Road Cycling - How many of you can do a trackstand?

Being able to remain seated and on both pedals while the bike is stopped is a skill I've always wanted to learn. I'm far from being there yet. Can any of you do a trackstand? How long can you stay in this position? How long did it take you to master this? I'm curious if this is as tough for others to learn as it is for me.

wouldn't this question go better in the fixed gear forum? getting back on topic, i just started riding fixed a few weeks ago. i haven't quite gotten the trackstands down yet.

On a fixed gear bike or freewheel (normal)? On a fixie standing I'm not sure exactly but long enough, while sitting shorter but still enough. On a free wheel...maybe thirty seconds (just enough to screw myself up for the light change)

On a freewheel with just the right grade, about thirty seconds or less. On a fixed gear, standing or sitting, I can go several minutes or until a pretty babe happens to walk by. Now, I'm trying to learn trackstanding, no hands.

George

Being able to remain seated and on both pedals while the bike is stopped is a skill I've always wanted to learn. I'm far from being there yet. Can any of you do a trackstand? How long can you stay in this position? How long did it take you to master this? I'm curious if this is as tough for others to learn as it is for me.

Yes...I trackstand at most traffic lights. It's one of my few "mad" bike skills (going downhill fast being the other one :D).

Here are some tips:

1) Practice on a slight uphill. It's always easier trackstanding uphill than downhill.

2) Use the front brake only.

3) Crank your handlebars around, subtly lean to the inside, and lay the inside thigh up against the top tube. This creates a pretty stable "3-legged stool" effect.

4) "Hover" over the top tube with your weight somewhat forward. Use an up and down motion to correct. In fact, practice up and down.

5) If you're losing balance, feather the front brake, and allow the bike to move forward a couple of inches before locking it up again.

6) Did I mention...unclip while learning? :p

You probably will take a couple of spills while learning, but it's a fun skill, so keep after it.

I am trying to learn and quickly being able to balance longer and longer, but it is anything but a graceful trackstand

i can do it on all of my bikes. i learned on a freewheeled single speed road bike. on my track bike i can do it sitting-no hands indefinitely. on the road bike i can do it sitting down, but i usually just stand. i can probably do it until i get tired. it helps if you shift to an easy gear before you come to a stop so you can take off faster/easier/without blowing out your knees.

learning on a slight uphill helps a lot, and also learning how to distribute your weight evenly around the bike and learning to compensate quickly for small shifts that your body just makes sometimes on it's own. look out at the light or some point on the horizon to have a reference point. most importantly, reeeelllllllaaaaax and let your instincts take over and don't think about it. thinking about it leads to over-compensating. make small, smooth adjustments with your knees, elbows, shoulders, and hips oh, learn how to roll backwards too, even on level ground. it helps and baffles pedestrians and drivers alike.

i usually try to keep my body still and move the bike around (it's harder if you're "dancing" around over the bike, the more YOU move, the more you're going to have to move to compensate), which involves sometimes suddenly jerking the bike backward to get it back under me (i can also do full backwards circles on my track bike and usually half circles on my road bike).

oh oh!!! i usually try to brace the top tube against my right knee (that's usually on my track bike though).

On a freewheel with just the right grade, about thirty seconds or less. On a fixed gear, standing or sitting, I can go several minutes or until a pretty babe happens to walk by. Now, I'm trying to learn trackstanding, no hands.

George

For no-handed trackstands, it helps me to sit straight up and put most of my weight over the saddle. It suprised me that it is as easy as it was. Oh, also it seems to help to turn the handlebars further than you normally would.

CHris

For no-handed trackstands, it helps me to sit straight up and put most of my weight over the saddle. It suprised me that it is as easy as it was. Oh, also it seems to help to turn the handlebars further than you normally would.

CHrisAh....thanks for the tip! I've been trying to do it seated.

George

Ah....thanks for the tip! I've been trying to do it seated.

George

No, I believe it is easier to do seated. You have to force yourself to sit straight up though, which sort of feels un-natural (and maybe less secure as you are further from being able to save yourself).

Chris

No, I believe it is easier to do seated. You have to force yourself to sit straight up though, which sort of feels un-natural (and maybe less secure as you are further from being able to save yourself).

Chris


i usually have to have the handlebar-end resting on my knee to keep it from turning too far (if it turns too far, the bike goes out from under me and i fall down and go "boom").

Hmmmm...I disagree with the advice to stay seated. It seems a lot easier to me to make subtle weight shifts if my butt is off the seat. Plus, sitting straight up is hard to do on a standard road bike due to the reach required to get to the hoods.

I can do it on my huffy, but I can never seem to do it on my road bike during an actual ride. lately what I've been doing is just slowing down as I approach the light, until I'm riding REALLLLY slow, and this usually buys me time unless I just miss the light.

Hmmmm...I disagree with the advice to stay seated. It seems a lot easier to me to make subtle weight shifts if my butt is off the seat. Plus, sitting straight up is hard to do on a standard road bike due to the reach required to get to the hoods.

i think the "sit straight up" advice was for doing no-handed track stands. sitting down to learn them is probably not the best way to go. but once you get good at them, a little variation can spice things up...plus, sometimes you just get tired of standing, so you sit.

Road bike, easily through a traffic light. If the grade is slightly up I go seated, if flat or downslope, I am usually just off the saddle to english the bike.
Fixed, until I get tired, same with the trials bike.

I find trackstanding to be tiring for long lights. I use it when I know the stop will be short. And I usually clip back into a trackstand when I see the crossing light go yellow.

I have trackstanded for years on my road bikes, but on long lights just as Rev Chuck I use my leg to wait out the light with. When I see the cross light go yellow I do not go into a trackstand because I still have one foot clipped in, I just get the bike going with that one then reclip the other in place on the green.

I can do wicked trackstands on my mountain bike, decent on my roadie bike and I haven't tried, ironically enough, on my fixie yet.

oh, learn how to roll backwards too, even on level ground. it helps and baffles pedestrians and drivers alike.

This is definitely something I haven't heard of. How is this done?

I could do one on my old track bike but not at all on my road bike, maby 5 seconds. But I can balance on the back two legs of a chair for ever :p

I have a road bike and only trackstand on a slight grade while out of the saddle. One of these days I'll look to augment my skillset by learning the art of the seated track stand.

Chez, it sounds like you're trying to add to a resume by augmenting your skill set.

I think trackstands are easier with lose toe-clips, than with unclipped clipless. You can stand on your toes and shift your weight, but still get your feet to the ground if you feel the bike going.
A good practice is to do slow riding.

At least on a fixed, I find trackstanding a bit easier clipped in as opposed to my other fixed with platform pedals as I am not able to pull with the front leg.

This is definitely something I haven't heard of. How is this done?

you gotta kinda shift your weight backwards and let the bike roll underneath you...if you're on a slight incline, just relax the front foot a little and keep your weight over the bike, it'll roll back.

if you're on level ground, shift your weight back, and with your hands on the hoods, sort of start tilting your hands up...it's hard to describe, but you have to sort of put downward pressure with the heals of your palms and upward pressure with your knuckles to pull the bike back slowly...or you can just jerk it backward really fast and hope you don't make any mistakes.

it's hard to articulate. if you can trackstand, you can probably also rock back and forth, and from there it isn't too hard to figure out how to just roll backward. it <i>is</i> a lot easier on an incline though...

A sort of kind of but not quite a true trackstand, but it really irrates drivers when making left turns.

I've been praticing my trackstands lately, mostly cos it's too cold to ride outside and my workshop is too small to ride around :( I find no-handers are actually easier than standing up (certainly starting with one foot on the floor, as opposed to riding then stopping), does that make me weird?

I'll sometimes stop to talk to someone along the road and after talking for awhile they'll comment on my balance. It's at that point that I'll realize I've been trackstanding the whole time. Some good advice on learning in this thread. I'd say start on a slight hill and learn to roll the bike forward and backward. It helps to pick a fixed object about fifty feet away to focus on at first. But don't get stuck depending on that or else you won't be able to check out traffic and chicks while in a 'stand.

-s

where in the crank rotation are your feet? (ie. level with eachother or one down, one up)

usually i go with my left foot forward and a little higher than level (ideally). on a track bike sometimes you have to just take what you can get, which is where rolling backwards comes in handy...and doing a quick hop and spinning the rear wheel in place...

on my road bike, i'll usually keep pedalling as i'm coming to a stop to keep the freehub pawls engaged so i can balance a little better.

I'm not great at this - possibly trying too hard. Sometimes rolling up to traffic lights I can get a great balance at slow speed that, once stopped can be maintained for a few seconds but usually I have to unclip just as the light changes :rolleyes: .

My first attempt at this coincided with my early clipless days and resulted in a fall, over, off the road and down into a nettle filled ditch. Bike was still attached to and on top of rider, so any passing car would have just seen a bike and a pair of legs protruding from the hegderow. Still makes me laugh :)

Cheers,

Ed

where in the crank rotation are your feet? (ie. level with eachother or one down, one up)

Pretty close to level. If you're having a really hard time, try with your other foot forward. Some people favor one side over the other.