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Tag Archive for: bicycle

emergency braking, shiftingweight back

Bicycling Skills: Braking and Cornering

April 18, 2021/2 Comments/by John Brooking

Our previous article covered  three essential bicycling skills. Let’s move on to a couple of other skills which will improve your riding.

Bicycling Skills: Better Braking

A bicycle, like any road vehicle, should have two independent braking systems, in case one fails. Most state statutes do not require dual brakes for bicycles, but it’s a good idea for safety. On a bike, both front and rear brakes are required for maximum stopping power (stopping in the shortest distance).

Most modern bikes have dual handbrakes. Some bikes have a coaster brake on the rear and can have a handbrake for the front. Fixed gear bikes use the drive train to stop the rear wheel, but should also have a handbrake for the front.

If your bicycle has dual handbrakes, the best strategy at first is to use both more or less equally. Squeeze the levers gradually. If you are braking to a stop, remember to coordinate braking with the dismount off the front of the saddle described in the previous article.

With a coaster brake, pushing back on a pedal stops the rear wheel. The bicycle should also have a front handbrake for greater stopping power, and so you can keep the bike stopped when you place a foot on the forward pedal for a power-pedal start. Same with a fixed gear bike.

Front brake has most of your stopping power… and the power to dump you on your head.

Bicycling skills" braking practice.

If you must brake suddenly, avoid pitching over the handlebars by sliding your weight back. We practice emergency stopping in “Train Your Bike,” CyclingSavvy’s bike handling skills session.

Braking body position illustration from Bicycling Street Smarts CyclingSavvy Edition for Kindle

Braking body position from Bicycling Street Smarts CyclingSavvy Edition for Kindle

Front- and rear-wheel brakes may look the same, but they perform differently. Are you afraid of going over the handlebars if you brake too hard with the front brake? You’re not alone if you are. Lots of people avoid the front brake because it actually can send the rider over the bars. But it also has a lot more stopping power!

When you brake, weight shifts from the rear wheel to the front wheel. The rear brake alone has very little stopping power, limited to the rear wheel’s skidding. Using the front brake along with the rear allows the front wheel to contribute, as it is carrying additional weight.

But that’s where the danger lies. If all of your weight is off the rear wheel, it will lift. You and the bike can rotate over the front wheel. Yikes!

You can avoid this by shifting your weight back as you brake. If you start braking well ahead of time and gradually, this should not be necessary. But in an emergency, you may have to brake hard and fast. If you can train yourself to thrust your weight back behind the saddle (like the illustration above), you will stop in a shorter distance without flipping over the bars. Even with gradual braking, you’ll need to shift your weight back when you are going downhill (mountain bikers know this).

A future discussion of bicycling skills will go into more detail about developing braking technique.

Bicycling Skills: Cornering

To turn a bike, you turn the handlebars and the bike follows, right? Well, not really. That’s how you turn a car.

Cornering -- an important bicycling skill

Practicing cornering during “Train Your Bike,’ CyclingSavvy’s bike handling skills session.

When you steer a bicycle to one side, it actually leans to the other side. You probably don’t notice this on low speed turns, because you subconsciously adjust the steering to maintain balance. Actually, you are just steering so the bike follows the turn that the lean already started.

Why does this matter?

At low speeds it doesn’t, much. Most cyclists ride for years without being aware of it. I did. But what happens when you’re cruising downhill and there’s a curve? Sure, you could slow down, and certainly you need to know your limits.

cornering image

Inside pedal up. Look into the turn.

At higher speeds, starting the lean is harder. You can get the bike to help you by intentionally countersteering slightly to start. Briefly steering away from the turn will cause the bike to lean into the turn. So to initiate a right turn, push the handlebars very slightly and briefly left. Once the bike leans, just go with it. Turn your head and look into the turn; the bike will follow. It’s best to stop pedaling when making a sharp turn. When the bike is leaning, the inside pedal can hit the pavement at the bottom of the stroke. So once you initiate the lean, push the outside pedal down and keep it there.

It’s very important to look in the direction you are turning, because your body will naturally go where you’re looking. This will help you keep your turns tighter.

Beyond basic braking and turning

In case you want to go into more detail, this page from noted bicycle mechanic Sheldon Brown describes special circumstances in which to use one or the other brake, and different ways of leaning in a turn.

In the next article in this series, we take up the topic of effective use of gears.

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/braking-body-position-for-post-02.jpg 601 601 John Brooking https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png John Brooking2021-04-18 10:00:482022-03-13 22:13:05Bicycling Skills: Braking and Cornering
Cyclist safely passing large truck

The View from the Cab of a Turning Truck

October 30, 2020/12 Comments/by Keri Caffrey

I’ve written a lot about what bicyclists need to know about trucks. Why? Because every year, bicyclists are killed by turning trucks.

Truck drivers have a lot working against their seeing and avoiding a cyclist who rides into a bad spot. Yet trucks are big and easy for cyclists to see and avoid. Cyclists just need to know what to do to stay safe.

Getting out the word about turning trucks

Most of the lessons I’ve produced about turning trucks involve illustrations and animation. But last fall, I had a wonderful opportunity to stage real-world scenarios with a semitrailer truck, a professional driver, and a crew of support staff and extras. The following video is the product of a lot of other people’s work, and my very enjoyable morning in the cab of a truck.

Here’s the finished product, a four-minute video:

What about technology?

Many cycling advocates insist that the problem of truck blind spots can be solved with technology. I asked driver Bob Dolan: What kind of video camera technology is out there? Is it helpful? Does it make things harder or easier?

Here is his response:

Bob Dolan in truck

We have side-mounted cameras on our tractors that will shoot out both sides and look at traffic on either side. Some trucks have rear-facing cameras. The issue you’re going to see with some of those cameras is you’re looking at a lot of information to process… you have all these screens in front of you and you’re trying to drive a truck… that becomes a distraction. So no matter what you’re adding to the vehicle, you’re adding more distractions to the driver.

A lot of the advanced warning devices on a tractor trailer — because of the size and complexity of the truck being able to bend — a lot of signals don’t come into us as real signals… it might be going off that there is something to one side, but it might be a false signal because of the height of the vehicle or the length of the vehicle.

So the technology is there, but it’s not as reliable as it would be in a car.

Here’s what you should take away from Bob’s comments:

Don’t ride in the blindspot and rely on truck driver vigilance and technology to rescue you. Instead, ride where YOU are in control of your safety.

It took a lot of people to make this happen.

We have another post about how we made the video. It’s quite a story.

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/truck-featured.jpg 498 850 Keri Caffrey https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png Keri Caffrey2020-10-30 11:55:402022-09-07 11:10:48The View from the Cab of a Turning Truck
Jerry campbell with mirror

What kinds of rear-view mirrors work for bicyclists?

October 16, 2020/16 Comments/by John Brooking

This post about rear-view mirrors is third in a series about basic equipment and skills.

Should a bicyclist use a rear-view mirror? My answer is a qualified “yes”.

shannon martin with large mirror

CyclingSavvy Instructor Shannon Martin is wearing a large mirror, the EVT Safe Zone. She covered the non-mirror side with retroreflective smiley faces.

No law that I have been able to find requires a bicyclist to use a rear-view mirror in any North American state or province. And, unlike a motorist, a bicyclist has nothing blocking the view to the rear.

CyclingSavvy has no official position on legally optional equipment. Still, I personally feel that a rear-view mirror is a good option for a beginner, and convenient in certain situations for everyone. If you are unable to turn your head without swerving (more on this in an upcoming Beginner Skills article), you definitely need some way to see behind yourself. Hearing a vehicle approaching from behind without easily being able to check on its position is disturbing. This is a main reason that people hug the edge of the road, or avoid riding on roads.

You still need to turn your head!

With a rear-view mirror, it is convenient to take a quick glance to the rear — without turning your head, and without losing sight of what’s in front of you. Be aware, however, that all mirrors have blind spots.

Just as when changing lanes in a car, you should always turn your head to look before moving to a different road position — though you may not need to turn your head as far. There could be a car, or a bicyclist, about to pass you, in your mirror’s blind spot. So again, you should definitely learn to look behind you without swerving!

You can purchase a rear-view mirror that attaches to the handlebar, to your helmet, or to eyeglasses. Any of these takes some getting used to.

A handlebar mirror

A handlebar mirror.With a bar-end shifter, the mirror must clamp onto the handlebar. (Shopify)

Choosing a handlebar mirror

Handlebar mirrors vary. Some mount with a clamp around the handlebar and others with an expander plug at the handlebar end. Which model works depends on the type of handlebar and the other hardware mounted on it.

Many handlebar mirrors are convex, and as the saying goes, objects are closer than they appear. Unless the mirror extends vertically like the one in the photo, it works best from a single riding position. Your body blocks the view to the opposite side of the bicycle and so, in right-side driving countries, mount the mirror on the left.

Some handlebar-mounted rear-view mirrors, including the one shown, have a ball joint and are adjustable while riding if the joint is left a little loose. That can be useful if the road curves or you change position on the bicycle.

Can a helmet or eyeglass rear-view mirror work for you?

Getting a helmet or eyeglass mirror to work well requires some attention to detail.

These are flat mirrors. You focus on the view in the mirror, not on the mirror itself. You look into it with one eye.

To varying degrees, people are either right- or left-eye dominant. If you point a finger at a distant object and alternate closing one eye, then the other, the finger still points at the distant object when the dominant eye is open.  If one eye is strongly dominant, place the mirror on that side so you don’t look “through” it with the other eye.

Mirror positioning

The mirror should be placed high and as far to the side as possible where the opposite eye still can see ahead. Check by closing one eye, then the other.

The mirror should be placed as far to the side as possible where the opposite eye still can see ahead. Check by closing one eye, then the other. John Allen has more detail on this topic. Larger helmet mirrors can be placed farther from the eye; only these are compatible with big hair.

The mirror should look directly to the rear or nearly so. Tilting the head can bring the road behind you into view in any riding position other than a racer’s low aerodynamic crouch. You scan right and left by turning the head while continuing to look into the mirror.

Expect to take a couple of weeks to figure out which way it is looking. This is  easier if the ear, helmet strap or hair is just visible at the edge of the mirror as a point of reference.

Jerry Campbell

Cyclist Jerry Campbell is right-eye dominant and wears his rear-view mirror on the right side (1982 photo).  This seems strange? Brian Watson uses two mirrors!

Different rear-view mirrors have different advantages.

A helmet mirror is always there when you put on your helmet, but take care that it attaches securely. A hot melt glue gun can be useful to secure some helmet mirrors.

An eyeglass mirror is easy to misplace, unless you leave it attached to eyeglasses you use only for riding. The mirror can pull your glasses down on your nose, but it works if you wear different helmets or none, not that we recommend that!

A handlebar mirror can break if the bike falls over. No mirror is perfect, but they all can work well.

Our next article is about bells and other options to alert people with sound.

Thanks to John Allen, Pamela Murray and Karen Karabell for their assistance with this article.

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/campbell-crop.jpg 289 396 John Brooking https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png John Brooking2020-10-16 11:55:102022-05-07 11:18:37What kinds of rear-view mirrors work for bicyclists?
Diagram of light beams from cars and bicycle

Bicycle Lights: To See and Be Seen By

October 9, 2020/26 Comments/by John Brooking

This post about bicycle lights is the second in a series about basic equipment and skills.

In October, as this post is published, hours of daylight grow shorter where most of our readers live and ride. My previous post explains how to check out your bicycle and determine that it is safe to ride.

But, is it safe to ride during hours of darkness?

Laws require lights for night riding, and lights are crucial for safety. Even if you don’t think you’re going to ride at night, it’s a good idea to have lights. Someday you may get caught out after dark unprepared. Besides, night riding can be quite enjoyable with the proper bicycle lights. There is often less traffic, so it can be very relaxing, if you can be confident that people can see you.

There are too many different lights to get into in much detail here, but I’ll try to help you make a choice.

a shaped-beam headlight. Note the scoop-shaped internal mirror.

A shaped-beam battery-powered headlight. Note the scoop-shaped internal mirror.

How Bright the Light?

Any taillight sold at a bike shop will do. Many bicycle lights are sold in packs of one headlight and one taillight.

Bicycle headlights come in a wide range of brightness. If you will be riding only in town with streetlights, you can get by with a headlight just bright enough to alert people to your approach. But, on rural roads or on trails at night, much brighter headlights are necessary — and available.

The better bright headlights have a shaped beam pattern like that of a car headlight to spare input power and avoid blinding people. You can identify the beam pattern quickly by shining the light at a wall. Brightness is most often measured in lumens — total light output. But many very bright headlights (up to 1000 lumens) have a round beam pattern. These lights are preferable only for riding off road, or for additional visibility in daytime.

Shaped headlight beam throws a long beam without blinding people.

Shaped pattern throws a long beam without blinding people.

Round beam glares into people's eyes unless aimed low

Round beam glares into people’s eyes unless aimed low.

For many years, the most common taillight in the USA was the “blinky,” pioneered by Vistalite. It attaches to the standard US two-hole reflector bracket.

A"blinky"

A “blinky” as pioneered by Vistalite

A common type of taillight these days attaches in a variety of locations with a stretchy rubber strap. Unlike the Vistalite, these lights do not include retroreflective panels.

Solastaillight

This taillight slips out of its bracket for security or to charge the battery. It does not include retroreflective panels.

Reflectors: useful, but no substitute for lights

Why should you use lights in town with streetlights? Because without your own lights, you are surprisingly invisible whenever you are not directly under a streetlight. And car headlights do not necessarily reveal you.

Now, your bicycle probably has — or had, when new — reflectors, those plastic, jewel-like pieces attached at the rear, the front, to the pedals and the spokes. Some bicycle tires have retroreflective strips on the sidewalls, and you can buy retroreflective stick-on tape and clothing.

Reflectors use optical trickery to send light back in a narrow beam in the direction it came from. When the headlights of a car point at a reflector, it will shine brightly for the driver.

But, more often than you may realize:

  • A motorist is planning to cross in front of you: worse yet if the car is backing out of a driveway!
  • A motorist opposite you at an intersection is preparing to turn left, and you are all the way over on the other side of the road from the light source;
  • You are approaching someone who has no headlight — pedestrians, especially.
Diagram of light beams from cars and bicycle

Without a bicycle headlight, these motorists would have a hard time seeing the bicyclist soon enough. Reflectors won’t help.

Rear- and side-facing reflectors can help make you visible. Laws sometimes require them too, but they don’t substitute for bicycle lights. Though the headlights of a vehicle approaching from behind point toward you, drivers of some large vehicles sit high above the headlights. Fog, rain, dust, or water on a bicycle reflector’s surface can reduce its effectiveness. Also, the standard rear-facing reflector is rather small. Still, your taillight could go out without your noticing, and you wouldn’t want to be without rear-facing reflectors then. Even if your taillight includes reflector panels, it’s smart to use additional rear-facing reflective items. Many people run two taillights, in case one fails.

How Bicycle Lights Are Powered

Bicycle lights have any of three sources of electrical power:

Power Source Brightness Run Time Price
Replaceable alkaline batteries Least bright (some only to alert people, not to see by) Longest (50-100 hours) Cheapest (under $50)
Integrated rechargeable batteries (by wall plug or USB) Moderately to blindingly bright 2-6 hours; longer for taillights Moderate to expensive (up to $200)
Generator Moderate to bright (may go dark at a stop but not all do) Unlimited :-) Moderate to expensive ($20-$800)

Most battery-powered bicycle lights are easy to install and remove. Generator lights are permanently attached to the bicycle. The generator may be of the old “bottle” variety, mounted near the wheel and driven by the tire when engaged. Newer generators are built into the hub of the wheel. We strongly recommend purpose-built bicycle lights, as opposed to jury-rigged flashlights, or lights attached to clothing or backpacks. Bicycle lights attached to the bicycle stay attached and aligned better.

Bicycle Light Settings and Modes

Many lights have different power settings and modes, which can also affect the run time. Modes include steady, blinking, or other kinds of fancier blink patterns. Many cyclists use a blink pattern to get people’s attention better, but blinking makes it harder to track motion, and may also induce seizures in some people. My personal preference is for a steady light front and back after dark, but blinking when there is still some daylight: dawn/dusk, rain, fog, heavy cloud cover.

Generators supply power only when the bicycle is moving, but many generator lights have “standlight” energy storage, and shine at reduced brightness for a few minutes when the bicycle has stopped.

Also see my original FreeBikeHelp post.

Next: use a rear-view mirror?

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/NightDriveOut.jpg 380 640 John Brooking https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png John Brooking2020-10-09 11:55:042020-11-13 16:41:19Bicycle Lights: To See and Be Seen By

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