Is half wheeling dangerous?
 

Can someone cue me into why half wheeling is frowned upon? I heard the term a while ago and thought it meant overlapping wheels/not protecting your front wheel, but now I understand that its more about persistently upping the pace when next to someone. To me this sounds fine and not dangerous. in the group I ride with, if someone pushes the pace on an easy day the other riders let them go and blow themselves up. Is half wheeling somehow inherently dangerous, or is it just something that can disrupt an organized pace line

It's a dick move. You're pretending you want to ride WITH somebody, but then you actually ride AGAINST them. Not every ride is a race.

Agreed. It’s a sign that a rider can’t or won’t ride at the group speed. If you feel strong then go to the front and pull all day, but half wheeling is a jerk move.

+1

This is why I drink ride alone.

Yeah, I think it’s a dick move, too, although not because it pushes the pace, but rather because it makes it hard and unsafe for the person on the front to pull off and drop back, and because yes, it’s inherently dangerous because it creates the overlapping wheel situation wherein the person out front may not be aware that the person behind is doing it, so it’s a dick move for creating an unnecessary risk to everyone in the group.

Whether something is dangerous or not depends on who is doing it and who they're doing it to.

Half-wheeling is not dangerous by itself.

To a point, I would agree with this IF one is riding with others they have ridden with, and know and trust both their own, and the others bike handling skills and equipment. Realistically, anytime one is riding along with others like that, the odds of something bad happening is increased. The higher the number of riders and bikes involved, the higher the increase. That is just common sense. Accidents and mistakes happen to the best. I would likely ask the rider, maybe more than ask, to drop back or get to the front. However, I rarely ride others, and if I was, I would not do that to someone else.

Again, much of the element of danger is due to the skills of the riders involved. I feel safer in a group of 25 skilled riders than in a group of 5 Bozos.
Of course, 1 Bozo can ruin the harmony of a group.

big john , I absolutely agree with feeling of riding with the 25 skilled vs 5 Bozos. I could not count the times I politely begged off from riding with others because I knew there lack of experience and/or style of riding would make for an uncomfortable ride for me. To me, in that situation, honesty with oneself and the others is best. I believe I am not being a critic or elitist, it's reality

Half wheeling drives me insane, something happens like a dog running out or whatever and you're not only thinking about the dog, but whether you're going have an accident from hitting that stupid wheel that is stopping you from swerving. Possibly the worst habit you can have while riding with somebody else.

I would put it like this.

If you were riding an event or competition with other like skilled individuals that would expect riders to be taking advantage where they can....that's one thing.
In a group or recreational ride, and particularly when riding out on 'the road' where unexpected situations can arise, such as animal, trash in the road, and such, it leads to very dangerous situations and people can readily end up hurt outside that expectation.

I wouldn't do it. I don't do it.

Some years ago now, I learned that riding alone and/or with a very limited group or just one other individual is what I prefer as well. I rode with a club for several years that were a great group of people in the parking lot and at the feed afterward. They always wanted to act like this club rides were some kind of race and dumb **** happened all the time. I overlooked a lot of it early on as both not knowing better as well as just the excitement of the experience. It took two major events to happen where people went to the hospital where I realized that I wasn't being "safety in numbers", I was actually increasing my risk riding with these folks.

Unfortunate side effect to consider is that my fitness level declined significantly without the pressure and push to perform.

+1. A chain is as strong as its weakest link :innocent:

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean, but if you are overlapping the wheel of the person in front of you aren't you limiting their ability to move in that direction if for some reason, real or imagined, that they need to?

Half-wheeling refers to the annoying habit of some riders to constantly try to bump up the speed of a ride. If you are riding alongside another rider and that rider keeps pushing ahead, like a half wheel at a time.

A key to enjoying group rides is finding the right group. When you do, it's waaayy better than always riding alone. Riding alone is ok but riding with friends adds so much.

Agree it’s a total French Shower move. It’s not dangerous per se but very disruptive. Don’t do it.

These people are just jealous because you're going and fit, Larry. Nobody likes losing a race group ride to a guy in a dress.

ftfy

I’d vomit all over my Rapha Jersey if I caught someone in a tank top on a hybrid half wheeling me.

It's dangerous because it could lead to the half wheeler getting the Cinzano treatment.

Half-wheelers are no different than cyclists who accelerate when they reach the front of a rotating pace line. Just let them go -- they'll figure it out after they find themselves alone a few times.

LOL !!!!
a better move, wait until any steep upgrade, then slap both downtube shifters, on their bike, full forward ... total NYC move... LOL!
...Dang! how do we do that with Brifters.. ? :foo:

I don’t understand this element of the use of the term, “half-wheeling.”

I think we share the same basic understanding that half-wheeling involves a follwing rider overlapping their front wheel with the back half of the leading rider’s rear wheel, no?

What I don’t get is how this behavior “pushes the pace,” particularly because, by definition, the following rider is behind and therefor out of sight of the leading rider who then cannot— or usually does not— have awareness that half-wheeling is happening. That’s what makes it dangerous, but also why I don’t get how someone could feel pushed by behavior they’re unaware of.

I suppose if the following rider was far enough away from the leading rider that the leading rider could catch them in their peripheral vision or with a head check then they’d be aware and the situation far less dangerous. However, as the leading rider, it’s their main role to set the pace, and if someone were coming up way out on my left— and I’m speaking personally now— I’d assume they’re either going to overtake or they misjudged their speed and are trying to bleed some off in the wind rather than by braking. If they don’t overtake, then I’m inferring my pace is fine.

And that’s how I’ve always seen it to work around here, too, with any of the groups I’ve ridden with. In my club, we ride fast pacelines and definitely have some members who are either uncomfortable in the draft or are just arseholes who ride out in the fallback line, often halfway alongside if not half-wheeling their leading rider. I have never noticed, in all the years, that he behavior causes the speeds to lift, nor have I heard complaints that anyone felt uncomfortably pressured by the behavior, so I wonder if I’m misunderstanding how you’re describing “half-wheeling.”