How about answering a few questions from a really old FG newb?

The snow and ice went away enough to get my third ride on my FG conversion instead of the studded tire MTB. At least a few times up-n-down the street in front of my place, anyway.

I can't get the skid thing to save my life yet. All that happens is the crank drives my knee through my chin, or lifts me around for a revolution, seemingly. Any technique to unweight the rear wheel I'm not doing? Mystifying. You folks are magicians.

Would it be easier to break a 23 or 28mm 100+ PSI tire loose, rather than the 35mm's I'm running now at 85 PSI? I'm geared at a measily 64 gear inches, which should make it easier, eh? I won't be switching tires just to wear out the new one prematurely, BTW. Just seems like a skill I'd like in the toolbox.

Trackstanding...another mystery. Should I be rocking the bike forward and back a measureable amount? Say 6" to a foot? Can't seem to stay in one spot without movement. At least not for a measurable amount of time.

Oh, even more basic... picking up my clipped pedal when starting out can be a b*tch. I feel like "Yakkety Sax" should be playing in the background as I chase that thing in a circle stabbing my toe at it.....sheesh. Any trix here?

Enough self degradation. I'm gonna go stare at that Chris King headset in the other thread for relief.

I like you.

And coming from you, that means a lot.

Oh, but OP, yeah, you pretty much hit every nail on the head.

Dick meet stem. That's how you unweight the rear wheel. Get that technique down and then remove the stem banging process.
Yeah, it'd be easier to skid skinnier, higher pressure tires, but at 64" you should be able to skid just about anything.

Track stands, just practice honestly. Videos/tutorials won't help much after you have the basics in mind. Turn the wheel and balance. The rest is on you.

Clipping in, just more practice really. For me, It's easier to clip in fixed gear than freewheel. I just put a foot down and the pedal engages itself almost. Just practice.

^This ^

Also, if you practice your skids on a lower traction surface like grass or gravel it makes it easier to learn. Going downhill will also help you maintain momentum.

Use both legs, this also helps stabilize you on the bike because you are pulling with one and pushing with the other. I try to visualize almost rotating the pedals backwards, though you don't actually move them. It helps break traction and initiate the skid.

Chiming in here since I went through all of that last year.

For skids, try some practice runs on wet roads or failing that, with sand covering it. Basically you are looking to lose traction so you can get the feel for it. Remember to leave extra room to stop since you are effectively reducing that ability with this exercise. The balls to the stem method wasn't working for me so I tried doing a minimal 'bunny hop' where I try to lift the rear of the bike enough for me to start the skid. This usually ends with me getting a very short skid before my weight returns and the pedals resume spinning. But it does slow me down some. A series of these skid-hops is what you are going for.

Track stands are practice, as Nagrom said. Try riding as slow as you can - it's better to keep rolling and not lose balance than to focus on balancing while not moving at all. Over time you will get slower and steadier but will likely always be working at it.

Toe clips: you can practice this while just sitting on the bike. Figure out where you want your foot on the pedal to start (on the bottom of the pedal with the clip under you) and where you need to 'tap' it to get the pedal to spin around and your toe end up inside. I find that if I pull my foot back just a little bit then the pedal is able to spin around just right. When you have that bit figured out somewhat, then you can try doing it on the move.

Its amazing when a question is presented in the right way it will get a good response.

It's easy to practice trackstands on a slight incline so the bike rolls back and you work to roll forward. You will figure it out with time.

We have a saying in yoga: 1 percent theory, 99 percent practice.

When you find yourself skidding into a trackstand, you're golden.

Meh. When you can do this, then maybe.

Hey Joe I feel your pain. The only thing I can add is how I clip in as skids and track stands evade me. I clip in my right foot, at the top of the pedal stroke, then while trying to look in control I mumble to myself "I'm on my fixed gear, keep pedaling" and take off pedaling with just my right foot. Eventually my left foot gets with the program and finds it's way home. The key for me is not to stress over my left foot not being clipped in.

I'm going to try the incline track stand technique tomorrow morning.

I've got both brakes and sometimes I skid to a stop using the rear brake as a safety blanket. I know, lame as can be but fun none the less

It has probably already been said in this thread, but the real breakthrough moment for me when learning to skid was that you have to pull up with other leg as you push down with your dominant one. (or whichever one you choose as your 'down' foot while skidding).

Spot on with the toe clip thing It may just be the shoes you are wearing though, I have trouble with some of my shoes.

He's done it before hasn't he.

With the trackstand thing, make sure you don't have a balance problem yourself. It won't be major (or you wouldn't be riding) but there are issues that have poor balance as a side effect. In my case, I've always wondered why I struggled to do things other riders did and it really came to a head when I took up bike polo and found I couldn't even lean on the mallet like everyone else. A chat with my doctor answered that one (and yes, I still have the issue).

Generally though, practice will improve everything, there'll just be a point where you won't get much further (few will ever match the bloke in the video).

With the toe clips, try to pick up the toe clip as you start moving. At this point, the pedal is almost stationary whereas if you wait until the next stroke, it's moving quite quickly. I tend to drag my foot over the pedal to turn it, then slide my foot forward. You'll find it easier when you go to higher gears too because you won't be as fast off the line (I worked all this out while wondering why I've a near faultless record for getting into my toe clips on my fg but less so with my geared bike ... until I realised on the geared bike, I was taking off in a much lower gear)

For skids, just ride more until you have good feelings and start to lean forward to lower the weight on your rear wheel.
The more you lean , the longer you skid. I prefer learning long skid stopping first and then get into the shorter one because you need your muscle to learn the move.
Some people suggest pushing their foot inward so that it's like locked, could be easier to skid.

I learnt trackstanding first in a sitting position because I found it much easier than standing on the pedals. (sitting -> one hand-> no hands ->standing cause i am a weirdo like i can ollie on skateboard when moving but cannot while at rest). Maybe you can try it sitting too not much to teach because trackstanding is all about feelings, once you get that you just rock

one question , what kind of handle bar you are using? That kind of matters.

Kinda' a moustache looking thing, this:



Since I'm asking questions and posting pics, this is not even close to as tight as the track frames you folks ride. I'm guessing the l-o-n-g wheelbase is a disadvantage to unweighting the back end, too.



It's built from this:



Thanks for replying to the questions! It's good to know you young'uns will let the old and feable escape relatively unscathed and with more info.

Your bar actually drops a bit, that may be harder for you to do skidding or trackstanding, in case you are not a decent rider.

I don't think long wheelbase will do anything to skid/trackstand, but may make wheelie harder.

One thing I find very useful for trackstands: stare off longingly at the horizon. Or stare at the red light. Don't look down at the bike. It's still there, and turning your head downward can throw you off balance.

There is a slight variation on track stands that is used in trials. It is different from the rock back and forth used on a fixed gear bike, since you don't have a fixed cog. You turn the wheel about 45 degrees and lock the front wheel using the brake. You maintain you balance by applying pressure to the bars in one direction or the other. There is a sweet spot angle for the front wheel where the bike becomes stable.

Hard to explain, but might be worth a try. Center the bike in a hallway, turn the handlebars (45 degrees) and hold yourself up using your outspread elbows. Try to balance, and if you start to fall, just touch the wall with you elbow and recover. This exercise will teach a lot about your balance point, your position on the bike and how subtle your corrections need to be.

Had one, until this morning's practice session

Thanks to you all, I was able to rip off three skids this morning using the pelvic thrust and bunny hop methods described above. The bad news is: just like they tell you: you'll spin a cog right off a suicide hub by skidding, no matter how much red locktite you use. On the third skid that damned "Yakkety Sax" music started playing in my head again as I pedaled furiously to screw the cog back on before I went down. Didn't go down (thankfully at my age) and no damage to anything. Just have a new maintenance job while the snow flies again.

No matter how hard a noob tries, the downward flaming spiral is unavoidable.

Thanks for all the pointers; hope this thread paid you back with a chuckle or two!

No No No. You're going to get hurt this way, somehow, sometime. You might also toast the threads on your hub. Either give up on the fun of skidding or buy a cheap wheel with a dbl threaded fitting for cog+lockring.

Best video clip, ever!

OMG trials riders are gods in my world. The stuff they do is pure magic.

This! You can find decentish single wheels for 50 or less with the right threading.. and thank you NCJ for making this thread, it has been quite informative and entertaining so far.