Gnosis

Deleted by Gnosis

scroca

Ouch.

Not trying to preach, but from now on maybe you realize to slow down on icy/snowy/dark rides. I for one am too scared to go fast anymore in those conditions. I don't want to break any more stuff on me or the bike.

acidfast7

yeah, i put the bike up until the ice melted, which was recently.

it seems that the other option is studded tires, which are quite expensive

North Coast Joe

Agreed! I've only fallen once on ice and it's unbelieveable how quickly one goes down. I, as well, had no time to even think about putting an arm or leg out (probably just as well) and hit the ground in riding position. You were booking along, it seems; I was creeping and still didn't have a chance!

I hope you heal quickly, ribs are really painful. That whole breathing thing is tough, not to mention a cough!

I'm done until the roads clear. I'll purchase studded tires this Summer for the coming Winter next year. It seems too late now, and my cycling budget has been allotted to a Summer only road bike restoration. Perhaps the revamped road bike will be the basis of an indoor trainer during the Winter.

Feel better soon.

gerv 

Yeah... if your commute is short enough, you can just poke along... which is a good idea if the road conditions are iffy. I've fallen too. With snow over ice, if the snow is deeper than the carbide studs on the tires, you are SOL. Luckily, I was going pretty slow when I hit.

cyccommute 

First, you should never 'brace' for impact. You get hurt when you brace for it. I'm well aquatinted with the ground, i.e. I crash with some regularity, and I always let gravity have its way with me. Learn to relax and just go with the the flow.

But more importantly, if you are going to ride in snow, get proper tires for it. Slicks aren't the proper tires. They may work for efficiency while on dry pavement but you've found out...the hard way...why they are called 'slick'. At the very least get a tire with knobs on them. I'm not a huge fan of running studded tires all the time but I do use knobs on my winter bike. They help.

superfred

I recently bruised up my ribs real good too. My doc told me to take a few weeks off for it to heal and don't do anything that results in heavy breathing (all exercise). It's annoying to sit there for days doing nothing while the rest of you is all healthy and uninjured.

fietsbob

not in Mn , and so my studded Nokian, tires have lasted 20+ years, I just have a spare bike now,
I used to change tires when freezing temperatures were on the forecast, overnight.

It's been a good longterm investment.. so taking the long view .. a few bucks a year..

wolfchild

Don't be so cheap .. the cost of studded tires is well worth it. You'll get many seasons out of them and it will make winter riding a lot more fun and much safer, no need to put a bike away into storage. I only use my studs when I feel it's neccessary, ie few times during winter. No need to have them on whole winter, I ride regular skinny cx tires most of the winter.My studded tires look almost brand new after few seasons of use.

tsl

This is why I use studded tires. In the snow, I can't always see the ice.

Especially at our age (I'm 56), since I don't bounce like I used to.

As for the cost, mine cost about the same as a doctor's office co-pay, but they've lasted seven years so far, instead of only 10 minutes!

Sorry to hear about the ribs. It can take a long time for them to heal.

acidfast7

There's a high probability that I'm moving to Denmark, Hawaii or Texas, so I won't need them

However, if I stay in Germany or move to Switzerland, I'll get some this summer.

I've never had anyone call me cheap ... my shoes are more expensive than my bicycle

acidfast7

I agree. Snow isn't a hassle at all. It's just after the "freezing rain" that I usually take a break. Salt isn't allowed here (enviro reasons), so I need to wait for it to melt (or go with studs). If I'm here next year, Schwalbe studded tires it is!

Jim from Boston

I use studded tires on my beater mountain bike and leave them on December through March, A post from tsl few years ago convinced me. Even in Rochester, NY, where they know how to handle snow, there always lurk those small icy patches that can take you down.

Black ice is always a hazard, especially when dark, but you really have to be careful anytime you can't see the road surface, in the case of the OP when covered with snow. Just as a reminder from experience, I went down on a deep pothole, which I thought was only a shallow puddle. Also a local cyclist was a fatality when he struck a pothole covered with leaves.

tsl

Hamburger?

Ribs. I thought you said it was ribs.

EDIT: Wait! Don't laugh. It'll hurt!

droy45

Very sorry to hear that. Hope you can heal quickly. I know it must have been next to imposible to relax yourself for that fall as it happened in an instant and you didn't even know what happened until you found yourself on the ground and hurting. Thats how it happens if you ever get hit by a car, you never see it coming and by the time you come to your senses, its all over with. The best advice I would have is the studded tires. I put mine on at the end of November and leave them on until the beginning of April. I ride with them on dry pavement all the time and they do make the bike slow but if you get some with carbide studs they will last many seasons. You probably thought you were just going for a nice little cruise on a light snow fall and regular knobbies would be fine for that but just not the slicks you have now. Its the ice that requires the studded tires. Around here its always ice and seldom snow, because our snow quickly turns to ice. Also I always keep my speed down and pay close attention when crossing bridges. You can actually feel the bike starting to get a little loose when you hit black ice and then the studs start to bite and you can go right along. You have the perfect bike to install those tires on. That's what I would do. Its a safety investment that you'll never regret.

Wanderer

A couple years back, I did the same thing, and ended up with enuf stitches to have paid for the studs.......

You are right - it happens so fast, that it seems like you are bungeed to the ground, and it's showing no mercy.

I don't do snow any longer.............. LOL (and I did snow for 60+ years) Instead, I ride the beast in the basement............

nelson249

Agreed that they're expensive but how much does getting injured cost?

ThermionicScott 

+1. Studded tires are damned cheap compared to an ER visit or some of the other "upgrades" we make to our bikes, and quality ones hold a lot of their value if you want to resell them.

Richk

I feel your pain i crashed yesterday mud not snow. Fell on gate I was going round broke 2 ribs good pain killers are a blessing though. Becareful out there

WMcCready

G, Hope you recover well & at your own pace. Gotta love that Giant Rincon.

cyccommute 

No, there is never a time to 'brace' for an impact. Using you jump off a 6 foot wall, you would never want to hit the ground with rigid legs. Think of it. You allow your legs, knees, hips and thighs to spring when you hit. This allows you to bleed off the force of the impact not a rigid structure which will only drive the force of impact from the bottom of the structure, i.e. you feet, through to the top of the structure, i.e your neck and head. Hitting with rigid legs is almost a guarantee of a compressed spinal injury while flexing your legs and allowing them to cushion the impact will allow you to walk away.

I'm no spring chicken nor am I unfamiliar with crashes. A few illustrations might be in order. This summer, I caught a rock with a pedal on a flat mountain bike trail. I was going fast enough that the pedal strike launched the rear wheel into the air and I didn't hit the ground until, roughly, 15 feet after the strike. The first point of contact was my shoulder...straight into the ground...then my thigh followed by my head. The whole time I was relaxed because I have trained myself to do so in situations where I can't keep from crashing. I ended up with some bruises and some dirt rash but not lingering injuries.

A few winters ago, I tried to ride up on a pile of snow to get out of the way of a car...a courtesy thing, not because I had to. I caught an ice lip with my wheels and went down hard. It was hard enough to break the light mounts on 3 lights including my helmet light. It was loud enough that the car that was passing me turn around to see if I was okay because he heard the impact in his car. Again, I relaxed as the bike was going down...no arms out to stop the fall, no legs out to hold me up, no trying to keep my head up. I hit hard enough to cause a massive hematoma on my thigh and I had a long linear bruise from my shoulder to my wrist where my body pinched the muscle with the bones of my arm. But no broken bones, no torn ligaments, no wrenched back.

I have lots of other crashes at all kinds of speed and all of them are handled the same way...keep the hands in, keep the legs in, try to take the impact on the soft bits like the thigh and hip and just let happen what is going to happen.

Sorry but I missed the 'gist' of your story because you failed to provide it. You said you didn't want to bore us with details and then expect us to know the details. All you said was that you crashed on ice covered by freshly fallen snow. Slicks are in appropriate for those conditions.

chipg5

another +1 for studded tires. Well worth the investment, I use them 2-1/2 months per year and they're in great shape after 5 seasons and I'm pretty sure they'll last many more (I have Kenda Klondikes).

Because of an accident with my commuter bike, I had to ride this morning another bike without studs, the roads were snow covered, a bit of ice, and man did I miss the studded tires.

hubcap

The last time I went down on ice was a couple winters ago. It was smooth ice covered in fresh powdery snow and I didn't know the ice was there. Like you, I was splat on the ground before I knew what was happening. I was surprised at how quickly it occurred and was stunned, but no real injuries. And I was riding on Nokian Mount and Ground studs. Studded tires help enormously on ice, but they are not fail safe.

modernjess

+1 usually happens to me about once year at least.

Studs are very helpful. but not a solve all guarantee of safety. Even going in a perfectly straight line, if you don't know there is ice under just enough snow the studs don't get through it and the snow acts like grease and you are on the ground. Before you know what hit you the ground does. Ahhh Winter. I swear I really do enjoy it's challenges though.

tjspiel

I will take sliding 10 or 15 feet on a sheet of ice over sliding 2 feet on asphalt any day.