How to Track Stand

don_don

lost_in_thought wrote:

A helpful tutorial sent to me by a friendly forum reader!

http://www.teamestrogen.com/content.ep? ... trackstand

But first, lets find your "chocolate foot".

Something tells me the author has been reading this:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12592718&start=60

:shock:

Jen J

Daniel B wrote:

Jen J wrote:

Just need to work out how to flip the wheel over...or wait until the weekend and get someone to do it for me...:D

Just 2 nuts either side of the wheel, loosen them off.
Push the wheel forwards to slacken the chain enough so you can hook it over one of the stays.
Extract the wheel, put it back in, making sure you've spun it around
Put the chain back on put a finger or 2 at the front of the wheel, and push it back until you have the desired tension (Check it's central as well), tighten up the bolts (Might be easier to have 2 people to do the last bit)

Well that went well

After being told quite convincingly this morning that I would need to undo this that and the other and do this and do that, and I didn't have the right spanners and he didn't have time to sort it for me, once I was alone this afternoon, I bought myself an adjustable wrench (and a set of various spanners for good measure), followed the instructions above, and lo and behold, I have a fixed wheel Bowery.

Just goes to show that just because someone is a boy and has bikes and thinks they know it all, sometimes it's best just to do things your way...

Thanks for the instructions Dan - worked brilliantly

Just need to try and ride it now...and I will...soon...ish...later...

daniel_b

Hey that's great news Jen, pleased to be of a tiny bit of service

let us know how you get on, when I actually have some time to ride a bike outside of my commute, I will also need be looking attempt the same.

My main issues in my short ride form the shop, were stopping and starting - apart from that it seemed ok

Cheers

Dan

lost_in_thought

Ooooh Jen how did it go??

Jen J

lost_in_thought wrote:

Ooooh Jen how did it go??

Absolutely loved it

Track stand practise may begin next weekend, and I'm even considering trying riding down a hill :shock:

Lbaguley

To the chap on the Brompton wearing a tweed flat-cap in Lewisham this morning who pulled off a cracking track stand for a good 30+ seconds, I doff my helmet to you! Fine effort.

Which leads me to question (and in no way intending to demean the said gent's elegant poise this morning) - is it easier to track-stand on a bike with small wheels like that?

Littigator

very definitely yes!

Totalnewbie

Jen - if you have the choice, try to always use the right size spanners rather than the adjustable wrench. Adjustable wrenches are buggers for rounding bolts off, which is obviously not good as it means they become harder and harder to get off.

il_principe

I have a question - is it possible to Trackstand whilst wearing a helmet?

Or is it just not right somehow...

Jen J

jashburnham wrote:

I have a question - is it possible to Trackstand whilst wearing a helmet?

Or is it just not right somehow...

I will be...trying to anyway...

Jen J

Totalnewbie wrote:

Jen - if you have the choice, try to always use the right size spanners rather than the adjustable wrench. Adjustable wrenches are buggers for rounding bolts off, which is obviously not good as it means they become harder and harder to get off.

Will do, thanks.

I have a question about chain tension though - the bike was rattling today from somewhere around the back end (couldn't identify where) and as I was poking and prodding, I discovered than my chain was so tight that there was absolutely no give at all. Instinct said it was wrong, so I've loosened the nuts I put back on after flipping the wheel, and it seems a bit happier and the rattle appears to have disappeared.

Is what I did to fix it vaguely correct? How do I know the correct chain tension? Why would there be a rattle due to a too tight chain? Should I stop asking stupid questions and let the track stand chat continue?

lost_in_thought

The rattle could have been due to an overtight chain pulling on the sprocket at a less-than-perfectly-straight angle - mine made funny noises when I overdid the chain tension...

Jen J

lost_in_thought wrote:

The rattle could have been due to an overtight chain pulling on the sprocket at a less-than-perfectly-straight angle - mine made funny noises when I overdid the chain tension...

Ah, that all seems to make sense then, thanks

don_don

Is what I did to fix it vaguely correct? How do I know the correct chain tension? Why would there be a rattle due to a too tight chain? Should I stop asking stupid questions and let the track stand chat continue?

Chain tension seems to be a bit of a 'topic' depending on who you listen to.

Brant (from On-one bikes) says, in that helpful manner of his, that the chain should be "as loose as possible". Thanks Brant :roll:

Sheldon Brown, IIRC, says tight, but not tight enough to cause binding (which might have been what caused the rattle).

I've had too loose a chain jump off on me on a bumpy downhill before - not advisable :shock: I think the best thing is to have the chain just tight enough so that you can move it up and down about an inch in the middle. Bear in mind also that chainrings aren't usually perfectly round, so you might have to check the chain doesn't bind on the 'high spot' of the chainring.

A chaintug on the drive side can sometimes help get the tension right. You can get them from On-one or Hubjub here

Anyway, back to trackstands (which, incidentally, I can't do). I'll get my coat and go back to Special Interests :oops:

coffeecup

I can trackstand my Dahon for what seems like ages, but the road bike is much harder

Practice makes perferct, but also pride comes before a fall!!!

Mike Healey

10 (or was it 9) year old Bella set a Kids Club record of 10 minutes (mtb) - would have been more but we got fed up of timing it.

Jokingly suggested she try doing it one-handed with her eyes closed - at least 1m 30s (!) -'orrible child!!!!

Last time she came (now 15) was doing it on balance point of seesaw - some kids just don't improve as they get older - 'orrible girl