P.S. isolating the muscles to lock in the seated skid has got the front of my upper thighs sore

P.S. locking in a seated skid isolates muscles i don't usually use while freewheel biking. SO now, the front of my upper thighs are sore...phew what a workout

btw, i'm about 140lb riding a STOCK 48/16 mercier kilo tt size 47

congratulations...
:rolleyes:

I'm 155lbs riding 48/16 stock pista and I can do seated skids, so as an average guy I hope I give some of you hope! As many have previously mentioned it's about building up the strength AND the technique. Just learn the timing of your individual bike: the cadence of your pedaling at various speeds, the position of the cranks at which point you can put the most force against the pedaling motion, etc etc. It's pretty intuitive after you ride your bike for a while and there's a natural progression from nuts-do-the-stem skidding and seated skids. Just slowly bring your weight back towards the seat and eventually you will get it. Good luck!

+1

Just switched to clipless and now I can do seated skids easily!
With clipless
you can put more power on the pedals compared to loose clips and straps (maybe with leather doubles and the right stiff shoes you can put the same power)

Weighing less means I probably have less muscle mass also. It's not likely I can generate the same power as someone 90lbs larger than me, unless I'm the anorexic hulk or something.

Whatever, the OP learned how to skid seated, *applause applause* thread over.

They seem pretty easy on my Monocog. The gearing is 32/19 though.

Try it on wet ground for less friction to start the skid
Starting out I actually hopped up the back wheel a good inch or 2 to start the skid.
Now I have it down when were I just lessen the weight on the rear wheel by leaning off the seat a bit to start the skid. And i can do it pretty fast too. Have to work on the other leg tho, then it means 2x the skid patches!

2 easy changes that helped me first perform a seated skid:

Try seated skids while steering slightley left or right. It seems alot easier, maybe it reduces friction? One of you bike scientists can help me explain that.

Try them on a smoother surface, like that extra-shiny cement that's in some school hallways.

i have found turning the bike a bit helps me too, i think it tilts the rear tire just enough so that there is less rubber touching the ground and if you lift off the seat just a bit while turning you can easily skid

now to learn how to skid both ways

no the reason it is easier when turning is because at any given moment you have a certain amount of friction to overcome, by turning you are automatically overcoming some of that friction to continue turning. thus the threshold is much lower for the force you need for the skid portion of the traction.

that seems to make more sense
i understand why turning makes skidding easier but i couldn't put it into words correctly

115 lbs? dang, eat a cheeseburger. Male or female?

I'd chime in on the skidding part, buuuut... I've had my fixed gear for a couple months and have never attempted a single skid. I just like riding really, really fast. If I'm on my bike I don't feel like wasting time dicking around and not just pedaling hard. But, that's just me. I'll probably start trying some of this when I get more time to ride.

I'm riding a 50T/16T ratio and I can sit down skid.

There's your problem.


Also, skidding is easy.


in snow.





on ice.

go watch a skateboarding vid of a guy shralping the coping of a pool doing like 5-0's its kinda that motion. Try leaning like youre going to corner a turn but very very slightly then whip it in that direction. See Massan in MASH. Good loord ambidextrous to the maxxzzzzzz.

hm, The way I figured out how to do this was on wet pavement, very easy. Applied the same to dry just with a bit more brute force. I would follow the tips above but try it on the west or dusty pavement first to get a feel for it. My tires thread-bare right now. I can spin the tire backwards trackstanding if I unweight the seat, free tires though from a friend who works at a bike shop who takes home the front tires of roadies who find the need to have both tires matching when they replace the rears :) its a grab bag, but if yr gonna skid em who cares.

Seated skids make riding brakeless one of the most fun things that can be done. Get toe straps and clips if you dont have them!

it's all about zen. things that also help: leather straps, metal cages, wet roads.

BS! Couple months on a fixed gear and no attempt at a skid even once? YEAH SURE and I'm competing in the TDF next year. Also if you don't skid why did you even bother to post in a thread about skids? F'in kids around here! :rolleyes:

What I do is very slightly get out of saddle, less then a cm (pants still touching) or so and unweight and start skid, then GENTLY sit back down. All happens fast, so it "looks" like I'm seated the whole time. I'm thinking thats how the guys in the vids are doing it. Im 175, running clipless and 46/17. Clipless helps, like said before, you can get more power to the pedals. I also don't try to use other muscles then normal skidding, it all about form, not strength

for those of you who can skid seated:
1. can you skid for a decent distance? (like is it a better for scrubbing speed than say, skip stops)


2. many of you who posted that you can seated skid mention locking your rear leg, and the pedals being parallel to the ground. how is this accomplished sitting or even nearly seated? if i were to log my rear leg and be seated/close to seated, my locked-leg would have to be at the 6 o'clock position. locking my rear leg and having the pedals parallel to the ground would have me standing over my bike (pretty much a standard skid)

1. More for slowing down, not really stopping for me. Mixed with skip stops is very effective. can hold it a little less than when standing skids (not balls-to-stem)

2. To be honest, I don't pay attention anymore to where my feet are, just do it. I dunno, hard to explain. You could try a regular skid and sit during to see the position your legs will be in.