cattle grids

[gavroche]

what do you do when you come across a cattle grid? Do you ride over it at speed, slow down or dismount and walk across it? I am still unsure about what to do. Can going over it at speed buckle the wheels? I see many riders do that but I wonder about the long term effect.

 

[The Brewer]

I hit one at 50mph, bunny hop I felt was the best option.

If you see it then approach at a sensible speed, if not then HOP

 

[snorri]

Depends on the condition of the grid, if it is on a public road it should be OK, if on a private road there could be spars missing or slack.((.

 

[Matthew_T]

Grids can be very varied. As said above, some can have missing spars, there are square and circular spars. You have to just judge the situation.

 

[Tigerbiten]

I like to hit them at either sub 5 mph or over 20 mph.
At slow speeds I just bump gently over them.
At high speed I just touch the tops of each bar so its fairly smooth.
It's at the mid range speed that I get rattled to death.
Then again I'm on a recumbent trike so no risk of falling off but I cannot really get out of the saddle.
I think the fastest I've hit one was around 44 mph .......

 

[defy-one]

Best is speed imo, i usually stand on the pedals and try to bunny hop some of it.
Being perpundicular to the bars is a must

 

[Nebulous]

I did the Bealach Mor two years ago, and had a dodgy moment on a cattle grid near the start. It finished the event entirely for some people who fell off before they had really started. Line it up square on (at 90 degrees) and effectively treat it like ice- no inputs just roll over it. So no braking, steering, or putting down power. That one I had a wobble on I cranked and the rear wheel slipped. I don't see high speed as being crucial and tend to slow down a bit for them. I much prefer the square spars to the round ones. I cant bunny hop so that isn't an option.

 

[400bhp]

This topic was discussed recently. The answers are in that thread.

 

[400bhp]

Best is speed imo, i usually stand on the pedals and try to bunny hop some of it.
Being perpundicular to the bars is a must

No

 

[Boris Bajic]

Perpendicular to the angle of the rungs and speed seems unimportant.

Anywhere between 10 and 30 mph has worked for me, although bear in mind that braking while on one may have mixed results.

I lift bum off seat and bend my elbows so that all four limmbs have a little shock-absorbtion built in to deal with the TR-R-R-R-R-R-R!

I've had no problems with cattle grids on MTBs, road bikes daft fixies running 700c x 20 tyres at 130psi.

They can look forbidding, but they seem not to be.

 

[Rob3rt]

Just ride over them and stop being a pussy!

 

[gavroche]

Just ride over them and stop being a pussy!

speak for yourself but I, for one, look after my things as they are expensive to buy and I want them to last a long time. I don't believe in wrecking them because of being reckless.

 

[Glow worm]

They are very handy things when being chased by a big dog, as I discovered a while back! I heard the yelp of pain from a suddenly very stationary and rather surprised dog.

 

[Rob3rt]

speak for yourself but I, for one, look after my things as they are expensive to buy and I want them to last a long time. I don't believe in wrecking them because of being reckless.

You are concerning yourself with something which simply is not a concern! My bike does thousands of miles yet still looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor, it is very well looked after. There is a difference between looking after things and being scared to use them.

 

[EltonFrog]

Just ride over them and stop being a pussy!

What he said.