dogsridewith

On a track bike/street fixie, when you ride with one hand close to or overlapping the stem, which hand would that most often be? (Like when drinking from the waterbottle, adjusting the messenger bag, whatever.) Is the hand on the stem most likely to be your dominant hand? If there is a front brake lever, which side is it on? Is it positioned where it can be operated by the one hand at stem?

Please note if this has been covered in prior thread(s).

(I saw a track Madison race once....seemed like awesome skills, with fast pack intercepting slow riders and ejecting team mates out the back. I don't recall, but it seems like each of the pair would grip the bars with one hand near the stem during the pass. If we're both right handed, does the entering or leaving rider use the right hand in the handhold?)

Thanks...for any answer to any of the questions posed here.

reedreeder

it's usually my right hand that i'm using to do anything, so my left hand is still on the bars. if i ride with a brake, though, its on the right side. i guess that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, it just seems goofy any other way.

reptar douglass

front brakes have always been on the left for me..
but that's about all i can say though cause i don't use hand brakes on my fixed.
my ss has a hand brake on the left side, but i'm right handed.
i would try to stay clear of braking with one hand though.. especially if you're riding with track bars.

Boss Moniker

I run a TT lever on the right side that controls the front brake. If I adjust something I usually take my right (dominant) hand off the bars, but I typically don't move my left hand from its original position. This can mean in the drops, on the hood, or on the horns of bullhorns. Moving your weight backwards and rotating your wrist inwards can counteract the imbalance of forces resulting from removing your hand.

That said, I've only raced track once, and it wasn't a Madison type race, so I don't know how this would apply to tracks. Maybe this is helpful?

raster

I grab my bottle with my left hand, and the right hand stays where it was previous.

terrenceterrenc

as a motorcycle rider as well..i try not to confuse myself with braker levers so my right is always the front brake.

and beacuse of that i almost never take my right hand off the handlebar even when i am cycling. i guess it's jsut an ingrained habit.

come to think of it now.....no wonder my knogg and my rear light is located on the left fork leg and stay respectively.

cheers

neilG

In a Madison, racers are on the lower part of the track. The resting rider comes down and grabs the racer's right hand with his left and is slung in. The force is surprisingly great and you need to hang on kung-fu tight near the stem with your other hand.

djeddiebear

Once I was riding my motorcycle after a long time of inactivity, but ride my bike all the time. i accidently grabbed the clutch. Luckily no one was around. The next day, I bought a right hand lever for my bike.

terrenceterrenc

ooouch i can imagine that...thnak god it did not happen in a busy intersection.

cheers

NitroPye

This is also why I have my front brake on my fixed on the right. On my MTB I have it on the left but that is out of habit and because I have my rear on the right, and I prefer having my "main hand" do the control braking. My left hand is very clunky and just grabs. Kind of the same sensation I get if I was to take my left foot while driving (the clutch foot) and push the gas with it. Because the clutch foot is so used to a heavy clutch the soft gas pedal confuses it and I accelerate jerky.