Bike Handling

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steve23

New Member
how do i improve my bike handling!!??

Yes i am a member of a club, yes i have done chain gangs. yes i have ridden a few road races, but i still want to improve my handling skills!

i know someone will say cyclo-cross, but there must be other ways to help to improve it!?

thankyou!
 

walker

New Member
Location
Bromley, Kent
Build your tricep and Shoulder muscles.
 

Paulus

Started young, and still going.
Location
Barnet,
If you can improove you core stability muscules, ie lower back and stomach. This would give you more stability on the bike without having to try. What is actually wrong with your handling skills?
 
OP
OP
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steve23

New Member
Paulus theres nothing really wrong as such, i would just like them to become more competant!

as for core stability, i think mine is ok. i got to the gym quite a lot, so have good upper body strength.

RedBike i might have to give it a try at some point! ive been meaning to for a while!

thanks for the advice
 
Ride slower!!

I'm serious. Slow down and focus.

What do you have to do to ride a bike?

Pedal
Change gear
Brake
Accelerate
Maintain speed
Change hand positions
Corner

Focus on making each operation perfect. You can only do this by slowing down to give yourself chance to do everything perfectly.

Keep your cadence between 90and 100rpm at all times, including accelerating from stationary.

Let up slightly and only shift when your feet are in the 6oclock-12oclok. So that each gear snicks into place perfectly.

Work on your progressive braking. Apply the front gently and squeeze on the power, dab a little rear brake, gently reduce the brake power as you reach the speed you want.

Make hand position changes frequently, and with as little impact on the stablity of the bike as possible. Move one hand then the other.

Cornering, make yourself aware of countersteering. Crouch down and use pressure on the inside bar to smooth your cornering line, when you are going very fast use your inside knee to make fine tuning to your line. Stick it out to widen your line, pull it in to tighten your line.

Practice manovering at slow speed. How slowly can you ride? Practice u-turns aand picking things up off the ground without unclipping.
 

Dave5N

Über Member
wafflycat said:
Cyclocross.

Well you did say...

.. and it is true - it works a treat!

She's right! :tongue:
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
Jacomus-rides-Gen said:
Let up slightly and only shift when your feet are in the 6oclock-12oclok. So that each gear snicks into place perfectly.

All the points you made were interesting... could you explain a bit more about this one... are you talking about gear shifts on the front or rear?
 

andygates

New Member
Dave5N said:
Have a go on the track. It will do wonders for your positioning and ability to ride a line.

+1 to this: My bike handling improved a load after a couple of track taster days. I corner much deeper and faster than I dared before and still haven't come off! :rolleyes:
 
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