Down, not yet out.
Posted: 10 Mar 2019, 8:42pm
It's taken me nearly a fortnight to put fingers to keyboard about this...
Two weeks ago I was cycling along the coast on my Fuego, out to visit a relative and ride back. I'd done 5 miles or so when I spotted another rider in the distance. Of course I'm not competitive but I did start to reel him in slowly.
A mile or so further and the road reached the seafront and turned a sharp right. It's a corner I've taken hundreds of times without incident. This time, doing about 14-15 miles per hour and not at any extreme level of lean, the front wheel washed out from under me and I hit the tarmac. Hard. Fortunately there was no vehicles behind me. I did land with a bit of a clatter, enough to make the cyclist ahead (by this stage about 100m) hear and stop to check that I was OK. I disentangled myself from the carnage and after giving him the OK to continue dusted myself down, checked over the bike, readjusted the handlebars and rode on with no further drama.
More intense review after I got home revealed: favourite pair of tights ripped over right hip, grazes underneath with bruises starting to form. Grazes to inside of right elbow but Helly Hansens resolutely intact. Pride, bruised. On the bike, one smashed Mirrycle Mirror; adjuster knob on right BB7 lever practically ground off; partially ground off cap nut on underseat rack (which I had only fitted the day before). Banana bags unscathed. More paintwork ground off rear mech but hard to tell from previous damage , no functional issues.
I have been puzzling meantime (as the bruises have become more lurid and a large lump has formed under them) what on earth happened. It was a very mild day, next to the sea, there was no risk of ice. The road looked clear of any obstacles and nothing to suggest oil or diesel on the road (although I dare say it might not have needed much). The road was pretty rough worn tarmac so pretty good friction (as my @r*e can attest). Although I use superman bars, there is no interference with my knees and I wouldn't have been turning the bars enough anyway. Occasionally I get heel strike with the front wheel but it's very mild, and again unlikely at above walking pace.
Good things were that physical damage to the rider would have undoubtedly been worse on an upright: landing on my padded posterior is preferable to my bony cranium (and I was wearing a h*lment). I think the banana bags (stuffed with things like waterproofs) helped cushion the fall.
I'm wondering if it is my tyre combination. Kojak on the front, Pasela on the rear. I've been wary of Kojak's grip in the past but need the width to give the mudguard decent clearance; 20 x 1.5" Marathons or Marathon Racers will fit but with minimal clearance. I like Paselas anyway, I had a 26 x 1.25" one going spare anyway so fitted it as something lighter, quicker and more grippy than the previous Kojak.
I wonder if the problem is using two tyres with different grip? A bit like snow tyres only on one end of the car. Is it possible that if I had Kojaks front and rear both would have slid minutely enough to keep the bike up? I have discovered it is possible to get a 20 x 1.5" Pasela but I'm not sure how it would compare width wise to Schwalbe tyres in that section.
For the meantime I'm going to go for Marathons front and rear (with Secuclips for the front mudguard). I'm still puzzled by this, I have found the Fuego very predictable in the 6 years or so of riding it, my only "offs" have been low speed "clipless moments". My only remaining thought is that I do need to replace the headset, its a bit brinelled, but the bike is perfectly rideable as it is... maybe low recumbents are more sensitive to this than uprights?
Two weeks ago I was cycling along the coast on my Fuego, out to visit a relative and ride back. I'd done 5 miles or so when I spotted another rider in the distance. Of course I'm not competitive but I did start to reel him in slowly.
A mile or so further and the road reached the seafront and turned a sharp right. It's a corner I've taken hundreds of times without incident. This time, doing about 14-15 miles per hour and not at any extreme level of lean, the front wheel washed out from under me and I hit the tarmac. Hard. Fortunately there was no vehicles behind me. I did land with a bit of a clatter, enough to make the cyclist ahead (by this stage about 100m) hear and stop to check that I was OK. I disentangled myself from the carnage and after giving him the OK to continue dusted myself down, checked over the bike, readjusted the handlebars and rode on with no further drama.
More intense review after I got home revealed: favourite pair of tights ripped over right hip, grazes underneath with bruises starting to form. Grazes to inside of right elbow but Helly Hansens resolutely intact. Pride, bruised. On the bike, one smashed Mirrycle Mirror; adjuster knob on right BB7 lever practically ground off; partially ground off cap nut on underseat rack (which I had only fitted the day before). Banana bags unscathed. More paintwork ground off rear mech but hard to tell from previous damage , no functional issues.
I have been puzzling meantime (as the bruises have become more lurid and a large lump has formed under them) what on earth happened. It was a very mild day, next to the sea, there was no risk of ice. The road looked clear of any obstacles and nothing to suggest oil or diesel on the road (although I dare say it might not have needed much). The road was pretty rough worn tarmac so pretty good friction (as my @r*e can attest). Although I use superman bars, there is no interference with my knees and I wouldn't have been turning the bars enough anyway. Occasionally I get heel strike with the front wheel but it's very mild, and again unlikely at above walking pace.
Good things were that physical damage to the rider would have undoubtedly been worse on an upright: landing on my padded posterior is preferable to my bony cranium (and I was wearing a h*lment). I think the banana bags (stuffed with things like waterproofs) helped cushion the fall.
I'm wondering if it is my tyre combination. Kojak on the front, Pasela on the rear. I've been wary of Kojak's grip in the past but need the width to give the mudguard decent clearance; 20 x 1.5" Marathons or Marathon Racers will fit but with minimal clearance. I like Paselas anyway, I had a 26 x 1.25" one going spare anyway so fitted it as something lighter, quicker and more grippy than the previous Kojak.
I wonder if the problem is using two tyres with different grip? A bit like snow tyres only on one end of the car. Is it possible that if I had Kojaks front and rear both would have slid minutely enough to keep the bike up? I have discovered it is possible to get a 20 x 1.5" Pasela but I'm not sure how it would compare width wise to Schwalbe tyres in that section.
For the meantime I'm going to go for Marathons front and rear (with Secuclips for the front mudguard). I'm still puzzled by this, I have found the Fuego very predictable in the 6 years or so of riding it, my only "offs" have been low speed "clipless moments". My only remaining thought is that I do need to replace the headset, its a bit brinelled, but the bike is perfectly rideable as it is... maybe low recumbents are more sensitive to this than uprights?