burbankbiker

I'm so excited to get back to the US in a few days and convert my Surly Crosscheck to a fixie!! But I was wondering about something that's bugged me:

I can't trackstand. The 52cm frame and 700c tires don't give me the clearance to move the wheels without hiting my toes.

I can't imagine it making a huge difference but is there a chance that the fixie conversion might fix this? Or is there any way to fix this? Or should I not need to pivot the wheels that much to do a trackstand?

shishi

Left foot forward wheel turned left or right foot forward wheel turned right....

celephaiz

have you ever thought to turn the wheel the other way?

skanking biker

for some reason i have trouble trackstanding with my feet in the 3 and 9 o'clock positions, but i can trackstand at about 4 and 10---the reason i mention this is because it might take car of your toe overlap problem

onetwentyeight 

if you're kicking your tire when you track stand you have the wheel turned in the wrong direction.

Cynikal 

Also, don't keep you feet at 3 and 9 o'clock positions. Try 10 and 4.

carleton

On a related note, many conversions also include the use of a shorter crank arm (than one would use on a freewheel) to avoid pedal-strike when cornering. If you do that, it will also help with your toe overlap.

b-ride

this is true. also, shorter cranks, 170's at least, 165's are my preference. it also depends on how much clearance you have between your downtube and your tire. generally on older bikes there's lots of clearance and no toe rubbing. most track frames have much tighter geometry so you have to watch your toes.

all that being said, practice, practice, practice! just keep doing it. all the time. everytime you stop. soon it'll be come second nature and you won't want to NOT trackstand. i'm pretty sure i could go the whole day (if i didn't have to stop to drop and pick trips) without putting my foot down.

na975

baby steps.

eyefloater

Turn your wheel further to the side. Ya, I know it's already turned. Turn it "too" much. It'll make the side-to-side balancing motion easier and give you a bigger sweet spot.

Edit: If that doest work, go watch A Sunday in Hell.

jacobpriest

the question isnt can i, its may i

youth

actually being that the op isn't exactly asking for permission to do it so much as they are asking if they are able to, "can" would be grammatically correct in this situation. PWNED

edit: ps: i rode for about eight months before i learned to trackstand. i was forced to learn when i started mess'ing... sort of like being forced to learn to parallel park when you move to the city. it's just a necessity. anyway

kalani79

sarcasm!

brunning

the other bike may make a little bit of a difference, but it's really just about practicing all the time.

it took me a while before i could comfortably trackstand any fixed bike on any terrain with my feet and the wheel in a variety of positions.

now i can trackstand when riding freewheels and driving cars. i can trackstand a freaking car.

Boss Moniker

Yeah, not bad.. but try trackstanding a double-clutch semi. That's where the real fun starts.

jjvw

You don't trackstand on a bike. The bike trackstands you!

Seriously though, it took me far too many weeks before I could figure it out after I built my first conversion. Although the first time I rode a track bike I was able to do it right away. Maybe its easier on a shorter wheelbase, or with a steeper fork.

jjvw

Oh yeah. Turn the wheel into your lead foot. Your lead foot should be nowhere near the front wheel.

shishi

That is what I said...he's got the wheel turned the wrong way.

abeyance

This is funny. I've been trackstanding for 5+ years, and i HAVE BEEN DOING IT WRONG THE WHOLE TIME. But it works for me....oh well...

vomitron

come out to glendale and you can watch me track stand for days.

Fugazi Dave

Heh....I'd need about 135mm cranks to avoid toeverlap...

Schiek

Friends don't let friends trackstand.

pitboss

Return of the Schiek...

Learn_not2burn

OT, but so true:

as someone said before:
1 guy doing a trackstand at light- sorta cool.
2 guys trackstanding next to each other a light - not so cool.

pitboss

why is it not cool? is there some law that all the new kids get to make up and decide what is cool or not and then next summer they can all go buy two-stroke scooters and WWI flight googles and find scooter-esque fashionable rules to impose upon others because they suck at life?

stop talking about what people should and shouldn't do to be cool on a track bike. get your bike, and go ride it the way you want. stop treating it like a fashion accessory.