redfooj

ive had mine for a week now, and although i havent actively practiced it, i dont think its improving any... how'd you guys pick it up? practice on a slope?

jasonyates

I'm going on two years so far. I'll let you know when I get it.

junioroverlord

Hrmm...Three months here and still couldn't do it to save my life.

baxtefer

i concur

gally99

took me a few weeks, but i was bringing my bike out with me and practicing everytime i went outside to smoke a cigarette...

incidently, because i was smoking i pretty much learned one handed...

Shiznaz

I've been riding fixed for a little less than 6 months and I can pull off a 5 or so minute track stand under optimal conditions (road conditions are not always optimal)... it really just depends on how much you practice it. I want to practice riding backwards, because then any trackstand type thing would be easy.

wunder

It's just one of those things that you pratice for a few minutes everyday, then one day it clicks and you're like "HOLY PISS!"

stronzo

took 3 nights of practice, about 1 hour each night. i'd just stop at a flat parking lot near my house on the way home. i think the trick was getting over my fear of going backwards.

MattyO

I don't recall exactly how long - or even if I was actively practicing. I'd guess a few months... I just remember that one day it clicked. I found that "sweet spot" and now I can hold them for as long as I need to. Of course, I sometimes lose it, but for the most part, I can hold them as long as I want, and almost always for the duration of a red light.

I do think that they're easier to hold with bullhorns than drops, though. at least for me.

WithNail

Like 20 minutes, but it took me a little longer to get the no handed. . .that took me like an hour. I had already been trying for like a month on my single speed on upward slopes, I think that helped a lot. I really want to get a full circle backward, right now all I can get is a half circle if I'm lucky.

MKRG

Didn't take me too long. I've always been part Weeble-Wobble though.

schwinnbikelove

Never.

keevohn

When I finally got around to practicing, it took several days of 1 hour sessions in my parents' driveway. Even then, I could only do it with my left foot forward. A couple of months later, it took several days of practicing in a parking lot to make me comfortable with my right foot forward, and commuting everyday in clips n' straps forced me to get more comfortable.

As for the no-handed, that one just kinda clicked. Backwards circles required a lot of practice, and it *certainly* helps to have a slight slope when learning those.

Kennetht638

I was lucky. I never practiced it fixed, but I had tried very unsuccessfully on a freewheel bike in the past, and I didn't want to try to hard on the fixie because I hate falling down clipped in. I basically rode fixed only for about 2 months, gaining low-speed balance by riding really slowly at stops. Then one day, I was on a group ride and everyone was trying to trackstand (on their geared road bikes), so I joined in the fun. I found that I could balance slightly longer if I exploited my ability to pedal backwards, but I still didn't really get it. After that ride, I tried it out with regular shoes in my room and I got it in no time.

48x16

Been riding for 3 years. I never practice it so I can't do ****.

BlindRobert

I have been riding fixed for about 8 months - I just learned to do a track stand. It basically took a few hours of practice on a saturday to get fairly confident. I spent another Saturday afternoon practicing with the other foot forward for a few hours and now I can stick it about 85% of the time on my strong side and about 1/2 the time on my weak side. I didn't even really try until I had been riding fixed for about 6 months - had to get used to the whole idea and feel first.

Yeah, I want to learn to ride backwards too...that would be cool.

ryan_c

I learned to gradually do it for longer and longer. Initially I would just pause while riding, rock back once, and then resume going forward. Started rocking back and forth more and more (for longer) and then gradually could do that for a while, and then I eliminated some of the rocking. Got pretty comfortable with it over a month or two that way. I don't find one-handed any more difficult, but no-handed can be a little tricky.

infestedguy1

i was riding fixed for a couple years before i ever actually started practicing it. once i practiced it, it clicked pretty quickly. one thing that really helped me is to ride in very small circles, very slowly. alternate which direction you go in, counterclockwise or clockwise. this'll help you get the balence you need to hold a trackstand. i'm starting to work on the various other trackstand tricks. i don't do it very often in traffic though, i ride with drops so when i do trackstand its harder for me to see whats going on with traffic because i'm bent over more so than if i had bullhorns. the main reason i wanted to learn to do it was for the time when i actually get to be on a velodrome.

jamey

i was riding a fixed for like 2 months before i actually decided to give it a real shot and as soon as i realized i could peddle backwards or forwards just a lil'bit to stay up it all clicked instantly. backwards circles are definitely a challenge though, i have succesfully circled backwards once and i think that was mainly luck.

bostontrevor

Like everyone says, practice.

I could do it, but not right (lots of forward/backward adjustment, not very stable). Then during the summer it always seemed like the thing to do after coming back from the bars or whereever else I might've gotten a little sloshed. So I would go out in front of my house at like 2 or 3am and work on track stands.

You know you've cracked it when you discover the balance and realize that it's not about actively correcting but striking the proper stance to begin with. "Don't chase the track stand, let the track stand come to you." Now for your standard two-handed stand it's pretty much just a question of how long I can be up there before my muscles get tired, and I'm working on that (finding the truly perfect balance makes it pretty effortless to hold position)

turd

been on fix since july and i'm still un-trackstandy, though i haven't been very diligent about practicing... will definitely try to give it an hour each day from now on, tho!

WithNail

I know this is a bit off subject, but is there a special technique or trick to riding backward?

moxfyre

I have had mine for about 2 weeks. The night I first built the bike I practiced for a couple hours... got it pretty good the following night. Now I can do it for 30-40 seconds two-handed, but for some reason I'm less steady when I'm in traffic.

auroch

funny note. I can't trackstand at all on my bianchi "pseudo" track bike,
but now I can eat a plate of handlebar bbq seitan on my road conversion.
road-conversion-stand doesn't have as nice a ring.

oh & practice.

jeff

bombusben

It took a couple of days of practicing. At first it was kinda shaky, but once you get it you got it. Initially I found it was easier on a road conversion w/ bullhorns than a track bike with drops, but now I don't really notice a difference.