Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - I lost my virginity today!

Skidding virginity that is! Figured it was a good time as I never put the front brake lever back on after switching bars and stems this weekend. From what I could remember reading on learning how to skid I shifted my weight forward and kinda rested my thighs against the tops of my bars and then pushed back on my right leg just as the pedal was coming up from the 6 o'clock position. Wow! That seemed fairly easy. I did it a few more times and then tried it with a bit more speed. Almost got bucked from my bike twice. I guess I have to apply more pressure to lesson the bucking factor at speed. I'm also a bit leary of having all that weight up fron and being clipped in as I feel like I'm going to flip over and brake my collarbone. Any suggestions on skidding? How about inexpensive but good tires? Thanks!

Mmmmm....skidding cherry...

wait until tomorrow...you inner thigh will be sore. From skidding too

if you go back to riding gears, are you a born again skidding virgin?

if you go back to riding gears, are you a born again skidding virgin?

I don't think I'll go back to gears at all. But ya, born again skidding virgin sounds about right. BTW, I sent you an email in reply to your PM to me. Did ya get it?

So when I was riding tonight I tried really putting my weight forward. Hips on the handlebars sort of forward. Voila - skid. I've just been skipping for the last few weeks. Now I get it. It's going to take a while to get comfortable throwing so much weight forward, though.

Skidding virginity that is! Figured it was a good time as I never put the front brake lever back on after switching bars and stems this weekend. From what I could remember reading on learning how to skid I shifted my weight forward and kinda rested my thighs against the tops of my bars and then pushed back on my right leg just as the pedal was coming up from the 6 o'clock position. Wow! That seemed fairly easy. I did it a few more times and then tried it with a bit more speed. Almost got bucked from my bike twice. I guess I have to apply more pressure to lesson the bucking factor at speed. I'm also a bit leary of having all that weight up fron and being clipped in as I feel like I'm going to flip over and brake my collarbone. Any suggestions on skidding? How about inexpensive but good tires? Thanks!

1. speed up, preferably on a wet asphalpt 2. Lift your balls on your stem, stop pedalling and relax your legs whilst applying back pressure on your preferred leg. 3. Hey presto, skidding 101 completed!

What a good feeling. I just recently learned how to skid too since i've only been riding fixed for about a month. The first time i did it couldn't believe that it was so easy. I'm getting more and more comfortable really putting my thighs closer to my drops. I've found that really helps, but I still haven't tried really hauling ass and skidding.

I should have posted it when it happened. I recently (a month or so ago) took off my front brake. I had never really tried the skid thing. One evening on my way home, I was coming to an intersection and there were more cars there than usual. I figured that was about as good a time as any to learn how to skid. It worked great and now I'm thinking I need to rotate my tires. Furthermore, I got some great new bars the other day. Bullhorns with a 40 degree drop (http://www.syntace.com/02_produkte/detail.cfm?artid=360). They make it much easier to push my weight forward than the regular drop bars. I think I have about the same stopping distance that I had with a brake.

i havent figured out how to skip/skid yet, but it might have something to do with not having clips yet, or that im riding a road frame, not sure... it could even be my gear ratio maybe, its 16 in the back, and maybe 50 in the front, never got around to counting the teeth on the front ring

I'm running a road frame and 52x18. I spent an hour this afternoon on the wet streets having a blast getting more comfortable skidding. Those two factors shouldn't be, well, factors. Get yourself some clips!

...I still haven't tried really hauling ass and skidding.

yeah, you gotta power down when you hit the high rpm's. i tried to pull a skid when i was hauling ass a couple weeks ago and the momentum of the bike bucked me off. fortunately, no one but a couple of my friends saw me. got some nasty roadrash, tho.

is skipping any different than skidding? supposedly most people learn that first, is there a different way to skip, than to skid? i've gotten used to the whole fixed gear thing, but still can't seem to get over the stopping without the front brake part.

At least in my case, skipping was what I did before I learned to throw my weight forward.

throwing your weight forward is NOT a useful skid. it's a skidcomp skid, or a learners skid. it unweights the back wheel too much. the balls over the stem thing should be happening only for fun or in the learning stages, in my opinion.

in high rpm, skipping is very very importnat, and is very useful to power down too. it involves kicking up the back wheel (for lack of better term) freezing it and setting it back down. can cut your speed in half used properly.

learn to skip, for you, for your knees, for your tires.

now, who wants to have a skidcomp? :-D