tips for going downhill

[fossyant]

I have slowly descended steep hills ( Winnats pass ) many times with the brakes ON for the duration.

You do about 40mph down Winnats WITH the brakes on

1st. Helps if you know the road, junctions/hazards etc - including where cross winds are (more later).

2nd. Don't death grip the bars - you need to be fluid.

3rd. Look through and past bends

4th Side winds - at high speed these can be an issue, especially on exposed sections - got buffeted at 55mph coming down Woodhead last Winter - caused a slight speed wobble, which I corrected, then hit top speed again.

5th Helps if you've got a bike designed for high speed - doesn't feel like you are moving.

6th Last of All - Don't descend faster than your ability - if you don't do high speeds often, take it easy.

 

[Rebel Ian]

I managed just over 47mph on the big downhill into Brighton last Sunday but I'm also a little apprehensive of excessive speed. The difference on Sunday was that the road was shut to traffic, there's wasn't loads of other bikes around me at that point, it was very smooth and very wide so it didn't feel as quick as that.

One of my very experienced cycling mates told me that if you start to get a speed wobble clamp both knees against the crossbar although fortunately I haven't had to try that yet.

 

[jimboalee]

You do about 40mph down Winnats WITH the brakes on

1st. Helps if you know the road, junctions/hazards etc - including where cross winds are (more later).

2nd. Don't death grip the bars - you need to be fluid.

3rd. Look through and past bends

4th Side winds - at high speed these can be an issue, especially on exposed sections - got buffeted at 55mph coming down Woodhead last Winter - caused a slight speed wobble, which I corrected, then hit top speed again.

5th Helps if you've got a bike designed for high speed - doesn't feel like you are moving.

6th Last of All - Don't descend faster than your ability - if you don't do high speeds often, take it easy.

"I slow down to 6 mph before I hit the descent".

Where did 40 mph come from?


Who's suffering dyslexia today, then?

 

[RedBike]

I had the same trouble when I started riding fixed gear. Pot-holes, bend, cars pulling out etc all un-nerved me and had me riding down virtually every hill with the brakes on.

I started to force myself to let the brakes off before I got to the bottom of the hill, so the bike could roll freely down the last little bit. Gradually, each time I rode a hill I would get off the brakes that little bit sooner (further up the hill). Eventually I was riding down most hills without having to put the brakes on at all.

 

[jimboalee]

I used to ride the track.

I rode downhill twice every lap with no brakes at all.


This thread is 'going downhill fast'...

 

[GrasB]

There's no reason why you should descend quickly if you don't want to! With that in mind let the bike roll down the hill & if you feel like you're going faster than you feel comfortable doing slow down until you feel comfortable. Also look further ahead & pay attention to the road surface, you're travelling faster so you need to be aware of things further away & what problems the road surface will present you with. Finally never go faster than a speed you can stop from within the distance you can see down the road.

As a general rule I prefer to feather speed with the rear brake so I have the better brake in reserve incase something happens. However, as has been stated before, there can be heat issues if you only use one brake so it may require alternating brakes.

 

[Matty]

Letting the bike freewheel and then trying to slow it requires more energy into the brake friction.

Remember Force = mass x acceleration.

The acceleration in this instance is gravity PLUS the REDUCTION in velocity per time; so if you start at a low velocity, you don't have to reduce it much as you slowly descend the hill.

??

 

[battered]

Good advice here. You don't *need* to descend at 40mph if you don't want to. One thing you can do is get used to a hill and either do sections of it without brakes or release the brakes sooner. You are right to be cautious though, if you are banging down a hill at 45 and someone pulls out you need to have some options. In this a bike is no different from any other vehicle.

I'd also second advice that you should alternate brakes. Give the rear a few seconds, swap to the front. Swap back. Blowing a tube would be an impressive trick indeed, think you would need to do the Alpe d'Huez at speed on one brake to manage that, but burning blocks is easily done.

 

[Chrisc]

One of my very experienced cycling mates told me that if you start to get a speed wobble clamp both knees against the crossbar although fortunately I haven't had to try that yet.

Yep, same technique as used in motorcycling on very fast bumpy stretches, grip with legs and let the bars flap a bit. They generally sort themselves out with light pressure, a panicky death grip leads to problems as you try to make corrections and worsen the situation.

 

[zacklaws]

Plenty of good advice here, and it is always best to adhere to caution in unknown territory and even on your home ground especially going round blind corners, as I have found the greatest danger is other road users and the unexpected. I have a simple rule to be able to stop in the distance ahead that I can see, sadly though I don't adhere to it all the time as I can get a bit complacent at times.

Two examples for instance, one happened a couple of days ago and one today, as I went into a sharp left down a narrow country lane, I just managed to notice the roof of a very high HGV above the bushes stopped round the bend, if I had not noticed it and braked quick I would have been into the back of it as the road was completely blocked, why it was stopped in such a dangerous place I do not know as it drove off as I pulled up behind.

Today, I came round a very shallow left hand bend very fast that I have been round many times, to find two halfwits stood talking in the middle of my side of the road, unable to brake fast enough I had to go onto the opposite side of the road to avoid them as they made no effort to move and hope nothing was going to come round the right hand bend that I had to negotiate next due to being on the wrong side of the road following my unexpected manouvre to put me into that position.

Then there's the thick dog walkers with those stupid extending leads, and invariably, the dog will be on one side of the road and the owner on the other, twice last week downhill I nearly took the "finishing tape" as I never saw the thin lead till the last moment and possibly scoop up the dog, even though I had anticipated it. I find it quite amusing though to see the owner frantically reeling the dog in and dragging it across the road as you slow up behind.

One of my biggest worries is always turning into a road junction off to the left, downhill, as usually it means indicating with the left hand and braking with the front brake with the right hand, after loosing my front wheel a couple of times, once on gravel and once on the wet, I always brake well in advance for that scenario, and if I get it wrong and my speed is too fast then I will overshoot the junction, slow down and go back just to be safe.

Oddly enough, just before reading this thread I came across this website with advise on the subject:-

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010...ning-for-gran-fondos-part-4-descending_121256

 

[Davidc]

Going back to Joanna's OP and Sarahpink's endorsement of what she said, the important things ar eto be inside your comfort zone and to know how to use brakes.

If someone else in a group wants to go faster then fine. If they comment on your slowness just tell them where to go.

In practice if they remember that the front brake is the one to use most of the time, on its own, but to use the back one alternately, on its own, to let the front cool on long descents, then at either of Joanna's or Sarah's comfortable speeds they should be able to ride safely down any hill. That's far more important than any other issue.

As far as braking generally is concerned the Sheldon Brown advice is the same as I was given aeons ago when I did go fast. Follow that and the chances of a nasty incident are low.

Edit: Just looked at the link above and can't see much I disagree with.

 

[zacklaws]

If someone else in a group wants to go faster then fine. If they comment on your slowness just tell them where to go.
.

Absolutly right, stay in your comfort zone. Somedays I go out and I have no bottle at all for speed and get quite terrified of going downhill and just crawl down with my brakes on full as my head just gets full of all the things that can go wrong. The trouble is I find though, is that when I am in this state of mind, I'm not relaxed and focused on my riding and can find it more nerve wracking, then just free wheeling down at a steady pace as I start to do stupid things.

 

[jimboalee]

Yep, same technique as used in motorcycling on very fast bumpy stretches, grip with legs and let the bars flap a bit. They generally sort themselves out with light pressure, a panicky death grip leads to problems as you try to make corrections and worsen the situation.

A "Tank slapper".

 

[alecstilleyedye]

always ride within your limits. i am faster on a good, wide, properly paved descents with sweeping bends than many in my club, but when it gets wet/gravelly underfoot and quite technical, i'm one of the most cautious. horses for courses.

i gave up trying to descend long mynd in shropshire recently; 1 in 5, wet and gravelly. i just did not feel safe enough even though i had a clubmate in front of me to follow, so i decided that, with one broken collar bone and 100 miles home to do the next day, discretion was the better part of valour. i also didn't have a spare set of brake pads…

generally speaking, when using the brakes i use the front to slow on the straights with only the back through the corners. jimbo's advice about starting slow is spot on too.

 

[GrasB]

alecstilleyedye, funny you should say that, I'm usually one of the fastest down hill when I can see but as the visible road diminishes so does my descent speed. Often through the tighter & unsighted corners I'm one of the slowest.