Are Drop bars just an illusion for most?
#426
Jedi Master
I personally try to avoid braking in the corners on flat ground because crashing a road bike sucks, but on some curvy descents, you have to brake in the corners or you'll ride off the road. So much depends on conditions and rider skill that you can't really make sweeping generalizations about the best way to corner a road bike.
#427
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Suggested new title for this thread: why you should never, ever, ride a bicycle (unless you're filthy rich.)
#428
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I personally try to avoid braking in the corners on flat ground because crashing a road bike sucks, but on some curvy descents, you have to brake in the corners or you'll ride off the road. So much depends on conditions and rider skill that you can't really make sweeping generalizations about the best way to corner a road bike.
However in those instances I would argue that it would be wise to keep one's speed so low that one never nears the limit of traction.
#429
Jedi Master
There is no doubt that cornering at speeds far below the limit is much safer, but it's also slower. As with most things there are trade-offs, and each rider has to decide what's best for them. I corner faster than some people and slower than others, but I wouldn't accuse anyone of doing it wrong unless they were endangering other riders.
#430
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You mean like
Or this
or this
you do know that it has nothing to do with braking, and has everything to do with maintaining control? meaning your hands didn't bounce off the hoods, or slide forward over the top of them.
and if you have ever hit a pothole at speed on the hoods, you'd know what happens.
You know what happens to a load that isn't tied down when whatever it was riding on comes to an abrupt stop? even momentary, as in hitting a pot hole. the load shifts.
now apply the same thing to your hands on the hoods.
who knows maybe you descend with a death grip? Or another possibility is that your bars are really high, and your hoods are angled up more than what would be the typical angle. Drop a picture of your bars?
and if you have ever hit a pothole at speed on the hoods, you'd know what happens.
You know what happens to a load that isn't tied down when whatever it was riding on comes to an abrupt stop? even momentary, as in hitting a pot hole. the load shifts.
now apply the same thing to your hands on the hoods.
who knows maybe you descend with a death grip? Or another possibility is that your bars are really high, and your hoods are angled up more than what would be the typical angle. Drop a picture of your bars?
So here is the Pop quiz: What is your thumb wrapped around on the hood to keep your hand from sliding up and off the hood?
the best way to skin a cat is to hit something at speed while riding the hoods.
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#431
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My turn! Please quote anyone telling you that "it's stupid to ride in the drops". Most everyone I've seen posting say that they don't use them all the time. Many here don't find that to be detrimental to riding in any way.
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Stuart Black
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Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#432
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There is no doubt that cornering at speeds far below the limit is much safer, but it's also slower. As with most things there are trade-offs, and each rider has to decide what's best for them. I corner faster than some people and slower than others, but I wouldn't accuse anyone of doing it wrong unless they were endangering other riders.
However, and not to disagree with what you said... to Elcruxio's point. His objection (which I also noted when the particular post happened) is that one can't really talk about how unsafe a hand position is and then promote a (relatively) unsafe braking technique on the other - which is what Terry did.
No doubt some advanced riders who are in a competition (or just wanting to go faster) compromise optimum safety for speed by braking through a curve but, in a general cycling forum, that's not really promoting a "best practice" which seemed to be the motivation for drops advocacy a few pages back. I think the objection was to the juxtaposition, not the technique itself.
If one really wanted to promote safe practices for descending I would say number one, before worrying about hand position or braking through a curve, would be to just slow down. Everything is so much easier if you are not pushing the bicycles design envelope to its limits. Ego is the most dangerous position for descending IMO.
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so as someone who doesn't really descend aggressively, this is a stupid question, but how do you even determine what the traction limit of your tires is when cornering? like, do you start to feel it slipping away?
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There is no doubt that cornering at speeds far below the limit is much safer, but it's also slower. As with most things there are trade-offs, and each rider has to decide what's best for them. I corner faster than some people and slower than others, but I wouldn't accuse anyone of doing it wrong unless they were endangering other riders.
However, and not to disagree with what you said... to Elcruxio's point. His objection (which I also noted when the particular post happened) is that one can't really talk about how unsafe a hand position is and then promote a (relatively) unsafe braking technique on the other - which is what Terry did.
No doubt some advanced riders who are in a competition (or just wanting to go faster) compromise optimum safety for speed by braking through a curve but, in a general cycling forum, that's not really promoting a "best practice" which seemed to be the motivation for drops advocacy a few pages back. I think the objection was to the juxtaposition, not the technique itself.
If one really wanted to promote safe practices for descending I would say number one, before worrying about hand position or braking through a curve, would be to just slow down. Everything is so much easier if you are not pushing the bicycles design envelope to its limits. Riding an over inflated ego is the most dangerous position for descending IMO.
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yeah, that's what I kinda figured. on my old bike, I did get some warning when doing things like putting down too much power when cornering (on flats) but I had no idea how you did that on fast downhills other than incrementing until you crash, buy a new bike and don't go over that line again
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I like my drop bars, and don't understand why anyone else wouldn't.
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I enjoy switchback riding in the summer as we have some excellent ski hill type approaches. Great day trip cranking up the road and then descending.
I try to go fast but stay in control and because there are so many curves, after a while you get a feel for what the bike can do - but I wouldn't say I push it to the edge.
I try to go fast but stay in control and because there are so many curves, after a while you get a feel for what the bike can do - but I wouldn't say I push it to the edge.
#440
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Wait! Putting my feet down isn't the best braking technique?! Who knew?I
Arcane fine points of braking technique is truly a thread hijack of the first order which might have been ok if this was a remotely interesting discussion.
Arcane fine points of braking technique is truly a thread hijack of the first order which might have been ok if this was a remotely interesting discussion.
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Once more, braking in corners is safe, at low speeds and near the limits of traction. They physics of that is clear.
Say you're in the middle of a 0.9g turn, and you apply 0.2g of braking force. You'll skid out, right?
Wrong.
0.2g of braking in a 0.9g turn produces 0.92g of skid-out force -- an addition of a mere 0.02g and still well below the skid-out level.
More uninformed fear mongering. I use both front and rear brakes in every turn. Not using both brakes is a bad idea.
#442
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Stop perpetuating a myth.
If one really wanted to promote safe practices for descending I would say number one, before worrying about hand position or braking through a curve, would be to just slow down. Everything is so much easier if you are not pushing the bicycles design envelope to its limits. Riding an over inflated ego is the most dangerous position for descending IMO.
#443
Senior Member
Straw man fallacy.
Once more, braking in corners is safe, at low speeds and near the limits of traction. They physics of that is clear.
Say you're in the middle of a 0.9g turn, and you apply 0.2g of braking force. You'll skid out, right?
Wrong.
0.2g of braking in a 0.9g turn produces 0.92g of skid-out force -- an addition of a mere 0.02g and still well below the skid-out level.
False assumption. Braking in a turn is not risky, as demonstrated above.
More uninformed fear mongering. I use both front and rear brakes in every turn. Not using both brakes is a bad idea.
Once more, braking in corners is safe, at low speeds and near the limits of traction. They physics of that is clear.
Say you're in the middle of a 0.9g turn, and you apply 0.2g of braking force. You'll skid out, right?
Wrong.
0.2g of braking in a 0.9g turn produces 0.92g of skid-out force -- an addition of a mere 0.02g and still well below the skid-out level.
False assumption. Braking in a turn is not risky, as demonstrated above.
More uninformed fear mongering. I use both front and rear brakes in every turn. Not using both brakes is a bad idea.
Also it'd be wise to refrain from yelling fallacy if you can't discuss without using them yourself. Also there exists a concept of reading between the lines and reading within context.
Subtle things these
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#444
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yeah, that's what I kinda figured. on my old bike, I did get some warning when doing things like putting down too much power when cornering (on flats) but I had no idea how you did that on fast downhills other than incrementing until you crash, buy a new bike and don't go over that line again
#445
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Through feel, by acquiring braking skills at a young age, then practicing for a lifetime.
#447
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This is true and a good example of why the whole discussion about which position is better for braking is just personal perspective.
However, and not to disagree with what you said... to Elcruxio's point. His objection (which I also noted when the particular post happened) is that one can't really talk about how unsafe a hand position is and then promote a (relatively) unsafe braking technique on the other - which is what Terry did.
No doubt some advanced riders who are in a competition (or just wanting to go faster) compromise optimum safety for speed by braking through a curve but, in a general cycling forum, that's not really promoting a "best practice" which seemed to be the motivation for drops advocacy a few pages back. I think the objection was to the juxtaposition, not the technique itself.
If one really wanted to promote safe practices for descending I would say number one, before worrying about hand position or braking through a curve, would be to just slow down. Everything is so much easier if you are not pushing the bicycles design envelope to its limits. Riding an over inflated ego is the most dangerous position for descending IMO.
However, and not to disagree with what you said... to Elcruxio's point. His objection (which I also noted when the particular post happened) is that one can't really talk about how unsafe a hand position is and then promote a (relatively) unsafe braking technique on the other - which is what Terry did.
No doubt some advanced riders who are in a competition (or just wanting to go faster) compromise optimum safety for speed by braking through a curve but, in a general cycling forum, that's not really promoting a "best practice" which seemed to be the motivation for drops advocacy a few pages back. I think the objection was to the juxtaposition, not the technique itself.
If one really wanted to promote safe practices for descending I would say number one, before worrying about hand position or braking through a curve, would be to just slow down. Everything is so much easier if you are not pushing the bicycles design envelope to its limits. Riding an over inflated ego is the most dangerous position for descending IMO.
Cheers
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Cheers
#449
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The trigonometry problem I presented used numbers to illustrate that even when approaching the limits of traction, that braking in a turn is safe.
But your argument tactic is clear. You select the fact that those numbers that aren't being measured to discredit braking in a turn as a safe technique. It didn't work.
"Why brake in the turn? If all braking is done before the turn, speed will be slower than necessary before the apex. Anticipating maximum speed for the apex is difficult, and because the path is not a circular arc, speed must be trimmed all the way to that point. Fear of braking in curves usually comes from an incident of injudicious braking at a point where braking should have been done with a gentle touch to match the conditions." -- Jobst Brandt
#450
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Drop bars have only one more position than flat-bars with bar-ends, and that is the drops. And the drops can be very uncomfortable for a lot of people. Braking on the hoods, and in the drops both have their challenges. Using flat-bars, you can very easily get on the grips and have full braking using one or two fingers. I think that going up an incline with flat-bars is easier than drop-bars because when you use the bar ends you can really swing the bike back and forth while standing. I also think that bar-ends are an absolute must on flat/riser bars.
I was out on my cantilever brake calipers and Tiagra Aero brake levers (not Brifters) DROPBAR MTB today and whilst braking from the hoods and using JUST TWO FINGERS to do so proved again that i can easily skid my rear wheel. Ditto for riding down a dirt or gravel trail = two-fingers will easily cause the rear wheel to skid/slide.
Here's the bike I was riding.
Cheers