Here I go again...

A Place to idle the day away talking about anything you fancy. Expect to find cycling and non cycling topics inside

Here I go again...

Postby Ivor » Wed Mar 26, 2008 3:05 pm

Sigh. So I fell off on my commute in to work today. :cry: again.

On the plus side:

  • I'm getting pretty darned proficient at road rash treatment and

  • it only happened 2 miles from home... rather than 15 miles like last time.

  • was a slow one


On the minus side:

  • it's starting to get a little tedious. :(

  • have discovered my new altura kinetic gloves provide lousy palm protection.


Unlike the previous incidents, however, I just can't work out what happened. :? The road was dry. Ok it was a 90 degree right hander but I had slowed down. Braked before the corner. Turned in, road clear so was taking the corner quite fast and was leaned over, bit of a bump mid corner, but nothing too spectacular... and whooshy... if I'm not mistaken it was the front wheel that started slipping out from underneath and down I thud rather too heavily. b*****s.

Lack of grip down the side of the tyres? Deficit of talent? Time to experiment with the tyre pressures? Fix stabilisers? Stop cornering? Wear elbow pads?

Naturally, since I have no idea what went wrong I'm rather worried it'll happen again until I figure it out.
Last edited by Ivor on Wed Mar 26, 2008 3:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Ivor
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 1268
Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:10 pm
Location: Oxted, Surrey

Re: Here I go again...

Postby Marky Mark » Wed Mar 26, 2008 3:14 pm

Stop your windging and get back on your bike. Seriously, hope you're not hurt to bad and if you do find out why you keep falling off, please let me know because I don't want to :?

Have you tried Snow Chains???????

Marky Mark
User avatar
Marky Mark
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 1575
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:55 pm
Location: Riddlesdown /Purley

Re: Here I go again...

Postby Ivor » Wed Mar 26, 2008 3:18 pm

[quote="Marky Mark"]Stop your windging and get back on your bike.

Ha. I did. so there!
I went home. had a bath. dressed the wounds. and went out again. (albeit on the smaller commuter with train assistance!)

[quote]Seriously, hope you're not hurt to bad

no, mostly just really really annoyed.
User avatar
Ivor
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 1268
Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:10 pm
Location: Oxted, Surrey

Re: Here I go again...

Postby Andrew G » Wed Mar 26, 2008 3:27 pm

Are you trying to absorb averyone elses crashes? Sorry you've gone down again, but at least once you've finished with this you should have had your fair share for a few years.

Hope you are okay and not hurt.

From what you say it just sounds as though the bump mid corner lifted the front wheel for a split second, if you were banked over a reasonable amount when this happened it could be that the bump effectively tipped the front wheel a bit more sideways so that when it made contact with the tarmac was too far over and the tyre couldn't bite in time, not a lot of weight over it so could easily happen. Similar to hitting a gravel patch or ice which would shoot the front wheel out from under you.

It could easily just be one of things and not anything you're doing wrong, just unfortunate that it's happened so soon after your last accident. As Jon said before look where you want to go, and a reasonable distance in front of you. That way you should be in a better position to smoothly avoid bumps, potholes etc.

For what it's worth I always have a bit less pressure in the front tyre as there is less weight on it. In dry weather I normally go for 110psi rear and 100psi front. If it's wet or might be icy then I'll drop each one 5-10 psi to try and give a slightly bigger footprint without killing the performance of them. If it's really hot I 'll drop the pressure a touch too to avoid any blow-outs.
Andrew G
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 10477
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 6:47 pm
Location: Selsdon

Re: Here I go again...

Postby -Adam- » Wed Mar 26, 2008 3:35 pm

[quote="Andrew G"]110psi rear and 100psi front.


Interesting, I've always tended to have my rear tyre at the same or slightly less pressure than the front. As I reckon it means a more comfortable ride, and I find if I ever have grip issues its with the rear not the front. So perhaps around 110psi front and 100-105psi for dry, then maybe 100 front and 100 rear for wet.

Orv, losing your front wheel over a bump, maybe your to rigid on the bike? If you relax more and allow the bike to follow its own line it usually tracks better than when you try to force it round bends.

Would be interested to see/hear what other people run their tyre pressures at....
User avatar
-Adam-
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 3515
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:38 pm
Location: Kingston/Epsom, well, everywhere really!

Re: Here I go again...

Postby Amy » Wed Mar 26, 2008 3:53 pm

How about stabilisers? Or a trike (though you may have problems going round corners at first - I understand it's a special knack) :D
User avatar
Amy
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 2956
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2003 12:59 pm
Location: Back where she started

Re: Here I go again...

Postby Ivor » Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:02 pm

[quote="Amy"]How about stabilisers? Or a trike


...you are receiving a withering Paddington bear stare.

[img]http://www.ilovemarmite.com/siteimages/Paddington-Bear-Sandwich.jpg[/img]
User avatar
Ivor
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 1268
Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:10 pm
Location: Oxted, Surrey
Top

Re: Here I go again...

Postby Andrew G » Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:09 pm

[img]http://www.prodigalchild.net/TrikeCornering.gif[/img]

My logic Adam (misguided or otherwise) is that with nearly all your weight over the rear tyre it is "squashed" to a greater extent than the front, so I opt for a bit more pressure to achieve approximately the same contact front and rear (easy :wink: ). Like I say my belief may be misguided, there is a logic in there, just necessarily the right one :D .

Ivor - On the subject of Paddington Bear Obree used marmalade snadwiches as a staple of his training diet and scoffed a round just before his hour record, s always keep some under your hat.
Andrew G
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 10477
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 6:47 pm
Location: Selsdon

Re: Here I go again...

Postby Ben » Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:10 pm

Are both your wheels true ?
Is there any play in the wheel bearings ?
Checked your weight distribution ?
Ben
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 495
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:54 am

Re: Here I go again...

Postby Amy » Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:25 pm

[quote="orv"][quote="Amy"]How about stabilisers? Or a trike


...you are receiving a withering Paddington bear stare.


I'm withered... :lol:
User avatar
Amy
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 2956
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2003 12:59 pm
Location: Back where she started
Top

Re: Here I go again...

Postby Will » Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:33 pm

Were you braking while cornering? Although if you were that would (I think) more likely mean that the rear wheel would slip out.

It's odd that the front wheel went down... To me that suggests the kind of overly dramatic steering that people don't really do...

Maybe you need more weight over the front?

So to sum up: I have no useful comments to make (although hope you're ok) :D
Will
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 723
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2002 10:02 am

Re: Here I go again...

Postby Ivor » Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:48 pm

[quote="Ben"]Are both your wheels true ?

hmm good point. I'll double and triple check tonight. This is the bike that got the wheel bent on the train (viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6378) this was the first time back out on that bike.... Spent ages on my truing stand and was perfect... but I'll double check in case something horrible has happened.

[quote="Will"]Were you braking while cornering?

nope.

[quote="Will"]It's odd that the front wheel went down

exactly. it's really odd and I can't understand what happened at all.

[quote="Will"]To me that suggests the kind of overly dramatic steering

well it's a 90 degree right hand bend, so it does need a bit! :)

[quote="Will"]Maybe you need more weight over the front?
oh. Do I need to eat more cakes?
User avatar
Ivor
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 1268
Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:10 pm
Location: Oxted, Surrey
Top

Re: Here I go again...

Postby Andrew G » Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:06 pm

[quote="orv"]well it's a 90 degree right hand bend, so it does need a bit! :)

Well more banking than steering shurely :wink: .
[quote="orv"]it's really odd and I can't understand what happened at all.

Nope, other than the bump lightening the front and causing it to slide out as per my wild and dubious speculation.

As you seem to be making a habit of this can I suggest that you rig up some cameras on both your person and bike, should help post crash evaluation no end, slow mo, freeze frame etc. It may make the bike a tad more unwieldy but I think it's worth the effort. If you're not keen on that then you could always strap a few to street lights etc on the corners on your commute.
Andrew G
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 10477
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 6:47 pm
Location: Selsdon
Top

Re: Here I go again...

Postby Amy » Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:13 pm

Seriously - which leg was down? To ensure smooth cornering you need to have the outside leg down otherwise things can become a bit unstable (Also stops the pedal from grounding on the inside)
User avatar
Amy
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 2956
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2003 12:59 pm
Location: Back where she started

Re: Here I go again...

Postby Will » Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:16 pm

[quote="orv"][quote="Will"]Maybe you need more weight over the front?

oh. Do I need to eat more cakes?


Maybe. Do you find yourself getting hungry? If so, perhaps fatigue is a factor, and in which more cakes may solve the mystery.

Perhaps the solution is to put a basket on the front of your bike and fill it with cakes?

That will have 2 benefits:
1) They will weigh down the front of the bike thereby helping to keep it upright, and;
2) You will have a supply of food readily available should you start feeling tired and need to carbo load

:D
Will
lives on this board 24/7!!!
 
Posts: 723
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2002 10:02 am
Top

Next

Return to General

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 18 guests

cron