Skid Stopping Damages?
 

Hey guys, new to the site and new to riding a fixed gear. I was learning to skid stop just for the heck of it and was wondering what kind of harm I could possibly do to my bike while skidding? Besides wearing out tires and my knees, does it wear out or put an inordinate amount of stress of crucial parts? Thanks.

Btw the day after performing skids, I rode the next day and really cranked on my pedals. I noticed that I had an initial slip in the crank mechanism any clues as to what this could be? Is this a result of skidding?

i'm such a noob.:(

Are you riding a bikesdirect bike? Did you make sure everything was tight? (lockring, bottom bracket, cranks, etc.)

Yes as a matter of fact it is a bikesdirect bike, this one to be exact. My friend and I put it together and we tightened everything as suggested. Could skidding have loosened something? If so which part would it most likely be?

If your feel slipping, stop riding, bring your bike to someone who knows what they are doing (LBS or friend) and have the rear hub inspected. Might have already hosed the threads.

Skidding puts a lot of stress on your chainstays and dropouts but I'm talking one of those gnarly side to side whip skids that hogs the whole lane.

Thanks for the response guys, I appreciate. Will definitely take it to my LBS it get the slipping inspected.

skidding will put stress on your lockring also, especially if it is a cheap and nasty alloy one i'd suggest springing for retrogression's stainless one (good value and great quality) which shouldn't snap/fail due to stress

That is why brakes were invented. Use them and only skid when needed. I know the "coolness" factor of riding with no brakes, but it is just silly to not have at least a front brake.

There is more to building a bike than tightening everything, even a singlespeed...

When I got my Motobecane Track from bikesdirect.com no matter how much I tightened the lockring if I tried to skid it would loosen up in less than a days worth of riding. Now that I have a DuraAce cog and lockring on the bike I haven't had to tighten anything since I installed the new gear, I have checked it a few times though.

dem gurls be stressin' when you skidz

IMO rolling endos are wayyy more impressive to the ladies.

Biggest reason for fragging your hub will be an improperly tightened cog and lock ring and when you ride you will torque that cog down tighter than you can do with any tool... and then your lock ring will need to be tightened to adjust for the play it develops.

If you don't make sure the lock ring is always tight skidding can spin the cog back and then you will have an f'd up hub.

Just retighten your cog and lockring and relax.

You haven't damaged anything.

What kind of tools do you have for the job?

Do you have a lockring wrench and a chain whip?

You need those.

As for knees: nothing about riding a fixed gear bike, including skidding, injures your knees.

Walking up stairs puts more of a load on your knees than does skidding.

In any event, practice back pedaling, use your front brake, stop skidding and save your tires.

I'm curious about this too. You guys are making it sound like if your cog ever slips you automatically destroy your hub. I had a little bit of slippage one day after skidding (due to me tightening the lockring with channel locks - facepalm) and I took it easy for the rest of my ride back. It may have slipped about 5 more times at low speed and torque on my way back. I rotafixed the cog on as tight as I could and got a proper lockring tool and tightened that sucker down and it hasn't slipped since.
Should I be worried about my hub???
I'm not using the cheapest cog and lockring either. I think the cog is an Origin 8 and the lockring is a Formula.

We are over exaggerating things because we want you guys to tighten the crap out of your lockrings.

IMO, I would spend the money to get a steel lockring, let the Retrogression one or Dura Ace or EighthInch. Just don't get an aluminium ones as they tend to be quite soft and could strip your hub.

You good, after a proper installation. Granted, rotofix isn't the preferred method, but it works.

You should be worried about that font size, though.

I never mentioned not having brakes; I merely said I was learning it just for the sheer novelty of it considering I do ride a fixed gear.

and yes @rustybrown dem gurls DO be stressin' when I skidz lol

Gotcha. Just thinking though, wouldn't an using a soft lockring mean you are more likely to strip the lockring? Seems like the harder of two metals would be stripping the other.

My preferred method of installing a cog is to do a light/medium rotafix, and then go mash as fast as I can up the biggest hill I can find. Then I tighten the lockring as tight as I can.

I ran an aluminum Formula lockring for awhile. I thought it was fine. I currently have a Dura Ace lockring. It's much, much sturdier, and I can see why alloy lockrings are frowned upon when comparing the two.

I had a bikes direct bike, tried skid stopping and it slipped like yours. Best bet is get a new cog and lockring, and get it installed at a LBS. You should just get a tune up in general if you can b/c it is more than just piecing it together. After it is all said and done, the money spent will be worth it!! I purchased all the parts and did a collaborative build with a guy who owns a LBS where I live and I can tell you it involves alot more tools and overall looking and tightening and know-how in general to put together. Needless to say I sold my BD bike after about 1.5 months and spent the money to get a custom one. Now I have zero problems when I skid-stop, but I have a front brake that I use as well...

Anyways, back to the original Q...I have been skidding more and more and have no problems with my bike, but am wondering if it does cause any stress to parts, etc? I dont overly do it, like I said I have a brake, but can it mess up my bottom bracket, cog, hub, etc from over use?

its amazing what a good cog and lockring can do... i had some slippage at one point too (though part of it was due to a poorly machined hub threads). on my new wheel i have a Dura Ace cog and lockring, and my drive train is like buttah... also bens cycle has the DA cogs super cheap plus shipping is free, at least last i checked...

Just skid with your rear brake, it's a lot easier.

For my own edification; when is a skid "needed"?