You are reading a single comment by @pigfarmer and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@pigfarmer
I feel it necessary to make a comment.
With regards this ridiculous argument in relation to riding with hands by the stem or holding the hoods when on a road bike people have felt it necessary to post pictures of a peleton showing everyone riding on the hoods.
I think this agian was probably this numpty Chewed Hat.
You, sir, will be aware of the connetations of riding with a group of cyclist or within a peleton? No? Ok then, I will explain.
When you are surrounded 360 by cyclists, on bikes, going at speed, you will notice a few things.
You are going faster than you would do normally for the pressure applied - This is because you are riding through 'clean air'. That is to say that you have no/less air friction to cut through. The reason this is happening is because the cyclists in front of you are cutting the air in front of you which then creates a low presure spot behind them, which is in turn quickly filled by air behind that. Hence you have whats known as 'pull'. Now you must bare in mind here young man that the cyclist behind will therefore be pulled forward, this is what we call a 'slip stream'.
Now, when your in a huge peleton of cyclists this isn't that easy as everyone behind the front cyclist gets pulled forward, the further back you get from the front cyclist the more pull there will be as there is an even greater force pushing the air out of the way therefore the faster you go.
Now imagine your in a group of cyclists who have been cycling for some hours, doing maybe 50/60kph and your no more than 10/20 cms away from everyone around you. Now factor in all these air forces and the turbulance which is thereby increased. What happens? You become less stable. Your bikes moves around underneath you under force from that turbulance, you hit into and out of really clean slip streams and turbulant air. Your bike moves forwards and backwards almost jerkily.
WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU WANT TO HAVE YOUR HANDS THEN YOU CRETINOUS PRICK? Oh, yeah, the only place where you can control the bike at coast. The hoods!!!!!
Hood riding/stem riding/drop riding is all personal. Are you right or left handed? You'll find that a number of Tour riders ride on their stems because thats more comfortable for them. Not because their bike is incorrectly set up or because they don't know how to ride.
Now stop telling people (many of whom are accomplished cyclists on this forum) that they don't know what they're talking about.