Tackling down hill surprises

[Dogzodiac]

Hello,

My first Question here. I have been riding a few months now on my road bike, but I have problems relaxing and enjoying downhill cycling. The problem is road surfaces e.g. pot holes, ruts, general rough surfaces and trying to spot them before I cycle over them. Even the small rough patch feels so dramatic on a road bike.
I see other cyclists riding downhill at reasonable speed without any concern about been thrown off.
I'm not wanting to achieve Tour De France speeds but I seem to be Braking heavily every time I approach hills in fear of smashing my front wheel in, followed by my face

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Hello,

My first Question here. I have been riding a few months now on my road bike, but I have problems relaxing and enjoying downhill cycling. The problem is road surfaces e.g. pot holes, ruts, general rough surfaces and trying to spot them before I cycle over them. Even the small rough patch feels so dramatic on a road bike.
I see other cyclists riding downhill at reasonable speed without any concern about been thrown off.
I'm not wanting to achieve Tour De France speeds but I seem to be Braking heavily every time I approach hills in fear of smashing my front wheel in, followed by my face

It will come in time, I don't fly down hills unless I know them and even then very rarely above 36-38mph.

 

[jack smith]

Im similar but recently ive started grititng my teeth and getting on with it, especially when i was part of 500 riders in my local area lastweekend and people were flying past me( i wqs doing mid 40's) on rough decents, i gather if they can do it on bikes regarded as not as good as mine. Mine can handle it, if you want more confort and to stop the vobrations try letting some air out the tyre or switching to 25c tyres

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Im similar but recently ive started grititng my teeth and getting on with it, especially when i was part of 500 riders in my local area lastweekend and people were flying past me( i wqs doing mid 40's) on rough decents, i gather if they can do it on bikes regarded as not as good as mine. Mine can handle it, if you want more confort and to stop the vobrations try letting some air out the tyre or switching to 25c tyres

To be frank I did that and can't tell the difference, maybe its my cheap Viking frame.

 

[jack smith]

Ooh i loved my viking, cheap simple and bombproof, id trust that on a 40mph decent on the roughest roads, kts the carbon im worried about!

 

[Tigerbiten]

It's all about trust and knowing the limits of your bike.
Most potholes are near the gutter, so as you go faster you need to ease out a little more from the gutter.
I normally ride about 12-18" out from the gutter, but once I'm over around 25 mph I'll be around 24" out.
Not only is the tarmac better but it give me more wiggle room.

Then find a nice hill of around 3% down with little traffic.
This will let you get to around 25 mph down it without hitting silly speed.
Move practice moving the bike from side to side like a slalom.
This will help build your confidence on how the bike moves at speed.
Now try down that on rough tarmac so that you try and keep the bike on the smoothest bit.
Once you get happy one shallow slopes then up the angle and speed.

I expect to hit +40 mph on a 10% hill if its long enough.
At which point I'll have a silly recumbent grin on my face ........

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@Tigerbiten had a tat-tat with motorist on more than one occasion about pot-holes and road position. I always ride a least a meter away and take the road for safety if needed, there is only one hill I can get to 40mph on long ish but steep and very straight.
@jack smith I love my Viking its a 2007/8 Torino originally a 7sp triple on Sora 3300 kit, however its nothing like that now, new wheels RS10 and then RS11's when they got replace to fractures in the rims, it went from 7 to to 9sp when the 9sp right shifter failed after about 2,500 miles I had had enough of shifters from ebay a went with some 105 5700/3 and 105 FD and RD with a KMC 93 10sp chain, new bars improved confidence on the drops May/June 2013 but the new shifters have improved that no end in just over 2 months, seat post saddle pedals are just other changes, and whilst the bike cost £300 new its likely to cost £1000 to replace like with like. The problem with the current Viking range is the level of kit is getting more basic, and the fact most are now only doubles and suffer from over gearing for new cyclists.

 

[Rob3rt]

It's all about trust and knowing the limits of your bike.
Most potholes are near the gutter, so as you go faster you need to ease out a little more from the gutter.
I normally ride about 12-18" out from the gutter, but once I'm over around 25 mph I'll be around 24" out.
Not only is the tarmac better but it give me more wiggle room.

Then find a nice hill of around 3% down with little traffic.
This will let you get to around 25 mph down it without hitting silly speed.
Move practice moving the bike from side to side like a slalom.
This will help build your confidence on how the bike moves at speed.
Now try down that on rough tarmac so that you try and keep the bike on the smoothest bit.
Once you get happy one shallow slopes then up the angle and speed.

I expect to hit +40 mph on a 10% hill if its long enough.
At which point I'll have a silly recumbent grin on my face ........

Why do you ride so close to the kerb?

 

[jack smith]

@Nigelnaturist sounds like ots got some nice upgrades! Got any photos of it on the forum? Id love to see a done up viking

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@jack smith I doesn't look that much different a pretty drap silver/grey black colour scheme (white San Marco saddle, it's not staying) RS11 wheels and the shifters not much to really look at, I have a few from when it had an Acera RD.
This from when it was still a 7sp
Viking Torino by nigelnaturist, on Flickr

 

[slowmotion]

I'm in the same boat as @Dogzodiac. I've been on road bikes for about four years but I don't like fast descents. My fastest, on a clapped out steel clunker of an MTB with perished, under-inflated 35mm tyres was about 33mph. The handlebars where about a yard wide and I felt totally relaxed. On a road bike with 23mm tyres I feel every single little pimple of aggregate and it sets my teeth chattering, making me a little nervous.

As for potholes in the road, they can be anywhere. On a night ride last year, going quite fast down a hill, one flashed by about ten inches from the white line in the middle of the road. It was quite big. Some people get to be philosophical about it. I still have a way to go.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@slowmotion not had much problem with pot holes as in damage, though I have from stones one even put a dent in a rim, and the current trend of top dressing just hides them so they are more difficult to see, pot holes that is not stones.

 

[Tigerbiten]

Why do you ride so close to the kerb?

Recumbent trike. Hence silly recumbent grin at speed.
If the left front wheel is ~1.5' in then the right front wheel is ~4.5' in.
So it rides a lot wider than a bike on the road.

My basic rule of thumb for downhill runs is .........
2% down is 20 mph.
4% down is 30 mph.
8% down is 40 mph.
16% down is 50 mph.
There are only a couple of hills around Northampton I can hit +40 mph on as most of them are to short/shallow.

 

[slowmotion]

@slowmotion not had much problem with pot holes as in damage, though I have from stones one even put a dent in a rim, and the current trend of top dressing just hides them so they are more difficult to see, pot holes that is not stones.

The pothole that flashed by was maybe ten inches long and four inches deep. I wasn't worried about the bike, just it's squishy engine.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Relaxing is key also, holding the bars in a death grip will result I'm the bike being more nervous and skittish. The bike tends to want to stay upright and hold it's line over most minor bumps and should just shake it's head over larger ones, of course there comes a point where a hole will tip you off, but hopefully you'll see that one :-)