Newbie error. Am I alone?

littledove44

Very windy and damp roads so I headed out today on my hybrid instead of my road bike in search of some sheltered local bike tracks. Lovely ride with the sun surprisingly making an appearance and with the wind behind me on a long downhill stretch I moved my right hand down to stretch out on the drops and pick up speed.

Now, I always move to the drops with my right hand first, take a little weight on my arm, make sure I am steady and then move my left arm down. This all happens pretty quickly but the sequence is important.

What I had failed to remember is that my hybrid does not have drops. :shock: Just a straight bar, so my right hand flapped around hopelessly, my left hand forgot to steer and I almost flew into a hedge.

Must pay more attention in the future.

Initialised

Stick some drop bars on the hybrid and you'll be fine.

Anonymous

I think you could possibly be alone on that one. Hybrid bars are much wider and should feel very different.

I do not like swapping between different bar types and now have a cross bike for commuting and off road stuff.
If you cannot remember which bike you are on I would suggest you do something similar.
At the very least stick some bar ends on the hybrid.

Have you still got the bells on those bikes too, or just the wheel reflectors?

littledove44

Bell on the hybrid. I ride a lot on cycle tracks full of walkers, dogs and bird watchers. Four rings and a thank you stops me constantly flattening Labradors.

Wirral_paul

Carbonator wrote:

Have you still got the bells on those bikes too, or just the wheel reflectors?

You forgot to mention the dork disk still on the hybrid!! :roll:

Monty Dog

I've been riding a fixed gear for more than 30 years, but sometimes I still forget that you can't stop pedalling, particularly around corners - did it again on Saturday and nearly got thrown off. Speed-bumps on fixed are another favourite. We all make mistakes regularly, just few are prepared to admit it.

MichaelW

You are alone. Alone in a cold, dark, empty universe of idiocy.

But cheer up, at least you survived to entertain us.