Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - 180lbs and skidding.

Ok, so here's my question...

I see people all the time (videos, real life, whatevs..) that can sustain an emergency style skid until they come to a complete stop, while just barely lifting off the seat. Hardly any forward weight shift at all. For me, however, it seems impossible to achieve... I weigh ~180-185lbs, and I'm wondering if the weight of a bigger rider makes that kind of skidding even possible?

Oh, what am I saying, I'm a skipper anyway :D

I would think that more mass would equal easier skidding. Cause of the power to weight ratio of things... right?

Ok, so here's my question...

I see people all the time (videos, real life, whatevs..) that can sustain an emergency style skid until they come to a complete stop, while just barely lifting off the seat. Hardly any forward weight shift at all. For me, however, it seems impossible to achieve... I weigh ~180-185lbs, and I'm wondering if the weight of a bigger rider makes that kind of skidding even possible?

Oh, what am I saying, I'm a skipper anyway :D


Maybe your legs arent strong enough.

More mass easier skidding? I'm thinking more body weight = more weight over rear wheel = more friction... Maybe my legs aren't strong enough, but then again I push around 52-17 on my main bike, and I can't seem to skid like that no matter what the gearing is.

practice. there is no reason you shouldn't be able to skid right just cause you way a little more than me

Let me clarify.. I can skid fine.. what I can not do is the nearly seated, sustained skids. And also let me point out that I don't have the typical "cyclist body" (i.e. puny little arms / chest)... I surf a LOT, so my upper body has just as much mass as my lower.

it's sort of hard to describe, but if you use your lower body to lift the rear wheel up a bit, you can lock up the rear wheel without coming too far off the saddle. 52x17 is up around 80 gear inches i think, you might want to try something in the mid to low 70's as it makes things a bit more manageable while you get the technique down.

either get stronger or lower your gear

On my fancy tires (Vittoria Tecno Pros) I've broken into skids by accident, and have to be careful on wet pavement to not skid, but on my tank tires I'd have to try hard to skid, and never have with knobbies. On the Vittorias I can skid seated pretty easily at 225 pounds, and with great effort on the Continental 1000s. Both with a low 70s gear. Maybe tires make a difference, but they're different bikes, though not far off in geo or weight.

I don't think I've ever skidded more than 5 or so feet though, unless I was showing off, or once when taillights went off in front of me and I skidded 10 or more feet around a suddenly stopped car in the rain.

you need to get stronger.

that is it.

and surfing a LOT...








dude.

Start yer skid leaning WAY forward (nuts to the stem), then just shift slowly back. Hold it hard on the trailing leg and dig the stopping power magic.

it's sort of hard to describe, but if you use your lower body to lift the rear wheel up a bit, you can lock up the rear wheel without coming too far off the saddle. 52x17 is up around 80 gear inches i think, you might want to try something in the mid to low 70's as it makes things a bit more manageable while you get the technique down.

Thats true. Forgot to mention. If you want to skid in the saddle, just lift up the back wheel a little. Also, by mass, I meant like once you are pushing youe weight towards the front, even if you are seated, I would think it should be easier to get the back wheel up a little.

Am I not making any sense? Haha.

my set up is about 81 gear inches and Ive found its basically where you start the skid. I start with my feet just before 9 and 3 like Im going to skip and just hold it. you push down with the trailing leg and pull up with the forward leg pretty hard and just muslce it out. Im slightly out of shape now at 190 and a boxer/wrestler but I dont think upper body has all too much to do with it. lower gearing would def. make it easier.

That gearing seems pretty high for a long skid without really throwing your weight forward. The geometry of the bike also has a lot to do with it. Skidding on a true track bike is usually a lot easier than skidding on a conversion since the track geometry puts more weight over the front wheel even when sitting.

And boy does he have one hell of a track bike(s).

get a 1 to 1 ratio and call it a day. spin all day. skid all day.

And boy does he have one hell of a track bike(s).
Oh yeah, i guess i should have paid attention to the signature. forget what i said.

I'm 6'2 and 180, and I usually carry around 20 lbs worth of **** too. I'm running 50X16, and I can skid fine. It's definetely not easy peasy, but definetely not impossible. It's possible without leaning forward too, so I'm not really putting my garbage on the stem to unweight the wheel or anything.

Summary: For a given gear ratio and geometry, weight doesn't necessarily matter. What matters is your strength to weight ratio.