What's wrong with me. I can't ride with no hands!

SteveD · Mar 21, 2005

I don't get it. I feel like such a spaz because I can't ride no-handed.

Yesterday I was out for an easy recovery ride and overdressed a bit. On a very quiet side street I unstrapped my helmet to take off my hat. I hung the helmet on my brake hoods and stuffed the hat in my jacket pocket. All this was done with one hand on the bars while riding. When it came time to put the helmet back on my head and buckle the strap with both hands, I had to really concentrate to keep my line. Twice I had to dive back to the bars because I was veering all over the place. What am I doing wrong?

As background, I'm 6'3" and ride about 5000 miles a year. I can do a trackstand without problems, but can only ride no handed when going faster than 15 mph, and even then I lack confidence. This problem persists whether I'm riding my road bike, cross bike or fixed gear bike.

Lately, after my rides I've been practising riding without hands as I ride through my neighborhood back to the house, but I'm deathly afraid I'll take a dive in front of my kids and their teenage friends ; -) I don't think I could ever live that down...

bimini · Mar 21, 2005

Could be your seat position

I like a forward seat position and found that I have to get way back on the seat to ride no handed on my racing bike. If I'm forward of this "way back" position, the bike is iffy but once I'm back into the position things smooth out. If I'm on a bike with a more relaxed setup and seat position I have no problem riding no handed.

SteveD said:
I don't get it. I feel like such a spaz because I can't ride no-handed.

Yesterday I was out for an easy recovery ride and overdressed a bit. On a very quiet side street I unstrapped my helmet to take off my hat. I hung the helmet on my brake hoods and stuffed the hat in my jacket pocket. All this was done with one hand on the bars while riding. When it came time to put the helmet back on my head and buckle the strap with both hands, I had to really concentrate to keep my line. Twice I had to dive back to the bars because I was veering all over the place. What am I doing wrong?

As background, I'm 6'3" and ride about 5000 miles a year. I can do a trackstand without problems, but can only ride no handed when going faster than 15 mph, and even then I lack confidence. This problem persists whether I'm riding my road bike, cross bike or fixed gear bike.

Lately, after my rides I've been practising riding without hands as I ride through my neighborhood back to the house, but I'm deathly afraid I'll take a dive in front of my kids and their teenage friends ; -) I don't think I could ever live that down...

Trekkie · Mar 21, 2005

SteveD said:
I don't get it. I feel like such a spaz because I can't ride no-handed.

Yesterday I was out for an easy recovery ride and overdressed a bit. On a very quiet side street I unstrapped my helmet to take off my hat. I hung the helmet on my brake hoods and stuffed the hat in my jacket pocket. All this was done with one hand on the bars while riding. When it came time to put the helmet back on my head and buckle the strap with both hands, I had to really concentrate to keep my line. Twice I had to dive back to the bars because I was veering all over the place. What am I doing wrong?

As background, I'm 6'3" and ride about 5000 miles a year. I can do a trackstand without problems, but can only ride no handed when going faster than 15 mph, and even then I lack confidence. This problem persists whether I'm riding my road bike, cross bike or fixed gear bike.

Lately, after my rides I've been practising riding without hands as I ride through my neighborhood back to the house, but I'm deathly afraid I'll take a dive in front of my kids and their teenage friends ; -) I don't think I could ever live that down...

I've been struggling a bit with that too on my new road bike. I think, based on personal experience and observation, it's difficult for anyone to go no handed under 15. part of what allows you to do it is your forward momentum, and you only ever see the pros doing it going at a liesurely (ha) 25 or so. They even climb at or above 15 sometimes.

As for substantive advice, try these. Make sure you keep pedaling. Even if you're going slowly, try not to spin. That just throws your balance off. Try using a higher cog and make yourself push. Another thing you may try is getting your pedals on an even plane and hugging he top tube with your knees, but this generally works better at higher speeds. Also, try going no handed down hills (preferably w/o turns, if you know what I mean) and gradually decrease the slope of the hill you choose (which will in turn decrease your speed so you can get more honed in) until you get down to flat road. Otherwise, strap that puppy to a trainer and go nuts.

As for your teenage kids and their friends, well, I'm a teenager and I'll tell you what. Even teenagers who ride (me and my friends) would laugh, so it's not a non-rider thing so much as we're just obnoxious pains in the arse, so don't feel bad.

Hope this helps, and may the schwartz be with you (this seems like a logical application)

Ben

biknben · Mar 21, 2005

It is easier when going faster. The wheels and cranks (if spinning) are gyroscopes that keep the bike stable. The faster you go, the greater the effect. It is common to have problems riding without hands if you are going slow.

Other things: A large bike frame can be more difficult to control. Once it begins to lean in a given direction, it takes more body english to get it back on line. Conversely, a small frame will be very twitchy, wanting to go in every which way.

A strong core will help you in riding without hands. This would allow you to steer the bike by shifting your weight and making slight upper body movements. After I starting pounding the core exercises, I found this to be much easier.

biknben · Mar 21, 2005

bimini said:
I like a forward seat position and found that I have to get way back on the seat to ride no handed on my racing bike.

Reason...

As you lean backward you are unweighting the front of the bike. Therefore, your movements have less influence on steering.

A good skills exercise is to take your hands off the bars but remain in a aero postion.

funknuggets · Mar 21, 2005

Practice....

Your positioning on the bike may provide the biggest obstacle in being able to ride "no-handed". Converse to bimini, I find that riding further back seems to take weight off of the front and makes the front end more.... instable, so often, when riding no handed for things like "helmet fastening" type activities is to lean <u>slightly</u> forward. To me, it seems that different bikes have different "sweet spots", its just a matter of finding yours.

Other than that, practice will make perfect, or well... practice will make you feel more comfortable in that you will start to notice the minute balance changes your bike makes as you pedal, shift in the saddle, move about. Once you start to notice, you will learn how to pedal or shift to straighten it out.

Best of luck.

Mel Erickson · Mar 21, 2005

I've found it's more the bike than the rider. I always had trouble on my old road bike, a Softride Solo. When I started riding my current bike, a Raleigh Professional, I had no problem. I didn't change but my bike and my bikes geometry changed. Slower speeds do make it more difficult but I have no problem at 15mph now, whereas I couldn't do it at almost any speed on the Solo.

SteveD · Mar 21, 2005

Mel Erickson said:
I've found it's more the bike than the rider. I I didn't change but my bike and my bikes geometry changed.

It seems that my bikes' geometry may be part of my problem then. All my bikes have pretty laid back seat angles. My Merckx has a 72 degree angle which puts my weight farther back, especially when I sit upright.

I'll try leaning slightly forward as The Funk has suggested and see how that works.

funknuggets · Mar 21, 2005

Completely agree...

To what Ben and Mel said. I believe the more laid back the seat tube, the harder it is, so you need to lean slightly forward. Of my more aggressive geometry, like my Fondriest and my old 2.8 and 3.0 Cannondales back in the day, I could ride no handed all day, but with my Lemond and Look, its a bit more difficult, but not impossible (unless its windy, and the wind buffets the aero rims and bladed spokes all over the place).

filtersweep · Mar 21, 2005

LIke this?

goldsbar · Mar 21, 2005

Check your headset

A slight misadjustment (tight or loose) makes no hands riding nearly impossible.

SteveD · Mar 21, 2005

Exactly!

filtersweep said:
LIke this?

I saw that photo in the thread below and had to laugh...

I can't even imagine that. No handlebars, and no brakes. YIKES.

Len J · Mar 21, 2005

Check the Bike............

Lot's of good advice here, but I had one bike that I couldn't ride no handed on to save my life, drove me nuts. Finally, I took it somewhere and put it on a frame jig.........alignment was off.

Some frames have tighter alignment standards that others.

Bikes with a lower BB also tend to be easier to ride no handed.

Len

Cerddwyr · Mar 21, 2005

Trekkie said:
I've been struggling a bit with that too on my new road bike. I think, based on personal experience and observation, it's difficult for anyone to go no handed under 15. part of what allows you to do it is your forward momentum, and you only ever see the pros doing it going at a liesurely (ha) 25 or so. They even climb at or above 15 sometimes.

As for substantive advice, try these. Make sure you keep pedaling. Even if you're going slowly, try not to spin. That just throws your balance off. Try using a higher cog and make yourself push. Another thing you may try is getting your pedals on an even plane and hugging he top tube with your knees, but this generally works better at higher speeds. Also, try going no handed down hills (preferably w/o turns, if you know what I mean) and gradually decrease the slope of the hill you choose (which will in turn decrease your speed so you can get more honed in) until you get down to flat road. Otherwise, strap that puppy to a trainer and go nuts.

I think the issue is the gearing. I can ride no hands at 10 miles an hour and slow myself down to under five on my fixie. The key is not the speed, but the amount of force going to the cranks. On my gearie I shift one or two gears higher to ride no hands, and drop my cadence below 80 rpms. To high a gear doesn't work either, but i think you want a gear a little bigger than your 'handed' riding gear for a given speed.

Gordon

eastcoastrider · Mar 21, 2005

it could be a few things, most likely the seats too far foward (like everyone else said), this almost makes you lean foward when riding slower causing you to lose your balance, if you can, try standing, if its easier standing( while grabing the seat w. your legs) then thats probly your problem. another thing that makes riding w. out hands is the rake of the fork, the steeper the angle, the harder it is to balance the bike ( kind like riding a bmx bike with the handle bars backwards) so if you got a fork w. a really steep rake then that could also be part of the problem

Al1943 · Mar 21, 2005

Trail

I think it has a lot to do with the bike's trail, and of course the HTA is a major component in trail. Of my three road bikes I feel more secure no handed on the old 1980 touring style frame with laid back head tube.

Al

Kerry Irons · Mar 22, 2005

Check the wheels

Len J said:
but I had one bike that I couldn't ride no handed on to save my life, drove me nuts. Finally, I took it somewhere and put it on a frame jig.........alignment was off.

Improperly dished wheels can have the same effect as a frame out of alignment.

config · Mar 22, 2005

Don't really know if this is your problem but a couple years ago I had the same problem on the custom bike I purchased and I couldn't ride without hands at any speed but it was only with that bike. I moved my saddle back, forward, up and down but didn't do anything. After a few hundred miles I noticed I was stretching a bit so I had my stem replaced with one 2 cm shorter. After that it all went away. I was glad cause I felt like a dufus not being able ride without hands and all these Italians (young and old) pass me going the other way riding with no hands.

Guest · Mar 22, 2005

another thing that you might have overlooked

is the brake/shifter housing. if it is too long or too short, it can pull or push the h-bars to one side. make sure this is not the case.

AllUpHill · Mar 22, 2005

I'll add one more to the grab-bag of theories. Wheel weight, specifically the rims and tires. Less rotational inertia means a weaker gyroscopic effect.

What wheels are you riding? I can ride no-handed in my sleep with my porky training wheels and tires on. With my light clinchers, Bontrager Race-X-Lites, and light tires like veloflex paves, I can do it but it takes considerably more concentration and a higher speed. With my tubular carbon rims, this is magnified even more.

What's wrong with me. I can't ride with no hands!

SteveD

bimini

Trekkie

biknben

biknben

funknuggets

Mel Erickson

SteveD

funknuggets

filtersweep

goldsbar

SteveD

Len J

Cerddwyr

eastcoastrider

Al1943

Kerry Irons

config

Guest

AllUpHill

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