Caught in Rain

Bob Palermo wrote:

So, how careful do I need to be when riding on the rain? How much can you
lean before sliding out? Any other tips for riding on wet roads?


you crash a couple of times, then you learn about how to lean and break.
honest, no better way than experience and everyone slides every once in
a while. keep tire preassure to max and avoid riding on the signs
painted on the road
dan

dan_s wrote:

you crash a couple of times, then you learn about how to lean and break.


that's to brake...

ahem :?

Bob Palermo wrote:
Hi,

Today while riding, I got caught in a rainstorm. It was a hard rain, though
not torrential, that lasted about 20 minutes.


So, how careful do I need to be when riding on the rain? How much can you
lean before sliding out? Any other tips for riding on wet roads?

Also, what else do I need to do? What do I need to dry? Should I lube the
chain? What about the brakes and derailleur? Anything else?

Wet roads have less traction, but most cyclists never approach the
limits of traction anyway. I don't typically slow down at all when
riding in the rain (no hairpin curves around here).

Metal surfaces can be very much more slippery when wet. Some road
marking paints can be slippery, too. RR tracks become really hazardous.

Wet rims may cause several seconds of delay before brakes start being
effective. It's wise to allow for this and/or dry your rims by dragging
brakes if you're in a stop & go environment where fast braking is needed.

Potholes may lurk under any puddle. A way to avoid them is to ride along
the fog line (or median line if the road is empty), you can see the
potholes then.

I just bounce & wipe my bike after riding in the rain. I try to get the
water off the chain, as it will rust pretty fast. If the rain riding was
long, it'll need lube, I'll just add some after wiping.

If you ride in the rain a lot, you'll wear down rims. A partial solution
to this is to use hard brake pads which don't pick up road grit.
KoolStop salmon-colored are the best. If you use soft pads, you should
dig the grit out before it cuts too much metal.

Most water gets into the frame at the top of the seattube, a good reason
to keep that junction well greased. A hole in the BB shell allows
drainage without disassembling anything.

I don't worry about water in the rims. I check pedals, hubs, headsets
and BBs once a year or so for contaminated grease. I clean and lube
seatposts about as often, quill stems about twice a year.

If you ride in the rain a lot, fenders are more comfortable and keep the
maintenance chores down somewhat.

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 18:48:06 +0300, dan_s wrote:

dan_s wrote:

you crash a couple of times, then you learn about how to lean and break.


that's to brake...


Brake or break.

Ron

Hi,

The reason I'm somewhat leery about traction was because of a fall I had
last year. I was on my mountain bike going over a wooden bridge that was
wet. The bridge had a 30 degree turn in it. Despite slowing down to about 12
mph, almost immediately after I started the turn, I slid out and took it on
my hip. The bruise was bad but the pulled groin was worse. I was out of
commission for 4 weeks and not fully recovered for another 4 weeks beyond
that. That ride actually turned out to be my last ride of the year, as it
happened in late September and I live in Minnesota and don't ride in the
cold weather. So I had all winter to think about it.

For my first few rides this spring, I was pretty cautious but am getting
more confident as the season progresses. I haven't had to ride on wet roads
this year until yesterday, when I got caught in a storm. I'm happy that I
had enough nerve to continue riding but I felt little confidence on the
road, especially on turning. I figured out the braking pretty easily, after
my first attempt took longer than expected. I realised that braking early
was the way to go. But I was not confident enough to pedal through or lean
even through curves, no less turns.

As far as maintenence goes. I hand dried the outside of the bike. It wasn't
dirty at all. I spun the water out of the rims and drained the tiny bit left
out of the holes in the rims. I drained the water that was in the frame, out
of the holes at the end of the chain stays. About 2 ounces of water was in
there, which I assume was from the bottom bracket. I picked up the bike and
turned it upside down and listened for any water in the seat tube. I heard
none. I used some solvent to clean the chain and then re-lubed it. I'll
probably also re-lube the brakes and derailleurs before I ride/

Thanks for the advice.

Bob Palermo



"Peter Cole" wrote in message
...
Bob Palermo wrote:
Hi,

Today while riding, I got caught in a rainstorm. It was a hard rain,
though not torrential, that lasted about 20 minutes.


So, how careful do I need to be when riding on the rain? How much can you
lean before sliding out? Any other tips for riding on wet roads?

Also, what else do I need to do? What do I need to dry? Should I lube the
chain? What about the brakes and derailleur? Anything else?

Wet roads have less traction, but most cyclists never approach the limits
of traction anyway. I don't typically slow down at all when riding in the
rain (no hairpin curves around here).

Metal surfaces can be very much more slippery when wet. Some road marking
paints can be slippery, too. RR tracks become really hazardous.

Wet rims may cause several seconds of delay before brakes start being
effective. It's wise to allow for this and/or dry your rims by dragging
brakes if you're in a stop & go environment where fast braking is needed.

Potholes may lurk under any puddle. A way to avoid them is to ride along
the fog line (or median line if the road is empty), you can see the
potholes then.

I just bounce & wipe my bike after riding in the rain. I try to get the
water off the chain, as it will rust pretty fast. If the rain riding was
long, it'll need lube, I'll just add some after wiping.

If you ride in the rain a lot, you'll wear down rims. A partial solution
to this is to use hard brake pads which don't pick up road grit. KoolStop
salmon-colored are the best. If you use soft pads, you should dig the grit
out before it cuts too much metal.

Most water gets into the frame at the top of the seattube, a good reason
to keep that junction well greased. A hole in the BB shell allows drainage
without disassembling anything.

I don't worry about water in the rims. I check pedals, hubs, headsets and
BBs once a year or so for contaminated grease. I clean and lube seatposts
about as often, quill stems about twice a year.

If you ride in the rain a lot, fenders are more comfortable and keep the
maintenance chores down somewhat.

FYI -- lugged mountain bike tires have terrible traction on slick
surfaces like a wet wooden bridge. In fact, wet wooden bridges are
like ice and the only thing you can do is keep a straight line to the
extent possible, go slowly and use your back brake. If you lock up the
front even a little, you are history -- unless you have exceptional
skills recovering from a front wheel slip out. Try fat slicks and rear
braking. I think you are anguishing too much about riding in the rain,
especially for someone who lives in Minn. and sees ice and sub-zero
temperatures in the winter. -- Jay Beattie.

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 18:23:27 -0500, "Bob Palermo"
wrote:

The reason I'm somewhat leery about traction was because of a fall I had
last year. I was on my mountain bike going over a wooden bridge that was
wet. The bridge had a 30 degree turn in it. Despite slowing down to about 12
mph, almost immediately after I started the turn, I slid out and took it on
my hip.

12 miles an hour is way too fast for plain polished-by-use, sits-in-nature
wet wood, especially on MTB tires. Traction on the stuff can be from
competition grade ice to really ****ing slippery. Going slow on
low-traction bits is more on the order of 3-6 mph than 12.

Incidentally, keeping the bike upright while you're cornering makes it
more likely to slip (with a good regular tyre on flat surfaces -- MTB
tyres may vary). The reason you tilt when cornering is that there is a
force resulting from your inertia that combines with gravity to produce,
effectively, gravity acting on you at a different angle (that's not really
what happens, of course. It suffices to explain most of it, nonetheless).
Cornering at speed is effectively the same thing as riding straight along
on a surface that's angled from left to right. Would you tilt the bike to
remain at 90 degrees angle with the surface, or would you keep it upright?

Best (well, safest) way to deal with the problem is slow down before
corners (brake gently) to a speed where you don't have to lean so much
you're scared of it.


Jasper

Bob Palermo wrote:
Hi,

The reason I'm somewhat leery about traction was because of a fall I had
last year. I was on my mountain bike going over a wooden bridge that was
wet. The bridge had a 30 degree turn in it. Despite slowing down to about 12
mph, almost immediately after I started the turn, I slid out and took it on
my hip. The bruise was bad but the pulled groin was worse. I was out of
commission for 4 weeks and not fully recovered for another 4 weeks beyond
that. That ride actually turned out to be my last ride of the year, as it
happened in late September and I live in Minnesota and don't ride in the
cold weather. So I had all winter to think about it.



I busted up a few things on a mountain bike and slick pavement too (cold
mix asphalt). It was a front brake deal as well, a stupid mistake on my
part. I went down faster than I could realize it was happening. I was
running semi slick street tires and don't recall that I was going very
fast at all.

Have since switched 100% to road bikes. Wet slick surfaces I notice on
the road bike are bricks and the supposedly "nonskid" surfaces that my
town is starting to put down on the handicap curb ramps when they redo
the curbing. That brown concrete-like ramp material is like ice on my
22s when it is dry.