Viewing 23 posts - 41 through 63 (of 63 total)
  • I simply cannot trackstand
  • andyl
    Free Member

    what is this ‘chocolate foot’ thing? I thought that was what a guy in a video was saying.

    Trackstand
    Wheelie
    Manual…just a fraction of the skills I wish I could do but fail at 🙁

    I am going to find a quiet (soft) spot and practice them this winter though 8)

    bellys
    Free Member

    Not me but a lad I know http://vimeo.com/29925320

    jameso
    Full Member

    good link.

    All I was going to say is that if you can ride a bike, you can trackstand –

    You keep a bike balanced by steering into a fall, constantly. The line between the tyre contact patches is your centre line, and your C of G must stay balanced over it. Steering allows you to move the bike under your C of G, and keep it all aligned.
    So to trackstand, just keep the wheels still-ish and move your weight around, more of the opposite to rolling along balance (simplified yes, but you get the point) ie, stall the bike with the wheel turned a little to help the ‘rolling’ balance action, use the brakes, just keep your body weight centred and moving either side of the line that links the tyre contact patches. Just as you do when rolling along, but static.. easy )

    Like you, my instinct is to turn the handlebars away from my front foot, which I’m trying to change.

    not sure why, seems natural to me and it turns the bar / wheel in line with your hips, in the same way as you’d ride a corner, hips set up your position.

    thegiantbiker
    Free Member

    It’s pretty good fun and stops boredom at the traffic lights when commuting.

    Also it appeals to my inner show off.

    in terms of learning how to do it, it’s come naturally to me as long as I’ve been riding. However, I’d say to use the rear brake more than the front, as you want to rock the front wheel back and forwards to maintain balance.

    Superficial
    Free Member

    Ride trials for 6 years and you’ll get the hang of trackstands. I once did a track stand for 14 minutes. I was trying to watch a whole episode of the Simpsons but after 10mins the leg burn started getting to me. If I could alternate legs then it’d make it a lot easier. I use the front brake a lot more than the back brake.

    The advice in this thread is reasonable. Easiest way to learn is on a slight upwards slope. Turn your bars to the side (I turn mine away from my lead foot fwiw) and don’t use the brakes at all. For me (right foot forwards, bars pointing to the left) I do this:
    If I’m falling to the left, put more pedal pressure on. The bike will move forwards and because the wheel is turned, it’ll come under you, moving the ground contact patch to the left
    If I’m falling to the right, ease off pedal pressure and roll backwards – the opposite will occur

    Ie your main active movement is forward/ backwards, not side-to-side as you might imagine. I’m sure there are other correctional movements involved but the main movement should be forwards / backwards. The better you get, the more subtle these movements are. If you’re doing this on the flat then you have to use your brakes to hold you from going forwards and to do the opposite you can do a little roll back from pushing against the front brake.

    The guy in Bellys’ Vimeo video is doing it wrong IMHO. It seems to be working ok for him but it looks awkward and he’s having to do big adjustments – it doesn’t look stable.

    acidchunks
    Full Member

    Try dropping your saddle if you haven’t already. Gives much more room to manoeuvre the bike under you.

    This might not be the best approach, I find it helps having the saddle at normal height so i can lean the bike a bit and hold it there with my inner thigh.

    brakes
    Free Member

    I can trackstand well – 5 years of commuting to work with 20+ sets of traffic lights makes for very good practice.
    I don’t think there’s a hard and fast set of rules, but for me the key thing is to relax, especially your legs as they are what control the balance. I can pretty much be completely still, making slight adjustments of pressure on the pedals. you see people trying to trackstand by twisting the front wheel all over the place, stamping on the pedals and moving from side to side – they’re too tense. just reeellaaaax.
    the hardest thing to do is trackstand when pointing downhill on a freewheeled bike. you have to use the brake and pull back on the bars to adjust yourself – doesn’t look cool.

    DaveRambo
    Full Member

    I’m in the stand up, look forward, front wheel at a slight angle, use the front brake and relax camp.

    Superficial sums up what I do there ^^

    Keep pressure on the pedal and if you feel your balance going one way just release the front brake slightly and roll forward a touch, balance going the other then ease of the pedal pressure and it comes back.

    Standing allows you you move the bike beneath you – relaxing is key.

    I think track standing is an important skill – it means you can, if you need to, stop on a climb which gives you confidence at riding very slowly.

    uphillcursing
    Free Member

    See loads of fixie riders “sawing” back and forth at the lights in the City. Cool? not in the least as far as I am concerned.

    Want to see real balance and precision? Go enter a trials competition. You will see some things really to aspire to.

    Superficial
    Free Member

    See loads of fixie riders “sawing” back and forth at the lights in the City. Cool? not in the least as far as I am concerned.

    Yeah, it has to be said I don’t really understand why people think this is cool. I can do it at lights but I usually just feel like a bit of a tool. No one is impressed, and it wastes energy.

    wordnumb
    Free Member

    Aim yourself at the ground and miss.

    (DA)

    DaveRambo
    Full Member

    I don’t recall anyone saying it was ‘cool’.

    If you’re commuting and clipped in it allows you to get away from lights faster than cars so they are aware of you and you can ‘assert your presence’ or whatever you’re supposed to do.

    so it could be argued that it’s a skill that makes you safer on the road.

    fasthaggis
    Full Member

    I don’t recall anyone saying it was ‘cool’.

    I think it’s cool 😛

    brakes
    Free Member

    I think it’s cool.
    I’ve had people say ‘nice skills’ to me – was that just sarcasm?

    Either way, it’s not done to look cool:
    – it helps to relieve the boredom of sitting at the lights for a few minutes, if someone else is doing it at the same time even better – competition, especially if you try to put them off
    – it makes you quicker off the lights to get away from traffic
    – it makes pedestrians think more about when they cross
    – it uses up energy/ keeps your heart rate up
    – and above all, it’s fun

    HermanShake
    Free Member

    I was really frustrated at this too…then I got it! Others have explained the technique above, here’s my experience with it:

    I ride right foot forwards and find it easier to turn the front wheel 45 degrees or so to the right. I repeatedly went to a grass slope with a mate, it seemed to help to point the frame to 10 o’clock relative to the hill (if 12 is right up the hill) and then my front wheel would be about 12 o’clock pointing up the hill. Find a mellow hill, just enough to resist you. Flat pedals make a huge difference, when I tried to learn in spuds it was horrible and didn’t work!

    It’s easier with softer tyres as they roll less easily; trackstanding at lights with my road bike now makes doing the same with my MTB seem a lot simpler. Track bikes are easy once you are used to being nailed to the thing!

    It’s key to be comfortable with the short backwards roll (1/4 crank rotation)so you end up rocking as opposed to surging and rolling back. I find if the surface is quite flat I sometimes use the rear brake for pedal resistance, release and shove the bike backward to act as the rearward roll an uphill slope would give. As said the crown of the road is just enough in many situations.

    Try and fit in a little bit of practise regularly and you’ll build progressively until you get an ‘AHA!’ moment. You can do it, you just have to train your body to be subtle.

    Although not massively useful on the trail, I do feel I have a greater sensitivity in my bike control which is no bad thing. And it looks cool 8)

    I’m in a similar place with manuals. It feels near impossible but I know I’ll get there…one day. I did a brief 1 handed trackstand the other day, right knee pressing on the grip and right hand ready for a high 5 (uphill of course, with no-one looking).

    No one gave me a high 5 🙁

    fasthaggis
    Full Member

    I’ve had people say ‘nice skills’ to me – was that just sarcasm?

    Never had that,but a kid pushed me at some lights in Hackney ,but that’s Hackney kids for ya.
    He must have thought I was too cool for my own good 😀

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    As a confirmed mincer I’ve perfected the ‘roll up to an obstacle and pause whilst having a squint to see if it’s too tricky’ trackstand.

    It only lasts a second or two before I have to;

    1) keel over sideways ‘cos I can’t unclip in time.
    2) close my eyes and roll in
    or
    3) get off and walk

    You struck me as someone who doesn’t need to do this Tim when we rode on Sunday so I’d stick witrh attacking full tilt if I were you 😉

    cheers

    Luke

    No_discerning_taste
    Free Member

    brakes is right. It is so important to relax otherwise your movement are far too big and jerky. That is why it is easy to trackstand when you know you can do it as you are relaxed about it!

    timnwild
    Full Member

    Cheers Luke.

    I owe you a tube mate – join us on Sunday and I’ll pay you back.

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    not sure I can do this weekend – my son’s on a DofE walk and I’m not sure what time he needs picking up.

    dont’ worry about the tube.

    timnwild
    Full Member

    We normally bump into the DofE lot trudging about up there anyway – you could bring him a bacon sarnie.

    Thanks

    DaveRambo
    Full Member

    Ah – I didn’t say it wasn’t cool – just that no-one else had said it was and uphillcursing seemed to think we were saying that it was.

    It’s a skill that, like most other skills, needs practise to get right.

    Having skills is cool.

    brakes
    Free Member

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