Greasy roads

[rogerzilla]

It hasn't rained properly for a while here, nor has it been hot enough to evaporate spilt diesel.  The roads are lethal in town - I had a full two-wheel loss of grip on a corner by the bus station yesterday (cue comedy speedway-style opposite lock) and felt the rear wheel slide twice more on the ride.  Psyclepaths were fine, as were chipsealed or completely dry roads.  It's the combination of diesel and light dew/drizzle on smooth tarmac that seems most lethal.

[Hot Flatus]

Agreed. Noticed this last week. Often seems worse at the end of a cold snap

[LittleWheelsandBig]

This past week, commuting on fixed in west London, the rear wheel steps out daily and I had a front wheel slide when braking to avoid a car. I am mostly cornering like a little old lady now.

[howdee]

Riding across the lanes to the start of the Knights Templar 100k event yesterday morning, my rear wheel locked up on the approach to a bend. Luckily managed to recover the steering and stay upright, just. Wasn't going particularly fast and hadn't been raining but the tarmac surface was that shiny type and was glazed with overnight dew. Was definitely more cautious for the rest of the day.

[Jaded]

I’ve noticed it round here just walking on the town streets. Normal shoes that have plenty of grip usually.

[Lightning Phil]

Yeah I had some two wheel slides on my recumbent on ACME Knights Templar. Cue release brakes and a bit of surfing before reapplying brakes.

[hubner]

Me too, I thought there was something wrong with my tyres.

[markcjagar]

I wondered what was causing this, a few of the more shaded stabby climbs have been troublesome due to lack of grip out the saddle.

Some of these roads had been gritted so I had concluded the grit may have been contaminated in some way but diesel not evaporating makes more sense.

For reference, Sheffield.

[rogerzilla]

Some grit/salt mix contains molasses waste, which can be slippery in the wrong conditions.

[felstedrider]

Yeah I had some two wheel slides on my recumbent on ACME Knights Templar. Cue release brakes and a bit of surfing before reapplying brakes.

I had rear wheel slip while climbing (on fixed) a few times yesterday.  I took the descents a bit more carefully after that.

[grams]

I had a friend come off on a not particularly bendy descent in the chilterns last weekend and ended up taken away in an ambulance. The road was uniformly slippery along its full width for quite a distance. I’d expect diesel to be more localised.

[JellyLegs]

I had the back wheel step out under light braking tonight.  The surface appeared to have a particularly heavy white sheen from the accumulation of road salt over the weeks since we last had significant rain here.

[Kim]

The salt was blowing in drifts in places last week, which didn't seem to affect traction, but my chain certainly didn't appreciate.

This week seems to have got off to an auspicious start with a spate of seemingly unrelated diesel spills, which I've mostly managed to avoid.

I haven't actually had a loss of traction incident for a while, thankfully.  The last couple were due to unavoidable gravel.  It's the leaf chutney that I'm wary of, knowing that the Marathon Greenguards seem particularly vulnerable to the stuff.  Fortunately the dry conditions mean there isn't too much of that around at the moment, even if the trees are confused about seasons.

[ian]

It's consistently the case on my street this time of year that the back wheel simply spins unless I put my full weight on it, which doesn't help getting a Brompton up a 25% hill.

[andyoxon]

Exactly 4 yrs ago, I came off turning right at a mini rab; smooth & slippery tarmac.  Just a bit of road rash through unbroken lycra fortunately; slightly battered rear mech.  Always take a shallower angle through that junction now.

[Ian H]

Also, it appears that whatever grit they're putting on the roads - at least down here - is highly corrosive.  I don't recall seeing much instant rust on the bike in previous years.  Perhaps it's a ploy to destroy older cars so people have to buy new electric ones.

[Jaded]

Inserts some joak about Electric cars not needing grit because they are de-ICEd.