Almost lost it BIGTIME lastnight!!!

flyingdutch

riding home. suckin wheel of an older dude hammering along the Northern
side of the Yarra and coming up thru richmond. heading east.

Reached the last chikaine(?) level with Mary St, getting back onto land
leaving the last pontoon.

Older dude baulks as he discovers a jogger (wearing all black!!!!!!!) in
the gloom and brakes/panics.

Imstarting to resemble a Paris-Roubaix from wheel-suckin in the wet and
slam on the brakes. My front end locks up just as my front wheel is
pointed 5deg to the left. Of course Im on the slippery bridge bit now,
skidding and looking to Bail, watching railing fly past

Miraculously my superior bike handling skills (read i got onto concrete
path again!) made me regain balance once again, but not before sailing
off into the kitty litter on the underside of Citylink!!

Damn wheelsuckin.

Should have known better than to : a - suck behind someone i dont know b
- do it in the wet c - listen to Hippy

PS realised my front brakes were adjusted way too tight. Is there some
standard setup for strength re front versus back brakes?



--

hippy

>Originally posted by flyingdutch Older dude baulks as he discovers a
>jogger (wearing all >black!!!!!!!) in the gloom and brakes/panics.

I nearly took one out this morning! He was on the road, running opposite
traffic and I had my head down for a second. Lifted it up and saw this
dude.. "woah!" and steer around him. This was out in the 'burbs - I
didn't think runners migrated this far east?

>Damn wheelsuckin. Should have known better than to : a - suck behind
>someone i dont know b - do it in the wet c - listen to Hippy

Gotta know when to sit on and when to move along...

>PS realised my front brakes were adjusted way too tight. Is there some
> standard setup for strength re front versus back brakes?

Front brakes will always provide way more stopping power than rear
(unless front are stuffed or something). Do you just want to equalise
the distance needed to move the brake caliper or something? If not,
and you are looking to 'reduce' front power, I'd first suggest getting
used to using the front brake more in a variety of situations. This
way you will be able to modulate your braking power, without having to
rely on the inferior rear brake. Mine are setup so there's a little
bit of movement before the calipers hit the rim and so that you can't
squeeze the brake levers into the bars, possibly limiting your total
braking power.

hth hippy



--

ritcho

flyingdutch wrote:
> riding home. suckin wheel of an older dude hammering along the Northern
> side of the Yarra and coming up thru richmond. heading east.
> [snip] Damn wheelsuckin.
> Should have known better than to : a - suck behind someone i dont know b
> - do it in the wet c - listen to Hippy
> PS realised my front brakes were adjusted way too tight. Is there some
> standard setup for strength re front versus back brakes?



Eeek!

Oh well, at least you stayed upright. Shaking heads in your general
direction (As if _I_ have never done anything dangerous)

As far as brake adjustment - you need the front to be adjusted as well
as possible. I like to have the pads _just_ clearing the rim. You can
practically flick the QR on the rear and leave it open - though it is
nice to have as a backup, in case of a failure on the front brake. In
every _emergency_ stop that I've had to make, the rear wheel was in the
air anyway!

Ritch

Darned joggers...



--

Koon Yong

flyingdutch wrote:
> Miraculously my superior bike handling skills (read i got onto concrete
> path again!) made me regain balance once again, but not before sailing
> off into the kitty litter on the underside of Citylink!!
> PS realised my front brakes were adjusted way too tight. Is there some
> standard setup for strength re front versus back brakes?



There's one reason to go fixed ...

Got my rear wheel caught by tram tracks a couple of times in the wet and
went sliding just as you described ... only the mometum of the rear
wheel pushed me back up straight. If I was ridding a freewheel, I would
have wiped out for sure.

As for the front brake ... sounds like you might need more practise with
your finger pressure. I keep my front disc really tight as well but have
never locked up my wheel in an emergency situation. I always ride with
the thinking that some !@#$head out there is gonna take me out. So
mentally, I'm always prepared for the worse and don't feak out when
something does happen.

Hope the bike's Ok.

Koon



--

flyingdutch

ritcho wrote:
> You can practically flick the QR on the rear and leave it open -



Double Eek! youre talkin ShimaNO!



--

flyingdutch

I aint talkin controlled finger pressure here. Im talkin all out instant
panic kinda brakin!

will sften the fronts as Hippy suggests tho

Time for a new set of pads anyway...



--

ritcho

flyingdutch wrote:
> Double Eek! youre talkin ShimaNO!



Eek? (inflection on the second 'e')

Talking ShimaNO? Well, yes and no... Zero Gravity brakes also have a QR
lever. Not that I can afford them...

Ritch



--

amirm

flyingdutch wrote:
> riding home. suckin wheel of an older dude hammering along the Northern
> side of the Yarra and coming up thru richmond. heading east.
> Reached the last chikaine(?) level with Mary St, getting back onto land
> leaving the last pontoon.
> Older dude baulks as he discovers a jogger (wearing all black!!!!!!!) in
> the gloom and brakes/panics.
> Imstarting to resemble a Paris-Roubaix from wheel-suckin in the wet and
> slam on the brakes. My front end locks up just as my front wheel is
> pointed 5deg to the left. Of course Im on the slippery bridge bit now,
> skidding and looking to Bail, watching railing fly past
> Miraculously my superior bike handling skills (read i got onto concrete
> path again!) made me regain balance once again, but not before sailing
> off into the kitty litter on the underside of Citylink!!
> Damn wheelsuckin.
> Should have known better than to : a - suck behind someone i dont know b
> - do it in the wet c - listen to Hippy
> PS realised my front brakes were adjusted way too tight. Is there some
> standard setup for strength re front versus back brakes?



Was Hippy the older dude??



--

hippy

amirm wrote:
> Was Hippy the older dude??



Not unless Dutchy suddenly got 10+ years younger!

hippy



--

NickZX6R

ritcho wrote:
> flyingdutch wrote:
> > Double Eek! youre talkin ShimaNO!
>
>
>
> Eek? (inflection on the second 'e')
>
> Talking ShimaNO? Well, yes and no... Zero Gravity brakes also have a QR
> lever. Not that I can afford them...
>
> Ritch
>
>
>
> --
>
>

As do Campag...except the quick release button is on the lever.

--
Nick

NickZX6R

flyingdutch wrote:
<snip>

>
> Time for a new set of pads anyway...
>
>
>
> --
>


Because your brake pads are all brown now? ;P

I locked the rear wheel up over a wet grate and got really sideways a
couple of days ago.

I nearly shit my pants but it was over so quick I reckon it probably
looked really cool to the casual observer

--
Nick

suzyj

ritcho wrote:
> Eek? (inflection on the second 'e')
> Talking ShimaNO? Well, yes and no... Zero Gravity brakes also have a QR
> lever. Not that I can afford them...
> Ritch



On my crappy red bike, I use Shimano levers with Campy calipers. QR?
Don't need no steenkin' QR!

Last weekend I was riding behind another rider on the fixed gear when
she got on the brakes. First time out with the bullhorn bars and
associated lever. Got the back wheel a good half foot off the ground.
Those Dia-compe levers work quite well.

Regards,

Suzy



--

flyingdutch

hippy wrote:
> Not unless Dutchy suddenly got 10+ years younger!
> hippy



i wish!

Im guessin he was 55+ and really strong. crap on hills tho. was real
happy suckin him, apart from the paris-roubaix impression!



--

DRS

"flyingdutch" <usenet-forum@cyclingforums.com> wrote in message
news:gkUxc.19769$A86.1956@fe03.usenetserver.com
> hippy wrote:
> > Not unless Dutchy suddenly got 10+ years younger!
> > hippy
>
> i wish!
>
> Im guessin he was 55+ and really strong. crap on hills tho. was real
> happy suckin him

Are you sure you don't want to rephrase that?

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