Gyro

I have a Raleigh's Detour 3.0 that I’ve managed to crash twice in the past thousand miles. This last time, resulted in fractured piece from my elbow that will have to be screwed back in place in a few days. Ohhh boy.

My first crash was going over a half inch curb that act’s as an edging for a concrete walkway at a shallow angle. The front tire skidded along the curb at contact, the rear slid in the direction of moment and I ended up down in a left side slide.

The latest while crossing a set of rail road tracks. As far as I can remember, the front tire looked to be sucked into the crack between the rail and the gap with the street. This yanked the handle bar out of my hands as the rim followed the direction of the gap, went down hard on my right arm. Speed was a probable factor in both cases.

I’m wondering if I should change from the 700c size tires to something a bit wider for my own good. If so, what size? Would it be of any help?

Please be kind, I feel stupid enough as it is.

Catweazle

Sounds to me like the angle of approach to those obstacles was more of a factor, and speed only insofar as it reduced your ability to swing a bit wider and cross the obstacles at a safer angle.

I wouldn't be too worried about the tyre sizes. I'd be more mindful of changing the approach to riding. Bugger getting hurt!

maddmaxx 

These are two of the famous reasons for crashes. Railroad track crossings are particularly nasty if taken at an angle. Try to get perpendicular before crossing. If not possible.......walk it across. The shallow lip at the ends of driveways is also dangerous as you have found out. Wider tires may not help for either of these events as the gap at the tracks is always larger than what you can put in there.

Sorry to hear about the elbow.......I hope it heals quickly and doesn't keep you off the bike.

You can also watch out for slots in storm graitings at the sides of roads, unusually large seams in the asphault or concrete roadway and wooden docks and steel grating bridges. Anything with a tire grabbing groove.

Metric Man

To get a tire large enough to help with what you are talking about you would need a Beach Cruiser tire. Like stated above a little more caution is going to be the answer. Good luck.

alcanoe

As stated it's more of a technique isse than a tire width issue. That said, I favor a 25mm wide tire as I can ride on a dirt shoulder when I have to leave the pavement for safety reasons.

Al

DnvrFox

+1

At what angle did you approach the curb and the RR tracks?

BikeArkansas

I too have changed to a 25mm tire, but that change would not have helped the situations you described. As stated above, the key is the angle of approach. On a recent local tour ride the route was over a set of railroad tracks that were at a 45 degree angle to the road. Experienced riders would swing very wide and cut back in to hit the tracks at 90 degrees. Less experienced riders did not do this. There were so many crashes the organizers had to post a couple of persons at the track to warn riders of the danger and tell them to walk it if they did not know how to approach the tracks correctly.

I hope you the best in your recovery.

cyclinfool

Denvr +1 + my +1 = +2

Slow down when approaching these known obsticles and get as perpendicular as you can with a death grip on the bars. On some larger lips I will hop the front of the bike over them as well.

As also mentioned - street grates can be really bad - most here in NY have been turned so that they won't grab bike tires easily (somebody was thinking). What has bit me twice is dropping the bike off the pavement and trying to put it back on - not making it over the lip and SLAM, usually results in great pain and a lot of personal verbal abuse.

Allegheny Jet

Speed may have been a factor if you were going very slow and and the bike didn't have enough momentum to climb the small ridge or cross the track. While warming up for a race on July 4th, I fell while crossing a RR crossing with the tracks at a 45 degree angle to the road. I was going about 10 mph and talking to a friend when we crossed the tacks. My front wheel went down into the gap and I went right over the bar and onto the ground. It was my first fall in years and all sorts of things went thru my mind. My first reaction was concern about my bike (20 minutes before a race and I didn't need a bent wheel), Then I assessed the damage to me (bleeding from the ankle, knee, hip and elbow and the whole left side of my body shaken) and lastly, I was embarrassed for not taking precuation on a known hazzard. The event served as a reminder to keep looking down while noodling along.

howsteepisit

+1 on the angle of approach 90 degrees is best. Also if its the least bit wet consider walking bike across RR tracks they are slick! I ride 28mm tires, even on gravel and while as good as the 2.00 on my mountain bike they are good enough.

RonH

Sounds like you're a good candidate for a BikeEd course.

George

Just change your angle, before you hit the tracks or whatever. All the post above are the way to go.

Pista Largo

There is an important corollary to the insights provided above.

If you are riding a MUP (or similar) and inadvertantly ride off the edge of the pavement, stop immediately and DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RIDE BACK ON! cuz sometimes riding back on works and sometimes it don't.

Artkansas 

Good point about going into the rough. I don't know that you need to stop though.

But certainly, you need to regain control while in the rough and then choose the point to re-enter the pavement safely. Re-enter the highway as closely to perpendicular as you can and then turn to follow the flow of traffic.

And as you have said, sometimes there may not be a good re-entry point to ride to, and you should stop and walk the bike back onto the pavement.

cccorlew

Your problem isn't tires. Really.

Monoborracho

+1 These are riding technique issues.

stapfam

I think its time you changed to a Mountain Bike. Plenty of falls on these to give you enough practice to get away with it next time.

BLIZZ

All the post above are good advice.......I'd like to add.
That you should also unweight the saddle {get you butt off the saddle with your legs still bent}
This lowers your center of gravity to the crankarm area of the bike, and at the same time reduces the transfer of vibrations and shock from object you are going over.
With your legs bent they act as shock absorbers.
As you gain experience you don't have to be as concerned with the angle of attack as you can unweight the bike completely.
On one MS150 ride we went across a bridge that had an 8" gap in the expansion joints. I had never seen one that bad before. After stopping for the first one, I decided that I would float {small bunny hope}over the the rest of them. This worked great, except that I had to wait 10 minutes for the rest of the group I was ridding with to get across the bridge.
I have also done this same thing over rail road crossings or pot holes, but I come from a motorcylce racing background and practice a lot of my bike handling skills with the mountain bike.
Sorry to hear you were hurt. I've been there myself. Hang in there, it will get better.

The Weak Link

Unweighting the front tire is a good thing to know how to do, as Blizz points out.

It took me three years to figure out how to do it, and now I can get over most objects I encounter on the trail. However, it was a long learning process for me.

walter231

The Raleigh Detour 3.0 is a hybrid bike that comes with 700x40c tires. These are already much wider than what you find on almost any road bike. (Btw, the 700 specifies diameter and you're stuck with that for the given bike. It is the 40c that specifies width.)

As others have pointed out, curbs and railroad tracks are hazards which you need to take seriously and learn how to handle. There are others... You could take a course, read a book, or consider your falls learning experiences and just keep falling until you have learned enough not to. Most people, I would imagine, take the third way. Almost everybody falls from time to time.

I have skinned knees and/or elbows falling several times, but have never broken anything, and in fact I consider it all not such a big deal, though of course I do try to keep my skin off the pavement. Perhaps you have brittle bones or something, which might be a reason to seriously consider knee and elbow pads. Also, padded cycling gloves help you fall more safely since they let you control the fall with your hands somewhat.

gcottay

Hello, Gyro.

Good advice here, but don't let all the collected wisdom distract you from just riding. It's amazing what you will learn after a few hundred or few thousand miles.

fthomas

Last year while riding SE of Memphis, TN where they have no bike lanes and it is just plain scary I had a similar crash. Right turn off a major thoroughfare into an apartment complex. They have these wonderful changes in surface elevation of about 1 to 2 inches from the street surface to the gutter. If I had hit it at 90 degrees no problem, but swinging in at 45 shot the front wheel off to the side and down I went. Luckily I only wrecked my shin on the edge of the curb and rolled onto the grass.

I know that around here, me on my touring bike (normal) and the roadies take very different approaches to bridges with boards, concrete to asphalt changes, etc. 90 degrees, un-weight the front wheel and relax and you will allow the wheel to ride over the obstacle.

alcanoe

I wouldn't. It's best to take a fall with the body and roll if possible. Outstretched arms often lead to shoulder separations/broken collar bones. Very common injuries in both road and mountain biking.

Cycling gloves are a must. The more I rode, the more I disliked padding. I now use unpadded Fox gloves. Just as comfortable.

Al

alcanoe

90 degrees, but some times I'm off that some depending on conditions.

It was mentioned that once you leave the pavement to stop. Not necessarily. You can more often than not pull that front wheel back on the pavement. The rear will generally follow though you might have to apply a little body English to keep upright if it slips some. Best to get off the saddle when leaving the pavement but stay low for best control.

Being a mountain biker, off-road adventures don't bother me that much. Plus I built my road bike from a ti cyclocross (read "dirt road bike") frame set and it has very nice handling in all conditions.

Al

Gyro

Thanks for the well wishes and advice guys and gals. Will take them to heart. I have a tenacity to ride flat out when I'm riding alone. Have to rein that in a bit and think.

For the mean time, I'm back on my exercise bike were I started last february. Spinning a 120 rpm for an hour not stop. Back in April using the same bike pressure setting before I bought my bike, I was half dead spinning 80 rpm for 45 minuites. Now, I'm just breaking a sweat.