I know this has been talked about before but would like to hear from other TCR owners about this.
As I understand speed wobble on high speed downhills, it’s largely a characteristic of certain frames. My TCR is subject to this quite badly unless I hug the top tube with my knees and unweight myself off the seat a bit. If I do so then it’s not much of a problem, but yesterday we were finishing up a five hour group ride with a steep curvey downhill where we can hit 70 kph or more. I guess that my mind was either daydeaming or in slumber mode as I didn’t prepare mentally in advance for this hill and suddenly the front of my bike is shaking like Elvis. I hugged the top tube with my knees and unweighted and it stopped almost immediately but was quite unnerving for a few seconds.
I’m just wondering if other TCR owners are getting speed wobble on the high speed downhills also. Any other solutions other than what I just described? I love my TCR as a road bike and this is my only complaint with it. Riding a TCR is like driving a twitchy sports car or go-cart, you mind has to be alert all the time. I like this kind of a ride but sometimes wish that it also descended like some of the longer wheelbase road bikes.
I have a TCR Comp 1 that I use for TT only (small frame size…looks like a BMX bike) I’ve hit decents at 50mph (IMLP) w/o any problem. Then again, on all decents where I stop pedalling, I’ll tuck the knees together and go to the bullhorns. If I stayed aero, I’d bet that wouldn’t have found my body yet. FWIW - I did change to a shorter stem (so I could have a slacker position) and that helped settle down the front end A LOT.
Not sure that really helps you out.
On a side note, I noticed your username. I’m coming off a P2K and find the Giant a more comfy bike. More vertical compliance (although that’s my guess, not scientific). P2K might be a better pure TT (under 40k) for me, but been real happy with the Giant.
One of my trainingfriends has a XL or L TCR frame, I have seen it wooble like a snake! Not good commercial for the rest of the group that were there. It was a minor miracle that he didn’t crash.
Well I get those wobbles on high speed downhills but they happen cause my training wheels need to be trued. I never felt those wobbles with my racing wheels but maybe that’s cuz I’m so focused on the race that I don’t even notice.
I have a TCR set up w/ bullhorns and Profile Jammer clip-ons, never had any high-speed stability issues but I don’t think I’ve ever tried to stay seated & un-tucked on a 40 mph descent… I love it as a TT bike & it climbs very well. I don’t have the saddle set up too far forward, more of a Slam setup.
I’m wondering if it is something to do with the nature of the Conti tires. I was testing my TT config (Cervelo Dual, Speed Dream Wheels, Conti Supersonics 23c) and I get a vibration (doesn’t match the wheel RPM) at 24.4 mph and goes away at 25. I’m wondering if the tires amplify the natural frequency of the wheel, fork, and frame. Don’t have that problem with the 23c Hutchensons.
Yup, I had a TCR in 2002 until the head tube snapped off. Now that I can see a good cross section of the tubing, I woundn’t ride another one. Those tubes aren’t any thicker than a soda can. Scary! Of course the Giant rep was super helpful… “well, that bike was wrecked…” No shit Sherlock.
I wouldn’t take a 70km/h decent on one of those even if it was on FearFactor!
Don’t see how. I’m 5’10" and the medium TCR seems to fit well.
I’ve just answered my own question how to correct speed wobble. It’s explained fairly well in this url. What’s interesting to me is how some TCR owners have experienced this phenomena and others haven’t.
I have had a medium TCR bike - never had such a problem. I now have a small TCR set as a TT bike. No problems either.
“One of my trainingfriends has a XL or L TCR frame, I have seen it wooble like a snake!”
You can’t conclude from one example that the bike has a design problem. I don’t think the large size has a problem. In most cases the wobble is due to a rider’s tension when descending at high speeds. You need to relax your shoulders and arms more.
In our group rides a few guys have a large TCR and they descend in a peleoton like fashion at high speeds seating on your wheel with no wobble.
I’ve also read somewhere that holding a tight death grip on the bars tends to aggravate the problem. On the fast downhlls I have a tendency to go down on the drop bars. I could be holding them too tightly and not realizing it. I’ll make a point of being more relaxed next time.
Some time ago I have been to a training day by an ex-pro cyclist. The theme was how to gain free speed in a race by utilising correct gear shifting, cornering techniques and descending. He argued that people could gain serious time gains by mastering the skill of descending quickly and found the main limiter to be confidence.
The lack of confidence is manifested in tension and causes this wobble. He recommended holding the drops, bringing your chin as close to the stem as possible and relaxing. You also need to practice this as often as possible until you feel comfortable at (very) high speeds.
I have a large '02 TCR 2 and have not experienced any high speed wobble associated with the bike. The only wobble I get is due to my quivering legs when I hit speeds in excess of 45 mph or there abouts.
Absolutely I just said that I have seen that bike wobble when descending at high speeds. The bike rider I’m talking about weights about 185lbs, but I think the reason it occur that he did have all the spacers on between fork and stem, I think that gives the bike more flex.
