slvoid

I was going to work yesterday going downhill on ft.hamilton avenue at around 30mph when the car in front of me swerved real fast to avoid something. Next thing you know, I'm face to face with this 8-10" deep pothole. I just rammed into it with my 700x35's @ 80psi at full speed and flew out the other side. No pinched tube, got to work, wheels still as true as they were the last time I checked them. Whew...

The hole was a little deeper than this one:

repeatx3

oooh daredevil!!! i hate pot holes.

Crash Dummy

Wow. I have the feeling that if I encountered a hole like that going 30... I'd probably die. And my wheels probably wouldn't be very true afterward either, for what its worth at that point.

gear

I ride in the dark and on one drizzly morning I hit a pot hole (can't tell how deep water is by headlight, just that there is water) that threw me over the handelbars. I contacted the DPWs about various pot holes but was ignored. Now I mark all pot holes on my way to work with a ring of whits marker paint. By the way when my head hit the pavement I saw stars, if I hadn't been wearing a helmet, I probably wouldn't be seeing anything anymore.

Guest

Make sure you report it to the Streets and Sanitation department with your city. If you call them enough, they'll get out there and repair it.

Koffee

lala

Damn! What wheels are you running?

bobfe

When I complained about potholes on my route, I didn't tell them I was a cyclist. I told them that the potholes were forcing cyclists to ride way out in the middle of the lane and slowing down the cagers.

The potholes were filled the same day.

lala

Smart move, bobfe!

ivan_yulaev

*sigh* clever, but you shouldn't have to do this.

slvoid

I used to have a pair of mavic 319's laced onto deore disc hubs. The rear rim was dented in an accident and I replaced it with a mavic 719 rim, which is supposedly slightly stronger.

Maybe I'm just unweighing myself off the bike the right way or whatever but over 10000 miles combined on my bikes in the city, I've never had a wheel go out of true by more than 1-2mm despite slamming into hundreds of potholes every day at high speeds.
The tires are 700x35's though, so they're almost an inch and a quarter wide and I run em 15 psi below the max for a little more cushion.

I had this really distinct feeling of the entire tire compressing, almost as if I had shocks on my bike, I'm very surprised I didn't get a pinch flat or that the wheel's still as true as it was when I checked it a few days ago.

One thing though, I checked my quick releases and maybe it's from all the jarring but they seemed to have loosened...

grolby

Holy cow! I run 32s on a 36-spoke front and a 40 rear, but I still would never expect them to survive something like that! At the very least, I'd probably be looking at a pinch flat and an OTB, and at 30 mph, that would hurt a LOT.

Sometimes I feel like I should be wearing armor out there...

CdCf

Maybe a roll cage backpack...?

slvoid

I was nervous at first but after a while, you start to realize, with good tires, properly inflated, and strong tensioned wheels, these things can survive a lot more than what you think they will.
I'm still not completely over it, I spin my wheels everyday when I get home to make sure they're still true. But the more I do it, the more I realize, these suckers are meant for the streets.

2manybikes

Did you once say you were about 140 lbs. ? Maybe your weight decreases the impact to a point where it makes a difference. Great bike that Giant in any case.
Possibly the far side of the pothole had an angle to it,as the dirt sometimes
does and instead of just hitting the edge of the pavement some of the impact was taken up by hitting some of the dirt and it was a larger imact area than it looks.

I have to type this without looking at your avitar.
AAaahhhh !!! *runs screaming from the room*

ajst2duk

That pothole was afraid of you after seeing your avatar.

slvoid

Well going in was slightly sloped but coming out was pretty hard edged. I suppose being 140 lbs helps heh. I don't know if it makes much diff though, cause for someone who's 160, that's only 20 extra pounds.

slvoid

Yeah I suppose my new icon is errily happy...

operator

LMAO.

el twe

I always cringe at even the smallest "road dimples."

lilHinault

I weigh 140, should weigh 120......