your hands if that’s where you’re feeling it after a ride. Ergon grips work well for me too.

Suspension? 😂

I’ve tried a few different handlebars on my rigid Stooge – from normal riser, wide backswept moto bars, Jones style, and I’ve finally settled on On One OG bars as the perfect level of back sweep and rise.
They are comfy for all day riding, but you still have decent control on bumpier bits

I did find them a little narrow, but I’ve added some 30mm extensions to each end (aluminium push in jobs) and they’re spot on now 👍

@bikesandboots

Can’t be good for me long term.

You’re right. If your hands are hurting then it’s possible that it’s doing long term damage.

I run Cushcore with light(er) casings at lower pressures, carbon bars and Revgrips. It’s notable that when my suspension forks weren’t working properly, I was still getting arm pump. How bad that would have been without all the other addenda I do not know.

I use OneUp carbon bars (35mm so you’ll need a new stem) and Revgrips.  (and a carbon fork and more recently a 2.6″ tyre)

It might be worth getting a different fork as a bigger tyre will make the most difference, or change mudguard type.

What tyre pressure are you running currently?

I’d always Lower tyre pressure, and try foam grips before chucking money at other things.

Also look at position rather than just bar backsweep, are you putting too much weight on your hands due to being a bit stretched out or too arse up? It’s quite easy to have a setup that feels comfortable at first but ultimately over an hour or two puts excess pressure on one area or another and hurts you.

I’ve not tried inserts, but it seem it would be be when investigating. I think the stabilise the tyre at lower pressure.

Fwiw 26psi is what I run in the rear on a 27.5 hardtail that sees most of it’s riding at Eastridge. Albeit enduro casing tyre. And I’m 110kg.

I love the idea and simplicity of rigid, but even with 27.5 x 2.8 tyres I find it beats me up too much and I feel like I’ve arthritis everywhere. Just re-fitted suspension forks to my hard tail, but am even contemplating selling it and sticking FS… could be an age thing as it’s only started to bother me in the last few years (riding is Quantocks, so rougher than what you describe though)

Ritchey Kyote bars and ergon grips work well for me. I’ve got bigger tyres 27.5 3/2.8 or 29 2.6/2.4. I love the 3/2.8’s for riding on the south downs. I just got 29’s for winter but did the SDW in a day on them last year and had no discomfort riding or after. I was 57 at the time so not down to youth 😊

In contrast my 1986 Rockhopper would leave a 21 year old me feeling wrecked after a day out.

Edit – tyre pressure 9-11 on the 27.5 and 12-15 on the 29

Tyre pressure +1

It’s not too low unless you actually do hit the rim right?

Or else too much weight on your hands

I’ve put some OO Mary bars and some Specialized ergonomic grips onto my commuter, the bars made a significant difference. It does have the effect of sitting me more upright though so you could try a shorter stem to bring your weight back a bit, or scoot your saddle forwards just to try it. Wider bars may also help, i find narrow bars put me on the ‘heel’ of my palm more than with a decent width, although i appreciate 800mm bars on a gravel bike would be counter-intuitive!

i wouldnt bother with inserts personally, in my experience they dull the tire, even with a lower pressure. On the front of a rigid bike i cant see them being much fun or comfortable.

Another option that may provide some relief, gel padded gloves. I was given some (Endura i think) padded fingerless gloves as a present a while ago and they are noticeably more comfortable over a longer period of riding.

I use these on the bar ends

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/giant-ergo-bar-ends?partnumber=450709&gclid=CjwKCAjwgZCoBhBnEiwAz35RwlJV24EjjpXX-kyq3kQ3uwv6hfPj-FEGMWN18iVXFREwehpHyX6aexoCILYQAvD_BwE

I use these grips

Ergon GS1 Grips

I use in board bar ends with silicon grips but I think the biggest difference is either the trek 1120 carbon fork or the 29er x 2.6 inch tyre.  Steerer is uncut with several spacers underneath to take as much pressure off my hands as possible.

Didn’t notice any difference between Ali handle bar and carbon.

With this set up I have multiple hand positions and rotate frequently

26 psi sounds pretty high to me for a front wheel on XC rides. With a 2.2″ tyre I’d be in the low 20’s, and I weigh ~7kg more than you

With an insert in there you could go even lower — Rimpact are much cheaper and lighter than a Cushcore. I assume you’re running tubeless? What tyre? And what internal width of rim?

The other thing would be getting some massive silicon grips. I have Wolf Tooth Fat Paw — they dwarf even larger rubber lock on’s, and with my hand problems I likely couldn’t ride without them

Only live once, ride a comfy bike with suspension and gears.

Wider rims for more tyre volume?

Redshift shockstop stem
ShockStop Products & Accessories
Though you may be currently limited to 80mm as the shortest. Have got one on my gravel bike and really improves front end comfort. They were planning to release a 60mm version this year but doesnt seem to have come out yet (i’ll be putting one on my rigid mtb!)
Cane Creek do one as well.

I have a carbon Firestarter fork on mine, which seems to move a lot. I also have 2.3 Racing Ralphs at 23psi which are plenty fast but comfy – they have the sidewall support to be run at low pressures and not bounce or squirm. But one of the best upgrades is a high sweep flat bar (was previously an One One Fleegle, is now a Salsa Bend 2) with Ergon wing shaped grips. The wide shape really takes the pressure off your palms.

Fasst Flex suspension handlebar

My exes boyfriend uses these, as he has some issues around nerve damage in his arms and shoulders.

If you’re worried about lower pressures slowing you down, or them feeling like they do. Get some better tyres.
I’m running 2.3″ at around 25 psi and am, errr, significantly heavier than you.
It’s more about the carcass and the construction than the name/tread. Putting the tread pattern of a high end race tyre on a cheap single ply casing using plastic instead of decent rubber will still make it a slow tyre…

With a 2.2″ tyre I’d be in the low 20’s,

40psi in 1.9″ Panaracer Fire XC Pros back in the day – and Pace RC30’s up front – proper hard! You’ve all gone soft! 🤣

Slide-on grips like those Wolftooth ones mentioned earlier are going to have more give/damping than a lock-on grip thanks to not losing mm to the plastic tube.

But that said I love the ergon wing grip thing. Takes some experimentation to get the perfect angle but worth persevering.

Wider rims for more tyre volume?

This. 100mm rims.

Spank Vibrocore bar?

Comfort is like saving weight in that its incremental savings across all components.

So how far do you want to go?

Tyres – not just pressure, but carcass too.
Wheel – flat section rims built at reduced tensions with less spokes. Not much point running looser spokes if the rim is too stiff to flex much though. Vibrocore rims also exist.
Frame – compliant design -material choice is part of that.
Bars – my personal favourite are vibrocore. Not all carbon bars are created the same.
Grips – a few good options here.

Personally, I think you should start at the input point and work upwards. But thats my scientific training on how vibration/noise attenuates.

YMMV

Thanks all!

4″ tyres.

It’s meant to be a mountain biker’s gravel bike, so anything over 2.3-2.4″ wouldn’t be in keeping with that.

As well as backsweep what about a bit of rise in the new bars? Might take a bit of weight off your hands if that’s where you’re feeling it after a ride. Ergon grips work well for me too.

They’re higher rise so was planning to remove a spacer to compensate, but I’ll try without later. I’ve already gone from the original 15mm rise to 38mm with as many spacers as will fit underneath, the new one is 45mm.

Suspension? 😂

Could well be less hassle than trying everything on this thread, and much cheaper! I’ve seen some brackets for putting a full length mudguard (essential for poo) on a suspension fork, but I’d have to give up my front rack which is great for commuting and errands.

I run Cushcore with light(er) casings at lower pressures, carbon bars and Revgrips. It’s notable that when my suspension forks weren’t working properly, I was still getting arm pump. How bad that would have been without all the other addenda I do not know.

Inserts – will consider if I get the pressures that low.

Carbon bars – didn’t find anything with the right rise, width, and backsweep other than the €280 carbon version of the SQlab one I’m getting.

RevGrips – I like to run my hands on the ends of the bars so don’t like any outer lockring let alone their huge one. An option for later though.

I use OneUp carbon bars (35mm so you’ll need a new stem) and Revgrips. (and a carbon fork and more recently a 2.6″ tyre)

It might be worth getting a different fork as a bigger tyre will make the most difference, or change mudguard type

Did you have a steel fork previously? If so, how much difference did the carbon fork make?

The 2.2″ tyres are maxing out the Velo Orange 63s, so would need to swap to Bluemels 75 which can take 3″.

What tyre pressure are you running currently?

I’d always Lower tyre pressure, and try foam grips before chucking money at other things.

I’ve already gone down to 26F 29R. I should try lower, this gravel pressure guide recommends 22F 24R for a 2″.

Also look at position rather than just bar backsweep, are you putting too much weight on your hands due to being a bit stretched out or too arse up? It’s quite easy to have a setup that feels comfortable at first but ultimately over an hour or two puts excess pressure on one area or another and hurts you.

Or else too much weight on your hands

The riding position is within a few mm to my trail bike which is fine. But I’m changing position more when riding that, so good point. Drop the stem from 50mm to 40mm perhaps.

Tyre pressure +1

It’s not too low unless you actually do hit the rim right?

Yes, worth experimenting and add inserts if needed.

I’ve put some OO Mary bars and some Specialized ergonomic grips onto my commuter, the bars made a significant difference. It does have the effect of sitting me more upright though so you could try a shorter stem to bring your weight back a bit, or scoot your saddle forwards just to try it. Wider bars may also help, i find narrow bars put me on the ‘heel’ of my palm more than with a decent width, although i appreciate 800mm bars on a gravel bike would be counter-intuitive!

i wouldnt bother with inserts personally, in my experience they dull the tire, even with a lower pressure. On the front of a rigid bike i cant see them being much fun or comfortable.

Another option that may provide some relief, gel padded gloves. I was given some (Endura i think) padded fingerless gloves as a present a while ago and they are noticeably more comfortable over a longer period of riding.

Stem is on the list to try now. Saddle is as far forward as it’ll go while having the saddle bag on.

Inserts have been good for me on the trail bike after reducing pressure to restore comfort.

I use these on the bar ends

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/giant-ergo-bar-ends?partnumber=450709&gclid=CjwKCAjwgZCoBhBnEiwAz35RwlJV24EjjpXX-kyq3kQ3uwv6hfPj-FEGMWN18iVXFREwehpHyX6aexoCILYQAvD_BwE

I use these grips

Ergon GS1 Grips

I use in board bar ends with silicon grips but I think the biggest difference is either the trek 1120 carbon fork or the 29er x 2.6 inch tyre. Steerer is uncut with several spacers underneath to take as much pressure off my hands as possible.

Didn’t notice any difference between Ali handle bar and carbon.

With this set up I have multiple hand positions and rotate frequently

Rotating hand positions sounds a good idea.

I’ll consider a bigger wing grip rather than the mini wing GA3 I had in mind.

That fork looks perfect if it makes a big difference. All the right holes for guards and rack.

26 psi sounds pretty high to me for a front wheel on XC rides. With a 2.2″ tyre I’d be in the low 20’s, and I weigh ~7kg more than you

With an insert in there you could go even lower — Rimpact are much cheaper and lighter than a Cushcore. I assume you’re running tubeless? What tyre? And what internal width of rim?

The other thing would be getting some massive silicon grips. I have Wolf Tooth Fat Paw — they dwarf even larger rubber lock on’s, and with my hand problems I likely couldn’t ride without them

I’ll try lower.

Yes I have Rimpacts on my trail bike and have seen their other models.

Tubeless yes, Conti Cross King Protection front, 25mm rim.

Interesting grips, might those before the winged ones.

Only live once, ride a comfy bike with suspension and gears.

Fair point, get a full suspension XC bike, pay a shop to maintain it, spend less time talking on the forum about a problem which suspension was created to solve!

Wider rims for more tyre volume?

I think I could go as high as I’d want to for this bike on 25mm, with bigger mudguards.

Redshift shockstop stem
ShockStop Products & Accessories
Though you may be currently limited to 80mm as the shortest. Have got one on my gravel bike and really improves front end comfort. They were planning to release a 60mm version this year but doesnt seem to have come out yet (i’ll be putting one on my rigid mtb!)
Cane Creek do one as well.

I’ll ask them about shorter ones, there must be a market for 40-50mm for rigid MTBs, if the design can be made compact enough.

I have a carbon Firestarter fork on mine, which seems to move a lot. I also have 2.3 Racing Ralphs at 23psi which are plenty fast but comfy – they have the sidewall support to be run at low pressures and not bounce or squirm. But one of the best upgrades is a high sweep flat bar (was previously an One One Fleegle, is now a Salsa Bend 2) with Ergon wing shaped grips. The wide shape really takes the pressure off your palms.

I’d struggle to pay suspension fork money for a rigid fork really.

About the same type of tyre as my Conti Cross King then.

Not enough rise on those Salsa bars. The bars I’m getting are 12 degree but there’s a 16 degree too, I wasn’t sure which to try first.

If you’re worried about lower pressures slowing you down, or them feeling like they do. Get some better tyres.
I’m running 2.3″ at around 25 psi and am, errr, significantly heavier than you.
It’s more about the carcass and the construction than the name/tread. Putting the tread pattern of a high end race tyre on a cheap single ply casing using plastic instead of decent rubber will still make it a slow tyre…

Conti Cross/Race King ProTection Black Chilli so the tyres are as good as any, about the fastest in the XC class on rolling resistance tests. I just need to go lower pressure. It was interesting when I chose them how much more rolling resistance the cheaper casings tested at, it was almost twice as much.

Slide-on grips like those Wolftooth ones mentioned earlier are going to have more give/damping than a lock-on grip thanks to not losing mm to the plastic tube.

But that said I love the ergon wing grip thing. Takes some experimentation to get the perfect angle but worth persevering.

Maybe I should try a winged grip on one side and a fat grip on the other!

Spank Vibrocore bar?

Tried one on my trail bike out of curiosity, the backsweep is 8 degrees and it was substantially less comfortable than the OEM 9 degree bar.

Comfort is like saving weight in that its incremental savings across all components.

So how far do you want to go?

Tyres – not just pressure, but carcass too.
Wheel – flat section rims built at reduced tensions with less spokes. Not much point running looser spokes if the rim is too stiff to flex much though. Vibrocore rims also exist.
Frame – compliant design -material choice is part of that.
Bars – my personal favourite are vibrocore. Not all carbon bars are created the same.
Grips – a few good options here.

Wheels are 25mm XC with 28 spokes, quite new and no appetite for replacing them.

Frame is Reynolds 520 steel, but it’s probably still quite stiff as it’s designed as an adventure/bikepacking type bike.

Personally, I think you should start at the input point and work upwards. But thats my scientific training on how vibration/noise attenuates.

Makes sense. I’m taking a few shortcuts based on common solutions and cost.

Anyone said go slower, stay loose yet?
Get off and walk!
Don’t ride rooty/rocky trails or popular trails covered in braking bumps!

Pretty much what everyone else has said – wider, softer, tubeless tyres is the start.  3″ are great on my stooge.

Losing lock on grips made a massive difference, large ribbed mushroom style BMX grips are lovely.

Anyone said go slower, stay loose yet?

What an interesting idea. Someone said the same when I started bike commuting – there’s no need to ride fast and get sweaty.

I think part of it is that the riding position is almost identical to my trail bike so to ride differently needs intentional thinking. I’ve forgotten that a few times and had a few hairy moments, mainly front wheel slides.

3″ tyres at ~ 15psi

Fit a 25mm bar and stem. Try fitting regular chunky grips, not lock-on type.

Loosen the spokes a turn or two

Lots of stuff helps and yes tyres can make a big difference… But for me bars made a bigger one. I wouldn’t have believed it if I’d not experienced it. I had a rigid Scandal which I was riding all over without any issues, replaced it with a fatbike and I was literally stopping after a minute of technical descending because of hand pain despite all that extra tyre, and having outright safety issues with grip and brakes. I switched on my favorite rigid-bike bar- an ancient Crank Bros Cobalt 11- and literally went from that, to being able to ride it all day without a twinge.

(you can literally see them bend, so, ymmv about drawbacks! But other bars that boast comfiness are available)

I’d 100% rather ride a bike with skinny tyres and those bars, than increase the tyre size but have to have stiff bars.

I changed my bars on my cx bike from Deda Zero2 standard dropbars to Ribble/LEVEL Flared dropbars. The new bars are much stiffer which isn’t ideal but I do like the shape.

I use my sorta fat winter bike (4” rear  tire) as a 29+ rigid bike in summer in Colorado. Trying to keep bikes simple is close to my heart, good on you. What about a 2.4 front tire and lower psi (22-24) to start? Bars and grips would be next. Ritchey Kyote bars and SQLab 30X w/ 15 degree sweep are both known to me, have some compliance, and hugely helped my shoulder and wrist pain. Ergon GA3 grips have been very good for wrist and hand numbness, without looking too ergo, for those who care. Rigid fork materials IMO make far less difference in ride comfort than tires. Steel forks last essentially forever, and carbon not so much.

What’s the bike?

I’m afraid I don’t have any advice other than suspension, as that’s what I did. I’ve relegated my rigid 90’ Konas to gentle stuff like converted railway tracks.

That fork looks perfect if it makes a big difference. All the right holes for guards and rack.

The forks are really good. I like the alliminium steerer so you don’t have to use a fork bung. I found with my previous rigid carbon fork the headset would come loose.

The trek 1120 fork comes up for sale on ebay every now and then. The last pair sold for less than £150.

For the OP, i went back Redshift on their development of shorter Shockstop stems as id been patiently for one myself. They confirmed they are in final stages of development and should make it to production:
We are full steam ahead on producing shorter stem lengths at this juncture though it has taken a little longer than we expected. I can say that we don’t have an exact release date but we’re hopeful to launch them late this year/very early next year.
Only problem is this the same response i got last year 🙁

Did you have a steel fork previously? If so, how much difference did the carbon fork make?

No, the bike came with carbon forks so not compared directly.

I’m also using the OneUp / Revgrips combo. Would’ve been cheaper to buy some suspension forks TBH!

Revgrips are excellent and would recommend, but only one ride on the OneUp so far (but even if they make no difference they look the business).