Road Cycling - Bunny hoping a road bike?

On yesterdays ride, i came across a set of train tracks, that angled across the road. To make things worse, I was on a two lane road, with cars behind and next to me.

I did not have enough time to stop, or even slow down for the tracks; or better yet, cross them perpendicular. So i closed my eyes, and hoped them. I would guess I got about 8" of "air", and covered a distance of ~12 feet. I was going ~30 MPH at the time. the landing felt very smooth.

As a mtn bike convert, i am used to hopping anything, anywhere. However, this was my first real hop on a road bike. I have hopped hundreds of pot holes, but never more then a inch or two of air, and no longer then a few feet in distance.

I now think i may have tweaked my rear wheel, as i noticed a slight wobble (1/8th of an inch out of true). It is not noticeable on the bike, but i did notice it upon closer inspection after the ride. I am now wondering if i did even more damage to my frame?

Is there anything i should look for on my frame before taking the bike out again? I don't see any hairline cracks, and it doesn't make any noise. But I'm sure aluminum road bikes are not made for jumping. :)

You should be alright as far as the frame is concerned but I would check te glue joint on your crown steerer joint. I buny hopped my trianing bike a few weeks ago and heard a strange cracingnoise on landing. The glkue joint had cracked for about 80 degrees. Had to buy a new fork and for a training bike it hurt as I'd rather spend money on my new race bike.

If you have a carbon fork checke it out. Not sure fo teh quality of your bike but my trainer is locally built UK 6060-T6 special that feels like a Kirk Precision to ride....
Also it's a 1" steerer....

god damn it my speeling is bad, sorry :-)

I wouldnt be to worried about the frame. They test road frames with some severity. I think the idea is something like a 275lb gorilla coming down a pot-hole filled mountain road at 75mph hammering it all the way down. So a little hop over some tracks probably wont do anything to your frame.

Originally posted by Joe Gardner
I would guess I got about 8" of "air", and covered a distance of ~12 feet. I was going ~30 MPH at the time. the landing felt very smooth.
COOL !!!! Hope you didn't damage your bike, but I would have liked to have seen that jump:D

One of my teammates bunny hops everything and he has quite a reputation for getting flats. Always pinches. I think that he runs a pretty high psi too.

I wish I'd seen that!

If the landing felt smooth, I doubt you damaged the frame. In fact, I wouldn't expect wheel damage... I'd think hitting a pothole (or even tracks at a right angle) would be as bad or worse. Once, I dinged my front wheel pretty bad when I tried bunny hopping some tracks, and my front wheel came down just in time to hit the second track. :(

I have also bunny hopped on a road bike. Its surpisingly easy on a sub 20 pound road bike with tight clipless compared to a 30+ pound mtb with platforms. The frame I hopped on was steel though, and it flexed a bit to compensate.

I've been bunnyhopping my road bike for years and never had a problem. I don't really have a choice with the state of the roads around here. The circuit I do around town crosses some tracks, which are probably 1.5" proud of the road surface, and I cross them 3 times a ride. FWIW my bike is 13 yo, steel frame with campy rims. I used to hop my previous lesser quality bikes too.

I do it all the time.

I agree with TLN it would take a lot to damage a frame..
I would look for tiny/hair line cracks, to help you fine them (you may feel or see them better that way) try waxing your frame. but I beleive/hope the only damage should be a wheel out of true. I would have love to see the face of the guy in the car next to you...(seeing a bike fly over the train tracks)
you da man... :)

I put another 40 miles on the bike today, no problems at all. I guess i wont worry about it, I just wasn't sure if a 17 pound bike could take abuse. I am SURE i would have done more damage if i had not hopped the tracks.

Joe which wheels and what pressure are you running?

Rolf vector pro's, 130psi in the rear, 115 in the front.

Yeah, as long as your tires don't explode, you'll be fine.

Heh, I figured I would pinch flat before doing damage to the frame. but the slight out of true wheel somewhat concerned me.

From now on, i'll try to keep both wheels on the ground. ;)

I'm the same as you. I rode a mountain bike my whole life (well 6 years of my life) and would jump and go through anything. Now on my Concorde, I had to learn some self control on my bike or I'd go through wheels very quickly. So far, I've only destroyed one cheap set but the open pro's are holding together well.

I'm also in the hopping lane. I ride a steel road bike but the wheels are 36 spoke rims laced with DT Revolution's and I also weigh only 163. I too have hopped railroad tracks, curbs, ruts, big holes, even rode it on a very rough dirt road (due to getting lost), for that matter I have impacted ruts, big holes and railroad tracks that were rougher than they looked. No damage to the frame that now has over 60k miles on it and even the rims survived with just barely going out of adjustment-nothing that about 10 minutes couldn't fix when I got home. One time I did hit a track hard enough to crack a rim but I was still able to ride home on it.

Originally posted by WorldIRC
I'm the same as you. I rode a mountain bike my whole life (well 6 years of my life) and would jump and go through anything.

Same here... having done the crossover recently after riding MTBs primarily since I was a teenager (over 15 years to date) and BMX bikes before that, I also thought nothing of hopping curbs and plowing through potholes on my MTB but sometimes I forget when I'm riding my RB. I haven't done any damage yet and have grown a little wiser about dodging "suboptimal pavement". I'm glad my wheels are pretty strong.

Being a long time MTBer, i've approached my road bike from the other direction. At first, I was so afraid it would break that I was very picky about the roads I would ride! I've figured out that it won't break ;) I'm still getting used to what it can handle.

Dont forget that cyclo-cross bikes are no stronger than standard road bikes. They are hopped over logs, but on soft surfaces. Some of those sub 15lbs ultra-light bikes may be a bit vulnerable, but a standard weight road bike is plenty strong enough.
According to tests by Damon Rinard
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/carbon_fiber.htm#proof
Maximum loading occurs at low speed. This fits with my experience, where going over a high curb at slow speed gives me a real jolt, whereas sailing over it at high speed is easier on me and the bike.

Sheldon Brown is THE man. As the rest of us go to the shop to buy a new bike, he scurries off to his garage to build his own carbon frame!

Ooops! correction. It was Damon Rinard that wrote that article.

Technique is the key- soft landings good, enough said
( Awful high pressures there Joe!)

Ride Gently When needed
Pat

Thanks Pat, I try to make all my bunny hops soft landings. ;)

I usually run 120psi all around, but just purchase a new 160psi pump, I didn't dare put in more then 130 pounds in the rear tire... I have to say, the bike felt alot faster with the extra 10psi :)

I also noticed that i did not bend or damage my wheel in any way. What i thought was a slight bend in the rim, ended up being dirt on the tire. I could have sworn when i looked at the rim on the road, it was out of true. When i put in on the stand today, its true as new.

I do it from time to time in emergencies - unseen potholes, vehicle induced "diversions", drain grates. No problem, but then I am usually on one of my old steel frames and try to land lightly, which is no easy task for an old fat guy on a loaded commuter.

Joe, congratulations! You're now a retro-roadie. When I started road-racing and going on team rides in the late 70's, two of the first things the old guys, the CAT 1's & 2's, taught you (On those rare occasions when you weren't dropped immediately) were to wipe your tires (Without ending up with a nick-name like 'stubby') and to hop RR tracks (Without ending up with a nick-name like 'gimpy'). I didn't hear the term "bunny-hop" for another decade or so. The downsides were not frames (Mostly Columbus SL and Reynolds 531) but the soft rims (Flat spots) or landing a bit askew and rolling off a sew-up (Road rash).

So, keep up the good work and not to worry (Frames and modern wheelsets are pretty tough)!!

Gruppo...

IMHO the stem and handle bars are the weakest unless you have special wheels. Somehow i cracked a handle bar once and then it broke off completely at slow speed. I would think learning to hop is a safety feature for your bike and yourself. Wish i had faster reflexes to react faster.

erik

Thats why you buy Cinelli / 3TTT.

A demented thought here. Remember the rear wheel side hop thing you'd do in a puddle to splash the rider next to you on your BMX bike??? Could you imagine the damage that would do to a large, skinny, 130 PSI road bike tire and probably the frame??? :)
Doug

I hop tracks on an aluminum Klein with a carbon fork all the time - never had a problem. You should be okay.

My regular 'long' ride takes me over an area where the earth moves a great deal in a very short amount of time. They restripe every 2-3 months or so. Recently, a curb or drop off of about 8"with a bump in front has developed and all you can do is fly off it at about 30 mph. You can probably clear a foot or three and when you land perfect it feels great but when you land hard the bike really jolts you. I've never noticed any damage to the bike. Its great to see a group of seventy of us fly off. There are many expensive, delicate bikes flying.