Once in a while, you are told of something that makes you utter, “Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t come across that.”
Back when I started triathlon training in 2019, I discovered flat feet. I had knee pains after running a few kilometers, and my coach told me to go to a chiropractor clinic for a checkup. They told me I had flat feet and prescribed me an insole. I could not believe that at 34, I only learned about the defective nature of my feet. I don’t need to wear insoles anymore, thanks to the foot muscles I have gained over the years, but the awareness of flat feet helped me work with my weaknesses and prevent unnecessary knee injuries.
Today, a friend told me she had a speed wobble last week. She fell severely off the bike while going downhill at 47km/h. That sounds frightening. Fortunately, she didn’t get any broken bones and is recovering fast from the bruises. Taking her advice, I looked up the term to prevent a similar thing from happening to me. However, it may already have. I may have experienced that two years ago in Ironman 70.3 Malaysia in 2022.
Speed wobble, shimmy, tank slapper, and even death wobble all mean the same thing, describing a quick oscillation of the bike’s front wheels. The bike begins to wobble aggressively from side to side, seemingly for no reason. It happens when you’re going very fast downhill. At that high speed, you do not want to overreact.
I fell off my bike halfway into the 90km ride during that half-Ironman event. I was going downhill, and my handlebar shook violently. I attributed it to poor road conditions and a distracted mind. It was also the first time I rode borrowed carbon wheels on my BMC Road Machine. It turned out that the wheels were a Chinese knockoff product, not from a trusted brand. I may have had a speed wobble due to the unbalanced wheels when going downhill at over 40 km/h. It’s crazy that no one told me about speed wobbles before. I should have described my bike fall to someone experienced. My chain was messed up then, requiring a few stops to fix. However, I still completed the race in my torn trisuit and did not feel too bitter about it.
I feel a sense of gratitude that I hear about the problem now.
The most important takeaway was the awareness of how to handle it when it happens. If you stay calm and focused, it won’t lead to a crash. It may have started suddenly, but it won’t go away immediately.
- Clamp your knees firmly against the top tube. This helps minimize wind turbulence and provide counter-pressure against the bike.
- Lean forward to lower your center of gravity and keep your pedals level (3 and 9 o’clock). This increases stability and avoids pressure on either pedal.
- Resist braking fast. Only use the rear brake slightly.
- Keep hands and shoulders relaxed enough. This helps absorb shock.
The second important takeaway is how to prevent speed wobbles:
- Take care of the bike: frame, fork, headset, axle, and tires.
- Avoid an unbalanced front wheel. For example, do not position the computer sensor’s magnet on the spoke near the wheel’s valve.
- Alignment problems: that’s up to the mechanic.
What’s an analogy of a speed bobble outside biking? In business, a reputation crisis is one. Two days ago, a client expressed unhappiness due to a misalignment of requirements and quality between his team and ours. Yesterday, we received the first-ever negative company review from a disgruntled employee who complained about changes in employee benefits and salary reviews. How to deal with those is a topic for another day.
Next: Have a good vision