Afraid of going downhill

So… let me explain it. No, I’m not exactly afraid of downhills, and I’m probably faster than you, than you, and you, and than you too :smiley: The physics involved are already “integrated” in my riding and I know fairly well how to move, push, when to be careful, etc…

However, I want to do some “long” climbs some time soon and there’s something that makes me reluctant… and the thing is to go downhill for a long distance/time.

Basically when you go downhill you need to brake a lot, which means that brake pads get hot, rim gets hot, braking performance goes down…

And it’s tyring! no joking! my hands even have cramps if I need to clutch for too long or too strongly (this happened to me in a not so long but very, very steep road I mistakenly took a few weeks ago, and a finger that I have fucked up was really painful too…)-.

Any thoughts, recommendations, or supportive words?

Ride more.

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And…?

disc breaks

You’re not alone - I also dislike extended downhills, and that keeps me from going uphill as often as I’d like. (Mind you, I suspect I also prefer to go more slowly than you do.)

Any tips for getting over this dislike would be welcome.

You can try to use one of those that brake when pedaling backwards…

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If your disc breaks, you will be in trouble. :wink:

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Not really.

Just get down on the drops. Scares the crap out of me - the number of people I see doing fast descents on the hoods.

Oh yeah. As above. Ride more. Practice makes perfect (and your hands will strengthen).

Spot on. I think he needed to hear it from someone else :wink:. Hope the injury is healing better Sir Colt!

Last year, I descended from Tataka (塔塔加) that sits at around 2800m above sea level and I descended after going all out in a race scenario. I remember being epically tired, but didn’t have cramps in the hands and/or anywhere else.

Aside from taking breaks often, make sure you’re eating and drinking. Going down sometimes takes as much focus and strength as going up. You don’t want to be running on low, especially at high speeds.

And sometimes disk breaks squall very loud

But my concern is not technique… is more about fatigue… materials and hands too. Plus a long descent can lead to lack of concentration and mistakes :frowning:

Thanks. Yeah, I’m okay now. Managed to blag top spot in the old men’s category on the 197 on Sunday. Took off with 40km remaining and got into solo TT mode. Got caught and passed by a handful of younger chaps in the final 3km. Can’t say I was hampered by my injury, although I guess I may be down on fitness by a few percentage points. Happy with my ride. Won a helmet, too, which was an unexpected bonus. :slight_smile:

Hahaha, whoops

Mine have never made a peep, outside of telling me it’s time to change the pads.

Well, I was kidding. But when I changed the pads in my MTB a couple of years ago I think they squealed… and didn’t brake well. A few kms later they were fine again :slight_smile:

Relax

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Well, it’s been couple years now then and sounds like something might have gone wrong with the setup there. I can only speak to current Shimano road disc brakes, they are excellent and offer one finger braking and modulation with zero hand fatigue for me…if set up properly.

Of course, this means a new bike. So, I guess I’ll go with relax and ride more.

No, that was a different bike, I only ride it in my country. Here I ride a roadie with rim brakes, and I’m happy with its braking performance under normal conditions, but still the idea of a long, long descent makes me feel uncomfortable

Technique question: do I ever need to stop for a while to let the rims cool down? Sometimes it spooks me how hot everything gets.

(Yeah, I’m always in the drops for any descent of note, although that often makes me a little more nervous because I never feel as maneuverable that way.)

They can also not be tightened enough, causing them not to work on steep declines. I’ve had that happen.