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Re: Sharp Cornering Bike?

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Cycling Equipment
Published
7 August 2005
Last activity
7 August 2005
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Bottom bracketsCrit racingTitanium frames

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  1. Original post
    Email address hidden
    Archived post
    #1
    Chuck Wright said:

    The latest issue of Bicycling Magazine (Sept. 2005) has a review of
    a Pinarello F4:13 and, among many other things, they comment that
    "it's also one of the sharpest-cornering bikes we've ever ridden -
    your could practically rub your hip on the road and not worry about
    blowing a turn."

    Well, with that kind of hyperbole, I can't take anything these guys
    wrote seriously. They visualize themselves as Motorcycle GP racers
    cornering with their Teflon knee buttons sliding on the road.

    Quoted message said:

    That got me to wondering if, by design, one bike can really corner
    better than another and, if so, why? If cheap entry level bikes are
    excluded and the comparison is limited to bikes with high quality
    aluminum, carbon or Titanium frames and a reasonably good set of
    wheels why would one bike be able to corner better than another?
    Or, would the major factor simply be tire compound?

    As the title claims, they are attributing this to the bicycle. The
    only cornering of interest occurs when riding fast, not parking lot
    gymnastics, so it cannot be the geometry of the bicycle because
    significant changes in rake and trail are unacceptable to bicyclists
    who do this sort of thing (in criteriums).

    The testers apparently succumbed to marketing suggestions and possibly
    some unnamed feature of the bicycle that made these inexperienced
    testers believe what they were told. For instance, while working in
    the auto business, I saw testers fooled by a "power kit" that one of
    two otherwise identical cars was said to have. They found it improved
    acceleration out of turns and was generally better. The power kit
    consisted of a lighter gas pedal return spring.

    Jobst Brandt

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  2. Dirtroadie
    Archived post
    #2
    Quoted message said:

    For instance, while working in
    the auto business, I saw testers fooled by a "power kit" that one of
    two otherwise identical cars was said to have. They found it improved
    acceleration out of turns and was generally better. The power kit
    consisted of a lighter gas pedal return spring.

    There you go! That's conclusive. Let's now state the rule - "If a
    'placebo effect' exists under one set of circumstances, then it MUST
    exist under any other set of circumstances where one might wish to
    challenge the conclusions."

    Of my three road bikes, I know unequivocally which one I would chose if
    I had to chose one for the sole task of descending and/or cornering.
    And it is not the one I ride most of the time, nor is it the most
    exotic/expensive.
    There is no question that it "handles" better than the other two, but I
    have no idea which of its attributes accounts for the difference. Two
    of the three were built by the same frame builder and it is one of
    those two that is clearly superior in cornering security. Faster? I
    don't know, not having any practical way to measure that. But more
    solid feeling? Absolutely! And accordingly, I cannot discount someone's
    description of a bike which corners well.

    DR

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  3. Werehatrack
    Archived post
    #3
    Dirtroadie said:

    Of my three road bikes, I know unequivocally which one I would chose if
    I had to chose one for the sole task of descending and/or cornering.
    And it is not the one I ride most of the time, nor is it the most
    exotic/expensive.
    There is no question that it "handles" better than the other two, but I
    have no idea which of its attributes accounts for the difference. Two
    of the three were built by the same frame builder and it is one of
    those two that is clearly superior in cornering security. Faster? I
    don't know, not having any practical way to measure that. But more
    solid feeling? Absolutely! And accordingly, I cannot discount someone's
    description of a bike which corners well.

    Are the same tires fitted to both? If not, that alone might account
    for the difference. (Of course, it may be that the difference has
    been percieved through several changes of tire as well, but one
    question at a time is the safest way to approach such topics in most
    cases.)

    --
    Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
    Some gardening required to reply via email.
    Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

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  4. Dirtroadie
    Archived post
    #4
    Werehatrack said:

    Are the same tires fitted to both? If not, that alone might account
    for the difference. (Of course, it may be that the difference has
    been percieved through several changes of tire as well, but one
    question at a time is the safest way to approach such topics in most
    cases.)

    There are a number of minor differences between the two most similar
    bikes, mostly dimensions that vary .5 cm or less. Perhaps the most
    notable is the lower bottom bracket height on the bike that feels
    better in the corners. Is that the difference? That's what I suspect,
    but in actuality, I have no idea. And as I described the difference in
    feeling is that one is more "solid" in the corners. And that perception
    has remained despite changes in forks, tires and wheels on both bikes.
    And whether the better "feeling" actually translates to being "faster"
    in the corners is a different question entirely, although it may affect
    the willingness of the rider to push the pace while cornering.

    DR

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