Dismount?

on-yer-bike
on-yer-bike Posts: 2,974
edited April 2016 in Cyclocross
Step through or keep right foot behind left foot?
Pegoretti
Colnago
Cervelo
Campagnolo

Comments

  • trek_dan
    trek_dan Posts: 1,366
    I always try and do the 'foot behind' method if dismounting at high speed (run over hurdles for example) as it allows you to get straight into your stride and loose less speed. Usually step through if going up a hill or through a bog etc as it feels more natural to me particularly if shouldering the bike in one movement. But you don't want to take any advice from me because I'm rubbish :D:lol:
  • VamP
    VamP Posts: 674
    Basically it doesn't matter. Whatever you do, practice until you don't need to think about it anymore. Last thing you want to be doing is trying to remember if the foot goes through or behind when you're 15 feet from the barriers at 20mph.
  • Chris James
    Chris James Posts: 1,040
    I always do foot behind. Step through is faster for approaching barriers and the like but if your foot doesn't clip out then you risk a massive crash. The step behind introduces much more of a twist so unclipping is more reliable if your shoes are jammed with mud / twigs / cleats worn / whatever.
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    I generally do something that's a cross between the two. But like VamP says, the key is to practice it until you can do it automatically. If you commute on a bike with SPD-like pedals, you can keep your hand in over the Summer by doing proper mounts and dismounts every time you get on and off the bike...
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    Couple of years ago I thought I might have a go at cyclocross... so I practiced the dismount... twisted my ankle and spent the following months in pain every time I clipped and unclipped... decided cyclocross was not for me after all... :-(
    left the forum March 2023
  • Mach_6
    Mach_6 Posts: 24
    Step behind. Watch all the pros (men and women) and 99% are using step behind these days for every dismount in all conditions. Practice, practice, practice. Dismounts are easy, but a smooth remount seems to be a lot harder, especially getting rid of a stutter step.
  • VamP
    VamP Posts: 674
    Stutter step is an interesting little sub category. Everyone says it's bad, but is it?

    I learned to remount the standard way, and used it happily for a while, but then I broke two saddles in quick succession. I have since re-introduced the stutter step, and don't find it any slower. It just lets you ease onto the saddle that little bit more softly.

    The only downside to the stutter step I find is every once in a while some kindly soul offers to teach me to 'do it properly'.
  • devhads
    devhads Posts: 236
    I have since re-introduced the stutter step, and don't find it any slower

    It's certainly quicker then writhing on the floor in agony after a saddle/undercarriage interface.

    I worked hard on getting rid of mine, which meant I had to leap a bit higher which in turn increased the risk of the above painful episode. I've too gone back to having a stutter step and haven't noticed it being any slower but do not want to risk that pain again.

    In fact in one of the training sessions I do during the season the coach pulled me up on leaping too high. When I said if I didn't I had a stutter step, his opinion was 'so what' Other coaches will have the opposite opinion and try and coach it out of you. Like with the dismount, do what's comfortable for you and do it consistently.
  • VamP
    VamP Posts: 674
    We should patent it as the Ashwell remount!
  • devhads
    devhads Posts: 236
    VamP wrote:
    We should patent it as the Ashwell remount!

    Especially when all the pros are doing it!

    Another thing on remounts. I did a particularly muddy MTB XC race last week which involved several dismounts per lap. Initially I thought the remounts would be trickier but I actually found them easier. I reckon it's the shorter reach/higher bars so may experiment with remounting from the tops next season, as I usually do it from the hoods
  • VamP
    VamP Posts: 674
    I might be mis-reading this Dave but in my book the hoods and the tops are the same thing?
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    The tops are the horizontal bits of the bars either side of the stem clamp (ie the bits you hold for long climbs on a road bike). Go and watch some early Svenness videos :-)

    I almost always remount on the tops (the exception being a remount onto a steep descent). In training we practiced remounting on the drops, specifically for descents, but I'm not sure I've ever done it in a race.
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • VamP
    VamP Posts: 674
    Technique Monday! I do virtually everything from the hoods. I guess I'm a philistine.

    Edit: I thought the main purpose of the 'tops' was to connect the stem to the hoods.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    VamP wrote:
    Technique Monday! I do virtually everything from the hoods. I guess I'm a philistine.

    Edit: I thought the main purpose of the 'tops' was to connect the stem to the hoods.

    When I was training for Paris-Roubaix I forced myself to stay away from the hoods... seems a terrible place to put your hands on unstable terrain... very easy to lose the grip and end up with your teeth on the stem. They are good to go up the Alpe d'Huez and that's about it
    left the forum March 2023
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,823
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    When I was training for Paris-Roubaix I forced myself to stay away from the hoods... seems a terrible place to put your hands on unstable terrain... very easy to lose the grip and end up with your teeth on the stem. They are good to go up the Alpe d'Huez and that's about it
    I once rounded a corner straight into a steep and bumpy downhill section on the hoods. I could barely hold on as I was trying to scrub off speed. Terrain was greater than talent and I managed to fall off anyway, but it did feel like my hands were going to get bounced off the hoods.
    Kinesis Pro6
    Marin Nail Trail
    Cotic Solaris
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    Veronese68 wrote:
    I could barely hold on as I was trying to scrub off speed. Terrain was greater than talent and I managed to fall off anyway, but it did feel like my hands were going to get bounced off the hoods.
    If in doubt, *always* use the drops for descending; even on the road it's a good habit to get into.

    If you went back and watched VamP's snuff movie (the one from MK that went viral) I bet you'd find that even he was on the drops...
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,823
    TGOTB wrote:
    If in doubt, *always* use the drops for descending; even on the road it's a good habit to get into.

    If you went back and watched VamP's snuff movie (the one from MK that went viral) I bet you'd find that even he was on the drops...
    Annoyingly I knew that, just got caught out as I turned a corner and was suddenly going downhill rather too quickly. Probably not paying enough attention.
    I'll have to look for that video.
    Kinesis Pro6
    Marin Nail Trail
    Cotic Solaris
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    It's better to be on the drops with the ability to change to the hoods, than it is to be on the hoods without the ability to change to the drops...
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    It's a modern thing, as modern STIs look more and more like sofas. In the 80s the hoods were narrow and uncomfortable and nobody used them... maybe there was a point in that
    left the forum March 2023
  • VamP
    VamP Posts: 674
    I know the old school advice is drops for descents, but I really don't think it makes much difference.

    This is one of the most difficult descents on the circuit, and these two perhaps the best descenders in the business.

    http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/12/ ... der_391795

    I find I don't give it much thought in races, there are usually other things to worry about. I suspect I was on hoods during my 15 seconds of fame. Not that it would have made any difference had I been in the drops.

    Edit: that links takes you to pic 1 in the gallery, you want pic 4...

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