Hit gravel, broke leg

I've gone over sideways four times in the 10 years that I've had my
Lightning Stealth. When an SWB's front wheel slides out, you go down
fast. Ususally I just get road rash on the forearm that hits the street.
The most recent time I did this, was going in a straight line at about
12 mph, rode into a small patch of gravel. Went down, landed badly and
broke a leg. Am re-evaluating my choice of bikes.

Is an SWB any more likely than some other kind of 2-wheel bent (or a
wedgie) to lose control on a patch of gravel in the street? Opinions?
Experiences?

Ron

Ron Teplitz wrote:
I've gone over sideways four times in the 10 years that I've had my
Lightning Stealth. When an SWB's front wheel slides out, you go down
fast. Ususally I just get road rash on the forearm that hits the street.
The most recent time I did this, was going in a straight line at about
12 mph, rode into a small patch of gravel. Went down, landed badly and
broke a leg. Am re-evaluating my choice of bikes.

Is an SWB any more likely than some other kind of 2-wheel bent (or a
wedgie) to lose control on a patch of gravel in the street? Opinions?
Experiences?

Ron

I have a LWB Tour Easy, a CLWB BikeE and a SWB Vision. They all can go
down fast, but the SWB seems to go down the fastest. The most serious
injury I got on a bike was a broken wrist when my Vision went down at
about 25 mph.

Lorenzo L. Love
http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove

"Get a bicycle. You will certainly not regret it, if you live."
Mark Twain

Ron Teplitz wrote:
I've gone over sideways four times in the 10 years that I've had my
Lightning Stealth. When an SWB's front wheel slides out, you go down
fast. Ususally I just get road rash on the forearm that hits the street.
The most recent time I did this, was going in a straight line at about
12 mph, rode into a small patch of gravel. Went down, landed badly and
broke a leg. Am re-evaluating my choice of bikes.

Is an SWB any more likely than some other kind of 2-wheel bent (or a
wedgie) to lose control on a patch of gravel in the street? Opinions?
Experiences?

Ron

The only bike I've ever crashed at speed is my 622/451 SWB, and it was
while going straight on a dry road. I probably lost control when I
wasn't paying full attention and maybe hit a pot hole or a road seam on
the edge. My other bikes have been either DFs, a 406/349 CLWB and a
dual-571 SWB.

I wouldn't say that this means a big/small SWB is more likely to go down
when the front wheel is purturbed though.

Out of curiosity, what was it about this particular crash that led to
your broken leg vs. your usual road rash?

Did you unclip and your leg got caught under the bike? Leg suck?

--
I do not accept unsolicited commercial e-mail. Remove NO_UCE for
legitimate replies.

Is an SWB any more likely than some other kind of 2-wheel bent (or a
wedgie) to lose control on a patch of gravel in the street? Opinions?
Experiences?

I think it is a matter of weight distribution. LWB bikes are
relatively lightly loaded on the front end and so the front will slide
around more easily. SWBs tend to have more weight on the front wheel
so they tend to be less likely to slide around. The back wheel will
slide, and if starting hard on a unstable surface, you can easily spin
the rear wheel.

My SWB bike has never had a front wheel slide problem that I can
recall.

On unstable surfaces like gravel, just about any bike is liable to be
a problem, unless it has fat tires.

On 06/04/2005 05:34:54 (Ron Teplitz) wrote:

I've gone over sideways four times in the 10 years that I've had my
Lightning Stealth. When an SWB's front wheel slides out, you go down
fast. Ususally I just get road rash on the forearm that hits the street.
The most recent time I did this, was going in a straight line at about 12
mph, rode into a small patch of gravel. Went down, landed badly and broke
a leg. Am re-evaluating my choice of bikes.

Is an SWB any more likely than some other kind of 2-wheel bent (or a
wedgie) to lose control on a patch of gravel in the street? Opinions?
Experiences?

Ron

Have you cosidered a trike, you do not even have to unclip at junctions, and sliding can even be fun.

--
Buck

I would rather be out on my Catrike

www.catrike.co.uk

Ron Teplitz wrote:

Is an SWB any more likely than some other kind of 2-wheel bent (or a
wedgie) to lose control on a patch of gravel in the street? Opinions?
Experiences?

I suspect that there's more to it than just being SWB or not. I ride my
(SWB) Streetmachine over gravel quite a bit, simply on the grounds that
our house is on an unpaved lane and if I didn't I'd have to walk the
last 100m home every time I took it out... It's a little harder to hold
it together than the wedgies going uphill (though not to the point of
throwing control), but not really much difference going down beyond
differences caused by speed (I go faster on the 'bent thanks to the full
sus!).

I think I'd find the same sort of thing significantly harder on a Baron,
or a full-on DF racer, in the latter case because the tyres are
singularly hopeless for anything much that might move a little.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Ron Teplitz wrote:

was going in a straight line at about 12 mph, rode into
a small patch of gravel. Went down, landed badly and
broke a leg.

Six years and one week ago, I went down in a right turn going too fast
on my M5 CMPCT, and broke my right leg at the ankle due to the dreaded
"leg suck". Unlike your case, there was no gravel or any other road
condition responsible, only my own poor judgement of my speed. I've done
similar stunts [without as severe an injury] on my Tour Easy and on
various hunker-bikes, so I can't blame the bike [although my wife does].

--
"Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much
to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes,
it has not died out." -- The Daily Telegraph (1877)

Victor Kan wrote:

Ron Teplitz wrote:
I've gone over sideways four times in the 10 years that I've had my
Lightning Stealth. When an SWB's front wheel slides out, you go down
fast. Ususally I just get road rash on the forearm that hits the street.
The most recent time I did this, was going in a straight line at about
12 mph, rode into a small patch of gravel. Went down, landed badly and
broke a leg. Am re-evaluating my choice of bikes.

Is an SWB any more likely than some other kind of 2-wheel bent (or a
wedgie) to lose control on a patch of gravel in the street? Opinions?
Experiences?

Ron

The only bike I've ever crashed at speed is my 622/451 SWB, and it was
while going straight on a dry road. I probably lost control when I
wasn't paying full attention and maybe hit a pot hole or a road seam on
the edge. My other bikes have been either DFs, a 406/349 CLWB and a
dual-571 SWB.

I wouldn't say that this means a big/small SWB is more likely to go down
when the front wheel is purturbed though.

Out of curiosity, what was it about this particular crash that led to
your broken leg vs. your usual road rash?

Did you unclip and your leg got caught under the bike? Leg suck?

Victor,

Can't say much about why the outcome of this fall was worse. No leg
suck. Every other time I went to the left and put my forearm on the
street. This last time I went to the right and landed on the sidewalk.
Perhaps I could slide better on asphalt than on brushed concrete and
hence received lighter injury.

Ron

"Buck" wrote in message
...

Have you cosidered a trike, you do not even have to unclip at junctions,
and sliding can even be fun.

Fun yes! I wouldn't give up my trikes for anything BUT they are not stable
at high speed (at least not the one's I've had a chance to ride at high
speed).

I learned this the hard way. I was going down a hill that would have been
nothing on a bike. The road was rough but nothing you would avoid. I was
going 25 MPH by the time I decided that I didn't like the way the trike was
handling. That is also the moment when I discovered that the effect of
brake-steer is magnified at high speed. I ended up flipping the trike. A had
a little road rash and the trike was fine (I was more concerned about the
trike).

I've been wondering if quads are more stable but I'm starting to come to the
conclusion that two wheel vehicles actually do better at high speeds.

The only times I every feel off of any of my recumbent bikes was when I was
going up very steep hills and couldn't go fast enough to maintain my
balance. This has never happened to me on a trike (obviously).

Jeff

On 06/07/2005 13:57:52 "Jeff Grippe" wrote:

"Buck" wrote in message
...

Have you cosidered a trike, you do not even have to unclip at junctions,
and sliding can even be fun.

Fun yes! I wouldn't give up my trikes for anything BUT they are not
stable at high speed (at least not the one's I've had a chance to ride at
high speed).

I learned this the hard way. I was going down a hill that would have been
nothing on a bike. The road was rough but nothing you would avoid. I was
going 25 MPH by the time I decided that I didn't like the way the trike
was handling. That is also the moment when I discovered that the effect
of brake-steer is magnified at high speed. I ended up flipping the trike.
A had a little road rash and the trike was fine (I was more concerned
about the trike).

I've been wondering if quads are more stable but I'm starting to come to
the conclusion that two wheel vehicles actually do better at high speeds.

The only times I every feel off of any of my recumbent bikes was when I
was going up very steep hills and couldn't go fast enough to maintain my
balance. This has never happened to me on a trike (obviously).

Jeff

You should try the Catrike Speed, by the way this isn't a plug, well it is but only because I have such high regard for them.

--
Buck

I would rather be out on my Catrike

www.catrike.co.uk