sojourn

on my brand new Madone 6.2.
I was cruising N on Center City Pkwy making a right on Jesmond Dean (in Escondido). As I made the turn, in a blink of an eye, I'm sliding on my right side across Jesmond Dean.
Luckily no traffic, and after assessing that no broken bones occurred I quickly cleared the intersection grabbing strewn water bottles and bike.
The first thing I did was check the front tire pressure and it was LOW, not flat, but very low. I knew that loss of air pressure to the degree I found was the cause. Low pressure=loss of traction.
The bike was scuffed up in the usual places with the rear derailleur getting the most scuff marks.
I got the right hip bounce and rash, elbow, forearm (front & back), left thumb and index finger knuckles gouged, and hit my head on the pavement and cracking my helmet.
Once I got home, I looked at the tube and it had failed on the opposite side of the stem. The rubber was separating and several cracks looking like this: ((( were evident.
Now that I bored you all to death, what really bothered me about the crash is there was no low pressure warning that I noticed during the ride. There was no sluggishness or bounce....nothing.
I run Ultra Gatorskins FYI of late after running Vittoria Rubino Pros for years.
Can anyone help me with some helpful advice regarding this miss on my part? What other indications might be evident that I'm not familiar with? Crashing at my age (or any age) is something I want to avoid in the future!
Did I miss something or is it just one of those thing?
Thanks in advance!

ninevictor

What were the road conditions like? I crashed in a similar fashion yesterday after making a right turn and having the front wheel slip out from under me due to slickened road paint from the rains that hit the LA Basin yesterday. Careless mistake on my part. I was in automatic pilot mode on my normal but wet commute.

If your front tire slipped on wet crosswalk or intersection lane markers your innertube damage might have been secondary to your crash.

sojourn

Ideal conditions, no street gunga, it was low tire pressure for sure.

chefxian

IMO, the tires you are using are so sturdy that you may not feel a low pressure or a flat quite as fast due to the fact you generally have less weigh and pressure on the front. If in fact the pressure was that low your tire could have rolled so much on the rim when you were cornering that you slid out. That is very possible. But like mentioned above if there was paint and it was wet that could be it also. You should always check your air pressure before you ride even if you rode the day before. You could get a pinhole leak or compromised tube or valve. It takes 2 seconds to check and can make one less thing to worry about.

volosong

About the only "low pressure" warning I'd get when riding is that I'll notice a somewhat smoother ride. Those little expansion cracks in the asphalt and little bumps here and there won't jar the bike and me so much. It's like the difference between a 23mm tire and a 25mm one. Only other thing is to look at the contact point between the tire and the road. If the tire is low, you'll see the flatening of the tire. Can't see it so much on the shadow side, but it is pretty easy to see on the sun side of the tire.

Glad you are not hurt too much. Bummer about the bike scratches.

alicestrong

Crashes happen...

Dunbar

I visually check my tires for low air several times during the ride. Even when I get a flat it can take me a few minutes to identify a mushy tire if it's slowly leaking. If you fill your tires up on a frequent basis it could just be bad luck. I crashed a few years back on a comfort bike taking a turn too quick and it hurt like hell. To this day I don't feel comfortable hurling my road bike, pro-style, into corners. You never know what you'll encounter mid-turn that can cause you to go down.

sojourn

Thanks for most of the replies.
I'm much more cautious on turns now and hyper vigilant for low tire pressure.
In this case, I did all the right things prior to the ride but didn't notice the tell tell signs of the tube failure. It was just my turn I suppose.....they say it's not if, but when regarding bikes and crashes. Just glad I walked away from it alive and the bike minimally damaged.
Ride on all and be safe!

vertical bob

You may have had a slow leak from the usual sources. Glass, goat head, etc. You were probably gonna be changing your tube in a couple of miles

TJClay

I can tell if my tires are down even 20-30 lbs, I cant imagine riding on an almost flat tire and not notice it. Could the crash have caused the tire to go flat or or could it maybe have let go during the turn and that causing you to lose control and go down.

krobinson103

Even a slight loss of pressure makes the front feel mushy. I can usually tell when the bike doesn't handle quite right in the corners. Glad you weren't injured too badly.

Dunbar

I run pretty puncture resistant tires and I definitely can't feel if they're 20-30psi low. If I'm 30psi low I'll usually notice I'm working harder, and running a higher heart rate, to maintain my normal cruising speed but that can take a while to notice. As a result I fill the tires every 2-3 days at a minimum.

sojourn

I sure could't tell and that's what disturbs me the most....I don't want a repeat of this crash.....the crash didn't cause the leak, the tube failed and had a slow leak. I pumped up the tires before the ride and somewhere along the route, the failure occurred and dropped pressure down enough for traction loss going around the corner @ appx 17 mph.

Jan Feetz

I've always wondered what hard-cased-high-durameter tyres like Gatorskins were run a lower pressure, now I kinda know. Sorry you crashed. The Vittorias are probably softer than the 'skins, therefore when/if they lose pressure, you'll know. My experience with the "puncture resistant" type tyres are that the ride is not so supple and dont grip as well at low pressure due the hardness of the tire casing. Now I just run el cheapo Forte Pro+ and a puncture resistant tube.