On Wed, Feb 25, 2004 at 10:46:08PM +0100, Richard Lyons wrote: > On Wednesday 25 February 2004 20:15, Monique Y. Herman wrote: > > On 2004-02-25, Paul Johnson penned: > > > On Wed, Feb 25, 2004 at 02:16:32PM +0200, Micha Feigin wrote: > > >> As for down hill, I ride quite a bit of free ride, not so much > > >> downhill since unfortunately I don't have the money for the big hit > > >> bikes, but the steeper the terrain the more I use the front break > > >> since the rear wheel has almost no traction on steep terrain. > > > > > > Because you're leaning forward already! > > > > Yeah, I'm a bit confused by this rear wheel traction statement. When > > I'm going downhill, I move my body back on the bike -- afaik, this is > > why "good" bike saddles are quite narrow -- to allow you the freedom to > > move front to back as necessary. Depending on how steep it gets, my > > whole pelvis could be behind the saddle. > > > > (This is somewhat from memory, as I'm a big wuss when it comes to cold + > > biking and haven't biked in a few months.) > > THe problem is not only one of weight distibution. Braking force is applied > well below the centre of gravity by either wheel, so the resulting torque is > in the same direction for both wheels - if you look from the side at a bike > going left to right, the torque is clockwise. This means that the more the > rear wheel tries to slow the bike, the more it is lifted off the pavement, > reducing the available friction. So the power f the rear brake is > self-limiting. The front brake on the other hand causes greater force to be > applied to the pavement as it operates, increasing the braking effect -- and > the tendency to cause rotation of the whole system (bike and rider) around > the point of contact on the ground. > > It's not too difficult to work out the maximum breaking force that can be > applied before you get thrown onto the road. >
Actually with proper technique you will lock the will and start sliding (which with front will skids usually leads to very fancy crash which nicely rivals a nice endo) before you flip over the handlebars. > -- > richard > > > -- > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > This Mail Was Scanned By Mail-seCure System > at the Tel-Aviv University CC. > -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
