Tyre/Tramline Incidents

[Scoosh]

Have you ever slipped/ come off/ had an incident with your bike and tramlines ?

Daughter Scoosh is involved in a research project and would be grateful if you could complete a survey here. It'll take about 10 mins and is specifically interested in the type of tyres being used - so they'd like you to remember details like make of tyre, size, pressure etc !

Incidentally, Tribology is all about friction, wear, and lubrication. The science behind how things move and slide over each other.

This is a preliminary project prior to a PhD ... smart cookie is Daughter Scoosh !

Thank you - and feel free to invite anyone you know who may have had a similar incident, even if not on CC.

 

[ianrauk]

@StuAff

 

[Sharky]

I remember the tramlines in Liverpool, but never had an accident. The older members of my club gave me early warning and told me to take care when crossing over.

 

[Red17]

I fell off on tram tracks earlier this year so completed it

 

[Crackle]

I can't help with the survey but my final year project was a Tribology one. Wear in artificial hip joints. PTFE and Titanium. Not a good combo.

 

[mjr]

Do you mean real tramlines, not the ill-thought-through wheel-bending crash-inducing paving slabs popularly called that? And actual tramlines, not street-running railways? (I think I know two people who have crashed out on disused sections of those.)

While I'm posting: I don't know if this is true, but maybe someone else does: Are tramline grooves here the same as the USA and 1 5⁄32" wide? And is that why 1⅜" width was a popular roadster tyre (aka 650A or 37-590) because that's 1 12/32" which should be too wide to fall into them unless you're underinflated and unlucky/unaware enough to hit them dead on?

Of course, you can still skid along the rail top scarily if you cross them at odd angles. As far as I know, we only have near-right-angled railway crossings near me, not actual tramlines.

 

[winjim]

Have you ever slipped/ come off/ had an incident with your bike and tramlines ?

Daughter Scoosh is involved in a research project and would be grateful if you could complete a survey here. It'll take about 10 mins and is specifically interested in the type of tyres being used - so they'd like you to remember details like make of tyre, size, pressure etc !

Incidentally, Tribology is all about friction, wear, and lubrication. The science behind how things move and slide over each other.

This is a preliminary project prior to a PhD ... smart cookie is Daughter Scoosh !

Thank you - and feel free to invite anyone you know who may have had a similar incident, even if not on CC.

I believe Cycle Sheffield are trying to compile a database of cycle/tram track interactions so it might be worth getting in touch with them.

 

[Scoosh]

I believe Cycle Sheffield are trying to compile a database of cycle/tram track interactions so it might be worth getting in touch with them.

Yes, there's a link in the intro to the survey … the project is based in Sheffield and is apparently at the request of the tram authorities there.

 

[jefmcg]

Yes, there's a link in the intro to the survey … the project is based in Sheffield and is apparently at the request of the tram authorities there.

If she wants to a lot of data, she needs to contact the cyclists of Melbourne, Australia, which has the largest tram network in the world, and most of it is on roads.

Example here http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=72549&p=1088046&hilit=tram#p1088046

(according to wikipedia, it's 250km of double tracks)

 

[sidevalve]

So half a century ago grandad could deal with the huge numbers of tramlines in almost every city in the country and now we go running to the council or the tram company because we suddenly can't work it out ? Tram lines, iron grates, they are a fact - if it's too difficult - ask grandad.

 

[jefmcg]

if it's too difficult - ask grandad.

My grandad fought in the first world war, was sent home with typhus and smoked a packet of Peter Stuyvesant every day until he died of emphysema. I loved him, but I never turned to him for health and safety advice.

Oh, and I grew up and learned to ride in Melbourne, one of the few cities in the world that never tore up their tram tracks, but are still extending them. I am alway very cautious of tram tracks. I believe that tram tracks are partially responsible for dooring fatalities in Melbourne, because on a road with parking and tram tracks (they are in the centre of the road, in the outside lane) it is very difficult to stay clear of the car doors without crossing the tracks at a small angle, which puts you at risk of losing control on a busy road.

Spoiler: small horror story

When I was at school, the tram I got off going home ran over a little girl at the next stop. A friend I met later in life witnessed it. Apparently she was under it for ages, crying while they found a lorry jack to lift it off her. She died later that night in hospital.

 

[mjr]

So half a century ago grandad could deal with the huge numbers of tramlines in almost every city in the country and now we go running to the council or the tram company because we suddenly can't work it out ?

Even twenty years ago, road bikes for day to day use often had 32mm tyres (27x1 1/4") which is still difficult to squish into a 29mm rail groove. But now most people seem to copy racing fashion and run 23 or 25mm even when it's impractical, don't they?

But we do have the option of rubber-filled grooved rails too now, which are safer for all wheeled users, not only cyclists, and less of a trip hazard for walkers, so they should be used IMO.

 

[winjim]

Yes, there's a link in the intro to the survey … the project is based in Sheffield and is apparently at the request of the tram authorities there.

Ah, so it is. I hadn't clicked the survey link since I haven't personally had an incident.

 

[fossyant]

A colleague of mine has permanent ligament damage following crashing on tram lines.

 

[growingvegetables]

Sorry - I gave up when infrastructure was excluded from consideration.

I don't like tramlines, but deal with them, ... in general.

My issues with Sheffield's tramlines have been to do with their alignment, the poor road surface around them, and their varying distance from the kerb (often raised).

Riding to the left of the lines works ..... until the lines gently swing in towards the kerb, and the road surface deteriorates. Nowhere to go.

Riding between the lines works. ... until the lines veer out into the centre of the lane. Again - nowhere to go. With Sheffield drivers and tram drivers being ... "less than understanding".

Scary the number of times over a short distance I have to cross the tramlines at a shallow angle.


Even more scary - that Sheffield trams want to exclude the basic design of the infrastructure from consideration?