First off.

[Big Red]

Just had my first off this morning and sitting thinking it through and feeling a bit battered and winded.
Bike is specialized rockhopper on tubeless Bontrager Mud x, currently been running at 50psi.
I do around 5 mls every morning since retiring whether raining or dry, consisting of fast downhill tarmac on cycle lane, around tarmac footpath at local park then uphill on cycle lane back home.
Just before I enter local park I bump up from road to cycle lane on footpath to cross a busy road.
This is where I came of.
I was out of the saddle ready to bump up dropped kerb doing around 7-8mph.
As soon as I bumped up the front end washed out and i am lying winded on the wet pavement tying to get a breath.
It is worth pointing out that half the width of the pavement for bikes has a sort of red polished/painted finish instead of the black asphalt.
Now here is where I am maybe over thinking things.
It was tipping it down with rain this morning, was i just unlucky that the finish was wet and slippy? although this isn't the first time it has been tipping it down with rain as I am in Fife.
Was I going to fast although ?,I don't think I was.
Or am I running the tyre pressure to high for the type of riding I am doing?
Or last option, shit happens
Opinions welcome, although i won't be out again for a few days as pretty sure I am going to be bruised and suffering tomorrow and currently taking paracetamol for the pain as I feel like I have pulled muscles in my chest on my left hand side.

[weeksy]

what's the surface you bumped onto ? How are you 'bumping' it ?

Bontrager Mud X at 50psi is just fucking bonkers... bonkers bonkers... maybe 35 at a push, but really closer to 30 imo.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

50psi is very high
Could've been ice on the path

[Big Red]

I bumped up the dropped kerb from a side road onto the footpath which is split into two with the inside, normal footpath asphalt and the outside a sort of red polished painted surface for bikes.
I stood up out the seat and hopped the front wheel up the dropped kerb, probably around 1.5 to 2 inch high.
Looks like its more than likely been the pressures I am running then and I have been lucky up till now.
That will be my first change, to drop them to around 30psi and try that.

[MingtheMerciless]

Yeah what @weeksy said regarding tire pressures, I'm surprised they haven't exploded!

Mud X's are full on off road mud tyres so not the best on tarmac.

What was your approach angle at the kerb, anything shallow and you're asking for trouble, especially in the wet?

[weeksy]

you'd assume the red surface should be OK if that's it's purpose....

Sounds like you just just a bit unfortunate.

[Big Red]

I probably approached the kerb at around 60-70 degrees.

The red surface is specifically marked for bikes so I assumed it would be ok, but thinking about it now it may not be the best surface when wet.
I shall be treating it differently now.

[weeksy]

I probably approached the kerb at around 60-70 degrees.

The red surface is specifically marked for bikes so I assumed it would be ok, but thinking about it now it may not be the best surface when wet.
I shall be treating it differently now.

are you popping with a pull on the bars ?

a preload push/pull ?

a down with the body and up ?

Ideally of course you'll be closer to 90deg in the ideal world.... but i still think you were just a little unfortunate

[Big Red]

Popping with a pull on the bars.
I think I have just been lucky up until now with the tyres being over inflated.
I thought with most of my riding on either asphalt or cycle lanes that higher pressure was where I needed to be.

[weeksy]

Popping with a pull on the bars.
I think I have just been lucky up until now with the tyres being over inflated.
I thought with most of my riding on either asphalt or cycle lanes that higher pressure was where I needed to be.

a technique taught by a coach a few of us have used is a 'bend down/stand up'.

Go in your normal out of the saddle position on a flat road, then bend your arms/legs and stand up again.... you'll see the front end pop up... it's a bit more controlled than just a pull.

high pressure will give speed... but we're honestly talking say 0.1/0.2mph on a ride average... but the grip levels (especially with the MudX) will be massively reduced. they'll also feel hard, firm, clunky... IMO, just horrible,..... Get down in the 30 range (or lower) and feel the comfort and grip increase.

[Big Red]

Cheers, will give it a try out once i am back in the saddle.
Can't see it being to soon as last time i had this sort of pain was about 35 years ago when i got trapped lying underneath a car and it slid of the jack.
Bruised ribs then and feels like the same sort of pain now.

[weeksy]

Cheers, will give it a try out once i am back in the saddle.
Can't see it being to soon as last time i had this sort of pain was about 35 years ago when i got trapped lying underneath a car and it slid of the jack.
Bruised ribs then and feels like the same sort of pain now.

awwww man, no doing stupid stuff, you should know better at your age..


I'm off out jumping shortly

[Big Red]

Cheers, will give it a try out once i am back in the saddle.
Can't see it being to soon as last time i had this sort of pain was about 35 years ago when i got trapped lying underneath a car and it slid of the jack.
Bruised ribs then and feels like the same sort of pain now.

awwww man, no doing stupid stuff, you should know better at your age..


I'm off out jumping shortly

I was around 20/21 at the time and thought i was indestructable as you do at that age.
Like to think i am a bit more sensible now.

Have fun, and stay upright if possible.
It hurts less, especially as you get older

[weeksy]

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topi ... r-mud-rip/

Comments on here how it's crap on anything other than mud.

[Big Red]

Interesting, thought they were ok but not used anything else yet as they came on the bike when i bought it, so nothing to compare them with.
Have dropped the pressures to 30psi and gave the bike a quick once over for damage. Although will be a few days before I am fit to ride it again as still in a lot of pain although it has reduced slightly.
Will be replacing the Bontragers when they are worn, but still a lot of use left in them yet so just going to take it easier and see how they go.

[weeksy]

Interesting, thought they were ok but not used anything else yet as they came on the bike when i bought it, so nothing to compare them with.
Have dropped the pressures to 30psi and gave the bike a quick once over for damage. Although will be a few days before I am fit to ride it again as still in a lot of pain although it has reduced slightly.
Will be replacing the Bontragers when they are worn, but still a lot of use left in them yet so just going to take it easier and see how they go.

I can never fathom that logic on bicycles or motorbikes.

Why you'd use anything less that very good is beyond me.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I can never fathom that logic on bicycles or motorbikes.

Why you'd use anything less that very good is beyond me.

It's cheaper

[weeksy]

I can never fathom that logic on bicycles or motorbikes.

Why you'd use anything less that very good is beyond me.

It's cheaper

Yes but then you're lying on the floor looking at the sky thinking, what happened there.

The answer is, you were cheap and didn't buy the right tyres for the job.

The MudX is a full on mud tyre as per the name, like riding an Mx tyre on the road. It's really not designed for a trip to Tesco. Lol.

[Big Red]

Up until last week i have been riding just under 5 mls every morning Monday to Friday for the last 6 months whether dry or chucking it down. We do get a lot of rain up in Fife so its not as if it is because the roads have just got wet. I do the same route every morning and never had any problems until last Thursday. All this time I have run the pressures at 50psi.I have not had any indication of poor grip from these tyres in this time. The bike has behaved as I would expect.

I have dropped the pressure to 30psi and i will see how things feel .If things don't feel right then yes the tyres will be changed.
If it is not showing any problems with grip then the tyres will be used until they need changed. I will not know how things feel until I have ridden it again and I am expecting to find an improvement with the lower pressures.

I still cannot figure out why I came of and cannot put it down to anything I have done differently, so may have just been bad luck, one of those things, black ice or shit happens.
If I had been sliding about on these tyres most of the time especially when wet then they would have been gone a long time ago but that isn't the case.
Therefore think running out and changing them for something else just in case it was the tyres fault I came of is a bit overboard.

[Big Red]

It'll feel crap on mud tyres at 30psi on tarmac, it'll sap energy from you and you'll feel slower. Imagine putting off road tyres on your road going motorbike and then running them at low pressures because they're off road tyres, it would feel awful and probably more dangerous than running them at higher pressures.

The lower pressures are so the tyre will deflect in response to the terrain and grip, but on tarmac they'll just feel spongy and crap. If you insist on still using them then I'd stick at the pressures you had them at before.

My MTB tyres that are meant as hybrids but more towards road use run at about 60psi and my road bike tyres on my racing bike run at 110psi.
Below 40psi on the tarmac with soft walled tyres will feel like you're riding in treacle.

This may be the case and if so then they will be changed for something else.
I will know once i try them.
The bike has always behaved itself up until last week when I was running the pressures at 50psi so I have no idea how 30psi will feel.
Also don't know if the tyre pressure was the cause of my off.
Time will tell once I get back on the bike.