General Cycling Discussion - how does one not unclick when stopping and stay upright.

\i have been seeing so many cyclist remain clicked in, apply the brakes, apply pressure to the pedals and keep the bike upright at stop lights. a skill i'd love to conquer. i have tried it. looks easy. i fall on my kiester, the few times i tried it in parking lots. sometimes i hate unclicking at stop lights. think that some of the reason some cyclists run thru red lights. interfers with the rythmn of cycling?. it would seem its' just a matter of balancing weight over the center of the bike while stopped. i can't find the it's center, then. never would try this technique in traffic, unless i am totally comfortable with it. but, then i've seen some not totally stop and attempt 'california stops,' at stop lites. that's not cool in my book.

Practice, practice, practice! Well, that's how I learned how to do it (sort of).

Easy on a fixed gear, not so much riding free. I can do it on my s/s (while I'm bragging about a pretty useless talent, I can do it one handed and sitting as well), as long as the intersection isn't sloping down away from me. Practice where you can point the bike on a slight incline. Peddle slowly, stop, balance and then let the bike roll back a little, peddle a touch forward, try again. I found it easy, but then I'd been doing it an a fixed gear and had the balance part figured out. Oh yeah, I found it way easier to do on a freewhell at first by standing with my feet at the 3-9 positions bar turned to the left with left foot forward.

It's called a trackstand.

I never do it without unclipping at least one foot (anymore :( ), especially not when in a position where I could land with my head in front of a car if I do fall.

You basically have to learn to make tiny adjustments in your center of gravity to correct if you start to lean one way or the other. To practice, find a slight incline and practice riding up it as slowly as possible. You'll find that it's pretty natural if you start to go too far one way or the other to turn your front tire to compensate or pedal a fraction of stroke to get back a tiny bit of speed. As you get better you'll find it possible to come to a complete stop for increasing lengths of time.

Good luck! It's kind of fun when you get a good stand and you know people are watching.

agree looks pretty cool as long as you don't tumble into your car.

Easy on a fixed gear, not so much riding free. I can do it on my s/s (while I'm bragging about a pretty useless talent, I can do it one handed and sitting as well), as long as the intersection isn't sloping down away from me. Practice where you can point the bike on a slight incline. Peddle slowly, stop, balance and then let the bike roll back a little, peddle a touch forward, try again. I found it easy, but then I'd been doing it an a fixed gear and had the balance part figured out. Oh yeah, I found it way easier to do on a freewhell at first by standing with my feet at the 3-9 positions bar turned to the left with left foot forward.

It's pretty easy to learn how on a mountain bike too. Hold the brake tight and put pressure on your dominate foot (mine is on the left) on a slight incline. Usually the crown of the road is enough. If the pressure in your tires is low, like 45 psi, it helps.

I would look at every redlight as an opportunity to practice. I would roll up to the stop at slower and slower speeds, until speed = 0. If you're on a geared bike, use the front brake to push up against and ratchet the pedals. If you're on a fixed gear, you can rock back and forth slightly. It's just a matter of practice.

Hold the brake tight and put pressure on your dominate foot

This is the key. I can trackstand for fairly long periods, and I rarely find the need to unclip at a stop light, stop sign, etc. The way to do it is to firmly hold the brakes, while putting constant forward pressure on one of the pedals. The reason this is so important is that it allows you to "bale out" with a small burst of forward momentum on an instant's notice. With your foot already pressing forward on the pedal, all you have to do is a very quick momentary release of the brake levers and you'll lurch forward a little, which with practice is all you need to regain your balance. One way to practice, although it's not really a trackstand, is to pedal ridiculously slow, moving around at such a slow speed that it improves your balancing skills. Just keep the pedals turning constantly, albeit very, very, slowly, and also help limit your forward momentum with the brake levers . You'll soon find yourself inching around, barely moving forward, and soon it will be quite easy to bring yourself to a complete stop and keep still as described above...........I started practicing trackstands years ago to improve my mountain biking skills, and now I can do this on any bike I ride, road or mountain-

Easy to practice if you have a slight slope. Most roads have a crown on them, so as you slow down, steer towards the uphill side (left) and gently apply your brakes. The brakes allow you to apply pressure on the pedal and not move. Doing so allows you to lean one way or the other to maintain balance. If you find yourself leaning left, apply pressure to the pedals and lean right. If you find yourself leaning right, apply pressure and lean left.

With practice, you need less and less braking and pedal pressure. Eventually you can use the slope of the road itself. Apply a little pressure to roll up the slope and lean left. Release a little pressure to roll backwards and lean right. No brakes needed. :)

Easy to practice if you have a slight slope. Most roads have a crown on them, so as you slow down, steer towards the uphill side (left) and gently apply your brakes. The brakes allow you to apply pressure on the pedal and not move. Doing so allows you to lean one way or the other to maintain balance. If you find yourself leaning left, apply pressure to the pedals and lean right. If you find yourself leaning right, apply pressure and lean left.

With practice, you need less and less braking and pedal pressure. Eventually you can use the slope of the road itself. Apply a little pressure to roll up the slope and lean left. Release a little pressure to roll backwards and lean right. No brakes needed. :)

I agree with the idea of letting the terrain help you (crown of the road, etc.), but in doing it the way I described above you can trackstand with the bike pointing straight downhill if need be-

When you ride almost every day, you pick up skills, weather they be usefull or useless, without even realizing it. Trackstanding sometimes is one of them.

Skills? Who needs skills.

I prefer training wheels.

Al

I can usually do a trackstand on my hybrid until just before the light turns from red to green. Sticking my toe to the ground seems to signal the light to change. Can't do a trackstand at all on my recumbent. (Put both feet on the ground, sit back, relax.)

Practice, practice, practice! .
everone is different practice is the only way a mtn bike is easer than a road,