Road Cycling - Riding with no hands

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shardy53
09-22-06, 06:29 PM
Why is it easier for me to steer my old comfort bike with no hands, but my road bike and my mountain bike are much more unstable.

GuitarWizard
09-22-06, 06:31 PM
Probably because you're not really comfortable with the handling yet, or the dropouts are possibly out of alignment. When I first got my 5200 last year, the steering felt much quicker than my 2100, and appeared to be harder to ride with no hands. Now, it feels like anything else.
urbanknight
09-22-06, 06:32 PM
Comfort bike probably has a longer wheel base. Now that I am riding a bike with a shorter top tube, I can barely ride with no hands because it's squirrely. And it looks like it's going to get shorter since I toasted the fork and can only find one with a slightly smaller rake.

Basscycle
09-22-06, 06:35 PM
I think that you also have a higher center of gravity on your roadie. That definitely affects stability.
NoRacer
09-22-06, 07:01 PM
Make sure that you're sitting straight up, not leaning forward. Get your weight over the rear tire. Keep pedaling in a gear that has some tension to it.
twahl
09-22-06, 07:14 PM
Comfort bike has more relaxed geometry, it's inherently more stable.
merlinextraligh
09-22-06, 07:17 PM
All the above is true. Deep dish wheels can affect it too. Riding Zipp 404's no handed with a cross wind canbe alittle sketchy sometimes.
CrimsonKarter21
09-22-06, 08:19 PM
I cannot ride my Cannondale handless for the life of me. The first two seconds is a little scary, but then on the slightest imperfection in the road makes the bike automatically lurch in the most dangerous direction.
Dead Roman
09-22-06, 08:22 PM
No hands at 30mph is a heck of alot easier than no hands a 10mph.
munkyv22
09-22-06, 08:30 PM
I only ride no hands at safe speeds, 20Mph+.