winter spills

[fenman]

hi, on tuesday i went out for a regular ride, first of a shady section of road was icy so came a cropper there. re mounted and rob and i decided to try for a more open road route !! descending pole brooke hill i was a bit wary so was taken it a bit gingerly then the front of bike started to shake i lost control and went tdf style into a six foot deep ditch tdf style was according to rob !! first question is what causes these speed ? wobbles second question should i have gone home after the first fall?

 

[fossyant]

Speed wobbles can be down to geometry, fitting mud guards (got this on one bike when I only ever had guards on), side winds etc.....

The way to control these is relax, knees to top tube and brake with the rear.... usually sorts them out...

My best bike doesn't do it at any speed, my Ribble has once at 50mph, in strong side winds...

You probably also came off due to roads being dicey/wet..... watch and descent in the wet !

 

[Chris James]

I think a large contributing factor to speed wobble is over gripping the handlebars.

Unfortunately if you have ever had a speed wobble, or at least one recently, then it is difficult to avoid doing precisely that!

I had it on a tourer that I had shod with 23mm tyres. It had never happened in the 20 years before that I had the bike was fine when I went back to 28mm. Also it only wobbled at the beginning of rides when I was cold and stiff and after the initial speed wobble I gripped like a limpet and could cause it to wobble when descending almost at will.

 

[fenman]

Speed wobbles can be down to geometry, fitting mud guards (got this on one bike when I only ever had guards on), side winds etc.....

The way to control these is relax, knees to top tube and brake with the rear.... usually sorts them out...

My best bike doesn't do it at any speed, my Ribble has once at 50mph, in strong side winds...

You probably also came off due to roads being dicey/wet..... watch and descent in the wet !

hi , thanks for for the tips on the wobbles i did fit blade guards on so that and being a bit shook up from first spill did not help !!! now just got to get my bottle back

 

[palinurus]

I've noticed that too: If I get cold on a ride I tend to go tense and the bike does feel wrong on descents when that happens.

Might've been a similar issue if you were tense after the fall.

 

[Will1985]

Watch out on roundabouts too - clubmate went down on Sunday exiting one. The surface was moist and the area between the car wheel tracks had oil on it.

 

[yello]

the area between the car wheel tracks had oil on it.

Not a bike friendly combo is oil and water. If you're lucky, you can spot the rainbow sheen on the road but it's not always the way. Especially if there's a bit of general muck in the mix too.

I've been off on the ice a couple of times and it happens so quickly that there's really nothing you can do. Other than try and avoid it! Just one of the hazards I'm afraid.