Drafting

clarkey cat

...on your commute.

Is this okay?

If someone in full lycra is clearly training for their weekend rides and 'loving' the wind resistance why not tag along and enjoy the ride?

UndercoverElephant

It depends how good a rider you are. I personally don't have a problem with most people who try to keep up, they don't usually manage for long. If you're riding too close, or compromising people's ability to dodge and weave through the traffic then I wouldn't like it.

spasypaddy

for me it depends on who the other riders are, if its someone i know is a club rider/good rider then i'll say hello and offer to share the workload if its just a random person then not a chance. its too dangerous.

rick_chasey

Massively irritates me if they don't return the favour.

Normally results in me attempting to 'attack' them.

riggsy81

I dont mind as long as they have a go out front

Bikequin

If they're on a scooter I consider them fair game for drafting.

Otherwise then it'll depend on the circumstances, if someones made a point of pushing in front at some lights then I don't have too many issues sitting on their back wheel whilst I plan my attack.

iPete

I've had people tuck up a bit close, it gets hairy if I have to swerve for a ped or suddenly brake. I tend to draft people from a couple of length back, you don't get the full benefit but you have space to react.

Marcus_C

I've had only one time when two of us shared the workload equally (over about 5 miles) but most of the time it's when I overtake a MTB'er and they then try to latch on, it's just selfish and they don't tend to stay there long against a road bike. Sometimes I wish there were more interesting bikes on my commute

clarkey cat

what route do you take marcus?

Headhuunter

I don't but as UE says, they can't usually keep up for long! In fact I quite enjoy the chase if they try, slowly cranking up the pressure! Caught a guy on an SS on OKR into New X last week. I past him but he drafted me and then !shock! he passed me! I gave chase but I was turning off. Next morning, bizarrely, the same guy was in more or less the same place, going into town. This time I left him for dead...

clarkey cat

I drafted an old man in a 3/4 length bin-man's high-viz last - he was on a girls mountain bike.

UndercoverElephant

clarkey cat wrote:

I drafted an old man in a 3/4 length bin-man's high-viz last - he was on a girls mountain bike.

Condor just rang, they want you to take your bike back.

mattsaw

It doesn't bother me to be honest, as long as they're sensible and aren't a couple of inches off of my wheel.

clarkey cat

Condor just rang, they want you to take your bike back.

Ha ha! I wasnt on the Condor last night, I was riding my battered and beaten single speed and I was fooked after a few consecutive sleepless nights looking after baby clarkey. I just thought, I'll just tuck in behind this guy for a mile or so...ahhhh, thats better.

Clarion

I'm not bothered by people drafting me. I just feel sorry for anyone who feels they have to. I'd just like them to stay alert and leave enough space to cope.

I get pissed off by the lack of anticipation of commuting cyclists and drivers. Regularly.

But drafting is better than boxing me in.

On the other hand, if I get close enough to draft and don't have a prospect of overtaking very soon, I'll either drop back or offset to the side to avoid being a wheelsucker.

Phate

Can't draft, even if I'm knackered I feel the need to put the speed down and pass them even if it means turning off my usual route a mile or so later to save face before they pass me and see I'm done in!

Brixtonbiker

I don't mind being drafted. Your were on your own any way?

I do alot of track racing and its well known that having a rider draft you lenghtens the airflow behind you and the flow detaches off the second rider and makes it easier for you the lead rider.

Two riders together is better then being a lone rider in the airflow.

cee

personally on the commute, I don't see the point.

It works in races because there are not as many potential sudden braking situations (pedestrian unexpectedly crossing, car door opening etc), and when there are, the communication for such is well understood by the lead and rear riders....

at 15 mph (22 feet per second)...if you are 3 feet behind another rider, and they hit the brakes, you have less than a sixth of a second to also hit the brakes or you will hit them.

even that is the best case scenario....if your brakes aren't as good as theirs, or they brake harder (or have better traction from their rubber etc...), you will hit them.

I don't know if drafting is even all that effective at 1 metre.

So for me...its not particularly safe. I wouldn't sit right up someones exhaust pipe while driving....either...for the same reasons.

cjcp

I'm not a fan of it, having nearly been taken out on a couple of occasions by the draftor - too many people on the commute think "it's ok, cos that's how they see bikes being ridden on the telly". Well, unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of closed roads and not everyone has bikes with brakes maintained to the standard of those on the telly.

I've mellowed a bit, and don't mind it with the guys on here I know and have ridden with, but there are some right choppers on the commute who draft waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too close (or even overlap wheels), particularly in the wet, and even some who ride on your wheel in the dark even though they have no rear lights, or p!ss poor lights - you readin' this Giant Man?

And then there are those who always take a tow and never say thanks, which is just bad manners.

Yours,

Gruff the Grump

jzed

Not a fan of drafters and try not to get too close to bikes in front. Will usually sit a few feet back and plan the attack.

I try and minimise the opportunities for drafters to jump on my wheel so they are putting the same effort in as me.
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There are a few serial drafters out there - chap on cannondale with orange bobble cap springs to mind. He'll jump on your wheel and happily just sit there.

cjcp

JZed wrote:

There are a few serial drafters out there - chap on cannondale with orange bobble cap springs to mind. He'll jump on your wheel and happily just sit there.

He's done it to me twice this week, once when he hasn't had a front light (btw, he's on a Ti frame atm and is presently wearing a helmet). Should have seen how close he was down the NKR. He will do a full-on sprint for the rear wheel. Bless him.

jonginge

cjcp wrote:

I'm not a fan of it, having nearly been taken out on a couple of occasions by the draftor - too many people on the commute think "it's ok, cos that's how they see bikes being ridden on the telly". Well, unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of closed roads and not everyone has bikes with brakes maintained to the standard of those on the telly.

I've mellowed a bit, and don't mind it with the guys on here I know and have ridden with, but there are some right choppers on the commute who draft waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too close (or even overlap wheels), particularly in the wet, and even some who ride on your wheel in the dark even though they have no rear lights, or p!ss poor lights - you readin' this Giant Man?

And then there are those who always take a tow and never say thanks, which is just bad manners.

Yours,

Gruff the Grump

+1 on all this. Quite a few who overlap wheels. Fecking eedjits.

clarkey cat

how close is too close?

if I draft Im at least a bike length away and a bit to the side too so I can see what the lead can see. In terms of offering up a tow after receiving a draft, it all depends on the lead's FCN. Same or below, definitely.

vorsprung

If someone attacks me and catches me napping and goes past then I will sit on their wheel maybe 2 feet back, ready to do a counter attack. If the person I'm drafting doesn't like it, tough, they should have gone past more descisively

If I catch other people on the commute generally I don't draft them as there are too many lunatics out there. I want to stay far far away from idiots on bikes. This is really the big problem with drafting on the commute, or during an event when you are following strangers

jzed

cjcp wrote:

JZed wrote:

(btw, he's on a Ti frame atm and is presently wearing a helmet). Should have seen how close he was down the NKR. He will do a full-on sprint for the rear wheel. Bless him.

Still got the oversized black-rim glasses. He travels way too close (usually in my slipstream when I'm on the MTB) and always worried that if I need to stop I am going to have a train plant into the back of me. Can understand drafting on a club run in the sticks when you know the riders and can anticipate what might happen, but on the commute its just too risky. EDIT: Bobble hat man tends to move out of the draft when you stop at red lights

A couple of weeks back I had a chap draft me down LRR, an inch off my back wheel and I couldn't drop him as was on the MTB so I aimed for every crater I could find - not surprisingly he wasn't there too long - probably nursing a broken rim.

dhope

I try not to draft.
Mainly because it feels like cheating a bit. Also having done no club rides or even socials then I've no idea what the etiquette is, whether I'd be too close, whether I should expect people to be signaling or if I should be etc.

Actually, it's mostly because I don't trust cars, other cyclists or (as a new cyclist) even myself not to do something stupid and have to get out of a situation quickly, and if I'm half a foot from someone I don't fancy the odds so much.

jzed

clarkey cat wrote:

how close is too close?

if I draft Im at least a bike length away and a bit to the side too so I can see what the lead can see. In terms of offering up a tow after receiving a draft, it all depends on the lead's FCN. Same or below, definitely.

I don't class a bike length as drafting - some of the muppets mentioned above are an -6 to 6 inches off your back wheel (the -6 being overlapping your back wheel - making navigating potholes scary business)

ride_whenever

It isn't always intentional though, (although I appreciate it often is) I accidentally drafted a guy a while back purely because I couldn't get past and wasn't overly paying attention.

Still, when he locked his rear wheel i still stopped before he did...

Butterd2

I don't particularly mind being drafted, it's an admission of defeat so no problem.

I don't generally draft but on the couple of occasions when I have for a long period I have thanked the guy in front when I pulled off. A quick "thanks for the tow" doesn't hurt, they know that you appreciate their effort/ability and all is good with the world.

cambs

I won't do it on the commute as there are just too many potential pit-falls to coming a cropper. Most commuters won't indicate a pot hole on either side or whether they're slowing, etc.

I'm not often drafted either because i don't displace much air (about as wide as i am deep).

rick_chasey

Butterd2 wrote:

I don't particularly mind being drafted, it's an admission of defeat so no problem.

I don't generally draft but on the couple of occasions when I have for a long period I have thanked the guy in front when I pulled off. A quick "thanks for the tow" doesn't hurt, they know that you appreciate their effort/ability and all is good with the world.

I once said something similar to someone and they looked so confused...

Guess they weren't familar with basic cycling physics.