Should the pros use suspensions at Paris-Roubaix?

Ahead of Paris-Roubaix, GCN’s Conor Dunne took to one of the cobbled sectors that defines the race. The twist is that his bike was kitted out with suspension units in both the seatpost and the stem. On the rough pavé, could the use of suspension actually provide a benefit by dampening the high-frequency vibrations and isolating the rider from the surface below?

Riding over cobbled roads can be incredibly fatiguing with the non-stop vibrations impacting rider performance. By fitting suspension that isolates the rider from the bike, it should, in theory, take the edge off, allowing riders to stay fresher for longer. To find out if this is true, Conor tested the theory on one of the longest and roughest sectors used in the race – Carrefour de l'Arbre.

• Read more: Paris-Roubaix: Chicane added to slow entry to Arenberg cobbled sector

Suspension has been successfully used in Paris-Roubaix in the past

The notion of fitting some form of suspension to the bike is not something that has evaded the peloton in the past. Over the years, there have been many incarnations of suspension setups used at the race. In 1992 the winner Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle took the victory with a pair of RockShox Paris Roubaix SL forks. These borrowed the emerging technology from the world of mountain biking to provide 30mm of front-wheel travel. Such was the perceived advantage of the fork, come the next year's edition, five teams opted to run the fork for the race.

• Read more: How Greg LeMond made a pioneering push for suspension forks at Paris-Roubaix

In 2015, Pinarello also took a crack at using suspension with the Dogma K8-S used by Team Sky. The K8-S used a small shock absorber that was mounted at the junction between the seatstays and the seatpost. Tuning the layup of the rear triangle allowed it to flex vertically adding compliance to the bike and dampening some of the high-frequency chatter of the cobbles.

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Bradley Wiggins rode a rear-suspension-equipped Pinarello Dogma K8-S in the 2015 edition

In more recent times, Specialized has had notable success with bikes equipped with suspension. The Specialized Roubaix received an update in 2017 that saw a small suspension unit dubbed ‘future shock’ isolate the handlebars from the head tube, providing 20mm of travel. Since its release, both Peter Sagan and Philippe Gilbert have claimed victories at the Monument aboard the bike.

The test

In order to find out just how effective suspension could be, Conor devised a plan to ride the Carrefour de l'Arbre sector back-to-back, once with the suspension units fitted and one without which, after some analysis, should show where and how much suspension can be a benefit.

To find out just how effective the suspension was, make sure to check the video linked at the top of this page.

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