Pedal Forward Bike

On 2007-10-14, Steve Gravrock wrote:
On 2007-10-14, Chalo wrote:

I think that skidding the front of a two-wheeler is a bigger potential
problem than tipping up, especially when braking into a turn. Hard
experience on motorcycles has taught me that rear wheel sideslip is
often recoverable, but front wheel sideslip usually leads to an
instant crash.

That's the conventional wisdom, which is why the usual advice on the
icebike list is to rely mainly on the rear brake when riding on snow and
ice. I managed to stay up through my one front wheel lockup last winter,
probably because I was going more or less straight and the wheel started
to roll again before I really had a chance to fall over. I wouldn't
chalk it up to any skill on my part, and I wouldn't want to try my luck
again.

Speaking of front wheel lockups, I just saw one when I was out mountain
biking today. While I was stopped at a trail junction a group of riders
came toward me down a steep hill with a berm at the bottom. All of the
locked their rear wheels and skidded after crossing the berm. One also
locked her front wheel. The bike went sideways and she was thrown in far
less time than it took for me to regain control in the ice lockup I
described above.

Fortunately she was not badly hurt. In any case, the other riders in
the group seemed to know more about first aid than safe descending. I
got the impression that they'd seen their fair share of crashes.

Steve Gravrock writes:

I think that skidding the front of a two-wheeler is a bigger
potential problem than tipping up, especially when braking into a
turn. Hard experience on motorcycles has taught me that rear wheel
side slip is often recoverable, but front wheel side slip usually
leads to an instant crash.

That's the conventional wisdom, which is why the usual advice on the
icebike list is to rely mainly on the rear brake when riding on snow
and ice. I managed to stay up through my one front wheel lockup
last winter, probably because I was going more or less straight and
the wheel started to roll again before I really had a chance to fall
over. I wouldn't chalk it up to any skill on my part, and I
wouldn't want to try my luck again.

I find that, when riding in deeper snow (straight ahead), skidding the
front wheel isn't the hazard it often is because the wheel slides like
a sled runner in a snow slot. As I have mentioned, braking with the
rear wheel on lake ice is a bit more difficult and requires ABS that
one can furnish by turning the pedals in top gear at no load but in
drive contact. When the rear wheel skids, it loses all traction and
stops instantly, something that is apparent through the feet stopping
abruptly. In my experience, response time to release the rear brake
is in milliseconds and avoids any loss of control.

Jobst Brandt

On Sat, 13 Oct 2007 16:19:58 -0500, Tom Sherman
wrote:


Try a fully-faired upright if you want instability in windy conditions!

A full deck of spoke cards in ther front wheel of a track bike will
make it squirrely in gusts.
--
zk

Zoot Katz wrote:
On Sat, 13 Oct 2007 16:19:58 -0500, Tom Sherman
wrote:

Try a fully-faired upright if you want instability in windy conditions!

A full deck of spoke cards in ther front wheel of a track bike will
make it squirrely in gusts.

There is a reason why racers only use disc wheels on the back during
time trials, and not on the front.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
Beer - It's not just for breakfast anymore!

In rec.bicycles.misc "Tom \"Johnny Sunset\" Sherman" wrote:
Bob Hunt wrote:

Who are these "elitists" and what accommodations are they refusing to
make? In the context of bikes on the road the only elitists I've
encountered are a small percentage of motorists and they don't think
*anything* other than cars and light trucks belong on the street. They
certainly don't differentiate between recumbents and conventional
bikes.

I have encountered enough attitude in bike shops to know that there is a
considerable element that considers anyone who is not a racer or at
least a "serious" club rider to be unworthy.

Eh, I consider any of those types of poseurs who don't own a cargo or
grocery bike not worth my time to sneer at. [0]

On Usenet we have those who disparage the notion that anyone could not
be comfortable on a conventional upright through "proper fitting" with
the suggestion that those who can not should find another activity
besides cycling.

On Usenet we have those who disparage the notion that anyone can be
comfortable on a conventional upright at all. With the suggestion that
they ride a recumbent because anyone who rides an upwrong is an
addlepated fool and part of the international bicycle dealers
conspiracy. [1]

[0] Insert jocular emoticon here. I'm mostly joking. Mostly.

[1] The preceeding paragraph is not actually targeted at you. It's
actually targeted at DougC. Before I ran into his particular breed of
recumbent bigotry I *was* really interested in recumbents. After that,
not so much. I've recently started to become somewhat interested again
after trying out a clubmate's trike (it's a fun little thing). It looks
like he might end up buying a DF bike to replace it though. [2]

[2] Not for comfort issues, but rather for the fact that he's broken
four trike frames and is getting tired of the hassle.

--
Dane Buson -
From the UML (User Mode Linux) anouncement:
Fixed a bug with lots of zombies causing a UML panic.
Now UML is much braver, it doesn't panic even if there
are lots of zombies all over the place!
Technology is funny sometimes, isn't it?