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I've had to commute routes where I need to use a narrow staircase to go up and down a pedestrian bridge over a highway.
For starters, any place where you have to share narrow space with pedestrian, the polite way to do so is to dismount.
I shoulder the bike or walk it. The bike always goes to the far side ( If there is a fence or wall, the bike goes towards ...
50
Frankly if you're going up/down steps, you're in the pedestrian's space and not somewhere suitable for cycling.
You know how sometimes vehicle traffic intrudes on our cycle lanes? Parking inconsiderately, putting cyclists at risk? That's what you'd be doing to the pedestrians by riding in their space. Don't be that-guy.
Your solutions are to either walk ...
29
The simple, short answer is practice. Simply riding around at moderate to slow speeds, practicing starting off, braking, stopping and negotiating tight turns will help build balance, confidence and control of the bike. Do this in a quiet spot away from people and cars if you can. If you are worried about falling do it on grass.
The most useful foundational ...
26
You're talking about a "bunny hop" and it can be done at speed on a loaded bike but it's high risk. You'd almost certainly be better off jumping off the bike and rolling. US Bike Trials call it a "side hop", but in anglonesia I've mostly heard it called a bunny hop.
Here's a photo of the 2006 Cycle Messenger World Champion doing more or less that at about ...
26
because I have no problem stopping
Objectively, this is nonsense. At best, you can stop before you start going down the steps. Once you start going down steps on a bike though, you are completely unable to stop before you reach the bottom, and you have very limited control over your speed whilst you're doing it. And that's assuming you stay on your ...
20
In my experience, no. The problem is that however polite you try to be you're taking the lane so you're in their way.
My commute takes me over a narrow one-lane-each-way bridge that's a bit of a choke point, so it's busy. It's also a raised bridge, so sight lines are very poor. Since I ride it twice a day I've had the chance to experiment with some ...
18
The vibrations will be hard on it. The result will not be instantaneous failure, but an increasing likelihood of failure after perhaps several hundred hours of riding.
The likelihood of damage can be greatly reduced with a resilient, shock-absorbing mount of some sort (I assume most commercial mounts include some shock-absorbing function).
Most important ...
15
The last one. As already mentioned, you're describing a bunny hop.
Allowing the rear to hit the curb - even if there is relatively little weight over it - will increase the risk of pinch punctures, potential rim damage, and it will slow you down considerably more than a clean bunny hop.
Hops are weird. Once you can do them you will never understand why you ...
14
I suggest following a short course in some martial arts class where you can learn to fall correctly (Judo would be my suggestion)
there is nothing you can read that will prepare you for a fall and that will suppress the reflex to stick out your arm to catch yourself (and possibly break it); only practice will have you instead tuck in that arm provide a ...
14
Whatever you do, don't be a prick. Noone likes a cyclist who reinforces the bad stereotypes.
Do Share The Road Even though you're in the right, there's no need to be offensive.
Personally I find bells lazy, most cyclists have a good loud voice and a "Hi there, just gonna pass on your left" is far nicer than "ringring"
Absolutely never try to scare ...
11
There's not much more to say than: tuck your head, protect your face with your arms, relax, and wait for it to be over.
Realistically, though, you're not going to remember the contents of this post the next time shit hits the fan and you find yourself tumbling on the asphalt. But if you can manage any of these things, you'll hopefully minimize the chance of ...
11
I have had my phone attached to the handlebars in a little sleeve made of gaffer tape and some clear plastic I got out of the recycle bin and it's been good for a few years (I've replaced the sleeve thingy a few times as it disintegrated). For protection it's got a strip of high density foam at the back of it so that it doesn't clunk on the gooseneck when I ...
11
For a city commuter bike, don't bother with disk brakes - go for simple rim brakes. You'll want the reliability over all else. You don't need disks for most types of road cycling, as the limiting factor for grip is likely to be your tyre anyway.
As regards shifters, go with whatever is comfortable for you. I like the combination of brakes and gear levers in ...
11
Short answer: yes, there is a way to do it. I fully support Mσᶎ's answer and have more to say than will fit in comments.
Firstly, regarding the original premise.
You happen to look over your shoulder (or in your mirror) and see a vehicle approaching from behind, either fully in the bike lane, or close enough that they can't safely pass.
If I'm riding a ...
11
The "trick" you're looking for is a side hop. It's really a variation on a bunny hop.
Basically, you perform a standard bunny hop but when the handlebars and front wheel reach their zenith, you pull the front end over the obstacle while pushing them forward. The forward motion pulls the rear wheel up, as with a standard bunny hop. However, you additionally ...
10
Yes, it can.
I had my HTC One (M8) mounted to my handlebars and after only ONE RIDE the camera broke. The focus element of the camera was a moving part that just couldn't stand up to the shock. The phone still worked fine, but phones w/o cameras suck so I had to get a new one.
10
In the UK there is a national training scheme targeting child cyclists, often organized through schools. It claims to have trained about 2.5 million children to date. It has been running under different names for a long time - I took part in it back in the 1950s! Go to https://bikeability.org.uk/. "Level 1" is mainly about controlling the bike. Levels 2 and ...
9
To some extent, you can actually "learn" to fall. The problem is that the learning has to be "motor learning" and not just thinking about it.
In other words, you have to train your nervous system to do it through practice.
Some of the best bike handling I've ever seen has been from people who ride single track (mountain biking). This type of riding ...
9
Some tips I've gathered from being on both sides of the fence. Since you're specifically asking riding safely and minimizing motorist antagonism, there are some which will work but might not appeal to your sense of justice/fairness:
Even higher visibility. One way of antagonising drivers is to appear at the last moment, since they won't have time to plan ...
9
There is a lot of discussion about this topic (i.e. a lot of anecdotes) because pedals are a very personal matter (cf. LondonCyclist or Zach Gallardo). However, I think that you're over-thinking this in some way: The "safest" pedal is the pedal you're most used to and comfortable with.
Consider, for example, a hypothetical case where clipless pedals have ...
9
I agree with the advice to practice.
There's a book, Effective Cycling by John Forester, which covers everything--the physiology of cycling, bike maintenance, interacting with traffic, etc. Some of the advice on bike maintenance is outdated at this point, and I think some of what he wrote about physiology has been superseded by improved scientific ...
8
In my experience, things happen so fast it is practically impossible to react with some kind of plan. I have fallen over when I couldn't unclip fast enough (in other words, when the bike was stopped at a light or similar), and those were the only times where I knew I was falling and could actually spend a fraction of a second looking for something to grab, ...
8
Disc brakes perform better in wet weather. If you choose rim brakes, aluminum rims offer a better braking surface than carbon rims. Hydraulic brakes adjust for pad wear and both pads move inwards to press against the disc surface. Mechanical brakes push one pad (usually the outer one) onto the disc, and the disc has to flex to touch the other pad.
"Brifters" ...
8
You can't really burn "tummy fat." Your body has an order that it will store fat in and it will lose fat in the reverse order. You can lose bodyfat, but it goes away in the reverse order that you put it on. You can make it appear that you've proportionally lost more weight in your tummy by building up the muscles there.
8
Answer (tl;dr) Find another route.
I checked around using google street view to get the image in the question. Some observations...
There are no cyclists visible anywhere. There are also no motorcyclists I noticed.
The lighting is poor and patchy
Many of the vehicles travelling the lower deck do not have lights on.
The road surface is patchy and ...
7
Short answer: Height does matter (in fact, there are multiple "heights" which you can find out about in the long answer's links), but there are a ton of other factors (e.g. top tube length which is probably more important). The bike's geometry is what determines how well it works for you.
Long answer: What you need is a bike fit (which can be done at most ...
7
When you say "to burn tummy fat", presumable you're talking about weight loss and general toning?
What worked for me was a short, 10-minute / 2-point-something km commute, twice a day, five days a week, over two or three years. Because the ride was so short I was able to give pretty much 100% for the whole ride, with natural stops at red lights.
I went ...
7
The standard advice if you want to ride a mountain bike on the road is to fit slick tires rather than knobby tires, and lock out any suspension if you have it (since you don't need it on the road). That being said, you're going to typically have lower gearing than a road or hybrid bike (due to the nature of mountain biking), though you may have some room to ...
7
I think there will be a significant subjective element to answering this question, but pressing on:
Full face helmets are relatively heavy
Full face helmets offer less ventilation that standard helmets
Full face helmets are less aerodynamic that standard helmets
Riders don't want to look silly or weird
Full face helmets are not marketed to cross country MTB,...
7
Generally, wide tires have lower rolling resistance than narrow ones, and they will be more comfortable due to cushioning. Hence, there's an argument you could go all the way up to a 45mm tire, the maximum I think your bike will clear.
For performance-oriented road riders, aerodynamic considerations might come into play, but these are probably irrelevant ...
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