Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Skid Stop

I've got my fixie for couple weeks lately. and like when i try to skid i cant seem to lock up my legs so it can skid my gear ratio is 48x16 any help

you're ratio's kinda high for a beginner i suppose but not so much that you shouldnt be able to lock it up unless your tiny. are you putting all your weight over the front wheel, balls to stem?

whats a good ratio for a beginner? and yes my balls are to the stem but when i push it back my legs still pedal like it slows down but doesnt skid.

play around with this: http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/
and try to find something as close to 70 gear inches as you can get IMO
if you're riding brakeless, than its best if you have a gear ratio that cant be simplified (i.e. 46/17) so you have enough skid patches to not wear your tire out too quick.
as long as you get the weight up front and lock up your rear leg, which should be your strong leg, than you should get it. it takes a little bit of practice. and a little speed makes it easier as well

play around with this: http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/
and try to find something as close to 70 gear inches as you can get IMO
if you're riding brakeless, than its best if you have a gear ratio that cant be simplified (i.e. 46/17) so you have enough skid patches to not wear your tire out too quick.
as long as you get the weight up front and lock up your rear leg, which should be your strong leg, than you should get it. it takes a little bit of practice. and a little speed makes it easier as well

how do i work this i dont really get most of what it wants for me to ask. but can you recommend a good ratio for a noob for fixies

46 up front, 17 in back. you get 17 skid patches and 71 gear inches. great place to start.

46 up front, 17 in back. you get 17 skid patches and 71 gear inches. great place to start.
alright look my crank is 48t whats a good cog t for it? to make it beginner friendly

if you're sticking with your 48t chain ring, put an 18t cog in back and have fun eating up your tire. thats 70 gear inches by the way. or put a 19t cog on for more skid patches and even lower gear inches (66) but if you keep riding fixed you'll grow out of a gearing that low pretty fast.

if you're sticking with your 48t chain ring, put an 18t cog in back and have fun eating up your tire. thats 70 gear inches by the way. or put a 19t cog on for more skid patches and even lower gear inches (66) but if you keep riding fixed you'll grow out of a gearing that low pretty fast.
not to sound stupid is it bad to get more skid patches? since i already have a 16 cog and 48 t crank its either cause i want a easy ratio to skid in

more skid patches is good. less is bad. if you have less it basically means that every time you skid you're going to be skidding on the same part of your tire and you're going to wear through it faster.

I don't get it, can't you just remove the tire and turn it a bit and remount it every so often depending on how much you ride?

more skid patches is good. less is bad. if you have less it basically means that every time you skid you're going to be skidding on the same part of your tire and you're going to wear through it faster.

in your opininon waht would be better? 48/18 or 46/17

That isn't the only reason.. it makes skidding much more difficult when there are less patches.

W: just do 46/17

yeah but thats a pain in the ass when you could just buy a new cog for 10 bucks.

in your opininon waht would be better? 48/18 or 46/17
46/17. thats why it was my first suggestion.

What's the most common gearing fixies use? also track riders?

who knows. i just know what i like from experimenting with different combinations. it depends on where you ride, how you ride, etc.

EDIT: but i have no idea if theres a common gearing among track racers. i dont ride track.

What's the most common gearing fixies use? also track riders?

I've been told track riders have 50+ teeth for chainring and about 13,14-tooth cog?
Either way, its insane gearing!

46/17. thats why it was my first suggestion.
This is the gearing I'm using currently, and it's a good all around gear, and skidding with it is not that difficult.
wedoboop, if you're willing to, you should try out that gearing.
Also remember to lean over the handlebars a bit.

I've been told track riders have 50+ teeth for chainring and about 13,14-tooth cog?
Either way, its insane gearing!

haha, id like to see someone pushing that in sf. although i suppose it would be quite a fun downhill gearing.

Over handlebar skids are pretty useless once you learn the professional way.. ha professional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDThbgvMQZI

Like this.

Yeah ... seated skids. I am still working on that, I still have to lift my bottoms alittle.

I don't get it, can't you just remove the tire and turn it a bit and remount it every so often depending on how much you ride?

You are crazy. Just "move" (rotate) the entire wheel. Much easier than REMOVING THE TIRE.

Odds are you would have done this anyway when you removed the tire.... unless you reset the hub in the exact same rotation you found it.

yeah i find it hard for me to push back and skid with my ratio of 48/16

whats a good cheap chainring with 47 t ? but good chainring

I can do seated skids but it's dangerous on the roads in my neighborhood, my tires stick to the pavement like glue.

haha, id like to see someone pushing that in sf. although i suppose it would be quite a fun downhill gearing.

no one rides that kind of gear on the streets. Track racers have that kind of gear because they're riding on the track, where that kind of gearing makes sense.

you're ratio's kinda high for a beginner i suppose but not so much that you shouldnt be able to lock it up unless your tiny. are you putting all your weight over the front wheel, balls to stem?

Thats not going to help you stop.
Your gear ratio is fine. The best advice is to just keep practicing. You'll eventually get it. You have to unweight the rear wheel....not by much, and just for a split second to initiate the skid. If you are able to lift your rear wheel off the ground while riding (sort of like bunnyhopping the rear wheel a tiny bit), then you can easily learn to skidstop. Putting your balls to the stem is not the way to do it if your intension is to stop.

+1 for above, you can lean a lot further forward than you think

I learned to skid using 48/16, go out when the roads are wet, or get the hosepipe out :P, I found the wet tarmac helps you to learn what to do better

Thats not going to help you stop.
Your gear ratio is fine. The best advice is to just keep practicing. You'll eventually get it. You have to unweight the rear wheel....not by much, and just for a split second to initiate the skid. If you are able to lift your rear wheel off the ground while riding (sort of like bunnyhopping the rear wheel a tiny bit), then you can easily learn to skidstop. Putting your balls to the stem is not the way to do it if your intension is to stop.

what do you mean by unweight the rear wwheel?

He means put your weight to the front to take the weight off the back wheel.

what do you mean by unweight the rear wwheel?

With a 70+ gear ratio, you aren't strong enough to lock the rear wheel with all your body weight on it. You have to temporarily remove weight from it, either by leaning forward, or some other type of body finesse to initiate the skid. A good cyclist should be able to temporarily hop the rear wheel from the ground, even without leaning forward much....sort of like a tiny bunnyhop of the rear wheel only. Once you can do that in a seated or near-seated position, you do basically the same thing to initiate a skid, but you don't actually have to pull the wheel completely off the ground.
Once the skid is initiated, the friction coefficient decreases, so it is easier to maintain the skid once your weight falls back onto the rear wheel.

In a skip stop you do this repeatedly in cycles....unweight-shortskid-unweight-skid-unweight-skid-----etc.
Its very easy learn to do this seated, or standing with ass above the saddle, but it takes a lot of strength, practice (and a lower gear) to really hold a seated skid.
If you just want to skid continuously, then just shift your weight as forward as possible (nuts-to-stem) to keep weight off the rear wheel. But thats not going to help you stop.

Edit: this all comes to me as second nature, and I don't think much about how its done. But I think I use the upward momentum of the crank during the backstroke by pressing against it (sort of like a spring) to help temporarily unweight the rear wheel without even having to leave the saddle. I'll think about this a bit as go out for a ride later today.

not to sound stupid is it bad to get more skid patches? since i already have a 16 cog and 48 t crank its either cause i want a easy ratio to skid in

Too late. You posted on an internet forum asking about "skid stops".

Too late. You posted on an internet forum asking about "skid stops".

Hurrrrrr

@mihlbach (http://www.bikeforums.net/../member.php?44824-mihlbach) if you dont mind asking , its harder to skid on 70+ do you think a 18t cog will go good with my 48 chainring? to make it easier to skid in? and i'll try to put all my weight on the front today . Also how do you bunny hop on rear wheels i would love to know if its easier for me to skid with the ratio i have now

if you keep the 48 chain ring the 18 cog gives you only a few skid patches, go for the 19 cog (19 skid patches).

Man I wish people could use the search function, doing little seated skids (baby skids) are different that balls to stem skids, baby skids slow you down/ balls to stem skids look cool

if you keep the 48 chain ring the 18 cog gives you only a few skid patches, go for the 19 cog (19 skid patches).

ok i'll switch my cog out next week i'm gonna try to do this with my current raitio hopefully my skids will work D:

like i try to skid but the rear keeps pushing me to pedal

@mihlbach (http://www.bikeforums.net/../member.php?44824-mihlbach) if you dont mind asking , its harder to skid on 70+ do you think a 18t cog will go good with my 48 chainring? to make it easier to skid in? and i'll try to put all my weight on the front today . Also how do you bunny hop on rear wheels i would love to know if its easier for me to skid with the ratio i have now


If you haven't really developed the skills, changing your gear ratio isn't going to change anything. Keep riding....you'll get it eventually even if you don't focus on it. It just comes with the territory.

Yeah, you'll be suprised how much riding helps this kind of stuff (skids, track stands, etc.) even if you don't practice all of the time riding alone will help you with it. Besides, skid stops are far overrated, they eat away your tires and all for the sake of looking cool, and trust me if you aren't even able to do it then it doesn't look cool. Just get a front brake and learn to use it. I'll admit skidding is sometimes fun but I rarely do it because I don't want to go through the trouble of buy and changing a rear tire all of the time.

Yeah, you'll be suprised how much riding helps this kind of stuff (skids, track stands, etc.) even if you don't practice all of the time riding alone will help you with it. Besides, skid stops are far overrated, they eat away your tires and all for the sake of looking cool, and trust me if you aren't even able to do it then it doesn't look cool. Just get a front brake and learn to use it. I'll admit skidding is sometimes fun but I rarely do it because I don't want to go through the trouble of buy and changing a rear tire all of the time.
I skid when its wet or through leaves, its fun and less damage to your tire.
I ride with a brake, cause no matter how good I get at skid stops my caliper will always stop me faster

I skid when its wet or through leaves, its fun and less damage to your tire.
I ride with a brake, cause no matter how good I get at skid stops my caliper will always stop me faster

Yes, I do this sometimes for fun, I actually live behind a car wash and the pavement is really smooth and every now and then I'll go back and ride around the back part where the pavement is wet. But yeah, I have a front brake and use it pretty much everytime I stop.

Yeah, you'll be suprised how much riding helps this kind of stuff (skids, track stands, etc.) even if you don't practice all of the time riding alone will help you with it. Besides, skid stops are far overrated, they eat away your tires and all for the sake of looking cool, and trust me if you aren't even able to do it then it doesn't look cool. Just get a front brake and learn to use it. I'll admit skidding is sometimes fun but I rarely do it because I don't want to go through the trouble of buy and changing a rear tire all of the time.

Oh I dunno. I have pretty much skid-stop to halt and go straight to track-stand anytime I want (my new trick!). I use a little bit of skip so I can keep balance at super low speed. I am no good, but I can come to dead-stop as fast as any braked bikes. ... You just need more practice.

And, what's wrong with trying to look cool? It's a good portion of fun in anything. Besides, tires will last few months and it isn't much of trouble to replace tires. ... I am donning a white tire next time around to look even more cooler. My rear wheel is white you see? :innocent:

I didn't say you couldn't stop efficiently without a brake, but you can stop more efficiently with one, rendering the need to skid stop useless, except for fun and coolness factor.

I am no good, but I can come to dead-stop as fast as any braked bikes...

Dammit... my bull**** meter just exploded again.

I am no good, but I can come to dead-stop as fast as any braked bikes.

If you've taken calculus, surely you've taken physics... ;)

If you've taken calculus, surely you've taken physics... ;)

Physics...

Braking 101 (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?473376-Braking-101-a-public-service-message-from-your-Uncle-Sixty)

Dammit... my bull**** meter just exploded again.


oh, fffff
http://a.deviantart.net/avatars/e/x/explodingheadplz.gif

Someone needs to do a video of a brakeless hipster doing a skid stop alongside a normal sane human being using just a front brake, and see who stops in the shortest distance. Then, maybe we can stop hearing all this nonsense being repeated over and over and over and.............

On flat ground I never really need to use a brake or skid..

Oh I dunno. I have pretty much skid-stop to halt and go straight to track-stand anytime I want (my new trick!). I use a little bit of skip so I can keep balance at super low speed. I am no good, but I can come to dead-stop as fast as any braked bikes. ... You just need more practice.

And, what's wrong with trying to look cool? It's a good portion of fun in anything. Besides, tires will last few months and it isn't much of trouble to replace tires. ... I am donning a white tire next time around to look even more cooler. My rear wheel is white you see? :innocent:

Sounds like someones never used properly adjusted brakes. its not even comparable I don't care how many people say they can stop just as fast as someone with brakes (even just a front) its not true, you can stop your bike so fast you can actually send yourself flying over the handlebars if you are so inclined, until someone can do that on a fixie nothing will change my mind