Shock Riding Under High Voltage Lines

[Hundminen]

Does anybody else get a static electricity shock when riding underneath high voltage power transmission lines?

When I ride under these lines with my hands on the hoods (105 shifters on my Specialized Roubaix carbon frame) I feel a sharp tingling pain if I touch the adjusting screws at the top of the lever arms. Happens every time whenever I pass under the wires. Doesn't seem to matter which wires either.

It makes me glad I don't live anywhere near these things.

[martinrjensen]

I would quit touching those if I were you...

Does anybody else get a static electricity shock when riding underneath high voltage power transmission lines?

When I ride under these lines with my hands on the hoods (105 shifters on my Specialized Roubaix carbon frame) I feel a sharp tingling pain if I touch the adjusting screws at the top of the lever arms. Happens every time whenever I pass under the wires. Doesn't seem to matter which wires either.

It makes me glad I don't live anywhere near these things.

[Touch0Gray]

I'd quit riding under the power lines!

[bikerjulio]

It might be actual electricity rather than the static kind. I used to work at a place with a fence parallel to a HV transmission corridor. Closing the gates would result in an exciting flash and melted metal. Well over 120v ac and lots of current. We could have powered the neighborhood. Its called induction.

[jlandry]

SPIDER.... SENSES.. TINGLING... (Takes off like a rocket)

[JustTooBig]

It might be actual electricity rather than the static kind. I used to work at a place with a fence parallel to a HV transmission corridor. Closing the gates would result in an exciting flash and melted metal. Well over 120v ac and lots of current. We could have powered the neighborhood. Its called induction.

what you're talking about is electrostatic induction. So you're both right. Kind of.

and you're probably fooling yourself if you're claiming to be able to measure it.


In the case of something like a metal gate, the "static flash" (as it's generically referred to) is simple to avoid by simply grounding the object.

[Touch0Gray]

I'd quit riding under the power lines!

and i repeat

[qatarbhoy]

I have to ride under some old power lines here in the desert and it always makes me nervous. If I noticed tingling in my hands from touching metal components I would shart myself.

[GearDaddy]

YES! There's a road just a couple miles from my home that crosses under some power lines. This is a suburban area with lots of homes nearby and these lines go right past an elementary school. I'll consistently feel some pin-prick tingling at my hands on the shifters as I go directly under the power lines.

[WaynefromOrlando]

I rode under HT transmission wires last Sat, and many Saturdays before that, and felt nothing so perhaps it is peculiar to your area or weather system. We're more humid here in O-town normally, so perhaps that has something to do with it. Either that or I am well protected by the carbon fibre frame and ultegra components!