Speed hump\Sleeping Policeman

Eskimo427

This may sound like a silly question, but what do most of you roadies do when you come across a speed hump travelling at speed? As a mountain biker I would usually speed up and use it as an excuse to get some air. Some how I don't think that would be a good thing to do on my new road bike.

I'd like to know if most people would just try and slow down and hope for the best or if there's a technique to them?

Thanks

rick_chasey

Most just lift their arse off the saddle and bend their knees slightly.

ddraver

Jump it!

or if not, same as a big rock/branch etc, go loose/unweight and let the bike move up and down underneath you...

Don't do what i did yesterday and accidently tw@t the back wheel into a kerb as you ll get seriously bitten!

Bobbinogs

What Rick said. Going slightly off piste, I have the same quandary about cattle grids which I blinking hate. Using the same technique works well (albeit with the added caveat of approaching as perpendicular as possible, freewheeling) but it is hard to know in advance when a grid is rideable...and some are and some aren't. The ones to look out for are on an incline, have round bars rather than flat, gaps are big and conditions are damp. These factors all combined last year when I was doing a climb in rural Wales and I ended up stationary, spinning like a little hamster until I fell over sideways. Luckily, I didn't stick an arm through the gaps or I could have come off quite badly. I have bunny hopped grids at speed before but now figure that was probably fool's bravado and I walk if worried too much, but that just feels wrong.

Zoomer37

Bunny hop the entire thing. Well euro. For extra hard man points spit in mid air

rhext

There's usually a way round them.....they rarely stretch across the whole street curb-to-curb, so what I usually do is avoid them or at least go over them where they're thinnest.

Worst comes to the worst, stand up and use your knees to avoid the worst of the impact. Unweight a little as you hit - a sort of half-hearted bunny-hop.

kim10

Zoomer37 wrote:

Bunny hop the entire thing. Well euro. For extra hard man points spit in mid air

And wave mid air with both hands to anybody looking and you!! 8)

sungod

i do some on highgate west hill at 50+ km/hr, weight off seat, legs in shock absorber mode

need to watch where you 'enter' the bump though, some parts are steeper than others, and some have potholes/crap surface on/after the bump

rozzer32

Jump it and then do a 720 double tail whip.

Well that's what I do anyway

Frank pole

Do a bunny hop then while in the air text the missis to see what's for dinner!

racingcondor

Weight off the saddle or bunny hop onto the middle of it if it's one of the broad ones.

I'll get practicing the more hardcore hop and spit method .

Eskimo427

Thanks very much for the replies guys. Some very creative techniques mentioned - not sure if my skill set allows much more than the bending of the knees.

klep

Kim10 wrote:

Zoomer37 wrote:

Bunny hop the entire thing. Well euro. For extra hard man points spit in mid air

And wave mid air with both hands to anybody looking and you!! 8)

I usually combine it with a Superman-pose instead of waving...