Chapter 1: Guide to safe on- and off-road operation
This section briefly describes factors that can influence your safety when riding, including the limits of bicycle design, riding skills, and using common sense.
Your Trek bicycle can be fun when used for transportation, recreation, exercise, or competition. But riding a bicycle can also be dangerous, especially if you try to ride beyond the limits of your ability or the limits of your bicycle.
The skill of a bicycle rider can vary greatly, just like the skill of a skier or automobile driver. It takes a high level of skill to ride at high speed or close to objects, obstacles, or other riders. Riding close to other riders includes pack riding and drafting (following in another rider's slipstream to reduce wind resistance). A partial list of objects and obstacles includes curbs, drain grates, railroad tracks, debris, pavement joints, road markings (paint or reflectors), pot holes, and parked or moving cars. In any situation, do not ride in a manner that exceeds the limits of YOUR ability.
A bicycle is vulnerable; it cannot protect you in a crash, impact, or loss of control in the way a car can. Cars have bumpers, seat belts, air bags, and crumple zones. Bicycles do not, so even a fall at slow speed or an impact with a small object can cause injury or death. At relatively slow speeds a bicycle can tip over sideways or pitch you over the front wheel. Higher speeds and larger impacts will only be worse.
Bicycles are not designed to withstand every situation; they are not indestructible. If you mis-use your bicycle, it can be damaged by stress or fatigue. With damage from stress, the life of the frame, fork, or components can be drastically reduced. Our bicycles are made to withstand the stress of "normal" riding because those stresses are well known and understood. However, we can not predict the forces that might occur if you use your bicycle in competition, extreme conditions, or in other ways that apply high stress.
WarningThe following riding practices apply high stress, increase the risk of damage to your bicycle, and increase the risk of injury to you: Jumping your bicycle Performing bicycle stunts Competitive riding Off-road riding Riding in a Use Condition beyond the design of the bicycle Any abnormal bicycle riding Each of these practices increases the stress on every part of your bicycle. Frames or parts under high stress may fatigue prematurely, causing them to break and increasing the risk of injury to the rider. Avoid these riding practices to decrease your risk of injury.
The first rule in safe bicycle riding is to recognize these limits and use common sense. Cars and bicycles share some limits: even a car can be damaged by driving it in abusive conditions or running into an immovable object.
A major impact is anything that causes you to fall from your bike. Always inspect your bicycle thoroughly after a major impact. If you are not sure how to do a thorough inspection, take your bicycle to your dealer for service.
A minor impact, where you hit an obstacle without falling from your bike, can still place high stresses on your bicycle. If, after a minor impact, your bicycle behaves in an unusual manner or you hear a noise, immediately stop the bicycle and identify the problem. Always inspect the bicycle thoroughly and repair any problem before riding the bicycle again. The inspection information in the Before Every Ride Checklist and in Chapter 3, Inspection, Lubrication, and Maintenance provide further information on how to perform these checks.
In either a minor or major impact, it is not uncommon for the bicycle to have damage. If a part of your bicycle has damage and it receives another impact, this previous damage can cause the part to break at a much lower load. Each bicycle and its parts have limits to its strength and durability because of many factors:
· Design
· Material
· Maintenance
· Use
· Surface of the trail or road
· And more
Always "Think Safety" and avoid dangerous situations. Most dangerous situations are obvious. For example, you know that a bad accident can occur if an object gets caught in your bicycle's spokes. But not all dangerous situations are obvious. Many of those are shown in this manual; read at least Chapter 1 before you ride.
Most safety rules are based on common sense:
· Do not ride "no hands." The slightest road imperfection could initiate a wheel shimmy or cause the front wheel to turn unexpectedly.
· Do not ride with a loose object attached to the handlebar or any other part of the bicycle. It could get caught in the spokes, cause the handlebar to turn unexpectedly, or in another way cause loss of control. Use a proper bicycle rack and bag, or a backpack.
· Do not ride while intoxicated or while using medications which might make you drowsy. Bicycles require good coordination to ride in control, and riders must be alert for hazards.
· Do not "ride double." Standard bicycles are not designed to carry the additional load of a second rider (see the Conditions of Use for bicycle weight limits). Also, extra weight makes a bicycle much harder to balance, steer, and stop.
· Do not ride on public roads or trails (or anywhere except a velodrome or closed track) on a bicycle that does not have at least one brake.
· Do not ride with headphones or anything else which might prevent you from being aware of your surroundings. In some localities, riding with headphones is illegal. In all areas, being aware of traffic is an important part of bicycle safety.
Some skilled riders use bicycles in ways that are obviously not safe. For example, some of the high-risk stunts and jumps seen in magazines or videos are very dangerous; even skilled athletes get severe injuries when they crash (and they do crash). You add to your risk when you ride in an unusual location, ride over obstacles or debris, or ride in any other high-risk manner.