Road Surface

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
rmurphy195
Posts: 2199
Joined: 20 May 2011, 11:23am
Location: South Birmingham

Re: Road Surface

Post by rmurphy195 »

Seems a whie since I posted this!

Tried suggestions re. headset binding, position on bike etc.

Tried swapping 28x700 Marathons for 32x700 Randonneur Pro's and, combined with putting more weight on pedals (instead of bars+saddle) got some improvement.

When one of the Randonneurs went faulty, replaced both with Voyager Hyper 32x700 (which look a bit wider and far more rounded in profile). Result! Now stable on bendy downhills, just relaxing on the drops and the saddle - no need to put my weight onto the pedals. For first time today felt confident enough on local hill to simply let the bike roll - and triggered the 30mph speed warning sign :oops: (They seem to roll well too, even with 60psifront/75 rear, add 15psi at each end and they are even better but ride becomes a tad harsh)
Brompton, Condor Heritage, creaky joints and thinning white (formerly grey) hair
""You know you're getting old when it's easier to ride a bike than to get on and off it" - quote from observant jogger !
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[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: Road Surface

Post by [XAP]Bob »

531colin wrote:The reluctance to ride no hands is widespread, but I don't understand it.


Because it's just wrong to remove your hands from the controls... And because it's something you either learn to do at a young age, or probably don't bother.

I can ride my trike no hands, but I have my thighs on the steering
I can ride the raptobike with loose hands easily, and can do no hands on a good surface if I don't have to pedal (need to damp the steering with a knee).
On uprights the closest I come is actually a Brompton - I wonder if that's because my weight is naturally further back...

IIRC it's like driving an F1 car - at some point you are going fast enough that the tyres can't hold you on the track, but not fast enough to generate decent downforce. You therefore need to go much faster in one step to get the aero working, to provide the grip, to get round the corner faster... There is no way to 'build up' because there is a range of speeds that an F1 car just can't take the corner.
Riding no hands if you keep the weight forwards doesn't work as well, so you need to sit up - but to do that you need the confidence to let go, because you can't sit up whilst keeping a finger on the bars...
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
nirakaro
Posts: 1578
Joined: 22 Dec 2007, 2:01am

Re: Road Surface

Post by nirakaro »

I saw a lad riding along a main road yesterday, with both hands - and his eyes - on his phone.
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[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: Road Surface

Post by [XAP]Bob »

nirakaro wrote:I saw a lad riding along a main road yesterday, with both hands - and his eyes - on his phone.


Frequently see this, and still reckon they are paying more attention to the road than many motons...
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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