Descending technique - how

[alicat]

Hi all

I have had my Pearson Touche for just over a year and really love it. The one issue I have is with descending. Past a certain cadence I start to panic a bit and then apply the rear brake a little. I suppose I'm frightened of the cleats coming out of the SPD pedals at speed. Yesterday this set the bike off into a shimmy and I was quite lucky not to come off. I think the gear is just over 60" which is good for my pace on the flat and uphill. My friends were all descending happily in the same gear and cadence. To put it in context I went down some steeper hills on my own the previous day and felt fine. The problem arises when I try to keep up with the others.

Has anyone got any tips for descending on a fixed? Would it help to tighten up the pedals a little? Should I just relax and try and accept that it doesn't matter if the cadence is very high? Or should I control the speed at the start of the hill until I am more confident with a higher cadence.

 

[Joe24]

Move forward on the seat, and relax your legs.
Tighten up the pedals if you feel you need to. Get used to your pedals pushing your legs around(should of got used to it already after how long you been riding it)
I grab my bars in the middle and sit upright, move forward on the seat and relax. If i need to then ill use the front brake abit, or leg brake slightly but i try not to.
Only time i get abit nervous on the fixed is when im in the middle of a group and your riding close together. When people freewheel, or slow down the speed up for no reason it really annoys me. But ride with other people on fixed and your fine.
Relax more, get used to it. Every so often i go down a big hill and my cadence will be at/near 200rpm, then when i go down smaller hills my legs dont feel they are going that fast.
My pedals are pretty tight, so i dont worry about them unclipping when decending.
Ive had my back wheel move abit, i went down the hill i live on and locked my back wheel up, it was a tad slippy and when i got peddling again the back kept sliding from side to side abit untill i slowed down more.
And for a final time, relax Dont be scared of it

 

[Andy Pandy]

I try and keep my feet just ahead of the pedals, particularly at the top of the pedal stroke (if that makes sense). It requires a little work, but it stops the pedal pushing my leg up and my arse bouncing around

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I was just told try and pedal faster than you're going - sounds scary but seems to work and you feel like you're back in control, made me laugh too.

How's the Touche? - they look really nice.

 

[alicat]

Thanks, all. I'll post a piccie of the Touche. I think it's my favourite possession; I just love the feeling of being at one with the bike. On Saturday I cycled from the newly-reopened Stone railway station in Staffs to Thorpe, north of Ashbourne. I walked up some of the hills, especially Star Bank out of Oakamoor. The next day I cycled back to Lichfield and met some mates on the way. I was okay descending on my own when I controlled the speed at the outset but I nearly came a cropper when I tried to descend a hill at the same speed as the others. They have suggested sitting back in the saddle to give better control when leg-braking but I'll definitely try your suggestions.

 

[Joe24]

I found that focusing on the front of the pedal stroke ment i went faster, and wasnt as controlled. I do this when theres a short steep-ish downhill with an uphill because you keep the momentum going for the uphill.
When im just going down a hill, especially when its really fast and im wanting to control my speed, i just relax my legs and let the pedals push them around. This keeps the speed slower, and means you shouldnt have to brake as much.
As i see it(and i could be wrong) if you focus on the front your speed will pick up more as your still pushing the pedals around.
But then ive just found that relaxing my legs helps to keep the speed low, without spinning out of control. Ive even gone down steep hills this way, and legged braked all the way down(Bank Hill if anyone knows it, going down into Woodborough) and kept my speed really slow as i had a problem and i was limping to the LBS.

 

[fossyant]

200 rpm - you can tell Joe is young....... I'm just speccing my commuter fixed...and I ain't telling my legs to go that fast - ass on fire........

 

[ASC1951]

my cadence will be at/near 200 rpm,

Well beyond me, that, even when I was a fit youth.

I let the wheels spin my legs up to the point where I'm getting moved about on the saddle, then it's light braking front and back.

 

[Joe24]

Well beyond me, that, even when I was a fit youth.

I let the wheels spin my legs up to the point where I'm getting moved about on the saddle, then it's light braking front and back.

Its just about relaxing. Something alot of teachers will tell you i do too much
It really is a steep hill though, and it just takes relaxation of legs, moving forward on the saddle and not thinking about your chain coming off or something going wrong and you coming off. Easier said then done, but if you have someone on a bike and a decent straight hill then you can just let it spin up.
38mph down that hill was my max on the fixed, which was 200rpm. On the Giant freewheeling and tooked down ive done 43mph.