So I've been riding fixed for a very short time now, but I'm working on the finer points of trackstanding, ect. One thing that I've found impossible thus far, is skipping, or skiding. I've read the tips, but I really have no conception of what it means to "unweight" the rear wheel.

Any advice would be totally appreciated, in the minute-est detail you can think of.

Any other tips for a noob fixed rider would be cool too. Thanks!

-Steve

(PS I ride a 1983 Eddy Merckx Track bike. I think its pretty sweet! )

i'm sure others will have better tips, but the most helpful thing someone told me was to hump my stem and pull up with my front foot instead of pushing down with my back. of course, you will need clipless pedals or toe clips to do this. i can now skid anytime i have the desire, which is never. i think its very hard on my bike and components

ballz2stem, and lock the pedals up like you got no choice, just do it

Try it on grass, gravel or wet pavement when you're first getting it figured out.

Skips and skids are done differently.

Skid stopping for beginners: cinch up your toe straps tight, lean forward to the stem, stiffen up your back leg and push down while pulling up with the front leg. In time, you'll develop the muscle and technique and be able to do these sitting down.

Skip stops: get off your bike. Have one foot in front of the other and try to jump 6 inches forward without bending your knees. This is the same motion you use to unweight the rear wheel / "skip" while the pedals are at 3 and 9 o clock. Learn it with both feet forward, than learn it with your feet at different positions than 3 and 9 o clock.

What is skidding hard on besides the back tire and (maybe) the chain?

the whole back wheel, not just the tire. puts a lot of stress on the hub and cog.

Summerslam in 12 hours, 28 minutes.

also hard on tha straps

Skipping: Do what andre nickatina said. That advice is genius. To finish, once on the bike, try this jump, and then as soon as you've jumped, pull back like crazy with your front foot. You're trying to keep the pedals from turning and thus the wheel from spinning once you land. That friction of the wheel sliding (or spinning backwards if you are strong/have a funny gear) is what slows you down.

Skidding: Seriously, get your nuts on the stem. Skid with the same leg pattern as your trackstand (left foot forward/right foot back, or whatever you do). Just pull back on your front foot and push like hell with your back foot. Once you get the feel of it, unclip your front foot so that you don't use it at all. You don't need it.

Unweighting is literally trying to put as much of your body over the front wheel as possible. You normally sit in the saddle over the back wheel, so putting your nuts on the stem is literally trying to ride like the stem is your saddle. Shift that weight!

depends on technique and brand of straps. you're not going to stretch out some high quality toshi's from skids, let the winter handle that one...

...and for unweighing for a skip, it is really just for a moment--just enough to hop the back wheel. I always think of backwards bunny-hops

for skipping: as soon as my right foot is on the bottom stroke, i kinda hop the back wheel while pushing off my right foot that is at the bottom stroke. in the split second that i hoped it, mere mm of the ground, i pedal backwards, so when the tire hits the ground it would stop my movement forward.

I think of skipping as just... regular skipping. As though you were prancing in a field of flowers. When the pedal is coming up in its rotation, pull up as though you were jumping.

It can't be taught, it can only be felt. wax on, wax off and all that ****. just get away from your damn computer and ride. you can't learn it by reading a bunch of posts, half of which are different, and half of them probably came from people who asked these questions on this forum originally...

sheldon brown has a tutorial (surprised?) when skidding (and he explains it better), if you keep your rear leg stiff, the forward momentum will push you up and help you unweight the rear wheel.

let the pedal near 7oclock lift you! skiP!


seriosuly tho, i was riding with a buddy. took the lead for a bit and at some points i needed to stop quickly so i skipped. he asked "wtf, is that skipping? how do you do that?" i just told him to watch my feet. and i explained that i just left my stroke lift me up as i hopped (thats how it feels to me).a block and a half later he got it.

Right before you faceplant if you **** it up.

or, if you feel that you're going to eat it, relax that leg and keep pedaling.

personally i'd say learn to skid first, then skipping might make more sense and come easier. at least that's how it worked out for me.
I was able to do some weak little inneffective skids just by pulling up with the front leg while barely getting off the saddle, but trying too hard to pull up on the front foot just led to alot of soreness where my thigh met my groin from all that unnatural pulling.
i only really got to skid for real once i started ( as many have said):
1. putting as much weight as possible onto my bars
2. shifting my body as far forward as possible. i mean thighs against handlebars, genitals on stem far forward.

after that, i just got into leaning farther and farther forward as i became more comfortable and natural/instainctual reactions,combined with actually spinning the pedals backwards in a skid, that i ended up lifting the rear wheel easily and voila, you are skipping, skipping, skipping along!

have fun and remember to stretch!

off the bike do this:
put your feet about where they'd be if on the pedals with the cranks horizontal
now hop forward a few inches using nothing but ankle

now get on the bike, use the same type motion to unweight the rear of the bike, it doesn't have to be very big, its actually a very subtle but sharp and short movement........someone watching might not even see it, its all in the ankle or ankles, you only need to get your weight off the bike for a split second

by getting your weight off the bike and causing the bike to get unweighted too you won't even have to worry about putting all your weight as far forward as possible, the rear will lock up quite easily when it isn't fighting your body weight

this can be done in the saddle and done repeatedly by rocking the cranks doing a whole bunch of little skids, its like pumping the brakes in a car

unweight and pull up with front foot while pushing down with rear, for longer skids depending on bike layout and your strength yes you may have to lean forward quite a bit, but for short skids which slow you down quite quickly you won't have to lean forward at all

and once you get good at it, crank position won't hardly even matter, you will just do it without even thinking about it

I can't skid, skip or hardly trackstand. I'm a failure.

huh. skips were second nature for me but I had to work on skids for bit before I was comforatbel enough to commit (my girlfiend is pissed at me too)

it's all in your legs, feet, and hands. weight transfer will determine how fast you stop and how easy it is to hold the skid.
the skids that people tell you to do with your nuts on the stem are pointless except for show. they don't slow you down much at all.
to actually use a skid to stop to slow you down you need your weight back by your seat and you're gonna have to use lots of leg muscle to stop the wheel.

you want both legs bent a little like an aggressive sporting type stance...
you use your back foot to keep the pedal from rotating forward, push forward on your bars some to help get more power into your back foot and pull up on the strap with your front foot. don't worry about trying to hold this for a long distance. it doesn't matter. just hold it for a second or two and then relax your legs, the pedals will bring your feet around and you can do the same thing in a half pedal rotation with the other foot forward or you can wait a full rotation do it again with the same foot forward. as you get stronger you can hold the skid longer and stop faster. once again, your weight is still mainly on the back wheel. remember to use your hands to push on your bars, it will help. your front and back feet should work together to almost act like you are trying to pedal in reverse.