Descending Tips
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Descending Tips
Postby ozstriker » Thu Nov 01, 2012 12:29 pm
Everything slowed down and for a second i thought that was it, that i was hitting the deck. I managed to recover by riding it out, doing some off road and deploying my foot brakes in the gravel. I gotta say it scared the crap out of me, and i hit the same hill yesterday and i was so gun shy that i was riding the brakes all the way down, not letting myself get over 55. I actually then was getting nervous about blowing a tyre from overheating brakes.
Anyway, how the hell do the pros descend in excess of 100, any tips?
Happened to anyone else?
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby vander » Thu Nov 01, 2012 1:25 pm
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby eeksll » Thu Nov 01, 2012 3:33 pm
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby ldrcycles » Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:14 pm
ozstriker wrote: Happened to anyone else?
Yep.
Very similar to what you described, in my case the speed was 95 and i came off the bike and collected a sharp rock. Ever since then i've been understandably very nervous going downhill, however i've found that nervousness is counter-productive. It seems to me that when i tuck down and let it rip, i'm more stable than when i sit up and try to keep the speed down, weight distribution, aerodynamics i don't know. I now just avoid very steep descents wherever possible.
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby Strawburger » Thu Nov 01, 2012 5:01 pm
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby Strange Rover » Thu Nov 01, 2012 6:15 pm
Sam
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby Strange Rover » Thu Nov 01, 2012 6:20 pm
http://www.cyclingtips.com.au/2011/03/s ... -its-head/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and the video is half way down.
I can do what he does in the video...get it to wobble...and then grab the top tube just behind the stem...and it will still continue to wobble. But if I lean forward and take weight off the seat and put it onto my hands on the top tube (which in turn puts weight onto the front wheel) the wobble stops straight away.
Sam
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby toolonglegs » Thu Nov 01, 2012 6:25 pm
not doubting you, but on a motor bike when you get into a tank slapper you accelerate hard to lighten the front wheel. I have never had a speed wobble on a vélo but my natural reaction would be to hang my bum off the back.Strange Rover wrote:You just need to put weight over the front wheel...its the lack of weight that causes it to wobble. I can get my bike to do it easily just by riding no hands and slapping the stem sidways and the front wheel just wobbles like crazy...there is a youtube vid of it somewhere. But as ldrcycles says...what happens is it starts to wobble and people sit up trying to slow down and in reality it makes it worse.
Sam
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby ldrcycles » Thu Nov 01, 2012 7:42 pm
I like this comment on that article too "we always said speed wobbles was like a dog: It could smell your fear".
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby ft_critical » Thu Nov 01, 2012 8:28 pm
If I take my hands off the bars and sit up whilst decending at anything over about 50kmh both my Cinelli and Colnago start to speed wobble, so I don't know that this is the answer TLL.toolonglegs wrote:not doubting you, but on a motor bike when you get into a tank slapper you accelerate hard to lighten the front wheel. I have never had a speed wobble on a vélo but my natural reaction would be to hang my bum off the back.Strange Rover wrote:You just need to put weight over the front wheel...its the lack of weight that causes it to wobble. I can get my bike to do it easily just by riding no hands and slapping the stem sidways and the front wheel just wobbles like crazy...there is a youtube vid of it somewhere. But as ldrcycles says...what happens is it starts to wobble and people sit up trying to slow down and in reality it makes it worse.
Sam
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby winstonw » Thu Nov 01, 2012 8:45 pm
Many say unload the saddle, load the pedals, get the bum back, squeeze the knees in against the top tube.
IME it is more likely to happen when you are banking through a long curved descent.
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby toolonglegs » Thu Nov 01, 2012 9:06 pm
True, like I said I have never experienced it ... and I am 194cm with long legs ( saddle to peddle is 1011mm ).ft_critical wrote:If I take my hands off the bars and sit up whilst decending at anything over about 50kmh both my Cinelli and Colnago start to speed wobble, so I don't know that this is the answer TLL.toolonglegs wrote:not doubting you, but on a motor bike when you get into a tank slapper you accelerate hard to lighten the front wheel. I have never had a speed wobble on a vélo but my natural reaction would be to hang my bum off the back.Strange Rover wrote:You just need to put weight over the front wheel...its the lack of weight that causes it to wobble. I can get my bike to do it easily just by riding no hands and slapping the stem sidways and the front wheel just wobbles like crazy...there is a youtube vid of it somewhere. But as ldrcycles says...what happens is it starts to wobble and people sit up trying to slow down and in reality it makes it worse.
Sam
I change clothes at fast descending speeds and don't seem to get it with hands off the bars either... oh well, i will count myself lucky.
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby Riggsbie » Thu Nov 01, 2012 9:43 pm
I thought you roadies were tough ;-p
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby ozstriker » Fri Nov 02, 2012 11:45 am
makes sense what they say, thanks for the link ill definitely keep it in mind
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby 15wilsonwu » Sun Nov 04, 2012 5:15 pm
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby g-boaf » Tue Nov 06, 2012 12:47 pm
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfngbsIU ... r_embedded[/youtube]
I thought the poor rider was going to crash as he wobbled to the edge of the road quite quickly. I haven't had it in ages. Some reckon they experience it at 55km/h or so, I've not experienced that - not recently anyhow. The last time it did happen I ended up off the bike for a long time and with grazes and a bad back. I was new to it all then.
Perhaps I'm getting a bit better with my bike handling these days. I tend to keep my knees against the top-tube when I'm descending, unless I'm pedalling. I find it keeps things more steady.
I don't do the hands off the bars thing at high speeds however - I'm realistic about my abilities.
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby jules21 » Mon Dec 03, 2012 11:03 am
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby sogood » Mon Dec 03, 2012 4:36 pm
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby MREJ » Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:18 pm
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby ozstriker » Wed Jan 09, 2013 6:55 pm
Toowoomba, there's heaps of bitumen walls to climb around here.sogood wrote:20% grade descent and cruising? Where did you find roads like that here in Oz?
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby Wal42 » Thu Jan 10, 2013 8:27 pm
Once you know how hard & fast you can stop, then you have a good skill set for descending, the trick is, just do it, over & over again, the more times you do it, the more you become comfortable with it.
I don't move my weight forward, I lift off the seat, clamp the seat with my thighs, for straights, pedals level, weighted on the outside pedals for corners.
I exceed 50kph 4 times a day, every day on my commute ride, normally most of them are over 55 usually nudging 60kph, it's like anything, the more you do it, the more comfortable you get with it.
Good descenders are usually just very comfortable & confident descending, it's an easy skill to practice & can really make you a fair whack of time gains (especially if you climb as badly as I do).
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby bosvit » Thu Jan 10, 2013 8:40 pm
My Giant Defy/American Classic 420 combo used to get the wobbles on more occasions than not descending down my own street. I can reach 70km in a tuck easy.toolonglegs wrote:not doubting you, but on a motor bike when you get into a tank slapper you accelerate hard to lighten the front wheel. I have never had a speed wobble on a vélo but my natural reaction would be to hang my bum off the back.Strange Rover wrote:You just need to put weight over the front wheel...its the lack of weight that causes it to wobble. I can get my bike to do it easily just by riding no hands and slapping the stem sidways and the front wheel just wobbles like crazy...there is a youtube vid of it somewhere. But as ldrcycles says...what happens is it starts to wobble and people sit up trying to slow down and in reality it makes it worse.
Sam
I found the best way to stop it was to start peddling, would settle the whole frame down and you could get on the brakes, so sort of similar to TLL's motorbike experience.
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby RunForrestRide » Mon Jan 21, 2013 1:17 pm
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Re: Descending Tips
Postby Mulger bill » Tue Jan 22, 2013 12:48 am
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