Road Cycling - tight cornering on rough pavement technique?

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brunning
06-13-04, 01:32 PM
i'm pretty good at taking tight corners at speed - leaning in, couterbalancing, body positioning, etc.

as i've upped my speed, however, i've been having trouble with bad roads - hitting rough spots, manhole covers, etc (riding in nyc, after all). i try to pick my lines carefully, but i didn't see a manhole cover coming today and almost spilled. i was at a pretty steep angle already and think my rear wheel hopped a bit and slid out by a food. i made it back up, but it was scary.

any advice on cornering here other than chosing a good line or slowing down?

would riding farther back on the saddle help? it feels like it's always my rear end that wants to slide out, so perhaps weighting it more would help.

ClevelandGuy
06-13-04, 01:45 PM
ummm? .......training wheels? no! jk,, maybe lower tire pressure? it helped so much. dropped em down to 90#, but for me it was the feeling that the front end was loosing road contact when really pushed hard, not the rear. have fun & experiment with it; good luck!
jfmckenna
06-13-04, 07:54 PM
definatly sweep far ahead with your eyes on the road before commiting to the turn. Thats my only suggestion. If your already fast at corners then you probably are set on the bike properly.

froze
06-13-04, 10:17 PM
Like Cleveland said you need to reduce your air pressure and it sounds like the rear but more than likely all around. I would start with a 5psi drop at a time and test till you feel the tire no longer "skipping" in the corners. OR you can also try a wider tire in the rear if you don't rotate your tires; meaning if your running 23's now go to a 25. Going to a larger size tire is almost necessary anyway if your riding on city surface streets; the wider tires will allow your bike to handle better, prevent the tires from slipping into grooves or catching edges, and stop faster.
leconkie
06-15-04, 10:23 PM
Wider tyres is a good idea. But when it comes down to it, a hole is a hole; it's not going to be pleasant and steel man-hole covers are just a mightmare in the wet. I think the only way to increase you "fearlessnes quotient" is to get a MTB, but then that brings in all the disadvantages again. Maybe you're already at the reasonable speed limit and unless you get a photographic memory, can't go faster.