recursive

My back wheel seems to have a habit of bouncing around in sprints. I think this is because it is happy and excited. How can I crush the spirit of the wheel so that it will behave properly?

Is it a jerky pedal stroke? Poor weight distribution? Something else? Impossible to say?

alraicercsu

poor weight distribution. Get your weight right above the BB and use your hamstrings more.

botto 

bingo.

too much weight on the front end of the bike.

MDcatV

+1. practice form sprints - sprinting in a lower gear than normal with a focus on form with high leg speed. can be incorporated into just about any workout.

TheKillerPenguin

Get your upper body down and your head towards the stem, this'll make you more aero and push your weight back a bit. It'll also allow you to use more of your leg muscles.

Voodoo76

Elbows bent and out (think wide). Back of wrists flat (not cupped). Then pick your butt straight up off the seat. You will be in a good leverage and weight dist. position.

DrWJODonnell

Get a heavier back wheel.



Seriously, what other people have said.

curiouskid55

When you get up, get up not forward.

trekking_TW

I have the opposite problem. My front wheel comes off the ground with happy bounces.

ivegotabike

i have both problems, when i sprint i fly.

ri_us

I know a good drill to help you with finding your position:
Using a very large gear (53x15) practice riding out of the saddle very slowly. Start by standing on the pedals, with hands in the drops. Lean back so you have to pull on the handlebars, then lean forward so you have to push on them. In between you will find a sweetspot, where you don't have any weight on your handlebars, and you are perfectly balanced. That is where you sprint.

El Diablo Rojo

I had this problem too, I cured it by doing sprints on my rollers. This forced me to keep my weight back and it brought my power up as well.

jrennie

^^^^^^^^^
I would so wind up on the ground trying to sprint on rollers

HMF

*bump on a several year old thread*

Good find. I've been having this same problem and I suspected it was due to weight dist. Any other pointers for increasing power? EDIT: for example, I pull up on the pedals as hard as I can in addition to pushing down. Is that good/bad for traction or form?

PS Look at me use the search function!

Dean V

Fill the rear tyre with water

Beaker

Maybe avoid having that pre-race BM after all?

Allegheny Jet

Keep in mind in sprinting you are riding as fast as you can, not as hard as you can. I’ll use an analogy from sprinting in track and field. After the guys run the 100 meter dash and they are interviewed have you ever heard then say “I didn’t run hard enough”? They always speak of starting correctly to get into running position, concentrating on form and finishing out strongly. From my T & F experience in order to run fast you need to run faster and not as hard as you can. The trick is to practice form sprints, get stronger and be able maintain form and strength to the highest % of maximum all out effort. Sprinting too close to maximum all out effort results in breakdowns in form and loss of speed. The same is true in cycling.

waterrockets 

Note that while weight distribution can keep the wheel on the ground, that's just curing the symptom. The real problem is an inefficient stroke.

Why does the wheel come off the ground? Because you're jumping and your body's inertia is bringing it up. This happens because you are still pushing down at the bottom of the stroke, and since the pedal can't go down any more, your body goes up. That's a waste of energy (jumping a couple inches with every pedal stroke), and a portion of your pedal rotation is going to be pushing a wheel that's in the air, so your next stroke is missing a bit of depth.

You don't have to keep your weight back to keep your wheel on the ground:
[img]hhttps://farm4.static.flickr.com/3634/3312831303_bb8746de90.jpg[/img]