CyclingTips - Latest Comments in Slippery When Wet

Re: Slippery When Wet

Steve Caddy — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 06:46:38 -0000

Hopefully they start laughing straight away. In the immediate post deck-hit concussion cloud, the first signal that I'm about to realise that I'm seriously hurt is that no-one is laughing.

Re: Slippery When Wet

bill posters — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 01:28:12 -0000

You're mates are good to laugh at you as soon as they realize you aren't seriously hurt and are able to get back on your bike and back riding. "yer right mate?, yeah, im ok. ha ha ha, sucks to be you..."

Re: Slippery When Wet

d11 — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:02:20 -0000

Wet wooden bridges are seriously ICY slippery when wet. I found that out the hard way and had a big bruise on the side of my hip and upper thigh (couldn't sleep on that side for a solid week). I was going a bit faster than I should (my fault), but didn't expect the front wheel to just slip and slide out like it did.

As I was cleaning myself up about 10 ft away from the base, another cyclist going quite slow actually wiped out as well.

I'd suggest unclipping at least one (if not both) feet going over wet bridges and SLOWING way down. Don't forget the metal strips at the base of each end too!

Re: Slippery When Wet

bdewberry — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:22:12 -0000

I'm a puss and don't ride in the rain. Eventually I'll need to man up and deal with the soak.

The slimy two foot section of water on the bike path beneath an overpass, on a curve, is super-slick. Not that I have any near-fall experiences with that.

Re: Slippery When Wet

vectorbug — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:08:24 -0000

Not listed: Snow and wet wooden stairs.

Re: Slippery When Wet

Ridley — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:25:41 -0000

Checker plate is my pet hate. They are starting to use it more and more to hide joins in bridges....very slippery if you put the power down at the wrong time.

be careful people.

Re: Slippery When Wet

Anthony — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 07:09:11 -0000

How could they be spent? The ride was only going 10mins when the crash occurred. Having said that, I hope they're OK!

Re: Slippery When Wet

Will T — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:22:24 -0000

Wet metal manhole covers - slipperness rating 1,000/10

All the worse because they tend to turn up mid-corner in your racing line, right on the apex, so there is a significant chance if you don't eat shit going over them, you will probably eat shit trying to get around them while adjusting your line mid-coner.

Re: Slippery When Wet

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:31:51 -0000

Best all round tyre- Rubino Pros. WORD

Re: Slippery When Wet

CP — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:13:06 -0000

Cont GP 4000's are by far the best tyres I have used. Currently I have 13,000km on my training wheels with one rotation and look to get 2,000 more.
The occasional puncture now in the wet after 80% wear, but very few by comparison to the Michelins I used to ride. Which were usless in the wet and only gave me about 7,000km life.

Re: Slippery When Wet

Small Animal — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:04:21 -0000

Fugg you lot, what about us?!!

Re: Slippery When Wet

vidman — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:37:21 -0000

Conti GP 4 Seasons. Great puncture proofness and great in the wet.

Re: Slippery When Wet

cyclingtips — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:25:10 -0000

Good suggestion Tommy. Funny you mention the Conti Gator Skins. Those are the exact tyres I've been using in 2 out of 3 of my wipe-outs. However I don't think even a mtb tyre could grip some of these road hazards.

One of my favorite training tyres that's worked well for me over the years is the Vittoria Rubino. They're cheap, durable and have a good tread to them.

I just bought some Continental GP 4000's on a few recommendations. We'll see how they work out.

I was extremely happy with the Hutchison Fusion 2 tubless tyres. Got about 5000km before I had a puncture. Just changing them over now. the only downfall is that they're quite expensive. The feel is fantastic though.

Re: Slippery When Wet

Brad — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:20:02 -0000

Moral: Don't race Glenvale

Re: Slippery When Wet

Tommy P — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:12:21 -0000

Wade, how about everyone recommends some good wet weather tyres? I used to run these IRC race tyres years ago and used to eat s#it every-time it rained. They were great otherwise but just did not grip in wet. I find the Conti Gator skins really good though. Real black rubber; no fancy stuff and they just work.

I head a big one in the wet once. Coming back from a race in Glenvale got caught in a downpour. Hammering down the road a car pulls out of a park spot. Swerved to go around, popped front tyre over tram track, rear just caught the edge and slid along the track. Actually span the bike around almost backwards before it all gripped up and hi-sided me off the bike. Bent frame, taco-ed wheel and three stitches in chin (My courier bag landed on my head and pressed face into road as I was sliding).

Nasty.

Re: Slippery When Wet

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:44:54 -0000

Piles of wet, newly dropped (but rotting underneath) leaves make for treacherous sliding conditions.

Re: Slippery When Wet

Brad — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:32:54 -0000

And I agree with Matt

Re: Slippery When Wet

Matt — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:21:51 -0000

Not me Wade but I agree with AntiPETA.

Re: Slippery When Wet

emil — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:50:23 -0000

In British Columbia, Canada, or provincial TT championship course has a wooden bridge. http://escapevelocity.bc.ca...

We get a lot of precipitation, it is a rain forest environment. Needless to say that the wet bridge is a especially "exciting" when in aero TT position.

Re: Slippery When Wet

CP — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:49:17 -0000

Not too sure that it had much to do with the wet today that we saw that Nth Rd crash.
I think the guys coming up from behind had spent their tickets and dropped their heads. When BANG! Eye's front guy's. No matter how spent you are.
They sure did slide everywhere though. Perhaps we can credit the wet road with that.
FYI - All guys dusted themselves off.

Re: Slippery When Wet

Jarrod — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:48:00 -0000

I discovered on Tuesday that a wet road is better for sliding along on your back while attached to your bike after you have been hit head on by a truck that "didn't see you" while he turns right at the intersection.

That's a positive of riding in Winter i guess :-)

Still off work but minimal road rash!

Re: Slippery When Wet

cyclingtips — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:45:14 -0000

Is that you Matt?

Re: Slippery When Wet

AntiPETA — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:41:00 -0000

Small animals are also very viscus when run over with a 23mm tyre at 120psi.

Re: Slippery When Wet

Ritch — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:29:37 -0000

Or, if the bike path flooded the previous night, the floodwaters recede and leave a slimy film of silt and algae: slipperiness: 11/10!!

Re: Slippery When Wet

Beagle — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:16:20 -0000

Plenty of the pedestrian foot grips on the St. George's Rd bike path so even good karma will see you on the ground.
My nemesis is the wet drain grate that takes up 80% of a bike lane, and slopes towards the gutter. If you get boxed in by traffic on a wet morning and your wheel hits one of these puppies, it heads pretty quickly towards the gutter. On the bright side, if you survive you are awake for the rest of the ride...'three coffees in a row' awake!