Trackstanding is plain bad-ass. I've seen it done on road bikes, but I can't seem to do it. Is it much easier with a track bike?

yeah, its much easier on a fixed gear bicycle because one can pedal backwards... AFTER doing it on a fixed gear, i can now trackstand on freewheeling bikes on inclines

I sometimes get into a trance and the next thing I know, i've reached my destination....

There are two distinctly different types of trackstand, too; and the easier one to learn is the harder to hold. When I was just starting out trackstanding, I would slow at intersections, climb out of the saddle, and wind up like a spring. I could balance for 10 or 15 seconds, and then take off like a rocket, but would fall if the light took too long. Then I learned the seated track stand, the true zen. Come to a stop, and release all built up tension in the legs. Just slowly correct for any forces pulling you to the ground. This is a true track stand, the other is just slow falling.

it's like butter baby... just practice in traffic, practice while turning your head in different directions, sitting, standing, smoking, eating.... and practice with your uncomfortable foot forward if you don't feel comfortable doing the bunny hop spin to lead with your prefered foot...

in the CMWC's someone from berkeley supposedly did more than 120 backwards circles, so start practicing those for next year...

I seems to develop upper body strength, unlike most other cycling skills.

I can trackstand on my road bike until the cows come home. But, its as you say: standing up, leaning the bike, pressing down on the forward foot while holding the front brake to keep the bike steady. Not the "true zen".

I recently built-up a fixie with a suicide hub, and I'm having trouble trackstanding on it. Maybe my chain's not tight enough because I have this deadspot between forward and backward pressure that seems to get me.

Should there be a little slack in the chain, or should it be tight w/no slack?

Thx.

Yes, like The Fixer said, I dislike toe overlap because it gets in the way of track standing. I like not to dismount the bike until I have reached my destination while I am riding, so I hold a stand while I must stop in traffic. While it takes practice to develop the athletic ability to do this, I think it is the most efficient way to ride in traffic if you can successfully hold the stand.

I try to get the chain as tight as possible without overtightening it to the point at which the chain experienced excess friction because of its taughtness and does not spin as easily. Of course this is alot easier on a track bike with tensioners than on a conversion with horizontal road dropouts. I have alot easier time standing on bikes with a "perfect tension" from tensioners than a slack chain.

I dislike toe overlap because sometimes at an intersection or in another such situation I will have to go backwards while holding my track stand a quarter turn or something to let pedestrians pass, and it makes it difficult sometimes to do this with toe overlap. I ride cages with regular shoes, too, so it makes it more crucial for me.

How to trackstand:
1. Find private spot
2. practice with wheel against a slight incline
3. Practice for one full hour
4. Repeat as required
Shouldn't take more than 2 or three sessions.

Toe overlap has no impact on a track stand unless a) you're leading with the wrong foot/truning the wheel the wrong direction or b) your frame is so tight that you're playing footsie with the fork itself.

As for chain slack, it shouldn't matter once you nail it. If you're doing a lot of weight transfer back and forth, you're working too hard. Once you figure out the One True Way, you just kind of set up, tensio up either the leading or trailing foot and adjust your stand by simply altering the amount of pressure on that foot (but rarely by actually transfering all your weight to the other foot).

i actually was talking about reversing in traffic while trackstanding. i just think its best not to have toe overlap. i would rather have no toe overlap so i can track stand with whatever foot forward i wish and to turn the wheel whatever way i wish. does this mean i dont understand how to trackstand properly?

I think it does.

I never unclip except for my origin and destination and manage to not have any problems despite overlap. I'm not even particularly ambidextrous (I have a wide range of right-foot-forward ) but manage to make that work for all my stopping needs. A little tacking left and right can let you rotate you cranks to just about any position that you need to get a good setup.

If you're going to stand with either foot forward, you should learn to cant the wheel both directions as well. imho.

i think i know how to track stand correctly, i even went down to the LBS and they confirmed it. they also said they liked how i set up my bike without toe overlap because it is better for doing trackstands.

There is no correct. On the track you can stand, have a holder or be on the wall/fence. For instance I don't turn my wheel to trackstand in traffic but I will to stand longer or no hands for fun. I can only guess that your LBS fellows looked at you and decided that since you weren't moving yet your feet weren't on the ground that you were trackstanding, which is the only definition. How is up to you.

I was being facetious when I said you didn't understand how to track stand properly. But what is true is that it's pretty simple, even on a bike with the most serious toe overlap, to stand without that even being a tiny worry.

Sam's right, if you stay up and don't go anywhere, the rest is in the details. On the other hand, compromising the geometry just so that you can turn your wheel a particular direction when not moving seems like the wrong pioritization to me...

i got loads of overlap and i got no troubles trackstanding as long as i want. its only when i drink waaaaay to much coffee and get all jittery that i worry about the overlap because i have to move the wheel the wrong way, but in those cases i should just know better and pull my foot out.
when i first got my cages and not used to having so much overlap i was weaving through pedestrians going pretty slow and i wound up getting my toe stuck against the wheel and flippin right over. thats about as stupid as one can look in front of a crowd of people. everytime i think im an badass on my black ninja bike i do stupid sh@t like that. it keeps me nice and humble.

The only time I typically put my foot/feet down on my daily commute is to go up or down a flight of stairs. I haven't mastered that one yet. And while I can and have carried on conversations while trackstanding, I think it might be viewed as a little obnoxious...

Could someone point me to an illustration on how to properly lace a strap? I have no idea how to do it.

I was just being facetious about the LBS.

So is the integrity of the geometry of my peugeot px10 compromised because no toe overlap is present? It seems pretty well designed to me. I know you guys like your toe overlap, but I just would rather not ride a frame with it. If this weren't cyberspace I would definitely challenge you to some type of contest which involved trackstanding and toe overlap.

A Peugot PX10 is what it is (so sayeth God). My point is that some bikes are designed to have overlap for various good reasons related to geometry. It seems like a pretty trivial thing to say, we need to relax that geometry so that I can track stand with my right foot forward and the wheel turned left.

i keep tellin ya ppl, its

up+down+left+right+AB+start on controller 1

some designers go to great trouble to eliminate TCO, some think it doesn't matter. My 62 cm Masi has a bit of overlap, which means that someone who knows a whole heck of a lot more about bike design than me decided not to eliminate the overlap in a frame size that they had lots of room to play with...so I'm not going to worry about this issue any more.

i find track standing to get boring, so i like to go backwards and forwards about 2 or 3 feet, the people in carss look at u like they jsut sw a alien