On a truly long and steep descent, trying to come down too slowly has its own peril - overheated rims and blown tires. Letting the bike roll out some allows some energy to be dissipated by the wind, sparing the brakes for when they are really needed. It can be a fine line between over-braking and under-braking. At some point wisdom would have you stop to let the rims cool.
Bill Stockton, CA On Friday, July 13, 2012 7:53:40 AM UTC-7, Michael Hechmer wrote: > > I'm not a particularly anxious person, although I do get anxious when > someone compliments my courage! I regularly downhill at 40+ mph and have > hit 50 on good pavement and reasonably straight mountain descents without > too much anxiety, but one hill this year has me spooked. > > One of my favorite routes is a 23 mile ride with 1400 feet of climbing > that is equally divided among lightly traveled & good dirt roads, mostly > descent chip & seal town roads, and a third of moderately traveled state > roads. It provides beautiful pastoral scenery, a good view of the whole of > the Mt. Mansfield ridge line, and a stretch along the Lamoille River, > including the impressive Fairfax Falls. In the past I have always ridden it > counter clockwise, which includes a beast of a 3K climb, including a K of > 20%+ grade right in the middle. This year I reversed direction and have > been riding it clockwise on my Rambouillet, with a very nice set of Grand > Bois Cerf tires. The first time down it I discovered the pavement on the > steepest section was not in good condition, no pot holes or heaves, just > lots of broken chip and seal. The bumping was quite dramatic and I felt > like one good hole could toss me over the handle bars. Garmin was showing > 47.5 when I lightly squeezed the rear brake. Fortunately the Paul's Racers > have excellent modulation and I safely slowed enough to feel OK. > > But when I got to the bottom I asked myself why I chickened out, since I > was just fine, and thought that the next time I would lay off the brakes. > But this hasn't happened. Instead each time I have gone down it, I have > gone slower and slower. Today I took out my Trek, which has 32 mm TServes > to see if I would feel more comfortable at higher speeds with the softer > tire. But when I got to the top of the hill I realized I had no real taste > for the experiment. I went down at 25, until I could see the good pavement > at the bottom and then I let it roll out to 39. > > So I ask myself, is this wisdom, or just yielding to irrational anxiety. > > Michael > Westford, VT > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/CcFxE2NTBTgJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
