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Today when I was out on the trails, I lost traction completely on a stiff uphill climb as the rear tire simply spun around on the dry leaves and dust covered ground.
I leaned the bike over sideways as I always do when I have to dismount fast. Somehow, the inside of my right knee hit the chainwheel hard and I ended up with a nice chunk out of my leg from the Rohloff chain.
This got me thinking about safety on bikes.
Not safety as in wrapping yourself in armour every time you ride, but basic sensible components on your bike that aren't going to carve you up in a crash.
I saw a guy with a sharp looking saw-tooth bash ring on his dirt bike recently on the trail, and immediately had a mental picture of that thing ripping into your leg like a chainsaw in a crash.
Another one I spotted was these new disk brake rotors with fancy cutouts around the edges, leaving some very dangerouse sharp points that are just waiting to rip into some flesh.
A friend of mine had a freaky crash not too long ago. He had this habit of pushing plonk bottle corks into his barends instead of using proper wide plastic ones. He clipped a tree on the way down a rooty hill, which knocked the end right off the cork. When he crashed at the bottom of this hill, the bike flipped over him and that damn handlebar end took a very nasty and deep core sample from his shoulder blade, right to the bone...:eekster:
Platform pedals with big traction pins like I use are real leg rippers. If you use these on your bike, expect to have lots of scars from the pins ripping into your legs and knees, front and back.
Steerer tubes that stick out of the top of stems are dangerous too. Hit one of these hard with your chest and you are going to know all about it for days, maybe weeks later.
Top tube cable guides with bare cables and nice sharp edges are leg, genital and thigh rippers just waiting to happen. I won't own a bike with these cable guides along the top of the top tube. Too damn dangerous.
Controls on your handlebars that are sharp or that are overtightened so that they don't turn in a crash can break your fingers and hands. Make sure that they are just tight enough to grip the bar but still turn under pressure...especially on carbon bars.
Which brings me to carbon components like seatposts and handlebars. I personally wont own a carbon seatpost, and I don't use carbon bars. I have a carbon fork [Pace] on my SS but i'm always inspecting it for nicks or scrapes. If I ever hit this fork hard, it will go into the bin. If you use carbon components, inspect them regularly and never overtighten the controls or pinchbolt on carbon components. If any load bearing components on your bike are marked, nicked or hit, get rid of them.
Always wear a helmet, even when goofing around at the trailhead with mates. Personally, I absolutely hate helmets, and never wore one for many years. But all that changed when I went for a ride with my sons and almost got knocked out when I landed head first on a big rock. If I hadn't been wearing the helmet that day..the kids would have had no dad.
Stand back and look at your bike. Imagine that you are crashing. Think about all the different ways you can crash, and all the different ways you can hit the bike as you crash. If there are components on the bike that are going to nail you, do something about it if that is possible.
It's not always possible to cover or guard against every little thing, but a sensible selection of components and some forethought can help keep you out of the ER and riding that 29'er.
Think about crashing and what the bike is going to do to you if it hits you hard. Being safety-conscious can keep you riding that bike instead of sitting on the couch or even worse ... in the hospital.
R.
I leaned the bike over sideways as I always do when I have to dismount fast. Somehow, the inside of my right knee hit the chainwheel hard and I ended up with a nice chunk out of my leg from the Rohloff chain.
This got me thinking about safety on bikes.
Not safety as in wrapping yourself in armour every time you ride, but basic sensible components on your bike that aren't going to carve you up in a crash.
I saw a guy with a sharp looking saw-tooth bash ring on his dirt bike recently on the trail, and immediately had a mental picture of that thing ripping into your leg like a chainsaw in a crash.
Another one I spotted was these new disk brake rotors with fancy cutouts around the edges, leaving some very dangerouse sharp points that are just waiting to rip into some flesh.
A friend of mine had a freaky crash not too long ago. He had this habit of pushing plonk bottle corks into his barends instead of using proper wide plastic ones. He clipped a tree on the way down a rooty hill, which knocked the end right off the cork. When he crashed at the bottom of this hill, the bike flipped over him and that damn handlebar end took a very nasty and deep core sample from his shoulder blade, right to the bone...:eekster:
Platform pedals with big traction pins like I use are real leg rippers. If you use these on your bike, expect to have lots of scars from the pins ripping into your legs and knees, front and back.
Steerer tubes that stick out of the top of stems are dangerous too. Hit one of these hard with your chest and you are going to know all about it for days, maybe weeks later.
Top tube cable guides with bare cables and nice sharp edges are leg, genital and thigh rippers just waiting to happen. I won't own a bike with these cable guides along the top of the top tube. Too damn dangerous.
Controls on your handlebars that are sharp or that are overtightened so that they don't turn in a crash can break your fingers and hands. Make sure that they are just tight enough to grip the bar but still turn under pressure...especially on carbon bars.
Which brings me to carbon components like seatposts and handlebars. I personally wont own a carbon seatpost, and I don't use carbon bars. I have a carbon fork [Pace] on my SS but i'm always inspecting it for nicks or scrapes. If I ever hit this fork hard, it will go into the bin. If you use carbon components, inspect them regularly and never overtighten the controls or pinchbolt on carbon components. If any load bearing components on your bike are marked, nicked or hit, get rid of them.
Always wear a helmet, even when goofing around at the trailhead with mates. Personally, I absolutely hate helmets, and never wore one for many years. But all that changed when I went for a ride with my sons and almost got knocked out when I landed head first on a big rock. If I hadn't been wearing the helmet that day..the kids would have had no dad.
Stand back and look at your bike. Imagine that you are crashing. Think about all the different ways you can crash, and all the different ways you can hit the bike as you crash. If there are components on the bike that are going to nail you, do something about it if that is possible.
It's not always possible to cover or guard against every little thing, but a sensible selection of components and some forethought can help keep you out of the ER and riding that 29'er.
Think about crashing and what the bike is going to do to you if it hits you hard. Being safety-conscious can keep you riding that bike instead of sitting on the couch or even worse ... in the hospital.
R.
