Dangers of biking

[Mike63]

Hi...following an accident caused by the slightly different heights of ajacent road surfaces, I'd no sooner got back on my bike after a 3 month abstinance,
I am entering the short road leading to my house, the entrance to this road is 1" higher than the road I am leaving, a common occurance on roads everywhere.

....because of an approaching car, instead of entering the road at a sharp angle as I would normaly, I am forced to take a shallow angle to the entrance, this allowed my bike wheel to come up against the risen edge of the road and I almost came off, almost resulting in another accident....but lady luck was with me and I maintained my balance.

The question is, have others been in a similar situation and how have they handled it ?
....also many of todays bikes have narrower wheels, would this situation be better avoided by wider (1.75) wheels/tyres ?

...any constructive advice appreciated....thanks...Mike

 

[flecc]

There's a parallel here with where tram lines cross roads at a shallow angle, something I have to contend with. I usually do a slight zig zag on approach and departure, momentarily getting nearer to a right angle as I cross the danger point. Fatter tyres are better with tram line slots, but I'm not so confident they'd help with a ridge.

 

[Scottyf]

If possible fit wider tires with lower pressure. These will usually offer substantially more grip.
I've not done it on my bike. However so far i've come off twice.

I'm forever getting into scrapes. Must just be me.

I used to drop my car tires pressures to about 10psi in ice and bad weather. It chewed up loads of petrol but I went past most cars comfortably up hills where more expensive cars just couldn't.

+1 for common sense.

 

[Synthman]

Hi...following an accident caused by the slightly different heights of ajacent road surfaces, I'd no sooner got back on my bike after a 3 month abstinance,
I am entering the short road leading to my house, the entrance to this road is 1" higher than the road I am leaving, a common occurance on roads everywhere.

....because of an approaching car, instead of entering the road at a sharp angle as I would normaly, I am forced to take a shallow angle to the entrance, this allowed my bike wheel to come up against the risen edge of the road and I almost came off, almost resulting in another accident....but lady luck was with me and I maintained my balance.

The question is, have others been in a similar situation and how have they handled it ?
....also many of todays bikes have narrower wheels, would this situation be better avoided by wider (1.75) wheels/tyres ?

...any constructive advice appreciated....thanks...Mike

After massive roadworks on the main road near my house recently, I've found that the road is 3 inches or more lower than the side streets. This worries me when I enter and leave the street. When I turn into the street the road surface goes up and it's like hitting a speed hump. I've gone wide many times. And on the next street there is a raised surface of bricks with a manhole cover in the middle. This is where I dropped the bike last weekend on the snow as I mentioned earlier in this thread.

 

[mike killay]

Better tell the council. Years ago there was a tragic motor cycle accident in Swansea where a motorcyclist hit a raised portion of road and came off, slid across the road and hit the kerb. The defect was repaired the same day.

 

[piotrmacheta]

Good suspension helps. I remeber one off-road ride years ago where I hit a big tree root and without suspension on the front I would have come off. Other than that it's the 'hazard perception' and rider skills.

 

[Biker44]

The question is, have others been in a similar situation and how have they handled it?

All two-wheelers require (but also make it very easy) for the rider to be aware of the road surface.

You almost never need to look down, but you do need to spot shiny bits and any changes/lines in the road surface.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I did exactly the same only my wheel bounced off completely and down i went. It was a lay-by type bus stop with a line of sunken kerb stones between the lay-by and the road. They stick up between 1/2" to one inch and I hadn't noticed before. I was forced to take a different line by an on-coming car, which forced me up the highest bit. I cross into the lay-by because there's a little ramp in the corner up to the cycle path.

 

[Geebee]

A mountain bike handles that kind of thing a lot better than a road bike, which would suggest a wider tyre should help.
A recumbent trike is the ultimate answer for this type of issues but bring with it, it's own issues.

 

[Blew it]

Tread form, rounded or flat

From experience, I find tyres with a rounded crown tread form are very poor at ridge-crossing. There was a time when my prefered tyre for town and country riding was the Specialized Crossroads Armadillo. The Crossroads has a very broad hemispherical tread which is excellent at ridge-crossing.

Another tyre which is also very good in this respect, are those fitted to the Tonaro BigHit. A very broad and flattish tread with transverse ladder bars. I have also noticed that tyres with a flattish tread form are best for straight-line running.

My prefered tyre these days are the Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour. The tread form is very rounded, almost conical. But they are not so good at ridge-crossing. That by the way, is the only reason I would find fault with them.

Ultimately, we have to decide which is most suitable for both tarmac and trail. The broad flat tread gives sure-footed passage over soft ground and ridges, but presents a very large footprint on tarmac, and higher rolling resistance. On the other hand, a rounded tread form rolls very freely on tarmac but is not so sure-footed on softer ground.

There were two reasons why I stopped buying Specialized Crossroads Armadillos. Firstly, the quality of construction was variable. Secondly, the very harsh clattery ride, brought about by the Kevlar banding which provides the puncture resistance. At sixty psi they will shake your teeth out.

 

[Geebee]

I was thinking about this through the day and was going to mention a treaded tyre with a flatish contact area just as Blew it has described.
I have used some really wide rounded slicks and they had real issues on anything except good roads.

 

[Mike63]

Thanks all...not sure I've learned much though

I am 'gonna get a step through...I think that'll be safer for me and I'm going for wider tyres ?wheels.
When the weather improves I'm going to look at Kalkhoff.

Do 50 cycles no longer do Oxygen bikes, ? ...'cos they've got wide wheels I think and I wasn't adverse to that when I tried it at Presteign.

....might get a big sign on the front of my bike ..."THINK"

....Mike