i crashed on the Mup yesterday at sun set. it happened at this place where Mup tramsition into sidewalk. there are obsticles ( bollards) on the ground to force cyclists to slow down. i felt like someone yanked the handlebar out of my hands...then felt the front wheel go sideways...then i was over the handlebar and on the ground...knee bleeding.
not sure what happened. i look back and only unusual thing i saw was there was 3 bumps on the ground where plastic bollards used to be. i guess i didnt see this bumps. but these bumps were not big enough to cuase my front wheel to go sideways. so something else is going on.
i had changed the handlebar twice, few weeks ago. the bike is a bolt-upright cruiser geometry with heavy swept back handlebars. i replaced the handlebar with one thats 10 degree sweep, 58mm wide...and used a 80mm stem instead of the original 30mm...so that i could lean forward a alot more.
right after this first modification, i noticed the bike felt very tweetchier. i forced myself to ride this for a week. after a week, i got used to it. but decided, it was too tweetchy for the Mup i had to ride on daily basis.
so....i replaced the h bar again...this time with a 45 deg sweep and 55mm wide. the result was much less tweetchy than the 10 deg bar...but theres still some. and i am back more upright.
i ride down these steep long ramps everyday. with 45 d bar and 80 stem, it still feels tweetchy enough that i dont dare take one hand off.
i recall with the original heaily swept bar and 35mm stem, i could ride down rhese ramps one hand easily.
one last observation about the 45 deg sweep. i felt the angle puts yur grip in a very weak position. there were instances before where my front wheel hit a small bump and i felt my hand almost was pulled off the grip. i dont think i would have crashed if i was using a 10 deg bar. so there was a tragic consequence. but i am lucky i did not hit my head or break any bones.
the bumps looks like these...but with the veritcal piece missing.
