Forgetting which bike you’re riding

Anyone else do this from time to time? I usually get a stark reminder then don’t do it again for a while. It doesn’t help that all my bikes (not that many) have a similar riding position.

Few months after getting my first 29er, got the front wheel of my 26er stuck in a dry grassy ditch, sideways OTB.

First winter on XC/rigid 29er, washed out the front on a track I often use to get to the local woods on my trail bike.

Found a bit of surprise singletrack on rigid 29er, mind engaged the wrong mode, ended up going off a two foot concrete step drop onto flat tarmac landing.

Rode down a staircase on the way to work on the old geo 26er, not really thinking I’d only done it before on my modern bike. Survived.

Riding through various narrow gaps or barriers on bikes with different handlebar widths and heights.

Some days, I forget that I’m on my trusty commuting hybrid – then the rim brakes remind me ?

My Ti hardtail doesn’t have a dropper seatpost and I’ve occassionally gone to activate it

I was contemplating making a sign for my cx bike’s handlebars saying “NOT A MOUNTAIN BIKE!”

Because sometimes I forget and nearly half myself.

I have also many a times reached for a bigger gear on my singlespeed.

Or when I had a fixie and would forget I couldn’t freewheel when approaching a junction. Never actually launched myself off the bike, but have came pretty close. A bit embarrassing too, when in the middle of Edinburgh.

A couple of weeks ago I reached down and started to fumbling around trying to release the lockout on my rear shock, until I remembered that my hardtail doesn’t have one.

I am always surprised how rare it is for me to attempt to change gear on my single speed though. I don’t often ride it but when I do I seem to instantly adapt without any problem.

I genuinely am always doing this while riding my motorbike off road.

On my mountainbike, if I’m fast approaching a small crater or depression in the trail I’ll give it a little manual or unweight the front to get the front wheel over/through it.

I keep doing this on my motorbike 🙂 Then I remember it’s 200kg.

Spent 6 weeks touring on our tandem. First mtb ride back, my gf (always stoker on the tandem)nearly rode into a hedge, she casually let go of the bars to remove her jacket, forgetting she needed to steer her bike!

No

But i have 2 bikes that are just too different. Gravel bike vs Fs

Occasionally, reaching for the trigger shifter – that isn’t there – on my SS HT.

There’s a couple of small sets of steps on a path leading into the top of some local woods. The first set is only 3 steps, fine on the HT or FS. The second set (7 or 8 steps) is committing but doable on a FS, and somewhat inadvisable on a HT.  I sometimes ride that way on the gravel bike and do have to very consciously tell myself to ride down the narrow dirt slope next to both sets of steps.

I did naively attempt a bit on Cannock Chase last week on my gravel bike that would be a challenge on my full sus…

But the common thing is on my road bike, if I’ve been thinking about my fixie. I start to freewheel and get a momentary panic before realising it’s ok on this bike.

I get mixed up with the electronic shifting between my gravel and road bikes.  Gravel bikes are both AXS Rival and 1x, so one side is up, one is down.  Road bike is 2×12 Di2, so each STI has an up and a down.  I have a wee acronym in my head to keep me right…

Nope, never happens for me…I’m not good or anything, but I’ve only got 1 bike so never had this issue!

First mtb ride back, my gf (always stoker on the tandem)nearly rode into a hedge, she casually let go of the bars to remove her jacket, forgetting she needed to steer her bike!

Wow! Doubt anyone is going to beat that.

When I first got my CX bike, did a slightly tamed version of a ride I do on my FS MTB. Two things to note, narrow tyres sink into fine loose gravel, had to walk a section. Nope you can’t go down a steep rocky descent like you can on an FS with a dropper – I walked.

Small set of quite steep steps on the canal, went to ride them as usual, just over the lip and I realised I was on the gravel bike. Pretty shocked when I got to the bottom upright, maintaining forward motion and unscathed!

Two of my road bikes are exactly the same size and gearing and use down tube shifters. The CX bike, which is used on road also is STI – I’ve been known to reach for the DT shifters ! I dread the day I take out the vintage road bikes on a hilly ride and forget about the 39×26 bottom gears. The CX has 34×34.

LH brake lever/shifter on my gravel bike activates the dropper seatpost (it’s 1x so no front shifter).

Haven’t yet gone to change up to big ring and dropped the seatpost but I know I’ll do it soon, or possibly go to drop the seatpost on the road bike and change into the big ring…

I get mixed up with the electronic shifting between my gravel and road bikes.  Gravel bikes are both AXS Rival and 1x, so one side is up, one is down.  Road bike is 2×12 Di2, so each STI has an up and a down.  I have a wee acronym in my head to keep me right…

Just reprogram the di2 to shift like Sram – that’s what I have done on mine. Much more intuitive to have one side up and one down anyway.

Just reprogram the di2 to shift like Sram – that’s what I have done on mine. Much more intuitive to have one side up and one down anyway.

i did think about that, and it would be intuitive if the road bike Di2 was  1×12, but its 2x, so would still be different to allow front ring shifting, unless I set it to fully auto I think

Maybe not quite the same, but I do keep wondering where the dropper lever is on my Camino – there isn’t one, yet – generally when I’ve already committed to something steep and marginal. I know which bike I’m riding, but the reflexive bit of my brain that’s mostly in charge doesn’t care. It knows there ‘should’ be a dropper and starts looking for a way to activate it. But I always know that it’s a gravel bike, not a mountain bike, if that makes any sense.

More concerning was the thing where after riding motorbikes for around 15 years, I learned to drive and instinctively wanted to filter through gaps in traffic that were very definitely not car sized. That was interesting. Fortunately my rational brain always kicked in just in time.

When I first started mountainbiking I had a really bad habit of feathering the rear brake at the bottom of climbs or on tricky uphill rock steps.

It came from years of using the clutch for traction on my MX and Enduro bikes.

I’ve got 99 mtb related problems but forgetting which bike I’m on ain’t one. But that said…

On my mountainbike, if I’m fast approaching a small crater or depression in the trail I’ll give it a little manual or unweight the front to get the front wheel over/through it.

I keep doing this on my motorbike

I do this in the car

Been a couple of years since I’ve owned a motorbike, but I still find myself looking for the mirrors when I’m cycling on the road.

I do this in the car

I have been known to take a shortcut and then realise that the car is going to fit down the same tracks that I use on the bike…

Or when I had a fixie and would forget I couldn’t freewheel when approaching a junction. Never actually launched myself off the bike, but have came pretty close. A bit embarrassing too, when in the middle of Edinburgh.

@didnthurt… Do i know you?

Howe street downhill in the wet. Ended up sliding down the setts

i did think about that, and it would be intuitive if the road bike Di2 was  1×12, but its 2x, so would still be different to allow front ring shifting, unless I set it to fully auto I think

I am on 2×12…. rear paddles shift the rear derailleur, front paddles shift the front derailleur. Bonus is that it’s easier to change up and down the cassette when you’re in the drops because those paddles are nearest to your index fingers.

^^^ aha that’s clever, must have a look to see how I can configure that way !

@joshvegas Do i know you?

Not sure, it’s been years since I had a fixie, I gave them up after moving house.

They’re not very compatible with the mighty Bathgate Alps, although that might just be my feeble leg strength.

Our bakfiets understeers when pushed, and tends to catch the inside pedal into and out of corners. I get this lesson regularly, but seem unable to learn it.

Not quite the same as forgetting which bike I’m on but occasionally when I’m out on the road I get totally immersed inside my head then suddenly come to and I struggle to figure out where I am. Kinda freaks me out a wee bit.

I have been known to try to operate my dropper post on my Brompton and my shifter on my singlespeed…

I think if I had a pair of Maven brakes on only one bike, it could turn into a sore crash or two. They’re so powerful that if you try to feel the bite point (like on every pair of brakes I’ve ever tried) then you can end up either locking a wheel or pitching yourself over the bars.