Rethinking FG safety on the road

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09-06-18, 08:41 AM

#26

seamuis

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Quote:

Originally Posted by vinfix

I try and learn my lessons from out of the ordinary experiences. I learned early on riding fixed at night was not comfortable for me- it gets country dark in my area as soon as you get out of town- no streetlights. Lights are good to be seen, not as good at seeing stuff like potholes and other road hazards in time.
I had a couple of squirrel strikes on a recent ride- on my geared bike, so I can't blame the quietness of a fixed gear. I did almost hit a chicken once- never did find out why he was crossing the road.

I totally understand that, where I live it’s the same. After dark, it’s dark. But when I ride at night I ride with extremely bright lights (1200 lumen) and I carry a backup 2200 lumen flashlight. My headlight is designed like a car lamp in that it casts a wide beam. I saw him from a good distance back, as such assumed he’d know I was there and would move off. I now use a large dome brass striker bell to ‘announce’ myself If I see any animals ahead of me. Raccoons and deer in my area are quite stubborn though.

09-06-18, 11:44 AM

#27

caloso

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Quote:

Originally Posted by hardboiled718

^ Not sure what happened there but I'm kind of curious. Being in constant motion and not being able to get your pedals level is less than ideal for a bunny hop but doesn't make it impossible. Not in terms of tricks but being able to at least wheelie or hop over small obstacles is a pretty useful skill to have.

Agree with this, bad tube and glad the OP didn't wipe out.

Good reminder, in general it's important to be aware that when choosing to share public roads with cars, potholes, nails and other misc. debris there's some inherent risk involved.

I was pulling off the street into a parking lot where the transition from the gutter to the driveway had a decent (1 in. ?) lip on it that I didn't want to just plow into. On my geared bike I would just give a little hop to clear it, so that's what I did just out of habit, forgetting that I was on my FG. Well, I was reminded immediately that I was on a FG when it nearly bucked me off. Didn't crash or anything but it kind of tweaked my back.

09-06-18, 02:47 PM

#28

Mikefule

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Quote:

Originally Posted by caloso

Ouch. I know that one. Even after a mile of riding rutted bridleway and farm track on fixed, sedulously avoiding pedal strikes and acutely aware that I am on fixed, I'll still randomly forget for one moment every so often. And the crazy thing is, as well as a fixed bike, I ride XC unicycle which is also fixed, so when I go on my geared bike, I often forget for long periods that I can coast or change gear!