Bad Cycling Technique??

fuzzynavel

I have been at this cycling lark since August and decided to really push myself on my hill sprints last night.
I got myself going up the hill and gradually accelerated until I was starting to tire....I then decided to try a neuromuscular sprint....this is when the problems sorted. I was pushing very hard but was finding it hard to get traction as my back wheel was lifting during my stroke.....Is this just bad technique?? How can I fix it??

softlad

WTF is a 'neuromuscular' sprint..???

cougie

Whatever it is - if your wheel is skipping simply put your weight back a bit, and maybe take some air out of your tyre if its too hard.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Too much weight over the front end of the bike.

Either you need to modify your position when sprinting, or your bike set up is not right for you.

andrewgturnbull

Hi there.

It wouldn't hurt to pedal a little smoother either - maybe use a lighter gear and spin a little faster?

Cheers, Andy

fuzzynavel

softlad wrote:

WTF is a 'neuromuscular' sprint..???

From what I understand it is an all out power effort which you should only be able to support for a few seconds at best..

fuzzynavel

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Too much weight over the front end of the bike.

Either you need to modify your position when sprinting, or your bike set up is not right for you.

I was leaning heavily over the front wheel but I was going uphill around 11% according to Garmin 705 in 50/15ish gearing. I think the bottom bracket may be on the way out as there was some strange clicking going on!

The bike setup may not be correct as I was never measured for the bike....Bought online with no assistance from professionals...just looked for a size that was about right and thought "what the hell" and bought it.
I have been pretty comfortable on 3-4 hour rides so I think I may have got lucky with my own setup..
I will try and lean backwards a bit more to shift the weight but I am worried that will encourage the front wheel to rise.....Guess I just need to practice more.
On the upside I have taken a minute off my 13.5 minute lap time in the space of a week... I'm now doing 6 laps in the time it took me to do 1 in November..
I still got owned by some guy on a black/Silver Storck in Edinburgh Bicycle Works kit....By the look of his calf muscles he has been doing this cycling thing a lot longer than me!!!

Baytt

fuzzynavel wrote:

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Too much weight over the front end of the bike.

Either you need to modify your position when sprinting, or your bike set up is not right for you.

I was leaning heavily over the front wheel but I was going uphill around 11% according to Garmin 705 in 50/15ish gearing. I think the bottom bracket may be on the way out as there was some strange clicking going on!

The bike setup may not be correct as I was never measured for the bike....Bought online with no assistance from professionals...just looked for a size that was about right and thought "what the hell" and bought it.
I have been pretty comfortable on 3-4 hour rides so I think I may have got lucky with my own setup..
I will try and lean backwards a bit more to shift the weight but I am worried that will encourage the front wheel to rise.....Guess I just need to practice more.
On the upside I have taken a minute off my 13.5 minute lap time in the space of a week... I'm now doing 6 laps in the time it took me to do 1 in November..
I still got owned by some guy on a black/Silver Storck in Edinburgh Bicycle Works kit....By the look of his calf muscles he has been doing this cycling thing a lot longer than me!!!

whats the route you take, the 13.5min one, just curious

andrewgturnbull

Baytt wrote:

fuzzynavel wrote:

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Too much weight over the front end of the bike.

Either you need to modify your position when sprinting, or your bike set up is not right for you.

I was leaning heavily over the front wheel but I was going uphill around 11% according to Garmin 705 in 50/15ish gearing. I think the bottom bracket may be on the way out as there was some strange clicking going on!

The bike setup may not be correct as I was never measured for the bike....Bought online with no assistance from professionals...just looked for a size that was about right and thought "what the hell" and bought it.
I have been pretty comfortable on 3-4 hour rides so I think I may have got lucky with my own setup..
I will try and lean backwards a bit more to shift the weight but I am worried that will encourage the front wheel to rise.....Guess I just need to practice more.
On the upside I have taken a minute off my 13.5 minute lap time in the space of a week... I'm now doing 6 laps in the time it took me to do 1 in November..
I still got owned by some guy on a black/Silver Storck in Edinburgh Bicycle Works kit....By the look of his calf muscles he has been doing this cycling thing a lot longer than me!!!

whats the route you take, the 13.5min one, just curious

Arthur's Seat?

fuzzynavel

andrewgturnbull wrote:

Baytt wrote:

fuzzynavel wrote:

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Too much weight over the front end of the bike.

Either you need to modify your position when sprinting, or your bike set up is not right for you.

I was leaning heavily over the front wheel but I was going uphill around 11% according to Garmin 705 in 50/15ish gearing. I think the bottom bracket may be on the way out as there was some strange clicking going on!

The bike setup may not be correct as I was never measured for the bike....Bought online with no assistance from professionals...just looked for a size that was about right and thought "what the hell" and bought it.
I have been pretty comfortable on 3-4 hour rides so I think I may have got lucky with my own setup..
I will try and lean backwards a bit more to shift the weight but I am worried that will encourage the front wheel to rise.....Guess I just need to practice more.
On the upside I have taken a minute off my 13.5 minute lap time in the space of a week... I'm now doing 6 laps in the time it took me to do 1 in November..
I still got owned by some guy on a black/Silver Storck in Edinburgh Bicycle Works kit....By the look of his calf muscles he has been doing this cycling thing a lot longer than me!!!

whats the route you take, the 13.5min one, just curious

Arthur's Seat?

Yup you guessed it.....fantastic training aid for hill repeats.

Have managed to get my time down a bit now.....can bang the first lap out in 11.5 minutes now with another 5 laps at around 12.5 minutes.......Amazing what you can do when you cycle a bit smarter.....I stopped crunching the big ring and changed to about 34/15 instead....Now I spin up the hill a bit easier....
The way I do it is if I get overtaken I try to look at what that person is doing that is different to what I am doing....Generally it is just about pushing a little harder and trusting that my legs will still work while in a bit of discomfort.