unkle Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 Ridding with a stock kenda 262 on my lynx and im struggling to learn how to take curbs at parallel (sub 75 degrees). should I change to a higher "side wall" tire all the videos and tutorials ive searched only go over how to take a curb perpendicular. The other thing to note is im still using stock pads and have placed the toe knobs all the way up and out of the way maybe ill try with them down. I also notice I dont feel comfortable trying to "bumb" it up at those angles cause it seems like the an easy way to damage the rim/wheel and am pretty much just trying to hop the whole 3"inches and end up landing at an angle. any tips? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerbera Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 (edited) What's made you think that going up kerbs parallel is a good idea under any circumstances !? 1 hour ago, unkle said: I also notice I dont feel comfortable trying to "bumb" it up at those angles cause it seems like the an easy way to damage the rim/wheel and am pretty much just trying to hop the whole 3"inches and end up landing at an angle. Yes ! That's exactly we don't do that ! 1 hour ago, unkle said: any tips? Don't do that. Take kerbs as near to perpendicular as you can get. In 8 years + of riding I have never come across a kerb I couldn't take at the angle I wanted to take it. If I can't get it almost perpendicular I won't go up it until I can. And that's why I've never crashed or damaged my rims going up a kerb ! I suppose I should qualify that by making clear I am talking about bumping up here. If you mean actually hopping up - ie leaving the ground, well OK, that is much more reasonable thing to want to do, but still inadvisable in most road situations because you unnecessarily endanger yourself by introducing random factors and landing unpredictability that could lead to horrible crashes, which may or may not involve other vehicles. The risk of twisting out is fairly high, and jumps on heavy machines like ours often take much more effort than you'd think, especially after a long ride on tired legs. If it's a skill you desperately feel a need to develop, it is possible to get very good at it (see RogerEUC / chooch etc) but until you very good at it, it is surely safer and easier to wait 2 seconds for the next flat bit of kerb to come along, and just roll up on to that instead, with almost zero additional risk !! Edited March 29 by Cerbera 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unkle Posted March 29 Author Share Posted March 29 of course in the most ideal of conditions there shouldn't be a need and I would never try if there were any pedestrians near the portion of the sidewalk I was trying to hop up. Its more of the realization that its a valuable skill to have especially riding in the city/ sharing roads with drivers you cant control Id just like to have it in the tool bag if I need to get off the road asap. I was just curios if there were any common mistakes that people run into with trying it mostly cause up to this point everything I've tried ; jumps,curbs, one leg ect.. hasn't been too difficult to find some level of success with ( guess ive found a bit of a cap for the moment). At this point I guess ill have to wait till I get a "junk" wheel of similar weight to practice with or an extra rotor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerbera Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 (edited) Fair enough - I can see how it could be useful if a car veers into your lane and there is nowhere else to go. But it's still fraught with risk - jump could not be high enough, or move you over enough to land squarely on kerb, pedal could catch on kerb on the way up, wheel could twist if your timing isn't absolutely perfect - it's just such a lot of things that could go wrong, and in one of those emergency situations there can't be enough time to weigh up all those factors before you have to just do it and hope for the best... Having said that, I suppose it is better to hit a non moving thing than a moving one, and if you do get in trouble, and manage to pull off the move and it saves you, I bet you feel properly heroic afterwards Edited March 29 by Cerbera 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unkle Posted March 29 Author Share Posted March 29 funny enough Im actually writing this on the heels of my first moderate ( at 25-30mph/ 40-47 kph) crash where it may have come in handy. I was riding the bike lane and had a car coming behind me now most of the time I just stay in my lane and let them pass but as with most people this person was just trailing right behind me out of sheer awe/curiosity or out of fear of passing me ( even though I was all the way inside my bike lane and its the same thing as passing a cyclist). After about 100 Meters I decided id had enough and was going to ride up what I thought was an ingress to the sidewalk which was clear of anyone for miles. Welp I found out about a foot from the "ingress" it was actually a part of the sidewalk that had sunken in and was mostly submerged in a puddle. Not wanting to freak the car out as id already committed to the line I decided it was time to do or die.. . Needless to say I ate crap lol but I was fully geared up and there wasn't really anything but a field on the other side of the walk so me and the wheel came out basically unscathed which I was kinda surprised at being I fully cleared the curb and was going as I said around 25 mph lol. Kinda pissed at the city for baiting me but I definitely am looking at getting a second rim for the lynx so I can try and master this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unkle Posted March 29 Author Share Posted March 29 * probably closer to around 20 mph now that I think of it as I did slow down to take the curb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sacristan Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 Transitioning from the road to a sidewalk while at speed is quite difficult. There is a well known clip a guy riding an RS in England at speed and jumping onto a curb. Not well known enough for me to find it though lol. A couple of years ago I was doing some drills with my buddy Alexander. We were practicing long jumps. This is a beginner drill for learning jumps at speed while riding. The Lynx is heaver but we have suspension and rebound to help us get a boost. Definitely lower your footlocks. You will probably need some improved pedal grip as well. The stock pads are decent enough as long as you place the rear correctly to reduce drifting backwards on the pedals while jumping. Once we are confident at long jumps at slow speed we can start practicing at higher speed. Once we get better at that we can work at reducing the wind up and body movement. Sorry to hear about your tumble. Hope you are ok! The more parallel we get the higher the risk of not landing where we should. It must be a jump though and not a bonk. Any contact with the side of the curb will send you flying off to the side. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voyager Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 (edited) 21 minutes ago, Mike Sacristan said: Transitioning from the road to a sidewalk while at speed is quite difficult. There is a well known clip a guy riding an RS in England at speed and jumping onto a curb. Not well known enough for me to find it though lol. Here you go Mike. After all the excellent videos you've provided over many years, it's the least I can do. It's a 'short', so does not embed here though. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1tyi1D_jVwM?feature=share Edited March 29 by Voyager 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sacristan Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 15 minutes ago, Voyager said: Here you go Mike. After all the excellent videos you've provided over many years, it's the least I can do. It's a 'short', so does not embed here though. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1tyi1D_jVwM?feature=share Yay thanks! That's the guy! The curb is low and bla bla bla but still! It is not an easy thing to do. Just riding at 20mph and jumping is tricky enough without involving curbs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aztek Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 If you can't jump on the sidewalk clearly without touching the curb, you're in for a crash negotiating it in an angle lower than 85 degrees or so. Most likely your tire will get caught and led by the curb's side and you'll crash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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