Road buzz is killing me. Which frames deal best with peeling road surfaces?

After cycling 40 miles home from work on the Argon 18 Gallium Pro today I felt battered. It’s not so much the potholes as you can avoid them, but the stretches of road where the top dressing that they apply has peeled off. I run 25c tyres at 80 psi with a carbon post, but it’s just friggin unbearable.

I love the Gallium Pro and on smooth tarmac it’s a cracking bike, but I feel the time has come to purchase another stead that will deal with road buzz more efficiently.

So my question is. Can anyone actually tell me whether any of the following will actually be MUCH better. Giant Defy Advanced Pro/SL, Spec Diverge/Roubaix, ..

Demoing all possible options is going to be tricky as I don’t live close to a bike shop.

Thanks

Specialized with the zertz are good. But really a 28mm+ tyre makes a lot of difference

Phatter tyres and crabon fribe or Ti.

Carbon and Ti are better at damping down vibration. My Diverge is carbon, has phatter tyres, a pug-ugly vibration damping seatpost and vibration dampers in the frame. It’s comfy, but still fast.

If you’re doing 40 miles on a regular basis, go for comfort over speed, within reason. Your list there are all very good, fast and comfy bikes. I would also pick one that takes rack and/or mudguards for that sort of commute, but that’s personal choice.

Have you tried some bigger tyres and new bar tape?

Probably cheaper than a new bike, unless you need an excuse for a new bike of course. In which case, get one of those swanky pinarellos with the soft tail.

I cannot run 28c tyres as there is not enough clearance. Frame is high end carbon, wheels are carbon and so is seat post. It’s more in the saddle area than the bars.

I do like the sound of the diverge. 32c tyres + eyelets for guards. I read a google post that suggested the Roubaix is a better road buzz killer than the Diverge?

4 posts and no MTFU? really. 😐

can i therefore suggest MTFU? 😈

I read a google post that suggested the Roubaix is a better road buzz killer than the Diverge?

I’ve ridden both. My Diverge weighs the same as the equivalent spec Roubaix, but takes wider tyres, takes racks, has the clever extra bottle cage mount for a SWAT kit, etc, etc, etc.

In short, a Roubaix is a lovely thing. Fast, too. A Diverge can be built just as fast as a Roubaix, but then it can also do this and more;

Unless you’re racing, why ride a racing bike? Why not ride a fast, capable and comfy bike?

Arms or arse?

If arms double up to two layers of bar tape.

Arse, same shape saddle with more cushioning.

I’d try that before getting a new bike.

4 posts and no MTFU? really.

can i therefore suggest MTFU? My SAGA magazine will be dropping through the door in a few years time so I am at an age where I am now thinking function over fashion. So bugger MTFU!

@CaptainFlashheart – the flexibility of the Diverge is very appealing. Can you tell me more regarding how it feels on rough road surfaces compared with a normal carbon racer?

My Kite is steel frame, carbon forks, 38c tyres and one of those hideous seatposts like CFH’s Diverge.
Bloody comfortable on the road and it’s not really that slow either compared to my road bike.

Get a mountain bike, and get off the tarmac. Job done.

Arse, same shape saddle with more cushioning.

I love my Brooks Swift, but I suspect that is not the best for absorbing vibration. It used to be fine, but now not so. I think this is more to do with the year in year out deteriorating state of the roads in the UK than my saddle.

Can you tell me more regarding how it feels on rough road surfaces compared with a normal carbon racer?

On road – Pretty much as fast. Comfier. The roads around me are a state, especially as I try to plan routes around quieter back lanes and linking farm roads. It’s a fast bike, but also a comfy one. Oh, and better braking and steering thanks to discs and bolt throughs.

Off road – Far more capable. It’s not an off road bike, by any stretch of the imagination, but more a bike that’s fast on the road but can have some fun! Can make some pretty mundane singletrack really quite exciting!

The Defy is closer to the road/race end of the spectrum, and is a lovely thing. I’d choose a Defy over a Roubaix, any time, but a Diverge over either for that versatility.

Race bikes ARE faster. If you’re racing, that’s clearly a good thing. But you’re not.

My SAGA magazine will be dropping through the door in a few years time so I am at an age where I am now thinking function over fashion. So bugger MTFU!

Age has nothing to do with it,so as eddie11 says,toughen your arse up princess,or ride more than a few miles so you get away from those hard,nasty roads 😈 😛

CaptainFlashheart

Cheers fella.

I’ll ignore the MTFU haters as after 200 miles this week I don’t have the energy 😉

Definitely fatter tire or better tire upgrade. Often a bit less pressure re buzzz allthough 80psi with a 25 seems on the lower end of the scale

http://calfeedesign.com/shootout-calfee-manta-vs-trek-domane-rba/

Hope that link works- Calfee Manta sounds interesting

You call it a ‘stead”..
You deserve to be in pain. 😉

Skinny stays on the Cervelo bikes really help tame the chatter. R or S bikes are great. The new treks are also apparently super comfy with front and rear “give” .

Defy SL and some 27c Vittoria paves take away road chatter nicely. Love mine. Has a half degree slacker head tube angle to help with handling.

Defy Advanced Pro (or SL) with big (28c) GP4000 II tires worked really well for me, they came up 31mm inflated on the wide rims the bike comes with

But definitely need the big tires, for the front end does not have the same compliance as the rear.

I found running the front at 80-85psi did the trick.

Not quite the same but I have a trek silque (WSD version of the Domane more or less), OH has a cannondale synapse. Both are carbon, both are supposedly endurance type bikes. We have a lot of rough roads up here in Scotland. I can ride the same piece of road or path as him as he’s really feeling the buzz but I’m fine. Maybe it’s fit on the bike but I like to think it’s just that the trek dampens out the buzz more.

Domane SLR is rather nice, maybe have a look at that if your budget stretches?

My Scott CR1-SL is loads comfier (and faster) than the Boardman Alloy bike it replaced. It’s their Roubaix/cobbles frame. Or at least it was when I got mine.

Is it worth buying a 2nd hand gravel bike, such as an arkose for the commute? You can have big tyres, mudguards, racks – ideal workhorse for commuting, and save your nice bike for days out.

Fit some 28c tyres if they will fit.. Can highly recommend schwalbe pro ones for fast floaty comfort

Why wheels do you have? I have fulcrum racing 5 on my Time and they are super stiff, amazing for sprinting out the saddle but they make the ride horrible. My Time is a comfy frame and with a set of open pro hand builds the ride is sublime, even with 23mm tires, but the super stiff fulcrums make it feel like riding a solid wheeled hobby horse on rough surfaces.

trek domane, if spartacus uses it on the cobbles it’s good enough for us

Why not just let a little bit air out the tyres? I had mine at the regulation >100psi for years because I thought that’s what they were supposed to be, now I run them around 80-90psi and the ride is much more comfortable, with no discernable drop in speed or increase in punctures.

Ignore that, I see you’re already running them at 80psi. Bigger tyres then, or double layers of bar tape?

Is there a saddle with a lot of spring in the rails? I remember I had a Ti railed Vetta saddle that had loads of give.

That Morgaw saddle is supposed to have bouncy bits.

Not all tyres are the same size for any given measurement so you might be able to go up to a slightly larger tyre – I have seen a gallium pro on vittoria pave which are 27mm – I use them and found they reduced buzz on my storck with carbon rims.
I also use a fizik kurve saddle which is the most comfortable saddle I have ever used – I use the snake but they do two other sizes.
On the handle bars I put a layer of the fizik gel under 3.2mm lizard skin tape which seems to reduce the buzz (I also use alloy rather than carbon bars having found the ones I tried in the past very ‘buzzy’)
One last thing I would say is don’t expect a miracle from a different frame – my winter/cobbles bike is a decent ti running 28mm tyres and the top dressing on the roads around here (sussex) have degraded so much that you still feel battered after a decent ride

I’ve recently bought a GT Grade (carbon) and have been amazed how comfortable it is over poor or rough road surfaces. Something is ironing out chatter and also bigger bumps and potholes. It’s quite extraordinary (compared to my steel bike.) No idea how they compare to the Diverge but it’s the same sort of idea.

I had a Ritchey Road Logic 2 road bike , steel with carbon forks.
Lovey bike, sold it on this forum as it just wasn’t that comfortable, and I have had a lot of steel frames. Perhaps it was more related to me being a bit older now, 60 + ….

Bought a Charge Plug 5 titanium bike with carbon forks, and 40mm wide tyres.
Much more comfortable, bit slower, but prefer this to almost any road bike I have owned.

Ti frame / carbon with wide tyres and a more gravel / touring geometry is the way to , if you aren’t racing.

27.2 carbon layback post and ti railed saddle made a massive difference for me. Felt like a different bike, worth a try?

I suspect the answer is a combination of riding that sort of thing more, considering a new saddle and getting a frame that can take larger tyres. And perhaps still not expecting it to be comfy unless you have suspension.

Never really considered that different wheels could make a difference. I have the light-bicycle 40mm deep u shaped carbon wheels. Love the wheels but maybe they are just super stiff and don’t help?

I have a pair of alloy cero rims that I could try as a comparison. I always thought that the amount of road buzz was just down to 2 things. How stiff your frame is, eg thickness of chain stays and what size tyres/pressure you were running?

Just to add. Current tyres are GP4000S II 25c

How stiff your frame is, eg thickness of chain stays and what size tyres/pressure you were running?

Tyres are important, yes. Frame stiffness also, but….

See also;
Bars and stem – Something with some flex or damping can really help here. Good carbon, or even ti, bars are great at soaking up a bit.
Seatpost – See above
Saddle – See above
Tape – As others have said, good tape is the shizzle.
Frame layup – Not just stiffness, but the way the frame is designed to work. Yes, we all know that laterally stiff and vertically compliant is the marketing guff to end all marketing guff, but actually (hold on!) it’s what you want in a frame for your needs here. Good handling, with good comfort.
Wheels – You’ve sort of answered this yourself already. A set of aero-grrrr race wheels will be fast, but they won’t be comfy. A set of nice hand built audax-spec wheels will be fast AND comfy.

Many factors to consider here, and that’s before we even look at fit! For example, a layback seatpost. Maybe, but it might upset your positional balance overall and then you’re screwed.

As others have added, if you’re not racing, why ride a race bike? You wouldn’t, I assume, take a full on hardcore XC race bike out on your local chilled trail loop. So, why would you take a MOAR AERO GRRRRR race road bike out for a ride?

If you’re not racing….

As others have added, if you’re not racing, why ride a race bike? You wouldn’t, I assume, take a full on hardcore XC race bike out on your local chilled trail loop. So, why would you take a MOAR AERO GRRRRR race road bike out for a ride?
If you’re not racing….

However there are only 5 points where you touch the bike, and the 2 which have more weight on them from a racier position are comfy. Going more sit up and beg will only put more weight through the saddle and – all other things being equal – exacerbate the problem.

Going more sit up and beg

Who said anything about sit up and beg?

Better position on a comfier bike (Frame, tyres, bars, post, etc). Not sit up and beg.

Going more sit up and beg will only put more weight through the saddle and – all other things being equal – exacerbate the problem.

Exactly this.

Stay light on the seat; light on the bars; press hard on the pedals.

My alloy bike feels comfortable enough, although I do run a MASSIVE seatpost.