I find it hard not to creep forward as the rear hub engages if my weight shifts to my front foot. Should I be trying to brake and roll backwards a little from this point?

I’ve watched a few vids, some say use brakes, some not.

Just to make it harder I use cleats 😆

good core strength is important for balance
so get on them sit-ups

i use the brakes as little as possible

I consider myself to be excellent at track stands! Try what you are doing using a harder gear, and also perhaps practice with low tyre pressure and with firm/no suspension. FWIW I use the front brake sometimes, but can do without now. Oh and practice on a slight uphill too!

Something has gone horribly, horribly wrong in Smarty’s picture… 😯

😥

you are not worng Fred practice uphill then you can use the resistance to help you balance. then get better at actually balancing by practicing.

Mummy I’m frightened…

😥

I got good at doing trackstands riding around central London as a courier. Sets of lights every 100m or so, in some places. Using SPDs, I din’t want to unclip and put a foot down, so I’d trackstand for as long as possible at every set where I had to stop.

The trick is to relax, and breath normally. Tensing up too much will make you start to wobble and then it’s all over. It’s about finding the right equilibrium, then holding it there. Takes time and practice, of course.

A slight incline helps (I use the camber of the road), and it’s better without having to use your brakes, as this will tense your forearm muscles up.

Dunno about others, but I’m only really any good with my front wheel turned to the right, as this was how I learned on our roads, with the camber going up to my right. I’d need a fair bit of practice to do it turned to the left.

Handy stuff there, I find myself stopping long before the line at lights and creeping forward v e r y s l o w l y to save unclipping. Saw a roadie balance for a full 1-2 mins, I was envious.

Sorry, that picture made me chuckle 😆

Like Elfin said it’s easierer on slight incline (uphill).
I find it easy stood up, right pedal forward with the bars turned to the right and the top tube resting against inside of right leg. I can do that all day but it all gets a bit wobbly if I sit back down in the saddle, just can’t get it right sitting down.

Yeah, using the camber of the road. As you get better you’ll be able to use any ‘camber’ however small, the wheel will settle in any little dip going.

If its a downhill you just lean back more and have to prepare to use the front brake a bit, I sometimes sort of ‘bounce’ off the brake if I want to get the front wheel to roll slightly backwards up the hill.

Elfin, you’re not alone, I can trackstand all day with the wheel turned to the right, I just do myself an injury if I point it the other way…

Pretty good at it sat down now, although there’s an element of ‘hovering’ going on. One handed occasionally, pretending to adjust my bag or scratch my back or something 😀

Biggish gear helps, turn front wheel to somewhere between 40 and 60 degrees, incline helps so that you’re using the front foot to balance along with the bars, stand up and remain steady but relaxed, use brake if necessary but better without
Riding a 4 mile commute with 23 sets of traffic lights for five years helps, and so does a fixed gear as you can deal better with downhills
I reckon I can trackstand indefinitely 8)

I liked the ability to move back and forth with a fix, my knees said no so I’m back on the gears.

I figure I need to commit a little time each ride (5-10 min each) to try and it’ll eventually happen.

Thanks for all the info, that’s an interesting point about having a ‘side’ for the front wheel. Does it correspond with your choc foot?

Note the smugness of that track stand.

you need to keep tension on the chain, best done on a slight uphill but when you get better you can use the camber of the road. Flat and especially downhill is very hard, you need to use brakes then obviously. Not too easy gear, turn bars weight forward, you arm on the outside of the turn should be locked. don’t look at your front wheel, don’t look too far forward. Front crank should be just above horizontal (10 or 2 oclock). Press on front pedal then rock back, it’ll take a while but you should get to the point where you can rock back and forth front crank going from 2oclock to 3oclock (10/9) and back. once you’ve got the rocking thing sorted more practice will get the rocking shorter and shorter til you are stationary just steady tension on the pedal/chain.

then you try it on a downhill with and audience and fall on your arse 🙂

Ha! Excellent monkey pic.

I actually get a bit self conscious track standing on my racing bike on the way to work. I can feel the collective mind of all the motorists behind me thinking ‘smug fakenger pr**k…”

My ex refers to it as “those annoying balancing lycra tw*ts” which I can’t help but laugh at 😀

I also can only do it to the right, maybe from riding track as a youngster. But i also ride downhills with my right foot forward so maybe this has something to do with it.