I don't spend much time practicing, but I do get a fair amount of crazy drivers on my daily commute so I consider myself pretty good at all kinds of maneuvering, bunny hopping curbs, and panic braking because I get to do it so much. I have to do a full out panic brake at least once a day and maybe once every other month I have to bunny hope off the street over a curb to avoid an idiot driver intent on running me over.
I learned a lot of braking and bunny hopping skills when I was heavy into mountain biking. Learning to control speed on extremely steep downhills on single track in CT, RI, and MA where there is mud, rocks, tree roots, and big trees lining the trails will teach you a lot about modulation and how to shift your weight in order to apply maximum braking without doing an endo. So I think its safe to say that you can ride a geared bicycle with a freewheel and still have a very good feel for when you rear wheel is about to loose traction. I find the skills I learned while mountain biking absolutely invaluable on my daily commute. Derek Paschal ----- Original Message ---- From: littlecircles :: mike beganyi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Bicycle Lifestyle <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 1:26:10 PM Subject: {BL} Re: Replacement wheel for my Rivendell Quickbeam I'm sure most on the list spend plenty of time out there 'riding'. But I wonder how many practice bike specific skills - handling, track standing, panic stops, etc... Surely I don't do enough of it... roller riding in the winter helps - but riding with a few of my friends has shown me how inadequate my bike handling skills are. I'm planning to put the flat pedals on the bike and up my skills - and I certainly don't plan on breaking any bones. A grassy field or debris free parking lot should work just fine. Seems 'trials' riders are pushing the limits of what can be done on a bike. I'm not interested in bunny hopping onto car hoods (although I do dream of it when they are parked in the bike lane) - I just want to be able to stop more effectively, maneuver a bit better in tight quarters, and stay vertical when I do need to stop moving. -Mike On Oct 28, 1:14 pm, Tim Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Michael Wise wrote: > >For an experienced rider, I strongly disagree. A fixed-gear bike with > >a front brake configured is much safer than a similarly equipped > >freewheel bike with front and rear brakes. Here's why: > > >One of the maneuvers taught in Traffic Safety 101 (the League's new > >name for Road I, the only nationally endorsed bike safety program) is > >the quick stop. This technique relies on proper application of the > >front brake, which has over three times the stopping power of the rear > >brake. As you stop, your weight gets shifted forward, to the point > >that the rear wheel will lose its contact with the ground, rendering > >the rear brake useless. However, the fear is that overapplying the > >front brake will cause the front wheel to lock up, and throw the rider > >over the handlebars. The technique taught is to apply the front brake > >hard enough to just lose traction in the rear wheel, then to release > >it slightly. This gives the most stopping power without the danger of > >endoing. We practice this in a parking lot drill so that the students > >can really push their limits in a fairly safe environment: even if you > >endo, you're not doing it in traffic. > > In about 40 years of adult riding, I've experienced three endos and > one abrupt fall caused by a front tire blowout at 30+ mph. One endo > was hitting a deep pothole hidden by water from an ongoing heavy > rain, one was a low-speed one caused by a plastic bag caught in the > spokes, and a third was caused by heavy panic breaking trying to > avoid a dog. > > So I've had a fair amount of experience, and my observation is that > it happens so fast that you seldom have time to react in a practiced > manner. Wham!! and you're down. > > I've always been dubious that most cyclists could brake heavily with > the front wheel (in a panic situation), and be able to sense when > they were losing traction at the rear. A skilled trials or BMX rider > would be able to do it, but not most of us. > > Practice, practice, practice? I wonder. I've talked with a couple of > bicycle trials riders and stunt riders (all teenagers), and each told > me that they had broken bones several times practicing their stunts. > Most of us working adults would not want to practice like this. > > As for fixed-gear riding on the street: I used to do it, I wouldn't > anymore. But that's me--I'm too old for it. I do ride a single-speed > on the street. > > >Fixed-gear riders can perform a quick stop better than any other > >riders, because while a freewheel rider can judge somewhat through the > >brake when the rear wheel loses traction, a fixed-gear rider can feel > >the traction through the feet. They can tell the precise moment when > >the rear wheel starts to skid, and can modulate the brake > >appropriately. So a fixed-gear rider can apply a lot more pressure, > >stopping much faster. Also, because fixed-gear riders must pedal all > >the time, they have to use the stroke to modulate speed as well, thus > >are less likely to ride at an uncontrolled speed. > > Perhaps, if you are very skillful and practiced (and those broken > bones from the practice haven't discouraged you yet :-). But again, > I'm dubious that more than a few people could do this. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bicycle Lifestyle" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/bicyclelifestyle?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
