Hit and drive Dunsaney Co Meath 5:30pm

victorcarrera

I've just been clipped by a black saloon car (possibly VW golf) which failed to stop in Dunsaney Co Meath at 5:30pm. I didn't get the reg as it was covered in mud. I'm not injured. The passenger side mirror smashed as it hit my handlebars and hand. I have reported incident to Trim Gardai. If anybody knows or notices a car with this type of damage maybe on a home commute from Summerhill/ Kilcock/Maynooth to Navan/Ashbourne direction can you pm the reg so I may pass it on.

Whoa, sorry to hear that. Hope they get the fecker.

Captain Havoc

Glad you're OK, maybe contact the local garages just in case he goes to get it repaired.

kona

****, hope you are okay

A golf isnt a saloon car, perhaps its a Passat?

Dirty regs do my head in, its a sign of a sly ****.

cdaly_

Or somebody who has to use the M50...

uberwolf

I saw a black 02-MH-something out the back of Leixlip this afternoon at 12.50
Twas a VW Golf, although not saloon. Damaged left wing mirror. Glass cracked through the middle bottom to top, and plastic not in great shape. Only twigged it as it was pulling away from me, and we were a while from a junction so it was long gone on me.

kona

cdaly_ wrote: »

Or somebody who has to use the M50...

....I do. My car isnt covered in crap to the extent you cant read a number plate.

Now modified to Sly Ignorant *****.

victorcarrera

uberwolf wrote: »

I saw a black 02-MH-something out the back of Leixlip this afternoon at 12.50
Twas a VW Golf, although not saloon. Damaged left wing mirror. Glass cracked through the middle bottom to top, and plastic not in great shape. Only twigged it as it was pulling away from me, and we were a while from a junction so it was long gone on me.

Thanks for that. I went out again today to get my confidence back and did a search along the route I think the car went. Black it seems is a very popular colour.

Run_to_da_hills

Report it to thr Gardai, the car could have been stolen.

72hundred

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Report it to thr Gardai, the car could have been stolen.

victorcarrera wrote: »

I've just been clipped by a black saloon car (possibly VW golf) which failed to stop in Dunsaney Co Meath at 5:30pm. I didn't get the reg as it was covered in mud. I'm not injured. The passenger side mirror smashed as it hit my handlebars and hand. I have reported incident to Trim Gardai. If anybody knows or notices a car with this type of damage maybe on a home commute from Summerhill/ Kilcock/Maynooth to Navan/Ashbourne direction can you pm the reg so I may pass it on.

I think he's covered it.

feck sake lads

glad your ok how about the bike much damage.
be careful out there drivers dont give two ****s about cyclists ,
as you well know:mad:

jerryg

I cycled through Dunsany yesterday at about 5.30 and I saw a black passat and a golf coming from Dunshaughlin.What I would suggest is parking up in Dunsany and observing the cars at this time and you may get the culprit.Glad to hear you are ok I will keep an eye out for you.

victorcarrera

jerryg wrote: »

...What I would suggest is parking up in Dunsany and observing the cars at this time and you may get the culprit.Glad to hear you are ok I will keep an eye out for you.

Thanks,
I parked up at the restaurant entrance at the trim rd junction yesterday evening on my way home between 5:15 and 5:45. Lots of black cars but no broken mirrors. May have been repaired or did not show.
I might try again over the next few days.
It was a lucky escape for me as it was a three way pass on a narrow road (2 cars one bike) and I estimate he was doing 80 to 100 Kph.
A fright like that really focuses the mind. All I could think about on the way home was if my will and life assurance were up to date.

tommy21

I sympathise with you. When I used to cycle (gave it up as too dangerous), I was going through Cork City centre and a guy in a BMW jammed on his breaks for no reason. I went into back of him, buckled my wheel, and almost cause the bike to flip over before my counterweight brought it back down. The guy (or girl couldn't see) took off before I could get the reg. Without reg or CCTV footage you haven't a hope of catching this person unfortunately but I wish you luck.

Jumpy

tommy21 wrote: »

I sympathise with you. When I used to cycle (gave it up as too dangerous), I was going through Cork City centre and a guy in a BMW jammed on his breaks for no reason. I went into back of him, buckled my wheel, and almost cause the bike to flip over before my counterweight brought it back down. The guy (or girl couldn't see) took off before I could get the reg. Without reg or CCTV footage you haven't a hope of catching this person unfortunately but I wish you luck.

I agree they should have stopped, but you did go into the back of them. You would have got nowhere apart from the possibility of them trying to recover damages from you.
In saying that, its bloody hard to stop suddenly on a bike.

tommy21

Jumpy wrote: »

I agree they should have stopped, but you did go into the back of them. You would have got nowhere apart from the possibility of them trying to recover damages from you.
In saying that, its bloody hard to stop suddenly on a bike.

Its bloody hard to stop especially when its in the flow of traffic with a green light and when I allowed distance in front of me. He just jammed on the brakes out of nowhere. I guess would the same argument apply as when it happens between two cars? It doesn't matter how far back you were, if you can't stop in time, you weren't in the right?

Lumen

tommy21 wrote: »

It doesn't matter how far back you were, if you can't stop in time, you weren't in the right?

Yes, you should always leave enough space to come to a full stop.

In practice this is difficult on a bike, as cars tend to overtake into any gaps you leave.

Alternatively/additionally, try and maintain an "escape plan" e.g. pass on the inside or outside of the car rather than slamming on the brakes.

All very easy in theory, not so in practice.

chakattack

I saw a 7-11 video on youtube on cycling technique.

It had the following advice on emergency stopping:

Drop into the drops (for more leverage on the brake levers) and apply front and back brakes equally hard while moving your weight right back in the saddle to counter the force of the front brake trying to send you over the bars. Keep the bars straight, relax and hold a steady line.

I've practiced this and you can stop much quicker if needs be.

Jip

I would have though the above is commonsensical, something you will have known to do since your a kid.

Lumen

chakattack wrote: »

It had the following advice on emergency stopping:

Drop into the drops (for more leverage on the brake levers)...

I don't really understand that. Sure, if you're already in the drops it's better, but switching hand positions in an emergency is not a great idea.

I guess brakes should really be set up so you can go over the bars braking on the hoods, in the wet. I'm not sure mine are, at least on my commuter (note to self: tweak brakes tonight).

roc_racer

Jumpy wrote: »

In saying that, its bloody hard to stop suddenly on a bike.

Not with hydro disks. Thats the main reason I ride an MTB instead of a road bike for commuting.

blorg

roc_racer wrote: »

Not with hydro disks. Thats the main reason I ride an MTB instead of a road bike for commuting.

Road calipers work just as well on tarmac in dry conditions.

pirelli

Just got a new bike TREK , Never had a bike as manufactured as good as this.

I was out in public road and i had to stop so i pulled the front brake hard but suddenly the rear of the bike lifted my weight on the saddle in the air and i gently slid off over the handle bars onto standing position. The bike continued to turning a full somersault and landing on its wheel.

I just grabbed the bike quickly and leaned on it as i smiled at people around me pretending it was a controlled stunt. I wasn't expecting it anything like that to happen.It must be that the bike is so light compared to usual bikes i have had ( mountain bikes with crap front brakes ) and this bikes brakes are good.

GOOD LUCK in catching the black Golf driver. Maybe you should give us an update on the details of the car we are looking for. Black saloon ( possibly a VW / VW Golf ) with a broken left side mirror. Incident happened at Dunsaney Co Meath at 5:30pm.

P.s Forgot my lock when i was going to the post office. Lot's of bikes get nicked so i was cautious and there was a small queue. As I was approaching a securicor van pulled up followed by two trucks loaded with soldiers and garda car. They piled out and took position along the wall and entrance to the post office. They had Steyr Stg.77 AUG assault rifle and heavy boots and camouflage. So i put my new bike aginst the wall and said ok lads keep an eye on this i wont be second. The soldier mumbled "yeah right" .

Worked a treat and was still there when i came out.

concussion

You do know that 'yeah right' meant 'I've got more dangerous people than bike thieve to be looking out for' don't you? :cool:

kona

roc_racer wrote: »

Not with hydro disks. Thats the main reason I ride an MTB instead of a road bike for commuting.

4 pots and a big rotor > Road calliper in any conditions

In fairness though some road callipers are better in the dry than some cheaper discs with a 160mm rotor.

72hundred

kona wrote: »

4 pots and a big rotor > Road calliper in any conditions

In dry conditions with my front brakes set-up correctly I can lock the front wheel with rim brakes. So disc = rim brakes as the limiting factor is the road-tyre friction.

BostonB

kona wrote: »

...In fairness though some road callipers are better in the dry than some cheaper discs with a 160mm rotor.

How so?

kona

72hundred wrote: »

In dry conditions with my front brakes set-up correctly I can lock the front wheel with rim brakes. So disc = rim brakes as the limiting factor is the road-tyre friction.

4pots will do it with quicker with less effort and less wear.

Im not getting into a stupid argument, if rim brakes were better , disc brakes wouldnt have been developed.

Discs would be used on racers IMO if they wernt stupidly heavy.

kona

BostonB wrote: »

How so?

Because some cheaper hydraulic disc brakes would use poor pads, with only a small S.A.
The design of the master cylinder and Slave are inferior and so dont create as much force on the piston.
The seals in them, and the machining have wider tolerances than the better callipers. This allows air in, which is not what you want with hydraulics

blorg

kona wrote: »

4pots will do it with quicker with less effort and less wear.

Im not getting into a stupid argument, if rim brakes were better , disc brakes wouldnt have been developed.

Discs would be used on racers IMO if they wernt stupidly heavy.

There are benefits to their use on MTBs which are often ridden in more mucky and wet environments. They are less likely to get clogged with mud for example. They are also be better on the road in the wet... but in the dry road calipers work just as well.

kona

blorg wrote: »

There are benefits to their use on MTBs which are often ridden in more mucky and wet environments. They are less likely to get clogged with mud for example. They are also be better on the road in the wet... but in the dry road calipers work just as well.

Id have to disagree, Disc brakes are more powerful and more consistant in all weathers.

One of their benefits is their ability to work consistantley in poor conditions.

cdaly_

kona wrote: »

if rim brakes were better , disc brakes wouldnt have been developed.

I thought disc brakes were all about immunity from mud in cross/MT use.

blorg

kona wrote: »

One of their benefits is their ability to work consistantley in poor conditions.

I completely agree with that, road calipers go to shít in the wet... however in the dry you can trivially lock the front wheel, as easily as with a disc. My discs are XT hydraulics and the calipers are Ultegra and Dura-Ace. Other rim brakes I have used are substantially worse than these BTW, the braking on my cyclocross bike or tourer with mini-Vs and cantilevers would be far worse than my MTB or road bike.

kona

cdaly_ wrote: »

I thought disc brakes were all about immunity from mud in cross/MT use.

Amongst other things, such as power,better heat dissapation and better control and more durable.

blorg

cdaly_ wrote: »

I thought disc brakes were all about immunity from mud in cross/MT use.

Incidentally discs are illegal in cross.

kona

blorg wrote: »

I completely agree with that, road calipers go to shít in the wet... however in the dry you can trivially lock the front wheel, as easily as with a disc. My discs are XT hydraulics and the calipers are Ultegra and Dura-Ace. Other rim brakes I have used are substantially worse than these BTW, the braking on my cyclocross bike or tourer with mini-Vs and cantilevers would be far worse than my MTB or road bike.

When you have a bike in a stand, in the dry, with no dirt, at room temp, get the back wheel up to speed, obviously taking into account the difference in speed/gearing of a racer, and pull the brakes, a good Hydraulic disc brake will stop the wheel quicker.

You have to bear in mind, on trails and road that there is more momentum behind a DH bike(or even a MTB) at full tilt than a racer, and Discs will still do a better job.

Although I will admit that there is very little in it, when the conditions suit the calliper, but for a road calliper to compete it Has to have certain conditions which in fairness are mostly not present in this country.

Day to day cycling and commuting is done in Dirt and wet weather most the time, with bikes seeing little maintenance(maybe not for some here, but many do not look after their bikes), in this case, a disc brake will be far superior.
Its also in this case that most people reading this will haev experience of.

blorg

On a bike in the stand just about any brake will stop the wheel instantly.

Disc brakes are pretty much essential on a MTB but they are pretty unnecessary on the road. It is not actually so wet in this country to severely impede braking on a regular basis although it certainly does happen on occasion. Day to day cycling and commuting is not done "most of the time" in wet weather, this is a complete fiction. Also note it has to be more than trivially wet to severely impede caliper brakes.

A place where I could see them as useful on the road is if using wide tyres on a drop bar bike as brakes other than calipers used with drop STI levers are, in my experience of them, severely compromised.

kona

blorg wrote: »

On a bike in the stand just about any brake will stop the wheel instantly.

You would be suprised.

blorg wrote: »

Disc brakes are pretty much essential on a MTB but they are pretty unnecessary on the road. It is not actually so wet in this country to severely impede braking on a regular basis although it certainly does happen on occasion. Day to day cycling and commuting is not done "most of the time" in wet weather, this is a complete fiction. Also note it has to be more than trivially wet to severely impede caliper brakes..

Disc brakes will work, and they will work relatively consistant in any weather, condition. Road callipers just do not do this. For somebody commuting, Its in wet and **** weather that you will need your brakes you work, and work instantley.
Whilst it doesnt rain that much in the time that you would be commuting, the crap from the road will ceryainly have a impact on the function of brake callipers, road callipers are prone to seizing from lack of maintenance, add in the fact that cables need to be replaced, the more corroded they get the worse the brake will perform.

Hydraulic discs do not suffer these problems, and as a result IMO provide more power, consistantley in all conditions.



IMO, the only reason that Callipers are on road bikes is that they provide a lighter alternative to discs with a good stopping ability, but only in the dry.

blorg

If you jam on your front disc in wet conditions on the road the front wheel will lock and you will slip and crash.

Therefore in wet conditions the optimal bike to be commuting on is a fixed gear with no brakes. This forces you to anticipate obstacles and be able to dive into gaps, and removes the risk of crashing from a locked front wheel (it is impossible to lock the front wheel in the wet on a brakeless fixie.)

BostonB

blorg wrote: »

If you jam on your front disc in wet conditions on the road the front wheel will lock and you will slip and crash.

Therefore in wet conditions the optimal bike to be commuting on is a fixed gear with no brakes. This forces you to anticipate obstacles and be able to dive into gaps, and removes the risk of crashing from a locked front wheel (it is impossible to lock the front wheel in the wet on a brakeless fixie.)

I take your point about anticipation. But as most of the braking is done by the front wheel as most of the weight is over it, and the weight on the front only increases as you break. Therefore logically only braking on the back wheel can never be better than using a front wheel for braking in terms of stopping power.

I assume the size of the contact area of the tyre has influence on it to. The bigger and fatter the tyre the more grip is has. That would be a MTB then?

I have no idea which is the most significant part of braking though.

blorg

I was only attempting to goad Kona suggesting a brakeless fixie was optimal, I don't think these should be ridden on the road.

The advice to brake with the front wheel only holds true in dry conditions where there is little risk of the front wheel slipping.

In wet or icy conditions though you should primarily brake with your rear brake- you have less stopping power with this brake but if you lock the wheel and it skids you can control it. If you lock the front and it skids, you crash.

The size of the tyre certainly has an impact on grip in icy situations and a MTB is certainly optimal in these but I would generally find I can stop my road bikes at least as fast, maybe faster in dry conditions on road. The extra weight would tend to work against stopping although there so much of that is on the rider the bike probably doesn't make a major difference.

BostonB

I wasn't suggesting to brake on the front solely. But using both is better. Obvously on a bike you can't brake as hard on the front, as you would in a car, for stability reasons. With cars locking the wheels/skiding takes longer distance to stop than if you don't. I assume bikes are the same. So you don't want to skid at all.

I thought my MTB cantilever brakes were woeful till someone adjusted them properly, that made a night and day difference. Especially in the wet.

We are well off the original subject, so apologies to the OP. But I think even if you find a car with a broken mirror you have no way of proving its that exact car. So its a lost cause. I had a cyclist give me loads of abuse, one day when I was driving because he thought I'd done something to him. Considering I cycle and would keep an eye out for other cyclists, I was baffled how I'd not seen him. Then one day I noticed another car identical to mine the only difference was one digit on the number plate. Mystery solved. Obviously lived near me as I'd see them at the local shops, and once even ended up parked next to it at work! So it obviously did the same commute as me!

blorg

In dry conditions using both brakes is not necessary or beneficial. The front alone is optimal. You are correct you don't want to skid, you want to brake hard enough to just almost lift the rear wheel and then feather it to stop this happening.

Sheldon has an explanation here.

You still need your back brake for wet/icy conditions or one he doesn't mention, scrubbing speed in turns on descents.

72hundred

blorg wrote: »

scrubbing speed in turns on descents.

Interesting... what makes the front brake unsuitable for turns? Is the is "righting" (of the bike if you know what I mean)?

BostonB

Using your front brake only is cutting your contact area in half. I find it hard to believe having some contact area on the rear braking isn't benefical in the dry. In a car its about 20% or something like that.

chakattack

blorg wrote: »

You still need your back brake for wet/icy conditions or one he doesn't mention, scrubbing speed in turns on descents.

Do you mean while turning or before a turn on a descent?

blorg

chakattack wrote: »

Do you mean while turning or before a turn on a descent?

I mean while turning. Ideally you do your braking late and hard with the front brake, in a straight line, and don't brake while cornering at all. If you overcook it and need to scrub speed though, use the rear brake.

chakattack

Cool, I've been trying to never brake in a turn despite my instincts telling me otherwise.

blorg

72hundred wrote: »

Interesting... what makes the front brake unsuitable for turns? Is the is "righting" (of the bike if you know what I mean)?

I think it is mainly the risk of locking the wheel. There is also the "righting" that would change your cornering line in the wrong direction. If you lock the front wheel cornering you are toast. I have locked the back and skidded cornering, in the middle of a bunch at 60km/h- mainly due to inexperience. Scary but controlled it and didn't come off.

BostonB wrote: »

Using your front brake only is cutting your contact area in half. I find it hard to believe having some contact area on the rear braking isn't benefical in the dry. In a car its about 20% or something like that.

In an emergency stop situation your use of the front brake will result in the rear wheel having no traction whatsoever with the road. If you think of a bike compared to a car you can imagine the rear wheel lifted off the ground from front braking, right? That doesn't happen with a car. If you can't lift your rear wheel from braking, such as might be the case with a heavily loaded touring bike with an inadaquate braking system, or pulling a trailer, then I imagine using the back could add to the braking.

72hundred

blorg wrote: »

I think it is mainly the risk of locking the wheel. There is also the "righting" that would change your cornering line in the wrong direction. If you lock the front wheel cornering you are toast. I have locked the back and skidded cornering, in the middle of a bunch at 60km/h- mainly due to inexperience. Scary but controlled it and didn't come off.

Yea, tbh I avoid braking in corner, but of course there are times when its needed. I've held the idea that front was better than back given that skid is less likely the flipside being a skid is a disastrous!

I think I'll give the rear brake a go in future and see how that goes.