So today, I tackled a fairly steep hill on my BC wheel. I wear a wrap on my leg to help me balance, and to slow down/stop. After a couple hours, my entire cotton athletic wrap was black, and it appeared to be singed, but I’m not sure. Ok, so I know this is kind of a far-out question, but is it possible for a tire to set fire to a cotton cloth after hours of constant rubbing at high speeds? I’m not really worried about being set on fire, but I’m curious if it could happen, haha.
Richard
I doubt it is singed, it is probably just black from rubber rubbing against it. This friction will also fray the edges making it look singed, I’m sure you will notice it getting really freaking hot before it catches on fire.
Yeah, It’s gotten pretty hot before. I have an enormous hill right near my hose that I went down once on my BC. I got going extremely fast and my 20" wheel started wobbling back and forth like crazy. So, I figured I’d better stop. I started to rub, and it took quite a while slow down. Once I got off, I touched my wrap, and It was HOT. But yeah, I agree, I doubt it was singed. But… on a 95 degree (F) day, could a super heated piece of cotton catch on fire?
You need something to rub on the wheel that won’t get all ripped up, like a piece of plastic or something. You might have to press harder but it would last longer. Also make sure whatever you use doesn’t put too much strain on the tire, as you are probably putting the friction on the thin part.
Yeah, I got my KH leg guards in the mail today, and I think they might work for BC wheeling, but I don’t want to rip them up too… And I have a Nimbus Hookworm tire, by the way.
ace bandages work just fine for braking.
The hookworm is kind of hard on your legs. It has those little bumps that can eat your legs.
I have gotten my leg really hot before but not hot enough for a fire. Evan and I had neoprene leg guards that his mom made us and we have gotten them so hot that they melted a little. Evan’s only lasted one day, he went down a steep fireroad and it melted/tore really fast. I still have mine though, its only melted a little bit:)
According to various sources cotton ignites at 407 celsius. By comparison, the human body finds skin contact temps above 60 celsius to become very uncomfortable.
Short answer: you would be badly burnt before the cotton caught on fire, your leg would get incredibly hot before it happened.
what about if he dipped his legs in lighter fluid?
they would get all lighter fluidey…
is lighter fluid actually ‘dip-in-able’?
I think so
I would say it’s more smeared than melted.
smeared/tore.
you think therfore you am…
I think therefore I are.
hey spence, does neoprene work better than ace bandages?
umm, I dont know if it works better. It is easier to put on because it wraps once then you velcro it. Ace bandages are really cheap and more disposable.
Yeah, maybe “melted” wasn’t the right word.
Any tire with tread will absolutly destroy neoprene in a day lest you wear it under your jeans. Neoprene helps keep the heat off your skin, but you still need something thats going to deal with the abrasive tire.
Ah yeah thats true. I have ridden mine on the outside of my jeans and it has been fine but my bc tire has no tread at all.
So, what is the best thing to use instead of a cotton wrap (other than Evan’s disk brake)? I have some KH leg guards, but I want them to last a while…
put the wrap over your kh guards