Cornering fun

[veloman]

Lately I've been finding that I can push my ebike harder and harder into corners, and it's a lot of fun. I took one today quite fast, felt great. I usually put my inside leg out to be safe in case I lose traction. Since switching to a 2" wide front tire with side grooves (from my 1.5" slick) I really enjoy cornering now.

One of the joys of a lightweight powered bike........?

 

[Punx0r]

I wonder if anyone has ever gotten their knee down on an ebike? :lol:

 

[VoKuS]

 

[winkinatcha]

Prolly talking to the knowledgeable, but small note of caution, keep yer pedals horizontal on fast corners, or outside Pedal down inside up as pedal to ground Can occur if inside pedal is in down position... Busted a couple of pedals this way and have personal fear of one digging in if I forget...

Mainly said cos if yer used to putting yer inside leg out in a corner, you are naturally keeping the outside pedal down and inside pedal up... giving max corner clearence

joe

 

[biohazardman]

Yup, I have wasted more pedals than I would like to admit on the corners. They can lift up the rear of your bike and spin you around pretty fast if you aren't ready for it. At $40 a pop I am a bit more careful which pedal is down when I hit the corners these days. Yes, definitely fun to hit the corners hard till you hit the ground. Then the fun is shaved from yer bare parts and sticks to the pavement. Hard to get all of it up after that.

 

[dogman dan]

Hard to drag a knee with the inside leg up. It's pretty far off the ground I just laid it down the time I got close. Hang that knee way out for sure. Other racers liked the drag the foot method. I never flat tracked enough to get the hang of that, so I just hung a knee out. Pretty fast racers were doing the drag a foot thing last time I was out. More of a dangle the foot just off the pavement than a real foot drag.

On the tdf, you see guys hang a knee, but if they are really in deep shit they hook the whole leg out as far as they can.

Mind those gravel patches.

My commuter stands tall since it's FS. I can pedal right through a corner if I want to. That gives me traction on both wheels right through the corner. Love it. My race bike is lower, and can't do that.

 

[winkinatcha]

HAHA! My front wheel road build is also tall, thanks to fitting a 700c rear in a 26" frame... Haven't touched a pedal to the ground on that one... It's bloody efficient... narrowish tyres and a little slidy in the wet, great for road stuff tho...

If I got my knee down on that one I'd be seriously smearing stuff. :lol:


Joe

 

[Brentis]

A couple notes of caution.

1. Make sure your skills match your enthusiasm.
Lots of folks think they are Rossi, until the shit gets real. Then they aren't ready for the dynamics of riding @ 9/10ths.


2. Make sure your equipment is up to the task.
Most DIY Ebike builds are not up to knee dragging standards. Bicycle tires & rims are not designed to standard of moto's.

I had a knee dragging moment a couple of months ago, accident avoidance.
This caused a rapid loosening of all spokes (20" radial laced Hs3540) and a majorly out of true rim.
Result- 1-2 lbs. skin donation, ligament damage in my hand, a motor/wheel that is need of an upgrade, wife & mother constantly on my case. Worst of all 2 months with no ride.

Ride within the limits of your bike & skills.

 

[MadRhino]

No need to get a knee down at the speed that we ride, not to balance the bike anyway. One may feel safer with a knee down in case of a slide, but usually the slide is easier and does lesser damage without.

 

[Doctorbass]

Btw.. The maxxis hookwork 2.5" wide on large rim are really good for cornering! they grip like DP420 epoxy on aluminum :lol:

Doc

 

[snellemin]

Taking corners at higher speeds with my Michelin Pilot Sport 26"x2.3 are a blast. Still grippy in the rain as well.

 

[Farfle]

knee down on an ebike, very possible:

 

[binlagin]

I don't think the geometry of a bicycle is setup for knee dragging.

It's not often you see super moto riders dragging knees. They seem to stick their foot out while still sitting on the seat around the corner.

When your dragging a knee on a sport bike, your hangin your butt off the seat with your outside thigh and knee gripping the tank.

Here`s a slow motion video I took last year at the track.
[youtube]hdwolKi6sVI[/youtube]

Here`s a video of what I learned after my 2nd track day. My body positioning is overkill... but it still gives the same idea!
[youtube]BNt8DZHmLvg[/youtube]

 

[dogman dan]

Definitely good to be armored up for real cornering fun. You have't laid it down yet, you just still have no idea how far you can lean it.

Place to do it is the problem. I got banned from the place I used to practice. Too many cars and superbikes were using the place. So I went to this parking lot, and found the oily damp spot. You can see that at slower speeds, much less than 45 degrees of lean is needed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKAdv1rW6k0&feature=plcp

Heres the place I learned to corner. We used to do gravity races, sometimes in the rain, back in the 70's. Riding skinny tire 10 speeds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsVDRA0IgsM&feature=plcp

Oh yeah, a real low race bike you could drag a knee I bet. Stuff I ran quite primitive now.

 

[binlagin]

knee down on an ebike, very possible

Such a nice frame! I WANNNNNNNT

 

[cal3thousand]

Btw.. The maxxis hookwork 2.5" wide on large rim are really good for cornering! they grip like DP420 epoxy on aluminum :lol:

Doc

That's good to know since I will have a set on the way shortly!

 

[spinningmagnets]

Found a pic that was "post worthy"

 

[VoKuS]

It's not often you see super moto riders dragging knees. They seem to stick their foot out while still sitting on the seat around the corner.

HOW DARE YOU!!!!!
REAL SUPER MOTO RIDERS GRIND THE HANDLE BARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Story: http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2011/09/are-handlebars-the-new-knees/
Video:
[youtube]E1GyoVIid9E[/youtube]

 

[dogman dan]

Amazing what can be done with sticky tires. Still wonder if he got it back up three frames later on those stills. I have seen em grind the elbows on the leathers without laying it down in vids though. Freaking amazing. Not racing in those vids, but showoff drifting. Gotta be some kind of trick, going right to the limit, then creating some kind of deliberate high siding to get back up.

Personaly, I never grinded anything riding of my motorcycles. Never had that good a tire, or a track that clean. So I just got real good at laying it down.

 

[VoKuS]

[youtube]2ZgcUUV-yrI[/youtube]