Crashnalysis

[ebikeerwidnes]

No real downhill bits today

but I was doing some shopping and arrived at a roundabout on the way home
As I arrived at it there was a car and I was unsure whether it was going left or carrying on past me

so - flat road - dry road
but when I braked - just in case - the rear wheel locked and wandered around a bit
not serious - only about 13-15 mph - and flat - but did a small amount of attention


now if that happened on a steep downhill and round a bend


so I can imagine that a dry road after no rain for a while at this time of year may produce road conditions that are not what they seem

be careful out there!!!

 

[fossyant]

Were you by any chance off the saddle when the rear locked up? I.e. weight ratio moved to the front. Were the tyres so new that they still had that little piece of flimsy rubber in the middle?

Doesn't matter unless he shifted weight backwards. Weight on road bikes is usually through the pedals, as you aren't fully weighted on a saddle, unless you shift body weight back like you'd do on an MTB.

 

[Twilkes]

Were you by any chance off the saddle when the rear locked up? I.e. weight ratio moved to the front. Were the tyres so new that they still had that little piece of flimsy rubber in the middle?

No, sat down, 100kg so don't know how that affects gravity/braking/tyre grip, it's probably all a wash. New tyres but about 500km on them so far so I doubt they have that 'brand new tyre' thing going on by now.

 

[Twilkes]

Doesn't matter unless he shifted weight backwards. Weight on road bikes is usually through the pedals, as you aren't fully weighted on a saddle, unless you shift body weight back like you'd do on an MTB.

It was obviously downhill so some weight would have shifted forwards, but I wouldn't have been pedalling with any power so most of the weight would have been on the saddle.

 

[fossyant]

It was obviously downhill so some weight would have shifted forwards, but I wouldn't have been pedalling with any power so most of the weight would have been on the saddle.

So, do you not shift your weight over the back of the saddle when braking on a hill , or doing fast stops. My fixed gear could lift the rear wheel, with 20kg in the panniers on a 'stop' in town traffic. Rim braked too.

PS reading road conditions is very important. 40 years of knowing winter damp roads are slippy. I ride MTB too, I stick the best "OMG I don't know what I'm doing" tyres on it - Maxxis Minions - you don't get that with a road tyre though.

Just rack it up as experience.

Do you ride MTB - you will fall off regular. You usually just swear at yourself, and smash it on, till you fall off again !

 

[Twilkes]

Do you ride MTB - you will fall off regular.

You're not exactly selling it to me...

 

[fossyant]

You're not exactly selling it to me...

You 'usually' fall off when you can't get traction and have a 'lie down' in lovely 'heather'...... or softer, peat bog, or not so soft rocks.

 

[fossyant]

You're not exactly selling it to me...

PS Do you have an MTB - you are missing out on stupid fun. What happens on the trail, stays on the trail away from the Mrs... gaffa tape and zip ties....

PS done it.... kept MTB injuries 'hidden' only a year after a broken spine on a road bike !

 

[Twilkes]

I have a hybrid with chunky tyres which I've taken off road a couple of times, but it didn't do too much for me. If I had some wilds to explore long distance with a tent then I'd get an off road bike, but I'm happy with the zen of the road rather than the annoying chatter of the tree roots.

 

[fossyant]

I have a hybrid with chunky tyres which I've taken off road a couple of times, but it didn't do too much for me. If I had some wilds to explore long distance with a tent then I'd get an off road bike, but I'm happy with the zen of the road rather than the annoying chatter of the tree roots.

No, you need another steed in the shed. Trail centre first, the go into the wilds. Mix it !! MTB really helps with control on road bikes too
I'm not the best on a MTB downhill, but after my bad accident on my road bike, it's been a life line until I got OK with getting the road bikes out again. My road bikes are race orientated, both vintage, twitchy, and ass up. I've found MTB helped my overall body recovery after the accident. I've had a MTB since early 90's, but it was something we did as a laugh with my mates in the road club. We loved it. I still have the bike and it's my commuter.

There are very different skill sets learn on road vs off road cycling (keeping it general) as off road it's the slippy stuff you sort of need to learn to deal with - hybrid on a trail - hits mud.

All bikes are good, but you do need more than one....

 

[Twilkes]

If you buy me a bike I will happily put it in my shed.

 

[si_c]

My first thoughts were greasy road and braking technique, even when it hasn't rained the roads take ages to dry out in winter and remain relatively much greasier than when it's properly wet or sunny.

The trick with a fishtailing rear wheel is to feel it happening and know to release the brake and reapply in those sort of conditions - basically emulate ABS on a car. You don't need to do so on the front just the back, and the wheel should unlock and come back into line with the front.

Also shifting your weight backwards as mentioned by @fossyant is good practice - you can try it out on the flat or a dry hill to get a feel for it, pushing the weight over the rear keeps it in contact with the road better and stops it slipping so quickly.

 

[PaulSB]

Probably going to fast and hit an oily/greasy spot. One can't be sure previous journeys on a section of road were identical, the chances are in my view negligible. It won't be anything else.

 

[gbb]

Nowt wrong with them. It's greasy out, really is. Felt in in my car a few times too.

Me too. Last night, driving round a roundabout, felt the steering go dead for a second or two then the back end moved around a split second. It wasn't wet, damp maybe, its just all the gunk, oil, salt and moisture. On a bike, there's not much, if anything you can do, apart from slow down.

The few times I have come off a bike,there's no warning, one second you're up, the next you're down. There's no time in-between for analysis or decision making.

 

[Twilkes]

Probably going to fast and hit an oily/greasy spot. One can't be sure previous journeys on a section of road were identical, the chances are in my view negligible. It won't be anything else.

The GPS speeds were identical each time - it's the physics of gravity while going downhill, it's going to accelerate me the same way each time as it's a sheltered spot so air resistance would be the same, and at 100kg there's quite a bit of acceleration! According to Strava the bit where I came off peaks at -11%.