how to manage traction

[John Tolhurst]

Question: I have built up my Silvio frame set with Dura Ace 7800 components and Velomax Accent II wheels. Within a short period of time I have learned to start on the flats as well as on inclines. My biggest concern is that I live in a very hilly location in southern Oregon. I have been riding my usual trainging routs and I am quite concerned about loosing traction on my front wheel when climbing hard. Are there specific techniques? I have tried leaning forward but that is not something that I can sustain.

I had the above on email, but its worth posting in the forum.

Improve traction by the following:

1. 
   learning forward: this is the quickest and simplest solution, it works very well and as you become more acclimatised to the bike, will be sustainable for longer
2. 
   slide forward further on the seat: this can help over longer climbs
3. 
   examine tire choice and tire pressures. you can get 10% more traction by using 10% less pressure
4. 
   elliptical rings help flatten the torque peaks that cause initial loss of traction
5. 
   smooth circular pedalling does the same thing as elliptical rings
6. 
   higher cadence also flattens the torque peaks
7. 
   route planning, we all choose routes that factor in traffic, road surface, time of day, and many other factors. So select the route that works best for you
8. 
   combine the above factors

Also, why not go out on a wet steep hill specifically to experience what happens when you lose front traction. You'll get a chance to put many of the above techniques into place and will feel far less concerned about it.

John

 

[Charles.Plager]

Yesterday I tried to ride up

Yesterday I tried to ride up the biggest hill I ever saw. When I looked down at my computer, it said 18%, but it could have been steeper in some places. When I started the hill, I tried taking it slowly and leaning back, but my front wheel started to slip, so I pulled myself up by the handlebars and made it up the steepest parts. So the bike could do it, but I couldn't. I stopped 3/4s of the way up and given that I was tired, I didn't think that I could get started again.

I agree with John's points (although I haven't tried them all). Leaning forward is definitely important for climbing. Moving your seat forward means that you'll move more of your weight by default to the front wheel which will help. I find that spinning up the hills works best for me too. I have the standard Sofrider tires and find that they work well (and apparently much better than what the old Kwests did).

Cheers,
Charles

 

[David Callow]

It isn't just recumbents!

When I'm cycling around South Devon (which has some horrendous hills), I occasionally have to use my folder. If you sit and spin fast the front wheel will occasionally bump off the ground (it's a short wheelbase bike with my weight only just forward of the rear axle line). In this situation it's hard to know which way the bike is going to go next! Only solution - stand on the pedals and throw your weight forward over the handle bars.

 

[David Callow]

And another thing with traction!

I mentioned in another post that I'm interested in using Hutchinson tubeless tyres (Fusion 3). These use lower pressures but still (apparently) have lower rolling resistance than conventional tyres. Maybe this addresses John's recommendation in Point 3 above?

 

[John Tolhurst]

examine tire choice and tire

examine tire choice and tire pressures. you can get 10% more traction by using 10% less pressure

Yes, where I said the above. But I now know that statement is not particularly accurate. There is no such relationship.

But what lower pressure does do is give you more contact area which reduces the likelihood of a momentary loss of contact, which is usually what initiates wheelspin.

The traction performance of tires is quite varied, up to 20% or 30% different.

 

[psychling]

Losing traction.

Is this really a problem?

Or is this something people think will be a problem?

I lose traction on the drive wheel when I'm on grit, sand, gravel, grass, snow and, sometimes -- with lots of torque -- on wet sloping road.

When I say `drive wheel' I'm referring to both FWD and RWD.

FWIW I've NEVER had a problem with loss of traction on any of the Cruzbikes.