UnknownOrb

Hey, I am wondering what the limit of grip is going through a corner at high speeds. What is the limit? How do I maximize the grip through a corner? I am very worried when going fast through the corners because I'm afraid of losing grip since the tires contact patch is so narrow. Any tips? Thanks.

Homebrew01

Crash in the corner, then next time go just a little bit slower. Now you know the limit.

Or go faster & faster, then when you get scared, you've reached your limit.

Practice, practice, pratice

cvall91

I don't do hills so can't help you with that, but while cornering on flats going over 25+, I'm only really worried about clipping my pedals with the floor. When I first started riding, I would take corners VERY wide and slowed down a lot. But would ride with groups and thought "if the guy in front of me can do it, I can do it," which helped my confidence so I can carry more speed through the corner. I think if the road is completely dry, it's pretty hard to make your bike slip unless you're tilting your bike way too much.

hyhuu

Don't worry about speed, just worry about sand, dirt, gravel, mud and road debris.

waterrockets 

Yeah, I do this once/week, just since the rubber compounds change with aging and humidity.

merlinextraligh

Incorrect.

merlinextraligh

Weight distribution. Specifically, weight on the outside pedal, and inside hand.

Weight on the pedal anchors the rear wheel. Weight on the inside hand allows you to adjust line, depending on how hard you press down.

mshred

helpful post. thanks.

Brian Ratliff

The inside hand bit is important, and not emphasized nearly enough. Everyone knows about the outside pedal; the inside hand is what actually turns the bike. One of my early mistakes in bike handling around corners was in trying to shift my weight rearward using the misguided theory that bike "carves" on the rear wheel (seemed reasonable since the rear is what slides out when one lays a bike down in a corner). This is false. The bike carves the turn on the front wheel; the rear is just along for the ride. The more weight on the front wheel through the inside handlebar, the more lateral force you can put on the wheel before it slides out and the faster you can corner.

waterrockets 

The other key here is that if you need to brake, focus on the front brake until you really know what you're doing and develop a touch for braking. When you brake, you unweight the rear, which lowers its traction. If the rear has to hold the radial cornering force and a tangential braking force on less traction, it is much more likely to slide. The front wheel, on the other hand, gets more weight and thus more traction during braking. That means that you can use the extra traction to brake, while not losing any traction for cornering on that wheel.

So many crashes are caused by braking in a corner and sliding the rear out. Nothing wrong with braking as you go into a corner in the interest of maximizing course speed, but make sure you know what you're doing.

SalvadorM

I've only had my road bike for a few days so I am learning thanks for the tips. I was actually curious about which pedal my weight should be on. I was doing it on the inside this morning because I seem to turn sharper that way but I will start doing the opposite. I have so much to Learn about riding =|

Brian Ratliff

You will quickly find that when turning at speed, there is no way for the inside pedal to be pointed towards the ground without hitting. It's called "grounding" a pedal and it has the potential to cause some spectacular crashes.

Seattle Forrest

Exactly this.

Speed in general comes from power, but in a turn it's more skill than brute force. And that skill will come with experience. Ride through corners, and you'll figure it out.