I corner harder on one side

[Dirtyhip]

I have a short leg on my right side.  Does that play into anything?  It's 1/2 inch off.  I have a riser cleat on some of my shoes.

 

My right leg is noticeably smaller in diameter and size. 

[Nate]

I'm not sure how much a slight offset in the body's centre of balance would affect cornering. An offset which affects riding a bike should also affect the way we walk and the way we stand, yet the majority of us stand straight and don't lean noticeably to one side or the other when we walk. 

 

As jsharr mentioned earlier, the stronger and weaker sides of the body would likely play a role in tire wear.

 

(Please keep in mind I'm not a medical expert, so I could be wrong.)

 

 

Thanks! an actual thoughtful answer!

 

I think that the way our bodies are on the bike might have more to do with it. Like Z pointed out, our liver is on the other side, so when we walk, we probably are center balanced or it would cause enough skeletal problems that evolution would have worked that problem out

 

I agree with that 100%

 

On a bike, though, our center of gravity is the combined center of our body and our bike

 

It now is a matter of moments of force. I know that you know what that means, but for the benefit of my American countrymen, a moment of force is a quantity that has both a mass and a distance. This is what makes a lever work as a force multiplier

 

So in our chest, our heart is not exactly centered. That's a medical fact. It is offset to the left a bit.

 

Since our chest is further from our center of gravity, this slight difference is actually multiplied by the distance from our combined center of gravity

 

you can test this for yourselves by noting the difference in the forces you experience cornering when you are more upright and when you are in the drops

 

if there actually is a difference, then there has to be something to what I'm saying

 

I think that people thought too quickly and jumped to conclusions without really thinking through the physics

[Pokey]

Did I start a meaningful conversation?  

 

Yes.

[Pokey]

It's a personal track that I ride at.  I do whatever the hell I want there.  No regulations.  It does favor more nascar style.  I'm gonna turn to the left, now.  HAHA

 

Well, there are some things to adhere to.  Be nice to the berms.  No climbing across it.  Help groom, water and sweep.  Don't ride it too wet.  

 

I'll be hitting a big professional style track in my very near future. Trip time here :

 

Cant wait!!!!   

 

How come all those dudes are dressed like Norm?

[Dirtyhip]

How come all those dudes are dressed like Norm?

 

Plaid is required for dirt track riding.  HAHA

[Zealot]

Ok, checked out some old knobbies in my basement and some old road tires. Pretty evenly worn. And when I rode yesterday I cornered left and right pretty intensely to see if I favored either side. Not that I could tell.

[Nate]

hey, maybe this is an urban legend. There still are some subtle phenomenon I've experienced riding all these years that this does sort of explain, though, which is why I believe there's something to it.

 

Maybe not enough to wear a side of your tire more. I could have stretched it there

 

I think when you have to corner at the limit, you are going to have to let the vector of the centripetal force and gravity do all the leaning, so we'd have to probably be a stationary observer to see if the angle is different left and right, but it would have to be high speed so the rider had to just make the corner

 

but then I've noticed that when I reach for my water bottle, I'm more stable if I use my right arm. Its not that I'm right handed, either. On rollers I go out of kilter as soon as the left shoulder dips

 

I think at low speeds there should be a statistically higher probability of landing on your left side if this were true, so that would be another experiment for somebody younger who heals faster. My personal experience is that at low speeds I do tend to fall on my left side

 

anyway, I say there is something to this, but I'm not going to say that we all wear out our tires unevenly because of this

 

fair enough?

[Square Wheels]

Nate backpedaling?  No way.

 

I was thinking about this post on my ride home last night.  I have only been riding for a few years, but I thought of all of my falls.  I fell off my rollers 3 times, all on the left side.  I've tipped over when still clipped in 3 or 4 times, all on my left side.  I think I have a really big heart.  

[Nate]

listen, its you assholes that paint me as some sort of crazyman

 

I'm a reasonable person when given a chance

 

Its when you back me in a corner with your poking sticks that I just fight back to fight back

 

There is something to this, though, I'm telling you

 

but DH's tires are worn on the one side because she probably circulates that track of hers in one direction more than the other.

[Square Wheels]

but DH's tires are worn on the one side because she probably circulates that track of hers in one direction more than the other.

 

See, it could have been as simple as this.  

 

I'm just giving you crap Nate, you're a good guy.

[Former member]

Do you think most of us unclip the left foot 1st to keep from falling into traffic, or because our hearts are so heavy?

[Road Runner]

I unclip the right foot, because that is the one next to the curb.

[Randomguy]

Well, I do corner harder and far better to my left, but I also tend to put the left foot forward, but unclip first on the right.  This is the correct way.

[Nate]

 

but unclip first on the right.  This is the correct way.

 

 

which foot do you put down first?

[Randomguy]

I wish that somebody would actually give some sort of answer too

 

but I think they are ashamed to admit that I was right all along

 

and for clarity, what I'm saying is that when we are on a bike our body's center of balance isn't exactly split right down the center line

 

nevermind why that is, it just is

 

 

so maybe somebody out there can talk about this

 

My left knee hits the top tube when I pedal, I think it is because my left testicle hangs lower than the right.  Do I need a smaller top tube, smaller knee, or testicle reorientation?  

[Road Runner]

My left leg is my dominant leg and is the uninjured leg, so I always clip in on the left first and clip out on the left last.  But the curb thing is most important when stopping in traffic.  Easy to put the right foot on the curb instead of placing a foot all the way down on the street.

[Randomguy]

It's a personal track that I ride at.  I do whatever the hell I want there.  No regulations.  It does favor more nascar style.  I'm gonna turn to the left, now.  HAHA

 

Well, there are some things to adhere to.  Be nice to the berms.  No climbing across it.  Help groom, water and sweep.  Don't ride it too wet.  

 

I'll be hitting a big professional style track in my very near future. Trip time here :

 

Cant wait!!!!   

 

Those people have no idea how to ride, look at how ridiculously low their seats are set up!

[Randomguy]

I have a short leg on my right side.  Does that play into anything?  It's 1/2 inch off.  I have a riser cleat on some of my shoes.

 

My right leg is noticeably smaller in diameter and size. 

 

Are you dieting more on your right side?

[Randomguy]

which foot do you put down first?

 

The right.

[Nate]

The right.

 

 

that's nut jobbery right there

 

ain't you ever heard the old saying "left is right and right is wrong?"

 

what did you think they were talking about? ear rings???

[Kzoo]

I unclip the right foot, because that is the one next to the curb.

 

This ^

[Former member]

I unclip the right foot, because that is the one next to the curb.

I do the same(my cleat wear is evidence), but I think most unclip left first.

[Former member]

that's nut jobbery right there

ain't you ever heard the old saying "left is right and right is wrong?"

what did you think they were talking about?

that's only true when we are talking about politics.

[Nate]

I unclip my left because I want to put my left foot down first

 

we don't have curbs out here in the country, so I never have had that come up

[Randomguy]

I am going to go on a ride soon, maybe I have this all confused.  I will test and verify with quantifiable data, and report the results here.

[Nate]

see if you can get some data points on the low speed crash experiment for us

[Randomguy]

see if you can get some data points on the low speed crash experiment for us

 

Well, it is proper to post verification for the forum's amusement.  The last time I crashed on a road bike was 2005, btw.

[Former member]

If the location of the heart effects low speed balance, conservatives would be unaffected because they have no hearts.

[Nate]

If the location of the heart effects low speed balance, conservatives would be unaffected because they have no hearts.

 

its known as the "Tin Man" paradox

[Destination]

If tires wear more on one side than the other, could it have something to do with the courses and routes one rides? I hadn't noticed it before, but most of my in-town recreational loops go in a rough counterclockwise direction. 

[Nate]

If tires wear more on one side than the other, could it have something to do with the courses and routes one rides? I hadn't noticed it before, but most of my in-town recreational loops go in a rough counterclockwise direction. 

 

 

yea, back on page 3 I said the same thing. I think the chances are pretty good that's what's going on

[Square Wheels]

Since proper people ride on the right side of the road and most roads are crowned for drainage, I postulate that most tires are worn more on the left, regardless of how hard you conner in either direction.  Most of your riding is straight.

[Nate]

that's city folk talk

 

out here there's nobody else on the road, so we just ride wherever we want

[Dirtyhip]

yea, back on page 3 I said the same thing. I think the chances are pretty good that's what's going on

 

This could be.  I ride in a ton of rock gardens.  Maybe the sweet spots like to munch my right side. 

[jsharr ★]

Since proper people ride on the right side of the road and most roads are crowned for drainage, I postulate that most tires are worn more on the left, regardless of how hard you conner in either direction.  Most of your riding is straight.

Not KT's!  

[Randomguy]

I am going to go on a ride soon, maybe I have this all confused.  I will test and verify with quantifiable data, and report the results here.

 

I was wrong, I unclip on the left every damn time.  Apparently, that is the right way to do it.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

DH and the bike will lean to the right.

 

Based upon the following assumptions:

-The average female heart weights about 9 ounces

-The heart's center of gravity is one inch to the left of the body's center

-The rider's heart is about 60 inches above the ground when seated on the bike

-The bike frame and the rider's spine form a vertical 'column' with a pivot point where the tires meet the trail

-DH does not ride a 'hobby horse' bike, i.e. it has a drive train

-The average mountain bike chain weighs about 275 grams

-The average mountain bike rear derailleur weighs about 200 grams

-The drive train for the mountain bike is offset to the right from the frame by two inches.

-The crankset is assumed balanced, the offset created by the cassette and front derailler is ignored for simplicity

-The drive train is about 10" above the trail

-Other components of the bike and the rider are equally balanced about the 'column'

 

The drive train creates a moment of two inch-pounds at its location.  The heart creates a moment of .56 inch-pounds at its location in the opposite direction.  Using the equation M=Fxd, both moments can be translated into two forces at the point of the 'column' at the level of the heart, essentially turning this into a classic lever problem.  The two forces resolve into 0.0093 pounds to the left (for the heart) and 0.0334 pounds to the right (for the drive train).  Give or take a few decimal places. 

 

Anyway, since the force to the right is larger than the force to the left at the same point of the column, the bike and rider lean to the right.

[Square Wheels]

DH and the bike will lean to the right.

 

Maybe one of her boobs is bigger than the other?  Why do people always look for a complicated solution.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

Maybe one of her boobs is bigger than the other?  Why do people always look for a complicated solution.

 

Those that do typically would be engineers.

[Destination]

The drive train creates a moment of two inch-pounds at its location.  The heart creates a moment of .56 inch-pounds at its location in the opposite direction.  Using the equation M=Fxd, both moments can be translated into two forces at the point of the 'column' at the level of the heart, essentially turning this into a classic lever problem.  The two forces resolve into 0.0093 pounds to the left (for the heart) and 0.0334 pounds to the right (for the drive train).  Give or take a few decimal places. 

 

Anyway, since the force to the right is larger than the force to the left at the same point of the column, the bike and rider lean to the right.

 

On my bike, there is a bell on the left side of the handlebars and a mounting bracket for a GPS on the right side. The pump is just to the right of one of the bottle cages. There's a seat bag with a few tools, patch supplies and a spare tube. I also use it for my wallet and keys. I assume this is centred, but the balance may be slightly to one side or the other. Should I include these items in tire wear calculations? 

[Kzoo]

DH and the bike will lean to the right.

 

Based upon the following assumptions:

-The average female heart weights about 9 ounces

-The heart's center of gravity is one inch to the left of the body's center

-The rider's heart is about 60 inches above the ground when seated on the bike

-The bike frame and the rider's spine form a vertical 'column' with a pivot point where the tires meet the trail

-DH does not ride a 'hobby horse' bike, i.e. it has a drive train

-The average mountain bike chain weighs about 275 grams

-The average mountain bike rear derailleur weighs about 200 grams

-The drive train for the mountain bike is offset to the right from the frame by two inches.

-The crankset is assumed balanced, the offset created by the cassette and front derailler is ignored for simplicity

-The drive train is about 10" above the trail

-Other components of the bike and the rider are equally balanced about the 'column'

 

The drive train creates a moment of two inch-pounds at its location.  The heart creates a moment of .56 inch-pounds at its location in the opposite direction.  Using the equation M=Fxd, both moments can be translated into two forces at the point of the 'column' at the level of the heart, essentially turning this into a classic lever problem.  The two forces resolve into 0.0093 pounds to the left (for the heart) and 0.0334 pounds to the right (for the drive train).  Give or take a few decimal places. 

 

Anyway, since the force to the right is larger than the force to the left at the same point of the column, the bike and rider lean to the right.

 

If you look at the pic she posted yesterday of her dirty butt you might see that her shoulders are not even.  Add to that the statement she made about one leg being longer than the other and you could extrapolate that she just might have some curvature to her spine.  That by itself would throw off any equal weight distribution as it relates to her torso.  Based on what I see, her left side could be significantly heavier than her right side.

[Dirtyhip]

If you look at the pic she posted yesterday of her dirty butt you might see that her shoulders are not even.  Add to that the statement she made about one leg being longer than the other and you could extrapolate that she just might have some curvature to her spine.  That by itself would throw off any equal weight distribution as it relates to her torso.  Based on what I see, her left side could be significantly heavier than her right side.

 

Not sure about curvature.  Never heard that from my docs, but my hip bones are tilted to make up for my 1/2 inch short femur. You should see my Xray.  Wild.

 

Amazingly, I have very minimal back pain.  I don't walk with a lift, but the bottom of my feet tell the tale of my funky.  I am am amazed I can do the things I can with all my medical issues.  Body is a big wreck, but my drive makes up for my lack of body perfection.

[Nate]

 

Anyway, since the force to the right is larger than the force to the left at the same point of the column, the bike and rider lean to the right.

 

I think we're forgetting the precession of the wheels and forward momentum. If the drivetrain made you lean, then we'd all ride leaning over, which none of us do 

 

when I was making the heart and balance argument, I was saying that we have a natural tendency to lean more into a right hander

 

I'm not making that argument any longer, but I am saying that the offset of our heart shows up in some subtle ways like the tendency to put our left foot down first and in a low speed crash to fall on our left side