Road Cycling - Tackling the kerbs in the streets

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denbrewers
08-03-03, 11:01 AM
I wonder how do you guys hop over the kerbs on a road racing bike? I've seen it done many times out in the streets but I'm still none the wiser as to the actual techinuque. Is it pretty much the same as the pedal-kick stuf on MTB? Or is there some other more 'viable alternative'? My problem is, after years of hard training I still can't get the hang of the art of the pedal-kick - and frankly - kerbs scare the hell outa me. I don't like them. Presumably, it's not nice having to hop over the kerb. There's no payback, only pain, unfortunately. At best I usually end up with dented rims. At worst I either smash the front fork or loose the back-end completely - and crash spectacularly in front of the public. So I've simply learnt to treat each kerb I encounter with some respect. But it's not the best way to tackle them, don't you think?

Den Brewers

stokell
08-03-03, 11:31 AM
Den,
I don't claim to be an expert on this but....
As a city cycle commuter, I occassionally have to jumb kerbs (in North America we call them 'curbs').

The technique must be learned. Just before you make impact with the curb (hopefully at a 90 degree angle), you pull up on the handle bars, leaning back slightly to shift the centre of gravity and mount the curb. This is very much like doing a jump. Before the rear wheel reaches the curb, you stand on the pedals thereby shifting the weight distribution off the rear wheels while they are in contact with the curb.

This seems to work well for me. I wonder if other members have additional knowledge.
MichaelW
08-04-03, 02:51 AM
I do a lot of curb hopping on a road bike (with 28mm tyres).
On the approach to a small jump, I put my weight forward, even braking a little to shift the weight, then pull back on the bars and shift my weight back to lift the front wheel. When the front wheel contacts the ground on the raised sidewalk, I apply the brakes to shift the weight forward again and jump to unweight the bike. The unweighted rear wheel will sail over the kurb, sometimes will a little upward help on the pedals. You realy need toe clips or clipless pedals to do theis.