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George if you'd been on a mountain bike you would have been fine.
I've never had anyone ever jump on my wheel 😐
Never done to anyone either. Usually just go past or ride half wheel, they can get on my wheel then if they want, but if you're talking a 1-2" distance I'd rather it was someone I know or a fellow racer before I grabbed a wheel.
[i]ride half wheel[/i]
I thought that was 'worse' than drafting?
I always thought it was OK and accepted by roadies amongst each other, at least out of town.
Many years ago I was feeling a little lazy whilst commuting on an MTB with slicks and tucked in behind a roadie going the same way. Within seconds the four letter abuse started so I turned up the wick, flicked him the vees and left him well and truly behind. I swear he was shouting "come back" as I disappeared in a trail of adrenalin.
How close is drafting?
I had a guy shout at me, but I wasn't drafting. He happened to turn his head around as I was just about to pull out and pass, I think I was 2 feet off his wheel, but going a lot faster than him. He sped up, and I still canned him on me MTB with 20psi tyres, how I looked behind and laughed at him. He was rather annoyed. Was he right to shout at me?
Drafting i don't mind, but i don't like wheelsuckers
I don't commute, so that's not an issue, if some-one did it on a ride, then I'd expect them to take a turn at the front, but it's never happened to me, so I dunno really
Milkie - MemberI still canned him on me MTB with 20psi tyres, how I looked behind and laughed at him. He was rather annoyed. Was he right to shout at me?
On the basis of your willy waving, yes.
I've drafted Obi with ease. Not so easy for him to draft me, given he's so lanky.
Its embarrassing when you get drafted by someone on a shopper though 😉
Just ride half wheel for a bit as I slow down, then move on. Never seen the point of getting on someones wheel when you've caught them up
TJ - If you ride a tandem then it's something you should expect. It's no wonder you can't outpace them if they are in the rear seat. Perhaps if you rode a normal bike they wouldn't keep following you.
I often draft people on my commute, usually when they've sprinted past me to make a point .. I hang right on behind them to make mine 😉
Don't mind people doing it to me either, can't see the harm really as long as there's a couple of bike lengths between us ... I'm always checking the road ahead though, even while behind someone, so no nasty surprises.. I can't even recall an instance where I've had an 'incident'
When I was a kid I drafted a roadie and decided to overtake him as ge wasn't going that fast. He gave me a shove and succeeded in knocking us both off. I landed on feet and ran along road. He bounced a long on chin and bloodied his nose and hence avoided me adding to his injuries! I think he just had a surge of adrenaline and lost the plot. Busy road so lucky he didn't get us both killed.
I'm not precious, as people have said if someone is going fast enough or she takes a turn and has a nice bum then good times!
If anyone gets on my wheel I'm absolutely fine with it. I'll point out obstacles/changes in direction etc. Fairly normal for roadies I think. If I'm in a group and someone is dropping off more than happy to give them a wheel to get them back to the bunch. Guess this can only be a commuter thing maybe
I think some of the answers above serve to highlight the differences between those that have experience of road riding, particularly club cyclists who have been brought up through 'the system', and those of us who have merely bought a mountain bike and just kind of got on with it.
I haven't the faintest idea of 'road etiquette', but do occasionally meet those out on road bikes whilst I'm riding between trails or commuting. Even when I'm giving it some pan-handle on the mtb, I'd be very surprised if a roadie jumped on my back wheel for any length of time. I'm pretty sure that they'd realise quite quickly that, despite my reasonable speed at the time, I'd be unlikely to sustain it for more than a few miles and that I'm most probably using all the wrong gears at the wrong time or something, and they'd bugger off past me as I'd be no use to them anyway. Conversly, if I happen to catch up with a roadie then they're usually either daydreaming or spinning some life back into a pair of heavy legs. As soon as they twig it's not another roadie then they also bugger off aswell.
Of course, I always pass them later on as I crash the next red light or go past on the pavement as they're waiting in traffic... 😉
Still can't believe I've never had someone grab my wheel even after 35 years of being on the road most weekends. And I've certainly never had anyone say or do anything as I've passed them.
We did invite a lad to sit on just prior to the first race of the season. It was a three mile into the wind slog and I let my mate do all the work 😀 and I just chatted over my shoulder to this lad. Hit the next village and he was nowhere to be seen, there were no turnings or nothing poor lads probably still out there.
Lol seems the majority here are tour de France riders on their commute in. Bunch of arse really.
>as long as there's a couple of bike lengths between us
That's not drafting then.
Occasionally happens to me on the commute, no acknowledgement of their presence, no popping to the front to share a turn. Just sat there a few inches behind. I wish they wouldn't do it as it's dangerous + just plain rude.
I tend not to get any (probably as most overtake me lol) but the other week I got two! Both following right on my bum. Now I wouldn't mind so much but when they don't take a turn up front I start aiming for potholes until they get the point.
Obi_Twa - Member
Anyone that can ride fast enough to do it to me must be bloody good. So I dont have a problem with it.
Anyone who is desperate enough to do it to me must be bloody sh*te. So i dont have a problem with it.
Thats not taking the p*ss, i really am very slow so the more the merrier!
allthepies .............. I wish they wouldn't do it as it's dangerous + just plain rude.
Why not tell them to go away and procreate then? Or slow down?
I've been on both ends of this - knackered after a long day, getting a 10 mile draft made a big difference, and have also towed some poor old roadie most of the way from Belper to ilkestone.
I'd only draft people with drop bars, and would only want to be drafted by them, as it at least shows enough sense to buy the right bike ( although i've yet to meet the fabled faster than a road bike mountain biker that you hear about so often on here !)
I draft roadies on the Severn Bridge when I'm on the MTB. They forget about the wind 😉
Jesus, what a load of fuss!
You can always TALK to people you know, maybe say 'I'd rather you didn't draft me' or 'Get on the back, mate'....
There is invariably one thread every month or so from some mountain biker who feels affronted because someone didn't say hello to him/her, so why not use the power of speech to clarify the situation?
I ride on past people and say 'All the pies will have gone!' and see if they jump on...
Jesus, what a load of fuss!You can always TALK to people you know, maybe say 'I'd rather you didn't draft me' or 'Get on the back, mate'....
I think some are missing the point of my OP. I'm not a roadie but bought a road bike to get some fitness back. I don't know the roadie norms & I didn't know someone was on my back wheel until I heard the 'oh shit *smash, crash, aaaargggh* ouch'
The OP's drafter/tailgater was riding too close for the given situation and is therefore elevated to the status of c0ck but at least he got the lesson learned in a not too hard way.
I had a guy tailgate me on my motorcycle on the way to work in the rain. At the first set of lights that were red I got off and wandered back to his car and politely asked him "If I owed him some money?" and when he replied "No" I then said "So why are you so ****in' close then?"
He didn't follow so closely afterwards
If it p!sses you off or is dangerous then say or do something to remedy the situation as being smug and self righteous because you were right/knew better is never good from the comfort of a hospital bed
[i]I had a guy tailgate me on my motorcycle on the way to work in the rain. At the first set of lights that were red I got off and wandered back to his car and politely asked him "If I owed him some money?" and when he replied "No" I then said "So why are you so ****in' close then?"
[/i]
😉
See also "If I wanted you up my arse, I'd kiss you first."
This thread only perpetuates the myth that cyclists are selfishs B's, as not only wanting full ownership of the way ahead it seems some also want sole rights over the hole in the air behind them !!
Chris - someone drafting me puts my safety at risk. I have the right not to have my safety compromised
You roadies seem like right miserable, uptight sods!
You roadies seem like right miserable, uptight sods!
They're not roadies though, just commuters giving it large !
If you can't drop someone suck it up big boy 😆
As for safety, I'd be far more concerned about 1000's of kilos worth of car/truck/bus than a roadie sniffing my back wheel 🙄
[i]I often draft people on my commute, usually when they've sprinted past me to make a point .. I hang right on behind them to make mine [/i]
What is your point? That you're not fast enough to pass them?
I never get upset if anyone drafts me, equally I cannot see why people get upset if I draft them. In some ways it should be seen as a positive as it usually forces you to try a little harder.
Proper roadies dont seem to get as upset as commuting mountain bikers for some reason.
ian - I get upset because I have no idea of their skill level and my safety is in their hands. someone / thing comes into the road. I brake and they hit me. I don't want to take that risk
>Why not tell them to go away and procreate then? Or slow down?
Because the last two times it's happened I've not known they've been there until I looked over my shoulder when approaching a junction.
I might be showing my age here but when I was a roadie, at the end of our turn at the front we used to move right then freewheel our way to the back of the echelon.
That always seemed to cater for unwilling passengers.
BigJohn - try doing that with the new breed of roadraging B2W cyclists they'll just follow you blindly backwards andn forwards across the road. I find the best way is to just slow up until they've had enough then jump on their wheel 🙂
To be fair, the level of risk from getting hit by a drafting cyclist is a bit less that all the other risks posed by riding on the roads.
I disagree, there's a lot of very inexperienced cyclists out there, a lot of whom have B2W'd and think they're LancebloodyArmstrong.
A lot of them on here too by the sounds of it aP.
ian - but its an avoidable risk
If they chat[at some point] I will let anyone draft me even if they dont do their turn at the front. I do try to drop them on every hill though
Dont like it in built up /busy areas/commute as no real gain as I am not going that fast under these circumstances