Slippy LUAS Tracks, Fixed Wheel

Mr. Skeffington · 12-01-2008 10:17pm #1

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience of riding over wet luas tracks on a fixed wheel? I was on my way home from town tonight and I cycled over luas tracks on two separate occasions and both times I nearly wiped out.

I am an experienced cyclist and was keeping straight going over the tracks but the bike seemed to want to slip out from the rear? I have not had my fixed gear too long and I am wondering is it more dangerous with a fixed gear going over wet tracks & manholes?

niceonetom · 13-01-2008 2:39am

i "wiped out" once on the luas tracks down near the four-courts. painful and very very embarrassing. but that was ages ago, before i got fixed.

i think some people claim that fixed is better for winter training, why? i'm not so sure. sometimes i think the ability to coast might make cornering on these frosty mornings a bit less dicey. maybe not, i'm crap at coasting now anyway.

i think basically luas tracks, manhole covers, and painted roads surfaces are a nightmare for everyone at this time of year, fixed, geared, whatever. stay frosty out there folks.

RainyDay · 13-01-2008 9:01am

A friend of mine broke his collarbone after slipping on the Luas tracks near Hueston

fish-head · 13-01-2008 12:56pm

niceonetom wrote: »

i think some people claim that fixed is better for winter training, why? i'm not so sure.

I suppose it's mainly because your legs don't get cold as you're constantly pumping away. I went out yesterday in normal padded shorts and didn't get in the least bit cold.

The best way to approach a luas track on a fixed gear is just slowly. Take it easy and you'll be grand. You can sort of control the traction.

-Blanco- · 13-01-2008 5:17pm

I don't think the fact that you're riding fixed makes much of a difference over luas tracks tbh... I've had a few incidents myself as regards to slipping on the luas tracks, both fixed and freewheel, but it was due to my own stupidity that I fell rather then the bike. It was my front wheel getting caught that brought me down in both cases.. Take it slow and try cross with the tyre as perpendicular as possible to the line..and take extra care in the wet obviously!! It's really a matter of getting used to not coasting through corners/over bumps etc.

edit:as for the training on the fixed wheel in the winter was that not for building strength/ improving spinning/pedal stroke and all that??? I didn't think it had anything to do with traction?

thesunwashot · 13-01-2008 9:04pm

As the guru of all things fixie says:

"A fixed gear gives you a very direct feel for traction conditions on slippery surfaces. This makes them particularly suitable for riding in rainy or icy conditions."

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html

daymobrew · 13-01-2008 10:40pm

Mr. Skeffington wrote: »

I am an experienced cyclist and was keeping straight going over the tracks but the bike seemed to want to slip out from the rear?

At what angle were you crossing the tracks?

seamus · 14-01-2008 1:00am

I nearly wiped out in front of St James' once, where the tracks turn. They would have been almost perpendicular to the direction I was moving, and whatever angle I hit them at, each wheel was on a track. Whole bike went sideways, managed to grip onto the tarmac just in time.
I make a point of lifting at least one wheel now and try to hit them straight on...

daymobrew · 14-01-2008 9:18am

seamus wrote: »

I make a point of lifting at least one wheel now and try to hit them straight on...

Agreed. Lifting the front wheel certainly helps.

flickerx · 14-01-2008 10:49am

I think the LUAS tracks are potentially lethal for all kinds of bike.

Itsfixed · 14-01-2008 11:39am

-Blanco- wrote: »

I don't think the fact that you're riding fixed makes much of a difference over luas tracks tbh... I've had a few incidents myself as regards to slipping on the luas tracks, both fixed and freewheel, but it was due to my own stupidity that I fell rather then the bike. It was my front wheel getting caught that brought me down in both cases.. Take it slow and try cross with the tyre as perpendicular as possible to the line..and take extra care in the wet obviously!! It's really a matter of getting used to not coasting through corners/over bumps etc.

edit:as for the training on the fixed wheel in the winter was that not for building strength/ improving spinning/pedal stroke and all that??? I didn't think it had anything to do with traction?

what he said. I fell on a luas track going up Steevens lane a couple weeks ago and not even that quickly, and on a dry day too. I ride a fixed too but don't think that was the issue. Wheel not perpendicular enough to the line, basically.

Chips Lovell · 14-01-2008 12:13pm

Saw a courier go down on the Luas tracks on Harcourt Street this morning.

seamus · 14-01-2008 12:24pm

el tonto wrote: »

Saw a courier go down on the Luas tracks on Harcourt Street this morning.

That's pretty much constant. Some motorbike couriers do it too.

penexpers · 14-01-2008 12:54pm

flickerx wrote: »

I think the LUAS tracks are potentially lethal for all kinds of bike.

I think it depends what width tyre you used. I go over luas tracks all the time with no difficulty and I have a folding bike with wide tyres.

unionman · 14-01-2008 1:00pm

seamus wrote: »

I nearly wiped out in front of St James' once, where the tracks turn. They would have been almost perpendicular to the direction I was moving, and whatever angle I hit them at, each wheel was on a track. Whole bike went sideways, managed to grip onto the tarmac just in time.
I make a point of lifting at least one wheel now and try to hit them straight on...

I've been offed twice at this spot, both times on a Hybrid. I go over those tracks on the fixie every day, and the type of bike doesn't appear to make that much of a difference (but I still say a silent prayer to whichever god might be listening before I do it). The fixie does give a bit more connectedness / feel to the road and more control. So far so good.

In both instances (a year apart), I was going slow, maybe too slow, and trying to stay at 90 degrees to the wet tracks. Both times the front wheel was pulled back into the track, jack-knifing the bike and sending me over the handlebars. First time I landed on my right shoulder, straining back muscles that took months to heal (and then only after a course of anti-inflammatories). The second time happened in slow motion, a carbon copy of the first time, and all I could remember thinking was "Oh no, not again". No serious injury the second time thankfully. In both instances I was lucky that traffic behind me was slow and at a safe distance.

But this is the embarrasing bit...I hadn't noticed until the second offing that there is a bike line that feeds in across the tracks from the traffic lights:(:confused:. It puts you at a 90 degree angle to the tracks when you meet them (avoiding the bend in the tracks mentioned above by seamus) on a surface with slightly better traction (red tarmac). The lane is nearly always full of debris, but it does seem to offer a safer option to cross the tracks. How its presence managed to escape my notice for a whole year defies any human logic, so clearly I have some issues (I knew that single digit IQ score was a bad omen:rolleyes:). The risk is reduced but still there, but if you come off the bike you are not in the middle of the road ready to be turned into roadkill.

With it happening so often around the city, it's a hazard that all road users need to be made aware of.

seamus · 14-01-2008 1:18pm

unionman wrote: »

But this is the embarrasing bit...I hadn't noticed until the second offing that there is a bike line that feeds in across the tracks from the traffic lights:(:confused:. It puts you at a 90 degree angle to the tracks when you meet them (avoiding the bend in the tracks mentioned above by seamus) on a surface with slightly better traction (red tarmac). The lane is nearly always full of debris, but it does seem to offer a safer option to cross the tracks.

My only issue with this is that you tend then to get disregarded by the traffic coming in and out of James's because it interrupts your "flow" (for want of a better word) and takes you off the main road only to have to try rejoin it. On particularly bad days now I'll take the cycle track and just stop rather than risk it, but I'll often ignore it if the visibility is good.

Victor · 14-01-2008 4:51pm

The advice is to avoid the Luas only streets and to try to cross the track as perpendicular to the rails as possible. Don't brake or accelerate on the track.

niceonetom · 14-01-2008 6:34pm

isn't it a pity that bikes and the luas don't get on? i mean, they're both solutions to the same problem, but they don't really work well together. obviously you can't really take your bike on a luas, but the luas routes could have had the potential to double as high quality cycle lanes too, free from motorists, but instead the luas lines are lethal and are a chore to ride along because of that stupid cobble-lock they use allover the place. oh, and it's illegal in places too i think. bit crap, in'it.

unionman · 14-01-2008 10:46pm

seamus wrote: »

My only issue with this is that you tend then to get disregarded by the traffic coming in and out of James's because it interrupts your "flow" (for want of a better word) and takes you off the main road only to have to try rejoin it. On particularly bad days now I'll take the cycle track and just stop rather than risk it, but I'll often ignore it if the visibility is good.

Yeah, fair point. The whole approach from James' St is a bit hairy, you have really poor road surface just past the lights, then a narrow strip between pavement and track between there and the hospital, which can get blocked by cars nudging out from Basin Lane. All in all, it is like a fcuking obstacle course.

Still, beats the car.

Frog Brother · 15-01-2008 11:41am

Abbey Street heading east toward bus aras, the road crosses the luas track @ 40 degrees, LETHAL. On a fixed, jack knifed for about a meter (weird sensastion going sideways on a bike, while pedaling forward) until i got my footdown. Best way is to avoid tracks at all costs or hit them dead on and slow. Avoid when wet:eek:.

Intrestingly the discovery channel programme, worlds toughest jobs, had an episode about couriers in SF. they were saying the exact same about the tramlines over there.

Trampas · 15-01-2008 11:59am

I though if you cross the tracks at a the biggest angle as possible would be best. Less chance for slipping.

The less of of angle the more chance of sliding. Bunny hop over it needs be.

You will find ways of doing this on the net.

hardCopy · 13-04-2008 8:47pm

Not quite the LUAS, or a fixie but had my first wipe out on the roundabout between the East Link and the Point, those poxy old train tracks.

My first time cycling that route and I saw them too late, when I tried to cross them at an angle I ended up hitting them with my wheel turned and the front wheel went from under me.

Absolutely blessed that there wasn't a truck behind me.

Thankfully the only scar on my lovely new bike is some torn bar-tape.

blorg · 14-04-2008 11:27am

Those train tracks are lethal all right, at least you'll know they are there in future. Particularly bad place for it too with the traffic.

zorkmundsson · 14-04-2008 2:01pm

took my biggest spill on a wet luas track. wet, dark and going to fast, was switching lanes to let a tram go past and went over like a ton of bricks. small break to the wrist but my pride/vanity took the biggest hit. utterly, utterly stupid, and now i avoid those lines like the plague.

wouldn't have thought that riding a fixed would make a whole lot of difference, to be honest. would give you a better feel for the road but wouldn't really affect what happened if you took a turn across a greasy track wrong.

Slippy LUAS Tracks, Fixed Wheel

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