[SlowOldSteve]

Hi All

Good morning, my first ever post despite having read the forum for a few years.  By way of introduction,  I’m 63, having first raced in a 10mile TT as a 12 year old with the CC Bexley. Over the years tried  road, track,cyclo-cross and time trials.  Last raced about 20 years ago, still enjoy riding for pleasure/exercise.  Only ever an average club rider, but always loved bikes.

My issue is that I have just broken my hip socket in a crash. So frustrating having avoided  wet, icy, foggy days and ridden very conservatively on local roads  that I  know very well. Running 28mm Gatorskins which have done about 500 miles on my winter bike  so I  could ride with mudguards. Pressures checked that morning. It was 4c , dry when I went round a gentle left bend at 15mph according to my phone data and the front of the bike just slipped away in slow motion and I  went down full force onto my hip. No obvious  road defect,  smell of diesel etc,  no mechanical issue and from what I have been allowed to look at from my bed, no defect with the front tyre.  I have run 25mm Gatorskins on my summer bike for the past 2 years and found them to be faultless.  I hope to be walking  in about 12weeks time and will get back  riding ASAP after that. I don’t think I will be able to ride the Gatorskins again and was interested to read on this forum that a couple of people had said they head wet crashes with them in the Preparing for winter article.  Thinking I will go for Continental 4 seasons before I ride again.  Be interested to hear other people’s winter experiences of both these tyres.

Finally, apologies for my rambling,  I’m blaming the opioids that I’m taking! Having shrugged off several crashes in  my cycling past ,last one 20 years ago, this break and fractures have frightened me and 11 days in hospital in current times is not what I  nor NHS needed. Must say they were brilliant given what is occurring .

Stay safe.

Steve

Topic

[Balthazar]

SlowOldSteve wrote:

Made me finally realise that I’m not invincible anymore! Neither the 25 year old pro rider in my head , that clearly I  have never been! 

That’s a worthwhile lesson to learn, i need to remind my middle-aged self of the same thing regularly! I just can’t resist bombing it down hills, like a child.

On the tyre front, I’d concur with some other replies, and suggest you choose the stickiest and softest summer tyres, in the widest size your frame allows, and use them year-round. In my experience, GP4000S ll are surprisingly grippy in cold wet weather, and I’d guess their successors are too. Leave the durable tyres for high-mile city commuters!

You can find bargains: Rivendell designed great high-volume slick tyres and had Panaracer make them, in various names depending on width. I have some light Jack Brown’s on one bike, they’re 33mm and extraordinarily grippy at lowish pressures- the extra road contact really helps. For whatever reason, Planet X bought up a whole production run of them last year or so, and have been selling them cheap- down to £15-£20 each. 

 

 

 

[SlowOldSteve]

Thanks again for all the

Thanks again for all the replies. What has really surprised me is just how many broken hips cyclists have had, given the relatively low number of posters on the forum.  Hardly a scientific nor statistical study, but blimey I’m shocked.  Always  thought I  might get wiped out by a car, but not by a bit of cold weather  riding. I will seriously reconsider my next winter  cycling.  Made me finally realise that I’m not invincible anymore! Neither the 25 year old pro rider in my head , that clearly I  have never been! 

[Nick0]

Sorry to hear about your off,

Sorry to hear about your off, a mate of mine suffered the same injury, it’s fairly common unfortunately. Wishing you a speedy and full recovery.

Gatorskins are the most dangerous tyres l have ever ridden in the wet, they have left me on the deck before, as another chap said, they’re hard compound. They were fitted to a bike I bought for commuting in 2013 and it took me two sets and about 4,000 miles to realise. Switched to Schwalbe Duranos and the difference was a very very noticeable improvement. I tried Conti 4 seasons after a few sets of Duranos and do think they’re the best winter tyres IMHO but they’re dear.

Good luck with pain management and rehab hope you get back in the saddle asap.

 

[Molteni Man]

Hi Steve,

Hi Steve,

I had exactly the same experience as you with Gatorskins. About 7 degrees C, pretty dry, pressure checked that morning and I always run lower pressure. Entered a roundabout at a safe speed and BANG! front wheel went. Landed straight on my hip and unfortunately broke it , but break required a hip replacement.

I put it down to diesel, but friends checked and no real evidence. I have never ever ridden with Gatorskins since in the past 4 years and will NEVER use them again either ! 
Breaking my hip and having a replacement was a blow at the time but with hard work, patience and a renewed determination I have made a very good recovery. I hope you do too! Time is the real healer. 
One final thought for you and everyone who has broken their hip. Do ask for your bone density to be checked. Mine was and it turns out that I have osteoporosis. I’d never broken a bone before this! Discovery of osteoporosis has found that I have another health issue causing this which I hope to get sorted! 
And finally….. be safe out there all. Avoid Gatorskins!

[wtjs]

Hi Steve, like you (63) I

Hi Steve, like you (63) I broke my hip last January but my off was on black ice at 22mph

Crikey! There’s a lot of it about and I was even luckier than I thought, especially being 6 years older. In my case it was my own fault on Beacon Fell in Lancashire- fairly high with a one-way ‘ring road’ around the top. I was aware that ice could be a problem after a cold night so I waited until the afternoon on a sunny Christmas Eve. Descernding the main access road, there was a lot of traffic including all the large SUVs which I had seen congregated at the top car parks. There’s always a group of water leaks coming off the fields and crossing the roads but I thought the heavy traffic would have cleared the ice by then- I was wrong, and I was using the brakes to avoid a high speed and a slip under the wheels of an oncoming train of SUVs. Pretty painful for about 3 weeks.

[mrb]

Hi Steve, like you (63) I
Hi Steve, like you (63) I broke my hip last January but my off was on black ice at 22mph. Hip pinned and now fully (ish) recovered after doing my own rehabilitation. Bought a Cannondale supersix with Vittoria Rubinos and sludge fillers for peace of mind. Good handling tyres and recommended. Keep the faith with your rehab and hope you get back on the bike soon.

[SlowOldSteve]

Perhaps l should have

Perhaps l should have invested in full downhill protective kit!

[wtjs]

I should have added I was
I should have added I was wearing a helmet

Very wise- that’s what they’re for!

[SlowOldSteve]

That’s so funny, you must

That’s so funny, you must have been there! The jacket was that exact orange and my crash hat was red. Made me laugh!

[Hirsute]

(No subject)

[SlowOldSteve]

Once again,  thanks for all

Once again,  thanks for all your support and thoughts.  Always knew bike riders were a great bunch. Looks like I’ll be getting new tyres before I ride again, although no rush as I’ll need to start walking first  !

Having seen the way many other threads end on this forum, I  should have added I  was wearing  a helmet and an orange jacket.  Shame the helmet wasn’t on my right hip though! 

Regards 

Steve 

 

[hawkinspeter]

I was wearing some merino

I was wearing some merino wool socks and Northwave Arctic shoes (which are waterproof) but I suspect it may be something to do with blood circulation.

[wtjs]

Plus I got a tiny bit of

Plus I got a tiny bit of frostnip on a couple of toes a few weeks ago so maybe I need thicker socks

Or waterproof socks over thin mostly-wool socks, which I have found to be very effective-another Aldi triumph. I feel for the OP because of my accident on Christmas Eve- straight down onto right shoulder and hip with no sliding and some post traumatic amnesia. I was lucky to avoid that hip socket fracture.

[SlowOldSteve]

Thanks Mike,  sounds like you

Thanks Mike,  sounds like you found a perfect tyre, good luck in the search for the perfect woman!

I obviously  made a bad tyre choice, but married the perfect woman!  When I  came out of hospital she had not cut my bike in half and has has been looking after me really well!

 

[Shades]

Hope you recover quick.  I

Hope you recover quick.  I always think that sub 5 deg everything doesn’t work the same way; rubber gets cold and hard, and the roads get that greasy feel.  I’ve got some Conti Top Contact Winter II 32mm on a hybrid; fatter tyres on a slower bike which makes work harder and appreciate the road bike when it emerges again!

[Author]

Replies