Time trial bikes now too dangerous for training on public roads, says Tom Pidcock

http://veloview.bike/

And how does this link in to an article about TT bikes dangerous to use on public roads?

IanMSpencer wrote:

I've not really understood why TT bikes (or at least disc wheels and TT bars) haven't been banned by the UCI, after all a time trial is still a fair time trial with standard bikes.

I do think this idea has merit, as you say if everyone had to ride their standard road bikes the differentials should remain equal - Cancellara on a road bike isn't going to lose to me on a TT bike, alas - and it would also save the cash-strapped teams a ton of cash not having to buy and maintain a stable of TT bikes, not to mention all that wind tunnel time.

ETA I realise most of them don't necessarily buy their bikes but the money spent on them by the sponsoring firms could go elsewhere.

IIRC Pidcock got hit by a car from the side.   Not as a result of not looking ahead.

Pidcock has raised the issue of limited vision riding with the head down; this is not just a TT bike issue but one in general to be considered by cyclists; there are numerous videos of cyclists crashing into objects because they were looking at a device on their handlebar; the same sort of distracted riding that cyclists abuse car drivers for, when they see them using mobile phones while driving.

bobrayner wrote:

I wanted to compare the effects to the modern problem of phone-distracted drivers- who don't see 100% of what's happening around them and may not react quickly to problems - but the difference is that a rider on TT bars is only going to hurt themselves, whilst the distracted driver is probably safe in their steel box and more likely to hurt *somebody else*.

The police do collect data as to the contributory factors in fatal accidents.

Driver using mobile phone was a factor in 22 incidents, out of 1400 deaths. Incidence for lower consequence accidents was much lower in % terms.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/reported-road-accide...

For all the media attention it gets mobile phone use is not a big contributor to road accidents.

Also note that exceeding the speed limit is only 5th on the list but gets the overwhelming amount of public attention.

Top ten causes:

Loss of control 501
Driver/Rider failed to look properly 386
Impairment or distraction 346
Driver/Rider careless, reckless or in a hurry 294
Exceeding speed limit 216
Poor turn or manoeuvre 213
Driver/Rider failed to judge other person`s path or speed 201
Travelling too fast for conditions 191
Pedestrian failed to look properly 169
Driver/Rider impaired by alcohol 128
Aggressive driving 127

Isn't traveling too fast for the conditions a subset of losing control?
Even if it is icy or snow and you lose control, that's pretty much due to excessive speed.
Or is it supposed to cover mechanical failure ?

But how many of those 'loss of control', 'failed to look', and 'distraction' were caused or contributed to by phone use that was either just ignored/not investigated or couldn't be conclusively proven? And similarly for speeding?

If somebody dies in a road accident the cost is greater than £1million to the state on average. Ergo they do a pretty thorough investigation.

Pulling device logs and mobile phone data is pretty trivial especially as the car's data recorder will give you most accident times down to the second.

Also most "looked didn't sees" are done at junctions where mobile phone use is much less likely.

Regarding too fast for conditions Vs loss of control. Most of the loss of control deaths are motorcyclists falling off or cars going backwards through hedges on B roads.

Too fast for conditions would include crashing in fog for instance.

Fair enough. Although that suggests that both loss of control and failed to look are mostly irrelevant in terms of assessing the danger to other people from phone use and speeding - the latter because it's not happening in situations where those are less likely to be happening anyway, and the former because it's generally killing the driver / motorbike rider themselves rather than someone else. Which leaves just over 500 deaths, of which the 216 speeders (if not the 22 phone users) look a rather larger proportion.

I know a local rider who had a really nasty crash while on a cycling trip with friends (either Spain or Majorca). Paralysed from the waist down and has been riding a power-assisted handcycle for a number of years.

On the subject of training on public roads one has to consider the condition of those roads, the weather, the number of vehicles you're sharing them with and some other factors before drawing too many firm conclusions about the relative safety of TT bikes compared to road bikes.

In terms of road bikes in TTs, I'd like to see more road bike events (or events with a road bike category) but so many time triallists seem to want an excuse to buy the blingy kit, pointy hat, disc wheels, clothing etc. But in the local scene I see a large number of people get into TTs, buy a load of kit, do some decent times but then stop racing and sell the TT bike. For some it's other commitments but others lost interest and it stopped being fun, which is a real shame. There is a lot to be said for just turning up and having a go. Unless youre at the sharp end of a race or category you are really only racing against yourself (which I like).

Personally I'd disagree with that, as there is a much bigger weight shift required.

Right, not to mention that when you're riding on the tops you're just cruising along pretty casually, but on the TT bars you're likely to be going much faster.

Also the trend to having the skis super close together adds to the inherent instability, makes rescuing the bike far less likely. 

Froome lost control of his TT bike when he took one hand off the bar..

No. Listen to the pros.

Next question, please.

Thanks for the engaging and though-provoking response.

To be fair, it was a more well-thought through and finely-honed point than their usual posts. So that's progress...

Be very difficult for me to get to events without using the open road. Though there would be two events a year if we took them off the road so maybe not an issue.