Originally Posted by
Bekologist
I'm with electrik. Cycocommute's contrarian nature is leading him to give REALLY POOR ADVICE in this thread.
Platform pedals and studded tires, people. if you have any concerns at all, it's better to run studs.
I like having two identical wheelsets for the off season commuter - one with studs- with cassette installed, switching out wheels for studded tires takes less than 5 minutes in the morning if you have any concerns at all.
i'd rather be slightly slower and have the security of studs, then be on the bike as ice forms around your commute as it gets dark.
My advice if you're riding into a patch of black ice without studs? both feet on the ground, straddling bike, get low and loose. 4 points of contact. it's like glissading with a bike between your legs.
My advice on studded tires has always been "use them if you need them". Not everyone in all locations
needs them.
As for pedals, clipless aren't death traps. My feet can pop out of a set of clipless and be on the ground as quickly as any one on platforms...not that putting your foot out is going to get you much of anywhere in a crash on
black ice. We've see video after video of people crashing on glare ice now and in most case getting your foot on the ground has little effect. It is not going to save you from crashing. Look at that
My advice on riding over a patch of black ice without studs is to not do anything stupid when you hit it. Don't try to slow down in the middle of it (you should do that
before you get on it). Put your feet parallel to the ground and coast across. Don't turn, don't change course, don't try to stop, and, in the words of Loudon, "don't laugh and don't fart and don't sneeze". If you do have to stop, do it very carefully with very gentle brake pressure.
And, if conditions are like those in one of the videos I posted or like those in the Belgium video
and you don't have studs, maybe it's a day not to go out on a bicycle. Even if you do have studs, it might be prudent to not go bicycling. Studs won't protect you from sliding cars.
Originally Posted by
electrik
Have you even ridden a bicycle to the ground? It only works because you get a bit of resistance from the dirt as you slid out thereby converting some of your vertical energy into the pushing out of dirt. Think about a berm. There is no such resistance on ice, the second you lean the body over you will just brutally slap right over on your shoulder and head. Not pretty, but thankfully the same lack of resistance means the bicycle can slid out right from under you so quickly that you're left standing mostly upright like a table set after the tablecloth has been rapidly pulled out from under it.
"Have you even ridden a bicycle to the ground?"
You mean crashed right?
Damned tootin'! I've crashed on dirt, I've crashed on pavement, I've crashed on wet pavement, I've crashed on snow, I've crashed on ice. In each and every case, my shoulder and head aren't the first thing to hit the ground. Nor are yours, I'd hazard a guess, unless you have really really broad shoulders...like 6 feet wide.
The first thing to hit the ground when the bike goes out from under you to the side is your thighs and butt. Look at all the videos posted. I don't see a single one...even the girl in the Belgium video who crashes at high speed...hit their shoulders. They hit on their legs, then their hip, then their torso. By the time their shoulders get to the pavement most of the impact has been dissipated by the rest of their body
and their bicycle.
And I didn't see a single one left standing "like a table set after the tablecloth has been rapidly pulled out from under it" while their bike is sliding away from them.