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Control Box: Crashing

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    I've crashed too many times now. It's pissing me off. The last one was during wet weather. I was going average speed (i.e. not fast) around a corner. Very rough tarmac, and I'd been around the same corner twice earlier on in the day with no problems, so I didnt expect it to be slippery. However, it was the first time it had rained for two weeks so there was obviously a load of slippery shit on the road that day. Anyway - how often do you guys crash (or how often did you crash when you were rank amateurs like me)? Do you slow right down to grandma shopper speed on wet corners and smooth surfaces? And what sort of tyres do you use - do you think it would be a good idea to switch from slicks (Schwalbe Blizzard sports) to some sort of fairly deeply treaded tyre?
    • CommentAuthorNIK
    • CommentTimeApr 24th 2007
     
    i am a rank amateur and i crash all the time, but thats cos i ride like a twat and get a perverse enjoyment from them, i wouldn't worry to much about the odd one. slippery corners shouldn't be too much of a problem on slicks unless your tyres are fucked, you should be able to feel when the grips about to go and adjust your speed accordingly.
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      CommentAuthornv55
    • CommentTimeApr 24th 2007 edited
     
    Treaded tyres on bikes on the road do nothing for your grip. Sheldon's written about it here. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#tread. Just watch out for metal grates and stuff.
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      CommentAuthor_targetbot
    • CommentTimeApr 24th 2007
     
    I always found freewheeling round wet corners with your outside leg pushing down worked.

    What? You are on fixed? muahahah. Conti GP4000's are very grippy - I think they use them on the space shuttle. So at least if you do crash it is going to be fireball spectacular.
    • CommentAuthorsebo
    • CommentTimeApr 24th 2007
     
    Anyways, forehead bevelling's all the rage these days.
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    Go slower, weight the outside pedal like Ben says and don't brake through the corner.
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    And use a nice grippy tyre - GP4000 are nice.
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    "you should be able to feel when the grips about to go and adjust your speed accordingly"

    The thing is, both times that I crashed due to a slippery surface, it happened so quickly that I didn't have time to adjust anything. There was literally nothing I could do - the moment I felt the grip going, I was already on the floor.

    "Treaded tyres on bikes on the road do nothing for your grip. Sheldon's written about it here. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#tread. Just watch out for metal grates and stuff"

    Sheldon is a wise man.... but I don't believe that a treaded tyre wouldn't have more grip than a non-treaded tyre on rough tarmac... I'll have a read anyway to see what he's got to say...

    "Go slower, weight the outside pedal like Ben says and don't brake through the corner."

    I follow those textbook rules all the time... I will try the conti's though.
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    Sheldon's right. It's physics, innit.
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    Yes he's right. In theory. But I don't think he's tested his theory out in practice, like.

    What he says does make sense, but I reckon in practice, a knobbly tyre (maybe a narrow version of a DMR Moto RT) would be less prone to slipping sideways on the knobbly rough-as-fuck type of tarmac that I slipped on. It's just a feeling I have, could be completely wrong, but I can imagine the knobs on the tyre gripping rough tarmac better than a smooth tyre would. Obvioulsy no difference on smooth tarmac though
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      CommentAuthorBuffalo Bill
    • CommentTimeApr 25th 2007 edited
     
    Sheldon's never ridden a bike on rough roads, then?

    Look, you have to work out what works best for you. I would always ride a slick on tarmac. Clearly, you have to be aware that some bits of road are less grippy than others. I used to come off all the time. But, as you get more experienced, and relax more, you will find that you fall off less. Sometimes having soft arms will keep you upright when the front wheel gets squirrelly. If you wash out the front wheel, you always go straight down. If you are stiff in the upper body, that can lead to rigidity in the front end, and lead to wash out.
    • CommentAuthorhello you
    • CommentTimeApr 25th 2007
     
    best advice i read regarding what to do when you feel your bike 'going' was 'think of happier times'.
    • CommentAuthorhello you
    • CommentTimeApr 25th 2007
     
    ooh, bill, by the way. i was planning to ride back to london from warsaw in the summer and wanted one of those highly macho trailer things you've got. where is a good shopping place (web) and what is the damage?
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    Of course he has... but I wonder if he's ridden knobblies around a corner at medium speed on a rough road on a day that it rained after a 2-week dry period? I dunno. I just don't want it to happen again thats all. I am normally very relaxed when riding at normal speeds... can't remember how relaxed I was at the time of the crash though so that could have had something to do with it, perhaps I stiffened up when I saw a ped talking on his mobile and about to cross without looking.

    I'm certainly not gonna test it by razzing around a wet corner... I shall go around them inna chilled out grandma shopper stylee from now on
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    Uh, it's a bob yak innit. It's wickeeeeed. Like, cool. I got it off sjscycles.co.uk - £250, I think. Worth getting a replacement skewer for it, cos it's the weakest part of the whole set-up, and if it goes you are f***ed. Hi skot, BTW.
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    Inna chilled out grandma shopper styli! Wicked!

    Seriously, everyone falls off. A lot. Anyone that says they don't is just a f***ing liar. You will fall off less as you get more experienced. To be honest the two things that helped me improve my bike handling was 1. racing (proper road racing or track racing) 2. yoga . Although I have never wiped so hard as at Eastway on Clary's - on a solo break - POINTS!
    • CommentAuthorhello you
    • CommentTimeApr 25th 2007
     
    sweet. sounds affordable.
    hi bill.
    how is the cozey creative office today?
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    Not in there!

    Building a bike at home and listening to Francoiz breut. you got msn where you are, man?

    • CommentAuthorhello you
    • CommentTimeApr 25th 2007
     
    msnski. no. im working on the titles to a patrick swayze film, in polish. jesus.
    i'll mail you with rough dates for the ride if you facy hooking up in france or germany on the way back.
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    Cool. Can’t you have a go at the trouser-clip pissing me off on the rlj thread?

    • CommentAuthorMomentum
    • CommentTimeApr 25th 2007
     
    Apparently Edinburgh Cycles have a good trailer that is very similar to the BOB (the bag isn't quite as good) which is about half the price.
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      CommentAuthorcaspar
    • CommentTimeApr 25th 2007
     
    I've never fallen off.
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    You f***ing liar.

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      CommentAuthorcaspar
    • CommentTimeApr 25th 2007
     
    Yep thats right, never. Not even when I've been a teensy littele bit tipsy.
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    Not trying hard enough.

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    I’ll have to change that next we’re out together. If I can catch you, that is

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      CommentAuthor_targetbot
    • CommentTimeApr 25th 2007
     

    I once pulled my foot out of the pedal (from a standstill) and almost stepped over the handlebar but tripped on it and fell in a big heap in front of a bus. The driver was pissing himself. The dilemma was to deal with the pain or the embarrassment, either way I looked like a c*nt.

    Where I a real transformer I would have flipped (transformer sound) into an F-16 and fired a rocket into the bus and then flown into it for good measure you tfl w*nkers.

    • CommentAuthorNIK
    • CommentTimeApr 25th 2007
     
    my first ever attempt at a track stand saw me tip very very slowly over. much emmbarrasment + very red face. but that was nothing to when i first tried riding fixed, the first corner i came across i forgot to keep peddaling and got thrown up off the saddle, tried to regain my balance but failed and accepted falling off, much to the amusment of the pedestrians watching.

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