‘Dead’ handling

You know how some bikes feel really springy and exciting to ride? Say high-end steel / ti / carbon weight weenies or such like. Well, I’ve managed to build a rigid hybrid that is only 9kg but it feels ‘wooden’ or ‘dead’ to ride.

Previously I’ve found low-end 90s rigid bikes felt like this, I had a Marin Hawk Hill (or two) but they were 4kg heavier on MTB tyres so I kind of expected it. My new bike though

The head bearings aren’t over-tight or notchy, I’ve tried different tyres and pressures too. The stem is 100mm and it has flat bars so close to a 90s MTB. It has an alu frame and fork.

Is it just a geometry / materials thing?

SP

Quite probably. I didn't like the feel of a lot of early aluminium frames - stiff and leaden. Perhaps a vastly shorter stem would help. I've transformed the ride of a few older bikes that way.

For me,.it's aluminium in general. There's a certain phenomenon in the way aluminium transfers energy/forces.....

Also any lofty frame, as per the 700c marins, feel rather flat and lumbering in their ride.

If technically everything is ok then it seems it comes down to a geometry thing. I´ve had bikes that were like you describe, they just were sluggish to ride, even if they were much heavier than yours. As your stem is already quite short (for the 90ies anyway) I don´t know if going even shorter would help. Worth a try, but I would then also change to a wider bar (more control). I tried a similar route and with just a shorter stem the steering became quite floppy in that the bike would want to "fall" into a curve which made it challenging to hold a line around corners. My suspicion is a large trail of the fork (in combination with the frame geometry) is responsible for such a behavior.

Alu fork could well be what's killing it. but, generally, I don't like the feel of Alloy - either too stiff or 'dull'.

I'm not sure from the OP whether it's just the steering that feels dull and dead or whether that's just part of an overall feeling of dullness in the ride quality as a whole. Anyway, as above, I feel that alloy bikes are prone to feeling dull, dead and soulless too. Not all of them though. Alloy 26-ers don't seem as bad on this front.

I'm not disagreeing with any of the points above but I wonder if there are other factors involved as well. The extent to which you feel it's dead will depend upon what you're accustomed to riding most of the time. 26" tends to feel more nimble, especially if it's good quality, so, in comparison, 700c might be taking away from that lively feeling you're looking for. Again, 9kg is not heavyweight but if the wheels are 1kg+ each, that would detract from a lively feel, especially if you're used to lighter weight 26" wheels.

Perhaps it's just a geometry / materials thing or perhaps it's a what-you're-used-to and wheels thing as well.

If it's oversized AL tubing with thick walls, it will not be springy.

Hybrid geometry also needs to cater for stability at speed on the road with tires pumped up close to the maximum PSI.

Ahhhh…..

thanks all. It does have a huge head tube and the fork trail looks quite a lot. The wheels are light though.

Late to the party but I would agree about the geometry thing. Aside from the fork trail, is the HT angle also fairly slack?

To put it into context my aluminium 8 Freight cargo bike does still feel lively up front, despite being 8 feet long. The head tube is super steep at almost 90 degrees though!