The first "Moment" drops bent, not happy!

[Scoosh]

How have you managed to ride fixed without being clipless ?

I thought you need to be clipless/toeclipped in order to be able to use the pedals for braking ?



I haven't ridden fixed - yet , as you can probably tell.

 

[Rob3rt]

Well I either see whats ahead and start to slow down in advance and roll to a stop, or if its called for(for example stopping on a hill where rolling would just cause accelerating), resist the pedal by pushing down on the back rising pedal. It slowly slows you down, faster than just rolling, but nothing like breaks. I cant skid stop on mine. Im going to fit a front break when I get chance, save the knees

If you get on a fixed bike you will soon realise you become much more aware of what is up ahead because last minute reaction isnt much of an option.

 

[Crankarm]

Ouch! Sorry to read of your misfortunes. Like a pair of shoes collecting their first scratches and dog turd, you are destined to be disappointed at some point.

I would replace the bars. CRC do loads and get some decent Cinelli Gel Bar tape at the same time.

I have had handle bars fail. Many years ago in the mid '90s a set of ITM or TTT bars snapped on me. Along the left edge of the stem clamp. Fortunately I wasn't pulling away too energetically at a set of lights, some where near Condor IIRC. Anyway I managed to retain my balance on the bike and come to a rather undignified and alarming stop. Looking at the bars the left side had sheared clean off at the stem clamp. They were ali bars. Can't remember if they were as technically advanced as T6061 or 7005 butted bars or not - I don't think so, can't remember. It was rather scary really and I was lucky it didn't happen when I was riding a lot faster going through one of London's many pot holes.

How about getting some SPDs such as Shimano M520 or 540 pedals.They are double sided and really easy to get in and out of? Practice inside or leaning up against a wall/fence etc clicking your left foot in or out of the pedal at various positions of the pedal stroke.

 

[totallyfixed]

Good grief, are you some sort of gorilla?


It takes a bit of experience to get just the right degree of looseness, but I think it's worth doing. Like all other couplings on a bicycle, they should be done up as tight as function requires but no more.

Going back to your bars, I certainly wouldn't be changing them just on account of this particular off. I have been riding bikes for half a century and have come off plenty of times, but I have never had a set of bars or forks fail on me, before or after. It does happen, sure, but it's very rare.

Strange advice, bars are torqued up tight for very good reasons and I would advise you do the same with yours, it's so obvious I'm not even going to explain why.
If the bars are not straight, change them because if alloy is forcibly bent it will either crack or be severely weakened. It's so unlikely that your bike will have come with bent bars already as to be negligable.

 

[ttcycle]

Rob3rt I don't think you will need to pull up on the bars when you're accelerating off - not needed on a geared bike and may be putting the bars under unnecessary strain

 

[Crankarm]

Rob3rt check out the commuting thread where origamist went down today as his handlebars snapped. I think you should replace yours. It's just not worth the risk.


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th9S2Dpq954

 

[Rob3rt]

Sh*t, hope he is ok, was a nasty spill!

I'll probly be replacing them in like 5 weeks or so, when I have some lackey () at the bike shop to re-tape the bars up for me, because this looks like a complex task, hehe, Im a perfectionist if I do it, it will take a week getting every wrap perfect, lol. It will only get out 2-3 times between now and then as im uber busy with my research atm.

 

[ASC1951]

Strange advice, bars are torqued up tight for very good reasons and I would advise you do the same with yours, it's so obvious I'm not even going to explain why.

Sorry, it's not obvious to me. I'm still young enough to learn, so explain away.

What I am quite clearly suggesting is a torque setting which is marginally lower than the force required to bend the component.

 

[totallyfixed]

Sorry, it's not obvious to me. I'm still young enough to learn, so explain away.

What I am quite clearly suggesting is a torque setting which is marginally lower than the force required to bend the component.

Define marginally lower, up to 5% lower I can just about accept but
from your earlier post you say that if you stand on the floor and push down on the bars you can move them, that is not my idea of "marginally lower". If you are riding with this level of tightness and you hit a stationary object the forces incurred are of a much higher magnitude, and particularly if riding on the hoods the bars will rotate downwards away from you. The net effect is that you will be propelled forward with probable damage to your torso by the top of the headtube. I know this because I've seen it happen.
Secondly you don't have to be a gorilla to rotate bars when climbing a very steep hill if they are set at less than the recommended torque setting.

 

[Chrisc]

Not for me!

I always set the bolts on my bars so that they can be moved. I do the same with the headset/fork bolt. This setting is slightly looser than the shop sells them at and is at a point where you have to use most of your bodyweight to move them. So when I have a crash like yours, my bars and forks simply twist out of the way, undamaged.

I'm not saying this to sound smug. I have had plenty of offs over the years. We all do - it's part of cycling and the skill is in minimising the damage to bike and rider.

Same on my motorcross bike. Nothing is done up so tight it can't slip under crash pressure. Clutch/brake levers, triple clamps even. Saves a fortune in replacement bits! ( yes I crash a lot...)

 

[Valy]

I won't say cheer up but rather stay mad for a while, really get it out of your system. Nothing worse than bashing a new toy and you have every right to revert to childhood and throw a hissy fit. It'll make you feel a damn sight better than trying to be all adult and mature about it. Make sure you blame something, other than yourself, as well. Doesn't matter how small, tiny pothole, poor road marking, kerb too high, wind wrong direction, wrong type of clouds, whatever.

HAHAHA!

OP - damn, but I've had a crash on my MTB recently-ish. The rear wheel skidded out form as I it was a bit lower than the front on a curb that was sticking out a couple of cm. The LH crank got bent and I scratched my knee.

Then the next day I was cyclign along - feeling a bit drowsy and I just went straight into a curb at about 30Km/h! It was sticking out in to the cycle lane and i was not paying too much attention as I was errr drowsy. The bike that time did not seem to sustain any damange at all, but I hit my knee pretty hard. I think there was no damage to the bones though, which is good.

So to put it shorter - I kind of feel for you.