Stupid Things We Have Done

[GraysonKelly]

Stupidest thing I've ever done on or with a bike?
Met up with some gals on the rail trail, started chatting with them while we rode, ended up riding 40 + miles when I'd only been riding about 15 max up to that point (uphill I might add), and rode for about 10 of those miles with knee and hip pain that just about killed me before I had the good sense to ask them what might be causing it. Turns out it was my seat height that they helped me adjust. I could barely walk up the steps when i got home and couldn't walk very well the next day.
That hurt!
Gray

[OakLeaf]

*Installed tires backwards (I still do this in my less “present” moments—fortunately it is pretty obvious once you put the wheel back in the frame)

Depends on the tire! I actually outline the directional arrows on my Conti GP4000s in silver Sharpie, because they're very hard to see otherwise, and to my eyes it's not immediately obvious from the tread. I'm not the only one either, because I had a little "help" with a flat on the road a couple of weeks ago, and dear helper put the tire on backwards. Good thing I made sure to check it as soon as I got home, although I honestly didn't notice a difference in handling.

I don't have any doozies for this thread that I didn't already contribute to the last one. Yet.

But, I'm new to skorts, and when I have to pee, I keep trying to reach underneath the skirt to get the shorts off, as I would with underwear or pantyhose under a regular skirt. Is that stupid enough?

[eclectic]

On the way to my 2nd ever triathlon I had my bike on my rear rack and I missed the turn but thought "no problem, I'll just go down a mile and take the grid road back" so I did, after a rain on a gravel road.

Of course I unloaded my bike and Duhhhhh the rims and tires were covered w/ gravel grit. Luckily someone had some paper towels and I cleaned it off best I could, still not thinking of any repercussions from it.

I made it through the tri, made it home and went on the club ride but 15 miles out of town I had a flat. However, I know how to time it! Our main LBS wrench was riding that night and changed it for me saying " hmmmm that is strange you have a lot of gravel caught in here" La de da de da

[Aint Doody]

I didn't know you could put a tire on backwards. How do you know???? What happens?

[OakLeaf]

Not all bici tires have directional tread. I suspect it's not that huge of an issue in any case, since the contact patch is so small. Probably more of an issue in the wet than in dry conditions. As I said, I didn't notice any handling issues when my rear tire was on backwards. But then again, it was likely underinflated in the field, too.

[SadieKate]

Not all bici tires have directional tread. I suspect it's not that huge of an issue in any case, since the contact patch is so small. Probably more of an issue in the wet than in dry conditions. As I said, I didn't notice any handling issues when my rear tire was on backwards. But then again, it was likely underinflated in the field, too.

It's a VERY big issue on mtb tires - wet or dry.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I didn't know you could put a tire on backwards. How do you know???? What happens?

Many bike tires have tread that has a 'direction', like this for example:


The grooves in the tread are designed to slant in a certain direction to help with traction. Putting them on backwards is not the end of the world but supposedly will lessen traction in some way.