controlling the back wheel

[BrotherShaunEPB]

Hi all, having come back to cycling after a break of 20 odd years, I spent 2 years riding a hybrid and loving it, but decided to splash out on a drop bar lightweight for going on longer rides at the weekend. Bought myself a Giant cyclocross bike, and took it for its first proper run out to Fox House near Sheffield this morning, all was pretty good, managed to get up to the highest point at 1272 ft, and then survived the high speed descent back into the suburbs. Now to the issue, the weather being unseasonably hot, the tyres and roads had softened, and I had a couple of scary moments at quite low speed where the back wheel seemed to skid out a bit from under me, does anyone have any tips on how to control/counteract this as it frankly put the willies up me and I dont want to abandon the roadie after one trip because of what could be a tiny problem... over to you folks.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Was that in bends and if it was, was it under front or rear braking? Nice cycling, mind!

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Are your tyres pumped up properly? If the pressure is too low in the rear tyre, it'll slip going round corners.

 

[BrotherShaunEPB]

Was that in bends and if it was, was it under front or rear braking? Nice cycling, mind!

thanks :-) it was mostly on corners and oddly enough coming up the last steep hill near home where the road surface is very uneven, the tyre pressure might not have been as high as it should be, time to invest in a new pump with a pressure gauge, I'm not doing much on the road bike as yet because I want to get my weight down quite a bit more, lost 4 stone since taking up cycling again and about another 4 to go, but loving it, and tackling the hills at what I like to call a 'relaxed pace' !

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Can't help with your problem, but to CC!

 

[BrotherShaunEPB]

Can't help with your problem, but to CC!

Thanks :-)

 

[biggs682]

are you sitting too far forward , try shifting saddle back a bit to put more weight over rear wheel

and welcome aboard

 

[BrotherShaunEPB]

are you sitting too far forward , try shifting saddle back a bit to put more weight over rear wheel

and welcome aboard

Nice one, I'll give that a go, although downforce shouldnt be too big an issue at the moment, I'm still over 22 stone, almost amazed the bike didnt collapse under me to be honest!

 

[biggs682]

Nice one, I'll give that a go, although downforce shouldnt be too big an issue at the moment, I'm still over 22 stone, almost amazed the bike didnt collapse under me to be honest!

more to do with weight transfer than downforce , but saying that if you fix a tea tray to the top of your helmet that is elevated at the rear that will create some extra downforce

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Hi @BrotherShaunEPB and .

I hope you can sort out the grip issue. Oddly enough, my brother has had similar problems which I haven't been able to entirely resolve for him, so I'll be following the advice given with interest.

 

[fossyant]

Knobbly cross tyres won't offer the best grip on Tarmac, so allow for this. Slick road tyres offer the best grip.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

thanks :-) it was mostly on corners and oddly enough coming up the last steep hill near home where the road surface is very uneven, the tyre pressure might not have been as high as it should be, time to invest in a new pump with a pressure gauge, I'm not doing much on the road bike as yet because I want to get my weight down quite a bit more, lost 4 stone since taking up cycling again and about another 4 to go, but loving it, and tackling the hills at what I like to call a 'relaxed pace' !

Even odder that it's also happening up a steep hill when most of your weight will be on the rear wheel. I wonder whether you're actually pretty powerful and have a strong push at a certain point in the pedal revolution. If that's a possibility, I'd think about trying to even out your pedalling style - this might help you climb anyway.

Personally, I would need a wet, greasy road and probably a few mulchy leaves thrown into the mix to get the same effect with slicks. There again, my pedalling style is so smooth that forward movement is not always detectable to the naked eye

 

[paul04]

Welcome to the website Get yourself a track pump with pressure gauge, and check the tyres are at the correct pressure, run mine on the road bike at 100psi.