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pedal scrapage and ground clearance

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Old 10-26-13 | 05:04 PM
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pedal scrapage and ground clearance

hey guys,
so I was out on my bike the other night in the rain and being careful not too lean over too far for the conditions on a mini round about I ended up catching my right hand pedal on the ground and coming off the bike. I managed to land gracefully on my feet and me and the bike are fine.
the one problem I'm having though is whether I'm doing something wrong or if its the bike.
I find myself catching the pedals on this bike quite a lot whilst pedalling around corners but this is the first time I have come off as a result.
so I'm wondering is it the done thing to stop pedalling around corners or are they particularly low on my bike?
am I just riding it wrong?
I would have thought that for a road bike of all bikes that they would have ground clearance for this around corners but obviously not. the bike was my dads who quite a bit shorter than I am about 5ft7ish and I am 6ft2.
Is the size of the bike the issue?

if anyone has the same issue or just wants tell me I'm riding it wrong then any response is welcome.

any help would be awesome
regards a NOOB on a claudbutler

Last edited by froymot; 10-27-13 at 04:23 AM.
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Old 10-26-13 | 06:04 PM
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You're riding it wrong. Inside pedal should be up while coasting through a turn, and if you must pedal (like on a fixed-gear) then you need to keep the bike more upright.
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Old 10-26-13 | 10:23 PM
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Originally Posted by froymot
hey guys,
so I was out on my bike the other night in the rain and being careful not too lean over too far for the conditions on a mini round about I ended up catching my right hand pedal on the ground and coming off the bike. I managed to land gracefully on my feet and me and the bike are fine.
the one problem I'm having though is whether I'm doing something wrong or if its the bike.
I find myself catching the pedals on this bike quite a lot whilst pedalling around corners but this is the first time I have come off as a result.
so I'm wondering is it the done thing to stop pedalling around corners or are they particularly low on my bike?
am I just riding it wrong?
I would have thought that for a road bike of all bikes that they would have ground clearance for this around corners but obviously not. the bike was my dads who quite a bit shorter than I am about 5ft7ish and I am 6ft2.
Is the size of the bike the issue?

if anyone has the same issue or just wants tell me I'm riding it wrong then any response is welcome.

any help would be awesome
regards a NOOB on a claudbutler
If you're cornering that aggressively, then you need to pay attention to some semblance of technique. Make sure your inside pedal is up, and put your weight on your outside pedal. Or just turn slower and in a more upright position. (I suspect you already know this obvious info, and are just ******** with people..)
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Old 10-27-13 | 02:09 AM
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Cornering clearance is determined by the bottom bracket height, the crank length and the length of the pedal spindle/cage. All of those look pretty standard in your bike so it behaves as any normal bike would.
Track bikes have high bottom brackets and short cranks to enable riders to continue pedalling through corners. Road riders need to lift the inside pedal.
You can also strike your pedal if you ride over a speed bump raised section.
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Old 10-27-13 | 05:53 AM
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Don from Austin Texas
 
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A cyclocross frame has more clearance.

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Old 10-27-13 | 09:05 AM
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Yup, like all have said above, keep the inside pedal up when cornering hard, if you are leaning that far chances are you really are not gaining anything by pedaling anyways.

This is part of why you see fixed gear riders running shorter cranks, since they can not coast through corners they need to have a little more clearance.
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Old 10-27-13 | 01:04 PM
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Pay attention to where you are going.. Stop pedaling in corners,
and, as said above, put your inside of the curve, pedal, Up..

If you dig the pedal ito the pavement (ahead of BDC)

you can easily lift the rear wheel off the ground, and then Crash.

Last edited by fietsbob; 10-27-13 at 01:12 PM.
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Old 10-27-13 | 04:49 PM
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From your avatar,it looks like you ride sportbikes? On motorcycles,you shift your weight onto the inside peg. Bicycles don't need to lean that far,so there's no issue with keeping your inside pedal up.

I guess you also already figured out the front brake is on the left.
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Old 10-27-13 | 04:59 PM
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Originally Posted by dynaryder
I guess you also already figured out the front brake is on the left.
In the U.S.
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Old 10-27-13 | 05:07 PM
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Originally Posted by fietsbob
Pay attention to where you are going.. Stop pedaling in corners,
and, as said above, put your inside of the curve, pedal, Up.. If you dig the pedal ito the pavement (ahead of BDC) you can easily lift the rear wheel off the ground, and then Crash.
LOL. Learned that last year. Pedal down on the inside, fast tight corner and ka-ching the rear wheel bounced. I avoided the mailbox and power pole, leaving tracks in somebody's lawn, but managed not to dump the bike. My boys thought it was hilarious. After that I did some reading here about cornering.

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Old 10-28-13 | 01:43 AM
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If it helps, keep the cranks parallel to the ground when turning, and don't lean in too much.
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Old 10-28-13 | 06:08 AM
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thats normal, either coast or delay pedalling until youre coming out of the corner

the pedals on my citybeater are worn away for over 20% just by scraping it in every single corner
never came off tho, but have had 'little steps' many many times
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Old 10-28-13 | 09:54 AM
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One gain from putting weight on the low outside of the curve pedal,

is the center of gravity can be lowered , some .
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Old 10-28-13 | 10:16 AM
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Bit lost here on how you could ever come off on a mini roundabout, being as you are in the UK (ID'd from the 3 pin plug in the photo) mini roundabouts are painted onto the road, to hit one with your pedal, you would have to be leaning to almost to the point where the tire will loose grip.

If you were talking about a full size roundabout, these normally have raised kerb stones, but at the same time, the roundabout's are so large, that you would normally not get close enough to the center to hit the kerb when going round.

For how to corner, the advice above is what to take
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