Trackstands?!

hilza

I want to be able to trackstand to look cool at the lights and prove cyclists are mighty, is it possible/easy on a normal roadbike though? Obviously on a fixed gear you can rock the bike forwards and backwards but on a freewheel? I stumbled across this vid; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-6zEeepMNM and he seems to be not using fixed gears. Any tips?

Anonymous

Practice. Nowt but practice. Focus on a spot in the distance while you do it.

I always struggled until I broke my leg then I was magically able to do them for much longer. Although this is admittedly a slightly drastic measure.

It does make it much easier setting off again at lights.

markos1963

Push the cranks against the brakes works for me with a bit of side to side steering. Not completely at a stand but enough to look good( until I overbalanced once and had a 'clipless' right in front of a whole queue of traffic :oops: :oops: )

Percy Vera

Does it matter which leg you break?
I would hate to break the one that makes me unable to do track stands.

Bhima

Here's how I do it.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12618923

Practice makes perfect.

If you stand up like the guy in that video, it's easier if you aren't very good, but you're rocking about. Once you get really good, you can stay seated and do it almost motionlessly.

By the way, I just mastered a new technique which includes unclipping my right foot and using it to hold the front wheel in place. :shock:

oldwelshman

Bhima wrote:

Here's how I do it.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12618923

Practice makes perfect.

If you stand up like the guy in that video, it's easier if you aren't very good, but you're rocking about. Once you get really good, you can stay seated and do it almost motionlessly.

By the way, I just mastered a new technique which includes unclipping my right foot and using it to hold the front wheel in place. :shock:

I am sure this new trick will be very useful when you race this year

Bhima

Yeah, i'll be so far ahead in the sprints that I can trackstand my way over the line at 0.0000000001 km/h

hopper1

Bhima wrote:

By the way, I just mastered a new technique which includes unclipping my right foot and using it to hold the front wheel in place. :shock:

I've mastered my own 'technique'. This too, includes unclipping, (but I prefer my left foot) and using it to hold the bike in place!

skyd0g

hopper1 wrote:

Bhima wrote:

By the way, I just mastered a new technique which includes unclipping my right foot and using it to hold the front wheel in place. :shock:

I've mastered my own 'technique'. This too, includes unclipping, (but I prefer my left foot) and using it to hold the bike in place!

That sounds similar to the technique I use...
...unclip left foot, place left foot on ground, rock bike gently back & forth using right foot, with bars at a jaunty angle...

mididoctors

it's really easy and desperately uncool

it b'u'ggers your bottom bracket bearings/cups

surreyxc

I read a few guides but found this to be the easiest explanation, maybe it was the fact the girl was doing it no handed that drove to work at it. Trackstands are great, very useful and unlike a lot of other skills no risk of pain when learning them.
http://www.teamestrogen.com/content/asa_trackstand

surreyxc

brakes are not required nor a fixed gear

Dunk_911

hilza wrote:

I want to be able to trackstand to look cool at the lights and prove cyclists are mighty, is it possible/easy on a normal roadbike though? Obviously on a fixed gear you can rock the bike forwards and backwards but on a freewheel? I stumbled across this vid; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-6zEeepMNM and he seems to be not using fixed gears. Any tips?

I have a normal bike but I find its easier if you are on a hill and face the bikeat about 15 degrees off being directly up hill with the front wheel pointing pretty much directly up hill (like the sprinters do at the olympics). All else I do is push on the cranks when I feel myself roll backwards.

oldwelshman

mididoctors wrote:

it's really easy and desperately uncool

it b'u'ggers your bottom bracket bearings/cups

How would it do that, the stress on bearings on a track stand would be far less than crunching up a steep hill, or pedalling when cornerring.

parryman

front brake on, pressure on the leading foot.

standing is easier than sitting.

I learnt on a MTB on the road, then on the trails, then on a fixie now on a roadie.
fixie was the hardest to master IME.

themightyw

skyd0g wrote:

hopper1 wrote:

Bhima wrote:

By the way, I just mastered a new technique which includes unclipping my right foot and using it to hold the front wheel in place. :shock:

I've mastered my own 'technique'. This too, includes unclipping, (but I prefer my left foot) and using it to hold the bike in place!

That sounds similar to the technique I use...
...unclip left foot, place left foot on ground, rock bike gently back & forth using right foot, with bars at a jaunty angle...

That's nothing. I can do it one handed.

gaz545

hilza wrote:

I want to be able to trackstand to look cool at the lights and prove cyclists are mighty, is it possible/easy on a normal roadbike though? Obviously on a fixed gear you can rock the bike forwards and backwards but on a freewheel? I stumbled across this vid; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-6zEeepMNM and he seems to be not using fixed gears. Any tips?

The road is on a slight slope, that is how he does it.

greasedscotsman

Forget trackstands, far cooler to stay clipped in and lean against a handrail or lampost. Failing that, leaning up against a car. Drivers love it, sometime they give a friendly "toot" on the horn to show how much they like you doing it

Ollieda

oldwelshman wrote:

mididoctors wrote:

it's really easy and desperately uncool

it b'u'ggers your bottom bracket bearings/cups

How would it do that, the stress on bearings on a track stand would be far less than crunching up a steep hill, or pedalling when cornerring.

I could sort of understand an argument for bearings being crushed in one particular way, i.e. if you always trackstand with most of your weight on your right foot and pedal always in the same posistion.....but surely any bad that came from this wouldn't compare to say an out of the saddle hill climb as OWM suggests