went down twice on friday, help please

[herrkurtz]

weather is pretty cold in connecticut lately, but i've been riding everyday to work (not far). friday morning i get on my bike and a couple blocks away out of my neighborhood is a stop sign and i usually make a right into a two lane road (one in either direction). there is a fair amount of traffic but nothing too crazy. i see an opening and start entering my turn from a dead stop. half a second later i've low sided and have detached from my bike sliding just a little bit. luckily i was in full gear including pants so i was physically fine. i picked up the bike and pushed it to the side of the road. my brake lever broke but on the whole nothing too bad. now it was about 25 degrees outside and the roads were perfectly dry. i don't think i hit an oil spot either. my question is can the cold weather affect my tire traction that much that i can low side in the turn? if this is true i'm sort of going to worry about riding over the winter. i've taken the msf basic course and distinctly remember the instructor saying that tire temperature on modern tires does not matter. you don't have to warm up your tires. i'm wondering about this now.

later that day it starts flurrying and i leave work a little early before things start to stick on the ground to make my three mile journey home. roads are wet but no ice on the ground. i'm going extremely slowly due to the snow and my earlier incident. i enter my neighborhood and about a block away from my place there is a little snow sticking on my ground. i try to slow down but i'm only doing about 5 mph when i see the snow. then boom, my back tire slips and i fall over on the high side of my bike. crap! only a block from home. again i was fine but my confidence is taking a real bruising. plus i broke my gear shifter so now my bike is out of commission till i replace the part. is it really that ridiculously impossible to ride in snow with street tires?

once i get my bike i know i'm going to really be concerned. i don't have issues with riding in the rain but i know i'm going to ride way more cautiously. any advice?

[Wrider]

Snow does reduce traction quite a bit. But to me it sounds like your tire pressure might be a bit low. Make sure to check that, especially in cold weather conditions. It will make the bike really squirrelly and can definitely cause what you described. Also, no matter what the tire manufacturers say, it's a basic law of physics that says that things get softer the warmer they get. It might have caused your wreck, it might not have, but it will affect your traction no matter what.
Wrider

[jstark47]

my question is can the cold weather affect my tire traction that much that i can low side in the turn?

Yes. Cold tires plus cold pavement can significantly reduce traction. By chance was there any sand or salt on the road? A build up of dry salt also reduces traction.

As far as snow, the only advice I can give you is avoid it.

[herrkurtz]

tire inflation is decent. only a couple pounds low. i do air with every gas refill and i'm about due.


don't know about the salt. it hadn't snowed prior so i doubt there was much salt on the ground. i'll keep an eye for that in the future.

i've heard people mentioning that they can feel their tire slip out and then correct it. both drops of the bike happened so fast there wasn't any time to recover.

[dr_bar]

25 degrees outside and your wondering how you slipped???? My guess would be that notorious bastrd called "Black Ice". A road can look perfectly dry and boom.... you're slidin'...

[scan]

Add to the black ice idea cold rubber. It remains more hard and less grippy. I stay off the roads below 35 F myself. I've seen bike out in much colder though.

[The Doctor]

Add to the black ice idea cold rubber. It remains more hard and less grippy. I stay off the roads below 35 F myself. I've seen bike out in much colder though.

+1

Glad you're OK though!

[herrkurtz]

thanks for the tips. i'm leaning towards really towards cold rubber. i suppose i'm surprised it makes that much of a difference in cold weather. i'll have to watch my leaning for the next few months. at least i've escaped with only small damage to my bike and more to my ego.

[Derail]

I've had my tire slip out at low speeds before when i'm making a turn into a road with lots of gravel. It takes decent reflexes but I was always able to put my foot down and kick my bike back up. Each time I've laid my bike down I had to take it extra easy for a while. If you think about your previous wreck you are probably going to wreck Or just move down here to florida to get away from that ice stuff..

[Nibblet99]

Hmm I'm going to make a wild guess that I'm sure will infuriate someone somewhere....

Are you by any chance using Avon tyres, or some other rarely known brand?

I had endless problems with the traction on my bike - it came with Avons - It was losing traction atleast once per day rain or shine. As soon as I switched to Bridgestones, I've never had another issue again.