Seitman Posted June 4, 2012 Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 I was wondering if its safe to countersteer-pivot steer while braking so hard that the back tire is a bit off the ground. I never use the rear brake while riding on track but sometimes while braking hard I get the back tire "light" and try to get it stabilized before I countersteer. Is this delay in countersteering unnecessary or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradvanhorn Posted June 4, 2012 Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 I was wondering if its safe to countersteer-pivot steer while braking so hard that the back tire is a bit off the ground. I never use the rear brake while riding on track but sometimes while braking hard I get the back tire "light" and try to get it stabilized before I countersteer. Is this delay in countersteering unnecessary or not? If you are braking that hard then you have nearly/fully 100% of your weight on your front tire contact patch and your forks heavily compressed - that is not a good time to ask the front tire and forks to take on cornering force as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk_ace Posted June 5, 2012 Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 I was wondering if its safe to countersteer-pivot steer while braking so hard that the back tire is a bit off the ground. I never use the rear brake while riding on track but sometimes while braking hard I get the back tire "light" and try to get it stabilized before I countersteer. Is this delay in countersteering unnecessary or not? If you are braking that hard then you have nearly/fully 100% of your weight on your front tire contact patch and your forks heavily compressed - that is not a good time to ask the front tire and forks to take on cornering force as well. same thinking here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmckeen Posted June 5, 2012 Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 I believe during one of the class room sessions at the school one of the instructors made the comment that tires are like Union Workers, they only do one job at a time. They are very good at braking and steering but if you ask them to do both at once they are quite likely to go on strike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mugget Posted June 7, 2012 Report Share Posted June 7, 2012 In addition to what has already been mentioned, think about what will happen with the rear of the bike if you start steering with only the front tyre on the ground... This could happen if you're riding on a bumpy section of road/track, you may not even be close to full braking force but the rear wheel may still be bouncing due to the bumps. Also if you are braking hard and your rear wheel leaves the ground it could take a few seconds or so for it to settle again. If you make a steering input in that situation the front tyre will change direction, but the rear of the bike will want to continue on it's current course which is straight ahead. Best case - you get a little wobble and make a mental note not to do that again! Worst case - the rear of the bike ends up at such an angle that when the rear tyre touches down again it will be just like a highside. I would definitely wait until the bike is settled before making the steering input. Anyway, welcome to the forum Seitman. Why not head over to the introductions forum and tell us a bit about yourself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seitman Posted June 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2012 Thanks for the replies from everyone and the welcome from you mugget. Ok, so what I'm doing so far is the right thing (letting it settle) and I now understand that if I was doing it differently I would be in a lot of trouble! What if the back tire is just sliding (like backing in)? Could I still pivot-steer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradvanhorn Posted June 9, 2012 Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 What if the back tire is just sliding (like backing in)? Could I still pivot-steer? Yes. Pivot steering is about increasing steering efficiency. If you're sliding the rear then I think that would be an excellent time to have more efficient steering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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