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Am I too fat for skids?

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Gazz
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Joined: 19 May 2009
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PostPosted: 22:40 - 08 May 2020    Post subject: Am I too fat for skids? Reply with quote

Haven't been on a pedal bike in about 20-25 years but bought a second hand one recently.

Its a muddyfox Storm which has suspension and disc brakes (they never had this kind of sorcery on pedal bikes the last time I was on them).

Anyway, I want to do a skid, cos skidding is cool. But the back wheel just won't lock up!

I have taken out the pads and cleaned them with brake cleaner, roughed them up a bit with a grinding disc, tightened the cable at the rear and at the handlebars, and blown up the tyres so that they are over inflated, but it just won't lock the back wheel up. (I did manage the slightest millisecond of lock-up on a section of gravel but it was nothing that my 6 year old kid couldn't beat).

The only thing that I can think of is that I may be too fat and I'm putting too much weight on the back tyre that it will not break traction. I'm circa 15 stone.

Tried lifting myself off the seat and grabbing a fistful of lever but it just comes to a slow rolling stop.

Any suggestions?
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stinkwheel
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Joined: 12 Jul 2004
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PostPosted: 23:21 - 08 May 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd suggest cable operated disc brakes are as good an idea on bicycles as they are on any other vehicle they tried them on (ask any Honda CB100 owner).

I'm 115kg and can lock the rear wheel on my 29" hardtail MTB with one finger. Hydraulic disc.

In fact, I can lock the rear wheel on my road bike with the coaster brake, and you oil that.

So something is sadly wrong somewhere.
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defblade
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PostPosted: 10:22 - 09 May 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm with Stinkwheel here. 16 stone and no trouble at all locking the back wheel of my hydraulic disc braked MTB... once I'd binned the old pads.
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stinkwheel
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Joined: 12 Jul 2004
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PostPosted: 12:57 - 09 May 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

defblade wrote:
I'm with Stinkwheel here. 16 stone and no trouble at all locking the back wheel of my hydraulic disc braked MTB... once I'd binned the old pads.


I suppose replacing the pads would be one first step, failing that, maybe keep an eye out for a used hydraulic setup.

The Avid ones tend to be fairly price efficient.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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weasley
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Joined: 16 Oct 2010
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PostPosted: 15:10 - 09 May 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

My TRP Spyre cabled disc brakes are nowhere near as good as the hydraulic brakes on my other bikes. I can lock the rear but it needs a good squeeze and is helped by using some front as well.

These type of brakes benefit from compressionless outer cables (which mine doesn’t have, although there is not that much cable outer, with a long run of inner between frame stops).

I’d love to go to hydraulics but this bike uses a road brake/shifter setup and hydraulic setups are not cheap. I have thought about the hybrid cable/hydraulic ones but there is still the issue of cable stretch/compression that robs application pressure.

Another option is to fit a bigger disc and shim the caliper with a spacer.
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thx1138
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Joined: 06 Oct 2005
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PostPosted: 03:10 - 10 May 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I got hydraulic discs and I can lock up and skid

Sadly still cant on my fixie, but yeah my Trek Trail 2 will skid no bother.
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Copycat73
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Joined: 11 Jan 2013
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PostPosted: 08:53 - 10 May 2020    Post subject: Re: Am I too fat for skids? Reply with quote

Gazz wrote:

Any suggestions?


yeah .. roll don`t bounce .. cos if you bounce you`ll go splatt.. just like an elephant off a cliff..
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G
The Voice of Reason



Joined: 02 Feb 2002
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PostPosted: 19:40 - 12 May 2020    Post subject: Re: Am I too fat for skids? Reply with quote

It's not cable operated brakes - it's low quality/cheap disc brakes.
You'd have the same issue with bad/cheap hydraulic brakes, but they're they're harder to find.

Get on a looser or wet surface.

I've had bikes with decent cable brakes (that have outperformed hydraulic ones thanks to not fading) and ones with terrible cable brakes.
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