Originally Posted by
Dheorl
The joys of hydralic discs.
Btw, as the hydralic discs may suggest, I am a mountain biker, and was on a mountain bike, and as such can get my weight so far back I can get virtually sit behind the rear wheel. May have something to do with my my front wheel skidded, althought I don't recall going THAT far back.
Also, curiosity again, why is locking the front wheel so much worse than the back? I can understand if it gets airbourne and comes slamming back down when locked up hard, but why is skidding it so bad?
All this stuff people are saying though, I was kinda after actual stories, I'm wondering if you actually end up doing a perfect textbook stop when your about to go headlong into a stream of traffic or if something else takes over, and what generally ends up happening.
When the back wheel locks up, the rear end will swing around the headset pivot. You, the rider, can usually adjust your body weight with hip movements and steering the front wheel to keep the bike upright. If the front wheel is skidding, you can't steer the bike...well you can but it just much harder
...to compensate for the change in balance. Additionally, the momentum and weight transfer on the front wheel is such that when locked, the likelyhood of going over the handlebars is much greater. Most of the time, a front wheel skid will result in you laying on the ground either in pain or in shame
I would never go headlong into a stream of traffic because I pay better attention than that
That's the key to stopping anywhere. Since you are ride a mountain bike, I assume that you don't fall of cliffs with regularity. How do you avoid that? By paying attention to the trail and anticipating what is coming up. It works the same way in traffic. If anything, it's easier in traffic because traffic is generally more predictable.