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If nothing else I find it quite fascinating how some bikes are easier to ride without holding the handle bars than others. I can balance much better on my 1998
by icc97 10y ago
If nothing else I find it quite fascinating how some bikes are easier to ride without holding the handle bars than others. I can balance much better on my 1998 Specialized Stumpjumper mountain bike (comfortable for minutes without hands) than I can on my 1998 Cannondale R900 racing bike (max 5 seconds without hand).
But for my colleague - he finds it much easier to balance his racing bike.
As the article suggest - the hope is that this will provide better guidelines for building bikes that are more stable.
The balance on my mountain bike definitely saved me from two near crashes of a knock to my rear wheel by a u-turning car and being hit on the handle bars by a wing mirror.
- willis77 10y agoSome bikes that are hard to ride no-handed have "notched"/"indexed" headsets that are to blame. Small indentations in the headset prevent minor corrections from actually turning the wheel, making it hard to let go of the bars. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/headsets.html#troubleshooting http://www.sheldonbrown.com/headsets.html#troubleshooting (see section on "Indexed Steering")
- etcet 10y agoThank you so much. My bike has been exhibiting this behavior but I just assumed the headset was designed to 'clip' into place. Looks like I need to see the mechanic.
- davidw 10y agoPeter Sagan showing how well some people can ride with no hands: https://streamable.com/2u94 https://streamable.com/2u94 (From today's stage of the Tour de France)
- theOnliest 10y agoAnd Ilnur Zakarin (also from today's stage) showing how others aren't as good! Starting at about 2:00 in: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4l18sa_flamme-rouge-etape-17-berne-finhaut-emosson-tour-de-france-2016_sport http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4l18sa_flamme-rouge-etape-...
- stedalus 10y agoTo be fair to Zakarin, the finish is substantially steeper than the section Peter was on, and he had just spent the 30 minutes on the rivet to get the stage win.
- icc97 10y agoHe can also do a wheelie on his racing bike which I definitely can't do either.
- handedness 10y agoI would guess the frame geometry on your Stumpjumper is likely much more relaxed (specifically the head tube angle) than the Cannondale's.
- icc97 10y agoYeah - to me this made sense. Until my colleague was referring how he had the opposited where he was more balanced on his racing bike.