MikeDeason

where you will have to either slow to a crawl or stop dead at the bottom due to the potential of cross traffic, stop sign or lights?

No cars on the hill.

Do you slalom down to try and reduce speed while applying brake? I figure this wears tires unevenly; or just go straight and feather brake all the way down which must burn more rubber and cause more brake wear?

phughes

Ride down. Stop as needed.

slow rollin

Straight down with brakes on. If it's somehow really really long I might go on/off/on if I am worried about heat. I would then plan my route to not go that way, since I have fun carrying speed down, through the hill, and up the next.

john m flores 

If it's a shorter hill, I send it and then hang my butt off the back of the saddle and stoppie at the bottom.
If it's a longer hill, I used to tuck and send, but these days I scrub speed by alternating front and rear brakes in order to give the rims time to cool off. Brake wear? They're consumables. So consume.

shelbyfv

Slalom down?

Paul_P

I'm most concerned about what sorts of sand or debris might be present on top of the pavement and therefore my chances of not wiping out as I try to slow down then stop before reaching the blind crossroad at the bottom.
I had to do this once last summer with my loaded bike and the fairly short steep descent involved a lot of praying

MikeDeason

sure. No cars I’ll go across the hill back and forth to reduce speed. Works for skiing.

shelbyfv

I know it might sound like an idea but try it once and see how it turns out.

MikeDeason

Umm I do it all the time. Slows me down a bit but I find I often need use the brake at irregular angles which probably not great for even tire wear.

shelbyfv

You may wobble all over the road but it's not slowing you down. You'd have to be skidding tires to do that. You have to brake anyway, just ride down like a normal person.

t2p

I would think slaloming (or similar) would add an additional challenge (especially if the hill is very steep) ?

datlas 

I am trying to figure out which thread this is a parody of.

MikeDeason

Generally I’ll go straight down. Brakes feathered. Not sure if it’s better to off/on brake to try and reduce heat, when you let off you just pick up more speed.

phughes

Perhaps spend some time riding instead of asking questions about how to ride. That way you will learn the basic fundamentals usually learned in childhood.

Chuck M 

Seems like the logical way most people do. But I think the OP is looking for a better way for some reason.

MikeDeason

Perhaps.

looking for a best way. I have several of these steep drops into a dead stop since construction altered my usual commute.

Polaris OBark

Cling to my disc brakes like a gerbil on greased teflon.

base2 

You don't want to feather or drag your brakes. The heat build up leaves less margin for converting motion in to heat. You'll find that at some point, when you get to the bottom & really need your brakes there is no more margin left to convert any more energy and the heat saturated brakes simply won't work when you need them most.

Brakes on. Slow. Brakes off. Cool. Repeat.

Camilo

Slalom? Skiing =/ bicycling at all.

When you slalom skiing, you're using the edges which are the skis brakes. Nothing like the bike tires.

mstateglfr 

how much speed can slaloming actually scrub off, compared to just using your brakes to scrub off speed a few times during the decent?

rollagain

I do it like I've always done since I started riding (pre-teens, coaster-brake cruiser back then): crest the hill and let 'er rip; half-mile double-digit grades. Had to get the maximum fun going down, because pushing the bike back up was always a drag.

bboy314

I usually start a thread at the top to gauge how to start the process. About halfway down, start another thread to check in and see how my progress is comparing with others. Then, just before I hit the stop sign at the bottom, it’s one more thread just to be safe. I might even throw a picture or poll in this last one for the sake of thoroughness.

ScottCommutes

I can't help you with any of these scenarios except for the light at the bottom of the hill. You simply stop at the top of the hill, wait for the light to turn red going your way, count off the correct number of "Mississippi's", then send it. If you do everything right, traffic will clear and the light will turn green in front of you. No brakes needed.

For additional speed, grab a rock at the top of the hill to give you more potential energy and drop it off at the bottom once you are safely clear of the intersection.

Polaris OBark

Isn't that what "feathering" is?

tomato coupe

Why is this even a question? Clearly, the best way to stop at the bottom of the hill is with a hockey stop.