The fine fall weather provides opportunities for some nice riding whether for recreation/exercise or errands/work. Here are tips to encourage your riding and to keep you safe:
Check your lights front and rear. “Too many lights” are just about right in the low-light, fall and winter conditions. Your lights are primarily to make you visible (both day and night), but also to avoid hidden ruts, potholes, and bumps in the street. Road debris at night is another hazard which good front lighting will help you avoid.
Add a helmet or head-mounted lamp to help see those potholes, debris, etc. at night. While a front light in blink mode makes people more aware of your presence, the headlamp helps you see obstacles. The advantage of a headlamp is that when you move your head, the light goes with you. When on trails with little or no street lighting, both the headlamp and front light (in steady mode) will light the path.
Keep your re-chargeables charged. Replace the batteries in the rest.
Have someone view your bicycle from behind in the dark with the lights “on.” Ensure that your gear or clothing does not block the light beams (front and rear) and that the rear light(s) aim toward following vehicles.
Spoke lights or spoke reflectors are both fun and provide visibility from the side.
Watch other people on bicycles and judge their “visibility index” as a guide to improving your own.
Add an extra “blinky light” front and rear and use them both as nighttime supplements and as “daytime running lights.”
Maybe shop for and use a helmet mounted rear-facing light.
Be fair to people in cars – let them see you. Driving is challenging at this time of year. Don’t join the “ghost bike” program.
You will ride safer and smarter if you are comfortable – so plan your riding gear accordingly. Use the layering technique.
As you bundle up, look at your outer layer. If it is dark in color, either choose something that is not or pick up a reflective vest from your locally owned hardware or big box home center for around $20.00. You might add this vest to your year-around “kit.”
Wet leaves and snow are slippery so anticipate your stops and turns.
Pay special attention to puddles of water or clumps of leaves as they can mask the plentiful potholes, ruts, utility caps, and craters in the paved surface. City streets are worse than ever so watch for crevices, bumps, utility covers, patches, and so on. Good front lighting will help here!
Recall that some pavement markings can also be slippery when wet or extra slippery when covered with wet leaves, snow, or ice.
Keep your chain clean and lubricated (especially after riding in melted slush).
You might want to inspect your tires for wear. You might swap the front to the rear (since the rear takes the most weight and wears more quickly). If planning to ride in snow, you might invest in wider, knobby tires for better traction (if your bike accepts them).
Consider reducing tire pressures from max by 5 to 10 psi for better grip.
Sunglasses are very important this time of year as well. With the days getting shorter, there is a greater chance you will end or start a ride in low-light conditions. Switch your tinted lenses to a rose or clear lens for better visibility in low-light conditions.
When riding into that low fall sun, remember that the people in cars behind may not see you, as they also will be blinded.
Plan your braking and turns to avoid a spill.
Be mindful of slippery metal surfaces (such as utility covers and grates).
Fall and winter is a good time to get ready for next year’s riding with a tune up from one of our local bicycle shops. This is a good time to support your local shop and to help them over the slower winter season. November through March is good time to get that special attention from your bicycle mechanic. Find out where at – https://albanybicyclecoalition.com/resources/
“Vanity, thy name is gumwall.” With apologies to Ecclesiastes and Shakespeare for this corruption of a misquote, no one, not even the tire experts at “Bicycle Quarterly” suggests that there is any performance benefit to gum wall or tan wall tires. The more accurate and true quote fits here: “vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1). Why else would one seek out an attractive tire in favor of those that are known to perform superbly?
THE NEED – My Brompton came fitted with Schwalbe Kojaks (size: ETRTO 32-349, 16″ X 1-1/4) as ordered. Since these tires are basically slicks with no tread, they don’t look much different than an inner tube on the rim. With no tread wear to measure, it is hard to test the Kojak’s degree of wear until some cord starts showing – which it had not. But having discovered the Schwalbe Marathon Racer (size: ETRTO 35-349, 16 X 1-1/3) while preparing for the Kojaks’ inevitable end of life, I put it in the back of my mind this was the tire for me. I had experience with Schwalbe as a brand in addition to several credible YouTube analyses supporting the contention that the Marathon Racers were a good choice for the Brompton. (for a somewhat explanation of tire sizing, go here – https://www.getmefixed.co.uk/wheel-sizes-explained-etrto-imperial-radius/). In this case, the ETRTO (European Tire and Rim Technical Organization) inner diameter spec (349 mm in both cases) is of no value because the issue, as we will see, is with outer diameter, nominally both 16”).
THE BEST – The YouTube channel 2Bikes4Adventure (the “2Bikes” are Bromptons and the “adventure” is touring on them) has a video titled “The BEST TIRE for your Brompton” The hosts do a commendable job of analyzing competing 16” tires based on considerations of weight, puncture resistance, rolling resistance, and cost. This is not just another “everything is lovely” semi-promo review. This YouTube channel, 2bikes4adventure, suffers a little bit from the pressure by YouTube to have very short videos. Nonetheless, the program covers six different tires in the 16-in category as follows: Schwalbe’s Marathon and Marathon Plus, Continental’s Urban Contact and then the Racer, Kojak, Marathon One all by Schwalbe. They describe how each part of the evaluation was conducted and then graphically compare the different tires on their performance against each functional test – rolling resistance, puncture resistance, weight, cost, etc.
They note that the Racer is 35 gr heavier than the Kojak, for example. For puncture protection, they cite tests using a graduated plunger to pierce the inner tube and anti-puncture layer while measuring both the amount of penetration and the force needed to reach that depth. They allude to a pinch flat test wherein a tire is dropped on two sharp edges (as in a pothole). With the exception of falling into the ”more-psi-means-more-speed” trap, they do a nice review on the Tan Wall.
As a safety aside, the Tan Walls do not have a reflective sidewall element as is common with many contemporary tires – including the Kojaks.
THE FIRM – Schwalbe (in English, “Swallow”) has been around since 1922 under the name Ralf BOHLE GMBH (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung literally, a “company with limited liability”). In recent years, the company has dedicated itself to bicycle and wheelchair tires and tubes. It is headquartered near Köln, but its manufacturing is through collaboration with firms in Korea and Indonesia producing 14,000,000 tires per year. Schwalbe introduced the “Marathon” in 1983, the “Racer” in 2018, and the Tan Wall in 2019/2020. All three models rate high for puncture and pinch flat protection. The latter being of interest to riders in our local third-world-style roadways.
Fancy Schmancy Packaging
INSTANT APPEAL – When the Tan Wall option came along, my decision making was all over. A couple days after ordering them from my local bike shop, I got an email saying the tires are ready. So with the two new Marathon Racers and two new tubes I headed home to do the installation. That was to be postponed until the following day having done nothing more than open and unfold the tires and look at them. Unmounted, they impressed me as being quite large, and in the middle of the night I started to wonder if I was going to have a fender interference problem as is sometimes the case with even slightly larger tires.
INSTALLATION – The installation of the new tires went fairly smoothly until I remounted the rear wheel and heard the ominous rub, rub, rub.
Clearance Issue (hole is for mud flap mount)
No Fender Adjustment
The Brompton has a stubby mudguard extending horizontally from the rear fender and held by a 4 mm bolt, nut, and two flat washers. (Brompton likes washers – there are 13 on each of the rear EZ wheels.) Some investigation showed that there was very little adjustment possible with the fender relative to wheel and tire. Any effort to raise the fender runs into the unmovable luggage rack. Afterall, these are not SKS fenders (the best on the Planet for any Bike), but a proprietary Brompton design.*
The bracket that holds the fender closest to its rear extremity is attached to the luggage rack and the holes in the luggage rack and the fender brace are pretty much aligned with little play (aka “room for adjustment”). Aesthetically, the curve of the wheel and tire and that of the fender should have the same center point (the axle) and a constant fender-tire gap. Nonetheless, with the mudguard moved and the very slight play in the fender support taken up, the rubbing disappeared. But wait; what about the horizontal mud flap and the hole in the fender? Should I be forced to ride my Brompton without its mudguard on the rear fender? Am I to sacrifice a dry back to the Vanity of the Tan Wall Schwalbes? The answer clearly is “no” – I have a Brompton with fenders, and I want to continue to have a Brompton with fenders.
Horizontal Mud Flap + Hardware
RESOLUTION – Frame manufacturers who provide for fender mounting (with braze ons, etc.) forget that there has to be room between the frame and attached component (like wheels) for the fenders and their mounting hardware. Having struggled in the past with clearance between such mounting hardware and the frame bridge, I was somewhat equipped to address the Tan Wall-Brompton issue. The original stubby mudguard mounting hardware consisted of a round-head, hex drive bolt from the outside passing through a flat washer, the fender, the mudguard, another washer, and a 4 mil nut. Using the past solution, grinding off most of the bolt head and switching it around so the head was on the fender’s inside gave enough clearance for the tire to rotate freely. It is necessary to leave enough of the head to use a hex wrench for tightening or loosening in the future. Of course, a plain exposed nut would not do, so a substituted cap or acorn nut returned the mounting to functional acceptability. /
THE FUTURE – The tan is not worth the squeeze. At this point in the saga, the Brompton is rideable. But given the very tight non-rub clearance obtained and with fluctuations in weight, tire pressure, tire and wear, and the security of the fender mount nut-and-bolt arrangement, there’s a risk of the problem returning. For other Bromtoneers, variation in manufacturing of tires and bicycles or other irregularities may preclude the simple “solution” reported here. Bicycle shops and owners would be well advised to remember this lesson if they are fitting Brompton Schwalbe Marathon Racer Tan Walls or Brompton Schwalbe Marathon Racers. Sadly, were I to have the opportunity to reconsider this (rather expensive) acquisition, I would have stayed with the Kojaks – don’t mess with success.
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* Because all components and aftermarket customizations have to pass the “folded/unfolded” test, much of the Brompton is unique to it. Consequently, one cannot just throw on, say, a mirror and expect no issues. To allow a complete fold, one must test for add-ons like a bottle cage or lights.
The approaching spring weather suggests that trips to the nearest multi-use path are in the near future. With that in mind, it’s time to remind ourselves that multi-use means just that – people will be there with a multiplicity of modes of transport ranging from babies in carriages to mobility devices to road warriors on carbon-fiber bikes. It is a good time to review some of the appropriate protocols or rules for using a multi-use path.
The very first one and probably the most important to both walkers/joggers and cyclists is to keep to the right. Sometimes walkers are confused since they were raised to walk on the left side facing traffic. However, that is on a road or street with no sidewalks. A multi-use path is not a roadway so walk on the right and ride on the right.
Here are some other tips:
Walkers –
It’s great to walk in twos or threes for the social benefit, but keep in mind the need to move to the right into single file to allow faster moving traffic – generally bicycles, skaters and joggers – to pass safely by.
As needed, just move to the right trail edge. Don’t scatter in different directions, and divide to different sides of the path or stand still in the middle like a bunny in the headlights!
Stay alert to what is behind you.
Small children and dogs on leashes need to be kept under control for their safety and for the safety of others on the trail. This is especially true when a dog is on a retractable lead as it allows the animal to range across the trail forming a barrier.
Cyclists –
The main rule is to be aware that you are traveling faster than other trail users. You are obligated to extend courtesy to them as you pass by.
Always signal your presence by ringing your bell, calling out, or clearly indicating you’re passing on the left – “on your left!”
Avoid startling those being overtaken.
Always yield to pedestrians and mobility devices – no exceptions.
If traveling two or more abreast, be prepared to single up when overtaking other path users, approaching other users, or when being overtaken by faster riders.
Experienced riders who are out on training rides must remember that the multi-use path is not a racetrack and that you put yourself and others at risk by riding at speeds that are far in excess of all other users. Nobody wants to get hit by the combined weight of cyclist and bicycle moving at any speed – especially if the rider is using a peddle assist bike with the added weight of a battery, motor, heavier frame, etc.
If you need high speed training rides, choose the appropriate time and place.
Both Walkers and Riders –
If stopping, get off the trail to allow others to pass by.
At dusk and in the dark, have a light front and rear.
Bring out any trash you bring to the trail (plus a little more if you can). Take it with you or deposit in appropriate container when you leave.
Those who bring dogs need to clean up and discard or carry out any “by-product.”
If you reach the trailhead by a motor vehicle, park where indicated and ensure that your vehicle is not blocking another.
If you come across someone having difficulty, check to see if you can offer needed assistance.
Stay off private property. Be courteous to local residents and respect their property.
The 85-Percentile Rule is a guide for setting speed limits but one that must be used with a great deal of discretion to prevent creation of unsafe road and streets.
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85-Percentile Rule – No, it’s not where you were on the math SATs but a way of setting speed limits on roads and streets. Departments of transportation define the 85-percentile speed as the speed at or below which 85 percent of all vehicles are observed to travel under free-flowing conditions. Traffic and Transportation Engineers use the 85th percentile speed as a guide to set the speed limit at a hopefully safe speed, minimizing crashes and promoting uniform traffic flow. Data are gathered using radar guns or other devices and then analyzed. Engineers take the observed speeds and eliminate the top 15 percent. The indicated speed is then at the 85-percent level (to the nearest 5 mph increment). This procedure – if the set speed is not excessively low – ensures that all drivers will be going at about the same speed with few opportunities for conflict. This, of course, means that 15 percent of the drivers are exceeding what the other 85 percent view as a comfortable and safe speed. So who is correct?
This is fine until the design speed and the posted speed are in conflict.
The Caveat – The catch is the “. . . speed at or below which . . . vehicles are observed to travel under free-flowing conditions.” When design speed – the speed that feels safe or comfortable for most drivers – markedly exceeds the posted speed, we are in trouble. Many people are comfortable driving faster than is safe for them and or comfortable for others especially when there are confounding factors. Those few who adhere to the posted speed will be passed where possible or “tailgated” when not. “Free flowing” also presents a problem if the rule is applied to streets that are, at times, free flowing but at others, not so much.
Built for 55 – Please go 30 MPH
Right Here, Right Now – A local poster child is Albany’s Washington Ave., an unnumbered State route. It was clearly built – designed – as a 55 mph road. Nonetheless, going outbound from Brevator St. to Rt. 155/New Karner Rd. it is posted at 30 mph (Brevator St. to Fuller Rd.) and 45 mph (after Fuller Rd.) These reduced speed limits are based on the increasing non-highway activity with University at Albany residences and crossing pedestrians, motels, medical and other offices, convenience stores, big-box shopping, social clubs, churches, the dump, and cross roads. There is talk of a massive rebuild of at least the Brevator-Fuller segment but no action to date.
Washington Ave. FLY over
So what went wrong? If we used the 85-Percentile Rule today with the current built up environment, one might guess that the speed thus suggested might well exceed 45 mph and certainly 30 mph. Just drive on it at the speeds posted currently to demonstrate this to yourself. Put another way, the world changed but Washington Ave. did not. We are in the 2000s, and it is in the 1950s. Rest assured that Washington Ave. is not the only such example in our area.
Death Alley – A similar situation is the so-called Cohoes Blvd. or Cohoes’s own “death alley.” Briefly, the State originally built I-787 to blast into the middle of Cohoes with ¾ of the city on the west side and ¼ on the east. The transition from interstate to city street was invisible with expected results. After many years and much pressure, the in-city portion was completely rebuilt featuring raised crosswalks or speed tables, lighting, a chicane, a multiuse side path, enhanced traffic control, a center median, turn lanes, and signage. When asked, a representative stated that NYSDOT would base the redesigned boulevard’s (new) speed limit on the 85-percentile rule. Coming into Cohoes, the posted speed is now 45 mph and then 35 mph. Whether or not drivers follow these limits is for others to judge.
Cohoes Blvd or I-787 – road, street, or stroad?
Driver Behavior – One source (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDYQaa3K_BA ) posits that the change from a street to a road challenges drivers to “shift mental gears” from highway mode – which is more or less unconscious, intuitive, and automatic driving behavior – to being focused, observant, engaged, and deliberate. So how does one force fit driver behavior to street conditions?
Appropriate Use – For rural roads and with no countervailing data (e.g., excessive crash data, blind curves, schools, pedestrian and cyclist traffic, no shoulders, many entries/exits) the 85-Percentile Rule is probably a good first step. Note that the term here is “roads” not “streets.”
Inappropriate Use – When we get to a “street” the situation changes. A road is a high-speed connection to get from here to there with a simplified environment with minimal cross streets and driveways, and no accommodation for pedestrians or cyclists.
A street is a complex environment used by people where cars are guests that have to be caused to be on good behavior. A street is not intended for fast motor vehicles as a thoroughfare but a place where people go – the end point of a trip. Setting the posted speed limit based on car travel speeds does not seem like an appropriate application of the 85-percentile rule. In fact, it’s a “cart before the horse” to set the speed limit AFTER the street is built. A better option is to decide on the desired safe speed and THEN spec the design (or alter an existing design).
You cannot just ask for good behavior (e.g., “30 MPH” [please], “Share the Road” [please], “School Zone – 20 MPH” [please] ) you have to design out bad behavior. Drivers do not constantly adjust and re-adjust their speed based on the roadside signage. Instead, they cruise along at a comfortable rate (e.g., the design speed) partially based on what other nearby drivers are doing. The street’s DESIGN is a much more effective speed control than a sign buried with all the rest of the roadside garbage signs that transportation officials believe will offset inappropriate street design. The message from the street’s design is clear with no static; that from the sign (e.g., 30 MPH) has to force its way through a very noisy channel with dismal results.
Back to Our Sample – Washington Ave. becomes a street at roughly Brevator St./Rt. 85 heading toward downtown Albany. That is, the nature of the right of way changes from a road to a street with people, residences, schools, shopping, offices, churches, restaurants, and pedestrian/bicycle traffic. Put another way, Washington Ave. transitions from a road to a “stroad” – a thoroughfare that is neither a road nor a street. This is why, for example, 20 mph speed limits with vehicle speed displays in school zones are a failure – nothing in the road design says “slow down!” As an historical aside, Washington Ave. once had a center median but it was removed in the 1930s – too bad!
This is a street
They are INTRAstates – In many towns and cities in the USA with street layout dating to the 19th, 18th, and even 17th centuries, streets have become stroads with inappropriate outcomes for all concerned. Even with interstate highways – which have morphed into INTRAstate highways – motor vehicles entering or leaving cities have caused this “stroadization.” Cars come flying off 4-lane, high-speed roads (with a 4-lane, high-speed mentality) and are then faced with narrow, winding, people-filled streets with traffic lights, double-parked cars, snow piles, people trying to cross, squirrels, children going to school, and so on. Without proper STREET design, the result is chaos and, frequently, property damage, injury, or death. Albany, as but one example, is completely ringed and bisected by 4-lane, super highways – 787, 85, 90, NYS Thruway, and 87. Each both feeds traffic into the city but also is a goal for those leaving. “Drive time” has become “all the time.”
High car speeds intrinsically mean greater chances of injury or death for pedestrians or people on bicycles and compression of driver reaction time to the dynamic nature of a street. The solution? There has to be something that tells drivers that (1) the road (or highway) has now ended and (2) the street has now begun. These “somethings” can include narrowing of the road or travel lanes, speed tables or speed humps, vertical objects like trees, center medians, or chicanes.
This is a street. This is a human. That is a bicycle. That is a cross walk. That is an ADA curb cut.
Conclusion – The 85-percentile rule is a starting point for determining posted speed limits. It is probably appropriate for roads. It is the wrong rule when there are safety and social concerns that supersede the desire of people in cars to “get through here as fast as possible.” Streets are for people. Parks are for people. Intersection crossing are for people. Stores, restaurants, offices, apartments, and houses are for people. A traffic engineer who applies the 85-percentile rule to urban or suburban streets might consider a career shift.
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Notes – Strong Towns coined the term “stroad” to explain dangerous, multi-lane thoroughfares that are in every city, town, and suburb. They are what happen when a street – a place where people interact with businesses and residences and where wealth is produced – is combined with a road (a high-speed route between productive places). https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/1/whats-a-stroad-and-why-does-it-matter Strong Towns (https://www.strongtowns.org/about ) supports people across the United States and Canada who are advocating for a radically new way of thinking about the way we build our world.
