Harry Meatmotor
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November 16, 2017 at 6:20 pm in reply to: WaPo – We had triathletes race all 6 of D.C.’s bike-share bikes #1078215
Harry Meatmotor
Participant@huskerdont 168205 wrote:
Another word problem: If a 70-lb (!) ebike hits you at 26 mph, how many ouchies result?
You almost got me. That’s a trick question!
Jolene Milot wrote:“…it had good brakes”November 16, 2017 at 5:21 pm in reply to: WaPo – We had triathletes race all 6 of D.C.’s bike-share bikes #1078210ParticipantActually, I thought this was the most interesting:
Washington Post wrote:6th: Jump
$2 per 30-minute trip, 100 available
“I liked the assistance the bike provided. I topped out at 26 miles per hour! Also, it had good brakes,” Jolene Milot says of the electric bike.
Bike weight: 70 pounds
Racer’s Top speed: 26 mph
Time: 33:47“I immediately could start to feel the powered assistance and it was amazing how much you could fly on it — and a little terrifying,” she said afterward. Luckily, Milot was going only about 10 mph when a car pulled out in front of her. She skidded out on wet leaves to avoid a collision.
Other than a scuff mark on its metal basket, the Jump bike appeared unscathed. Milot, on the other hand, hit the ground hard. When she stood up, she saw that her left elbow and knee were streaming blood. Still, “nothing seemed to be broken,” so she got back on and continued the race.
Awesome! 26mph!
ParticipantParticipant@dasgeh 167792 wrote:
Yeah, even I don’t think that belongs on trails.
What would you do if one showed up at your next Kidical Mass ride?
Participant@secstate 167732 wrote:
It begins?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]15693[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]15694[/ATTACH]
Shhhhhhh! They’re sleeeeeeping.
ParticipantBITD:
ParticipantSometimes the only way to get a chain that’s stuck like that one out without scratching the crap out of the chainstay or BB shell, or bending links in the chain, is to remove the drive side crank arm. In a shop, that’s a 2 minute job. At home without proper tools, i.e., a crank puller, it’s pretty much impossible.
Participant@TwoWheelsDC 167302 wrote:
Aha…I just assumed anything labeled “tubeless ready” would not have the holes. But now I know!
There are a handful of manufacturers making tubeless carbon rims where the rim bed isn’t drilled for spoke holes, but the spoke bed is drilled for normal spoke nipples. To lace the wheels, you need to drop the spoke nipple into the rim through the valve stem hole, then finagle it into position. Just a tiny bit tedious. But no need for sealing tape.
Participant@hozn 167279 wrote:
Welp, no idea re: those rims, but the tires sounds legit! (Why so much tape? [more] burping with fewer layers?) In general, I like Specialized’s 2bliss tires, but haven’t run anything smaller than 38mm in years now.
My money would be on the rims being the problem, but switching rims to e.g. Stans isn’t such a simple option.
Problem is the rims are tubeless ready, with good hooks and a flat bead shelf. And with 3 wraps of the thinner tape (thinner than Stan’s by something like .05mm), I figured I’d be good to run down to ~23psi. First race on the tubeless was Dirt Crit – 30psi out back – and I burped when the rear tire came off the ground over a small whoop @22-ish mph, and landed a bit sideways. I though it was a fluke, but the same thing happened at DCCX.
Roughly half of the folks racing cross on the team who are running tubeless have had issues (like, race-ending, or at least taking them out of top-10 contention), and that’s across different rims/tires. I gave it a whirl thinking the folks having issues were due to less than ideal setup/install. Just counting race fees from blown races due to tire mechanicals, the tubeless setup has cost me about $150. At least 3 people on the team have gone from tubeless to tubs in less than a season of racing on tubeless. The only setup that hasn’t seen any issues is Spec 2Bliss tires on Stan’s Grail. I don’t think I’ll ever be convinced to run Stan’s rims (long story…) despite being en vogue among the dirt/gravel cognoscenti. So far rims in the “not that great” column are (and, yes, I know most of these aren’t tubeless specific profiles): HED Belgium C2, Axis (Specialized) 2.0 & 4.0, Easton EA90, Velocity Aileron.
I will say, tho, I’ll probably be sticking with Spec Terra and Tracer. The traction is phenomenal, especially the Terra. Its pretty insane.
Participant@dasgeh 167270 wrote:
…it would affect many people… Nor I’m I saying 25mph is ok for a trail — it’s probably too high.
OK, is 20mph good? Let’s do it.
Next step is enforcement. Who is paying for it? There are surely going to be a lot of tickets issued (based on your assessment), and the revenue is going to turn this into a cash cow, right? Where should ticket fines start? What about ticketing based on ability/willingness to exceed the speed limit? The faster you go, the more you should pay!
Now, remind me where any State or local code requires my bike to have a functioning and calibrated speedometer. While we’re here, I’m trying to remember the last time I got pulled over for not having a bell or reflectors while riding in DC, too.
Also, does my bike need to be registered now that I need to show proof that my speedometer is indicating speed incorrectly when I fight my first speeding ticket?
What about the posted 15mph speed limit on the entirety of MVT? Why doesn’t USPP want to enforce the rules that are already in place?
@dasgeh 167270 wrote:
encourage more folks to bike by allowing ebikes into the mix.
How many more folks do you think this will be? Honestly, in the region, who is producing share estimates for that class (i.e., folks who are not physically able to ride a bike as trasnportation, but would if it was a Class-3 e-bike)?
Participant@hozn 167269 wrote:
Which rims & tires are you using? I’m not a ‘cross racer, but it seems surprising you’ve had so many problems. Lots of folks do run tubeless, right? (I know November thinks it’s “ready”: https://novemberbicycles.com/blogs/blog/tubeless-cx-ready-for-prime-time)
But those are pretty low pressures for a 32/33mm tire, so maybe that just pushes the setup a little too far.
I hear of people rolling tubs off their rims too, but probably not with the frequency you’ve experienced.
Spec Axis 4.0 rims, 3 wraps of 3M blue packing tape, Spec 2Bliss Terra FR and Tracer RR, Stan’s sealant. 155lb rider @ 25psi FR, 26-27psi RR.
ParticipantOK – so I’m offishully done with tubeless for CX. Got taken out at Biketoberfest by a C3/Twenty-Twenty dude within 2 minutes of start, went down, and ripped the f@cking front tire off the rim. Race over.
DONE. WITH. TUBELESS.
That’s 4 races so far botched due to either burping down to rim-riding, or in the last/final case, general catastrophic failure. I’m typically running 25-27psi so it’s not a question of pressure.
old skool tubs, here I come.
Participant@huskerdont 167249 wrote:
He IS a motorcycle rider who was pedaling a little bit…
FTFY.
(if it was around 4:15-4:25pm, it’s the same dude I see every day…) He wears actual moto leathers. And he really doesn’t like getting held up behind ped traffic on the 14th St. ped bridge.
Participant@hozn 167208 wrote:
Hey, I’ve got another one for you …
But I really don’t ride that fast. I certainly could never maintain 22.5mph average on my commute.
I’ve argued this point before, but this BB seems to vastly overestimate speed. I went back and looked at the last (miserable) TT I did, and I averaged 23.6mph over 12 miles, rolling terrain. Just because one can hit 30mph on a downhill doesn’t make it safe for everyone to ride bikes at a 25mph (or even 20mph!) average speed around here.
Participant@dasgeh 167204 wrote:
Also, there’s a confusing discussion on these last 2 pages about a speed limit on trails — I fully support having reasonable speed limits on trails for all users (ideally context dependent).
A 25mph (contextual) speed limit on any MUP in this area would only affect Class-3 e-bikers. MAMILs would remain unharmed. Snotty racers ride on the roads anyhow.
Go for it! Bring on the enforcement!
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