Had this happen to me doing 55mph. Bib shorts were most certainly smeared with a internal liquid.

@TheRongy

3 жыл бұрын

Internal liquid!😂👍🏻

This happened me for the first time yesterday during a half ironman, and was absolutely terrifying. a nice straight descent, doing about 45 or 50kmh, on a course i have ridden several times before. for me it happened under front & rear wheel disc braking. i was full sure i would be thrown off the bike but it steadied up after about 100m when i let go of the brakes just in time before a sharp corner. going to get everything checked out at the shop as a precaution, but i wish i had known about the tips in the comments here to help me regain control as soon as it started. i tried applying more brakes to get the speed down, which only made it worse. Soft hands & arms, slight lift off the saddle, back brakes only, & squeeze the top tube with the knees... i will repeat this over in my head before every ride for the rest of my life.

@BhonieAliaCebufirst

3 жыл бұрын

This happen to me twice, 2nd one was very frightening now im scared ride on downhill.

Thank you for sharing this great capture of instability. In 1971 RS Sharp wrote a paper " The stability and control of motorcycles" in which he identified three modes of instability. Here it appears the rider may have started with a wobble that grew into a weave,but I'm no expert. Sharp later added effects of torsional frame stiffness on weave. His results were based on a heavier motorcycle. If this happened to me, I'd check spoke tension, wheel bearings, head set and wheel balance. Most of the papers on bicycle dynamics aren't helpful, but I wonder if the steep rake angle and light frames of some road bikes makes high speed downhill stability marginal.

@gichoc

8 жыл бұрын

+Calvin Hulburt Thank you for the information.

@ericdixon2898

5 жыл бұрын

How ironic that at one time I just happen to own a 1971 Moto Guzzi Ambassador which were known for high-speed oscillations.

@amjan

2 жыл бұрын

Great comment thanks. I think a bike shouldn't be too light.

This is a terrible thing, and has nothing to do with rider's skill. I've just experienced my second one. Getting out of the saddle and clamping the top tube with my knees stopped it. I turned out this happened because my new front wheel wasn't dished perfectly in the center of the fork.

@johnnycab8986

2 ай бұрын

You can see he has his hands down on the bottom of the drops which prevents him from braking as it starts (which is why he unclips, he's too nervous to move his hands and figures he'll have to bail). Not a smart place you have your hands when descending...then he moves his hands from the bottom of the drops to the hoods which is another dumb move instead of getting the hands in the drop curve to be able to properly manipulate the brake levers when descending.

If you encounter a speed wobble, the way to avoid crashing is to find a way to damp the wobble, and not to try and hold the steering steady. Usually, in bikes that are mechanically sound, it's caused by a resonance between the frame flexing, and the natural frequency of the handlebars. Pressing one of your legs into the side of the top tube will usually stabilize the wobble, since damps out the frame flex, and allows the wobble to decay. Fighting the wobble at the bars will sometimes increase the wobble, since it can end up out of phase with your steering inputs. Similar to "pilot induced oscillation" in aircraft. What can sometimes help is to push forward on the both bars, instead of trying to resist the turning. I have a longtail electric cargo bike that goes into a wobble any time you ride without holding the bars. It will start to build up until it gets scary enough that I grab the bars. (I think it's actually reaching a steady state oscillation, but I've never been brave enough to let it get that far) When I've had it heavily loaded with a long load (for example, some wood planks that hung a couple feet off the back) I've had it go into a wobble while holding the bars and riding smoothly on electric power. It wasn't big enough to cause a crash, but it would sustain indefinitely at a level that I would call "very disconcerting" in that case, pressing my knee into the top tube would quickly damp it out, and I could ride it without issue. (obviously it prevented me from pedalling, but the electric worked fine.)

Happened to me yesterday doing 45mph. Had a car following me a few meters behind. Hadn’t had it happen in 20 years of cycling. Most terrifying moment of my life. Instinct was to brake slowly (due to car behind) which initially made it worse and then better. Pulled off the road and just sat there for a good 5 minutes.

This happened to me just a few days ago in lake placid going down Keene, a 7km downhill. It lasted well over a minute and took everything I had to try to get it under control. Braking did not seem to help much. The same thing happend 9 years ago on the same hill and I survived that experience as well. I changed my front fork and I had not experienced any problems until this past weekend. Weird that it was on the same hill. I think a side wind may have triggered it. Keep calm and stay focused.

Scary stuff. I think the best thing to do is raise slightly off the seat, lock the frame in with your knees and try not to deathgrip the bars but keep control of them with soft hands. Easier said than done when in the situation though.

@TheRongy

3 жыл бұрын

Absolutely true!👍🏻

I broke my collar bone and had severe external wounds because of this. I could not control when it started to wobble and I fell.

@Hong1626

7 жыл бұрын

lock pedal is safer in this case

@AdventureAthleteIndia

5 жыл бұрын

Same here

@gabeonwheels4026

4 жыл бұрын

Loosen your grips, let the wheels do the work. But damn that scared the shit out of me, plus your natural instinct will be to grip the handle even more but thatll make matters worse

@nwimpney

4 жыл бұрын

@@gabeonwheels4026 it's not always gripping the bars that makes things worse, it's usually trying to fight the wobble by trying to steady the bars, rather than damping them with a constant force. I have a bike that wobbles if I do hold the bars too loosely, or try and ride no hands. the wobble won't go away on its own. As I said in another post, pressing a leg against the top tube will often damp the frame flex which is resonating with the front end. Also pushing the bars forward, instead of trying to hold them steady will apply a force which is always towards centre (because of the effect of the stem), and doesn't rely on your reactions at the bars. IME it's still a lot less effective than a leg on the top tube, though.

@nitram147

2 жыл бұрын

Same, ended up in hospital 🙁

This happened to me today while going downhill @ about 40km/h on a road bike. There was a strong and turbulent sidewind and I think that is what started it. It was scary, I feathered the brakes and slowed down gradually, when the speed goes down a lot, it stops.

I had my first one descending at 45mph on Saturday. have never been more afraid

@derekpoosbug

5 жыл бұрын

I had one at about 95km a hour close to about 65-70mph. I literally had to stop my speed and pull over as I was shaking so badly. Scary as fucking hell but its not my first time with it. I've had em at all sorts of speed, 30kmph, 45, 60, 70 and even 80. Knees to your top tube help but I found always tucking and getting close to the bars almost always stop it.

@nwimpney

4 жыл бұрын

@@derekpoosbug the knees to the top tube shouldn't be trying to hold it steady, but pressing it fairly hard to one side (you can get a lot more force on it to damp it out that way). This is just my guess, but your tuck is probably effective because you're leaning forward onto the bars a little more, and the effect of the stem is causing you to damp its oscillation.

@persiathiest1963

Жыл бұрын

95kph?? It must have been an extremely steep downhill. Almost like a free fall!

Well saved!

Yeah, until you experience it, you don't know ... but you should. It can be set off from any flex or instability in the system, mine was set up by gusty side winds happening to be in tune with slight bumps in the road. Scary hanging on and the shakes continued until I was quite slow. From then on, I'm much more conscious of body position and arm stiffness (you dont' want to be to be rigid). You might also have an expert mechanic look over the whole bike -- bearings, stiffness, angles ... it can come from a lot of causes.

@radiocontrolled9181

2 жыл бұрын

Yep, happened to me today on downhill, gusty side winds were the culprit.

Speed wobble normally happens at high speed,especially down hill but i still experience wobble on flat level road.nothing wrong with your bike,it just happens. and when it does,be prepare to apply your rear brakes right away or you will s**t yourself lol

@nwimpney

4 жыл бұрын

braking doesn't always help. Pressing one knee into the side of the top tube is usually a good way to knock out the wobble really quickly.

Epic save, he could've died. This vid scared me. Now I can't ride faster than 35mph without thinking about the wobble of death

Started at 30s, slight imperfection in the road and it went tits up thereafter. Had a much worse one than this at 40mph, real tank slapper. Main cause seemed to be was out the saddle accelerating into the gradient, hitting a lump across the road and some sketchy resurfacing that seemed to upset the balance. Not helped by some bint trying to overtake at 42mph but was looking for somewhere to ditch it but finally managed to get it under control with brute strength, back wheel braking and knees on top tube (helps when you have a std diamond framed bike). Can be un-nerving for a while after as you start to question yourself and your bike.

I experienced this wobble wheels on downhill twice, first one a low speed around 30kph, dont know what to do. Just to hold the bar so tight and its true it worsen the situation, just manage my balance and try to slow down as much as i can. 2nd one is on the actual race, I wast thinking not to go downhill anymore, Thanks God i manage to slow down. Thanks for sharing your comments Brothers, its a big help to keep calm on a situation like this. I think breaking the front wheel causes more tension and wobbling. Ride safe everyone. God Bless...

The rider was lucky that it sorted it self out. This rider as you can see didnt have a clue what to do. Step 1: get out of the saddle, when you are on the seat it acts as an anchor point which makes it worse. Step2: clamping Your knees on the bike frame. hese two solutions work by changing the stiffness and damping of the bike+rider system so the natural frequency is different from the current road speed.

A few years ago, I experienced speed wobble above 40mph on a hill I was used to descending down at full tilt. I used to slam it down hills. The faster the better. However, since that fateful day I experienced speed wobble, and scaring the utter shit out of me and was sure I'd crash, I have never, since then been able to ride fast down any hill. I get this mental block, and I always get dropped after downhills, not uphills. It is very nerving and makes me almost want to stop riding at all.

@cesar0610

5 жыл бұрын

the same happen to me, I experienced 3 times and I lost total confidence of riding downhill. As a manner of fact, I´m thinking selling my road bike and dedicate more time to MTB and gravel ride on my Fatty

@crazydan777887 Speed wobble is a problem intrinsic to anything with single-pivot steering. It has a lot to do with speed (of course), bike stiffness, fork trail, and weight distribution. Its a common misconception to think a fault in the bicycle is the main problem.

@Cataclysm-08-36

2 жыл бұрын

damn this comment is old

I understand the knee into frame light hands weight off seat.... but...Does any of this have to do with center of gravity. At low speed I can get a speed wobble simply by riding with no hands, so no weight on front,,, then to continue I'd dig my knee into the frame. I've gone down hills at almost 90kph and never had this issue. I'm.also over 100kg and I'm wondering whether the extra weight helps stabilise the bike from ever getting into a speed wobble. Is part of the issue not enough weight on the front wheel making the front wheel light and more susceptable to harmonic frequency. I just hope the day this ever happens to me I react the right way..

Year long reply... however are some frames just not designed to handle a 50mph+ decent? Say a more entry level aluminum frame compared to any $3000+ carbon frame? Just now learning about speed wobble.

i'm new to road biking. didn't know road bikes have this kinda problem. All i know is that my tires are so damn slippery when it's wet that I had my first fall and tires keep sliding when i brake. Especially on slippery surfaces.

The solution as described below works to halt a speed wobble - but your reactions must be instant to prevent letting the speed wobble gain any monentum and before it can result in any loss of control - ie; before it can lead to unintended changed in direction.

happened to me on Zwift

apologies if this has been asked already but...what speed was he doing??

Just had a speed wobble that's what brought me here.Cycling down Portsdown hill in portsmouth UK, Fareham end of the hill only just got to 31 mph and then got speed wobble and it scared the shit out of me.First thing I thought was may be the stem and steering tube cap was loose so I tightened them up the best I could with a small tool that carry with me.Went back up the hill tried again same thing happened.Giant defy 1 which should up for the task

@kennylyuda

6 жыл бұрын

simon40sp I had exactly the same a week ago, going down Ports Down hill whilst doing 31mph. No problem with my riding as I can do over 40mph going down the same stretch on my mountain bike.

what kind of wheel set he was using? have to stay away on that one.

It just happened to me this morning .... I thought it was the end...

Hi dbozak, would you mind if I use a section of this in an upcoming video I'm making, I would give you a shout out and link to this video in the description of mine, if that's ok. Many Thanks BIKOTIC

Me paso a 65km y afortunadamente logre controlar esa inestabilidad fue aterrador al momento por que lo primero que se me vino ami mente fue que se avia aflojado la rueda delantera pero al parar revise la llanta y todo bien y no entendi asta que lo platique con un amigo y me dijo sobre la inestabilidad uuuf

I'm happy he didn't leave the bike when this happened

ooooohh noooo! im going down!

was something wrong/loose with the bike?

I double down during speed wobbles and start pedaling, show physics who's boss.

i got scared when that happened to many bad wobbles in my day

The only time i wobbled was when i get hit by a cross wind, so i always check the wind direction before i go down.

i was racing my cousin and speed wobbles came i flew forward and now my hands are ripped

Scary stuff..

Yesterday I watched a buddy just a head of me go into a speed wobble between 45 - 50 mph. He was just before the apex of a curve when it started, he crossed the lane, and went into a guardrail. His knee was mangled up badly, and his pelvis is now in three pieces. Knee surgery last night and hip surgery today. I want to fully understand what happened. Any links I can get for more info would be appreciated. His name is Mark, he has a long road ahead of him.

@VincentForDesign

2 жыл бұрын

I know this is old, but I'm curious how is your friend now?

@michaelmclennan6144

2 жыл бұрын

Light pressure on hands and put knee pressure on top stem. I did read somewhere that if head stem is too loose can be a contributing factor apparently. Having now seen a few videos of this it makes me wonder as I've done these speeds lots of times but can't recollect this ever happening.

Same idea use for speed in motorcycle is to tighten the handle.. but the problem with new bike is don't have the lock like classic bike😂

Speeding 😜

Interesting reading all the comments. Happened today and the same place down hill as a week ago at only 38mph. 1996 aluminium shogun. First time last week for the wobble. Before that was an old 753 steel ribble from around 1990 Scary at any speed but no idea why now. Headset is good and not loose. Comment on another Channel about wheel alignment. Not sure f scary.

@nwimpney

4 жыл бұрын

it's not necessarily anything wrong with your bike. Mechanical issues can cause wobbles, but a bike that's well constructed and perfectly set up and mechanically sound can still have wobbles in certain conditions. Pressing one leg hard into the top tube is often effective. I owned a motorcycle that would wobble at ~40km/h if I let go of the bars, and I currently have a bicycle which will wobble at almost any speed if I let go. neither of them has any mechanical problems. It's just the resonant frequency of lateral frame flex resonating with the handlebars. It's scarriest if it just happens that your bike does it at high speeds unexpectedly, like in this video.

@PHPW

4 жыл бұрын

nwimpney thanks for the feedback. It had not happened the years previous with this bike and having gone much faster too on descents. I found alignment out slightly on the back wheel. I recall a strange bang a couple of weeks before that shook the bike which was also odd. Sorted that yesterday. I’m actually a lot heavier than I was too. I’m wondering and taking your points for stabilising is it a factor. As in 25 kgs as I had stopped cycling but not stopped the eating for 7 years as my work took me into Africa

CARVE!!!!!!

I experienced this after a front tyre blowout while descending at 43 mph.

Shit happened to me before got a nasty road rash on my elbow and lower abs

Perché?

@0:29 Here it is. Holy shit!

haha

Funny Ive seen worse during rain and the guy actually recovered.

I have a heavy cycle and it has never happened to me.

just like my Jeep

@ildart8738

5 жыл бұрын

Jeep makes pretty bad bikes. That is to say they only re-label low-grade mountain bikes. And it's extremely hard to get a speed wobble on one of those.

@nwimpney

4 жыл бұрын

@@ildart8738 Actual jeeps are pretty well known for wobbling when their ball joints and tie rods get sloppy. And speed wobble can happen on any bike and at a variety of speeds, and isn't an indicator of quality, or mechanical problem (Though mechanical problems can cause them in some cases)

Scary

my worst wobble happened on my GT mountain bike - according the speedo i was only doing about 35 mph on a downhill road i just remember the wobble and the bike spitting me off like a watermelon seed busted my elbow and road rash on my stomach...laid there for minutes bleeding on the road wondering what the heck happened. then rode home. lol this guy mustve been doing at least 60

Weight distribution, frame geometry, rider skill.

@dobermanalfa1

5 жыл бұрын

Hi, can you explain deeper? Thanks

@antdx316

5 жыл бұрын

@@dobermanalfa1 squeeze the frame w/ your knees and let the wobble correct itself w/ soft arms

its the road

Not fake this was caused by crosswind I get this a lot with my bike I put it down my wheels

What the bloody hell is a speed wobble? I go at speeds of 40mph to 50mph weekly and never encountered suck a thing. Is it due to equipment failure?

@roberts.reilly2171

6 жыл бұрын

Peter Armstrong no one is sure. I've been told it could have been caused by misalignment in frame, tension in riders shoulders, grip too tight, road surface etc

@antdx316

5 жыл бұрын

When the bike starts to wave. I think the people who "wobble" and crash are the people who are great swimmers who can wave their body like a fish. They are probably also good at going w/ the flow and keeping the momentum. It can be difficult for others to do which is why we cannot wobble. Some are natural at it. Makes it easy to increase the "wobble" and crash. Other people like me who cannot understand it, also who don't tense up when the bars starts to move too much, the wobble goes away. When I bike I'm already fixated on where I want to go. I basically force my direction but softly. Some people I assume ride with the flow. It's how they do life. One of the worst concoctions someone could have. People who aren't meant to ride. It's the same application to riding well beyond triple digits on a Sportsbike. If feels quite the same to me. I do 160+ in shorts in the summer at night w/o issue, of course when it's dry.

@derekpoosbug

5 жыл бұрын

it can be caused by, hitting a object, sudden movements, rear wheel slipping or front, not centered body weight, not relaxed, crosswinds, headwinds you name it, sooner or later you'll get one trust me it'll happen and when it does, apply your rear brake and hug your top tube with your knees. I've had probably ~10 of them in my life and only 1 crash caused by one at (luckily) ~30km a hour after battling 45km crosswinds on a descent and hitting a small unnoticed pot hole.

@nwimpney

4 жыл бұрын

@@derekpoosbug Or it can be caused by anything that excites the bike at the resonance frequency of its steering. A bike can have no mechanical problems, and no extraordinary external cause. I have a longtail e-bike which will immediately go into a wobble any time I let go of the handlebars. The extended frame's flex just happens to resonate with the front end's natural frequency with enough phase shift to make the vibrations bigger, instead of smaller. It's predictable and takes very little to damp the oscillations, so just my hands on the bar are enough to keep it stable, with no conscious effort.

예수는 하나님을 만나는 유일한 길이요, 생명입니다. 그대가 예수를 믿으면 죄와 사탄의 권세에서 영원히 해방되고 하나님의 자녀가 되어 천국의 모든 축복을 받아 누리게 됩니다. 예수 생명이 나의 생명이 되며 예수 능력이 나의 능력이 됩니다. 예수를 믿고 영접하세요.

Buy (plastic) crap. Ride (crap) crap. Deal with, that's right......... Plastic Crap. Plastic "bikes" and all that they do................

LOL