MesaMan Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 hey guys, Just a quick question, after being out a few weeks learning from scratch (trackstands and pivots) i can trackstand left (good) foot forward fine, but can't right foot forward. Should I be learning to trackstand both ways in order to help pivots and further techniques? cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 being able to trackstand with either foot forward is very important in my books. Sometimes a runup to an object is small, so you might need to start bad foort forward, thats when being able to it with either foot comes into its own. Also its vital for comps and riding natural in general 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 (edited) hey guys, Just a quick question, after being out a few weeks learning from scratch (trackstands and pivots) i can trackstand left (good) foot forward fine, but can't right foot forward. Should I be learning to trackstand both ways in order to help pivots and further techniques? cheers ← IMO you shouldn't be learning to trackstand at all. No one ever really trackstands when they are riding anyway, if they do anything like that, they bounce the front wheel about, it's easier. And if you just ride you'll learn it without knowing anyway. As for learning things with the other foot forward that's an even bigger waste of time, unless your out to impress people that you can do things 'switch'. So simple answer to you questions: No. Edited July 20, 2005 by JT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MesaMan Posted July 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Cheers Ali, I guess I'll get right on it! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RicH_87 Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 yeh get it learnt. Whenever i have a really short runup i have to trackstand left foot forward and i find it really hard. I hate bouncing around like a tit, prefer to look smooth and in control. Sometime i just trackstand right foot forward then pedal back really quick and go for it, but it ain't as good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Papasnap Maher Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 IMO you shouldn't be learning to trackstand at all. No one ever really trackstands when they are riding anyway, if they do anything like that, they bounce the front wheel about, it's easier. And if you just ride you'll learn it without knowing anyway. As for learning things with the other foot forward that's an even bigger waste of time, unless your out to impress people that you can do things 'switch'. So simple answer to you questions: No. ← JT , are u dumb...are you saying learning to trackstand is not important??(Y) go and ride a comp :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janson Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 IMO you shouldn't be learning to trackstand at all. No one ever really trackstands when they are riding anyway, if they do anything like that, they bounce the front wheel about, it's easier. And if you just ride you'll learn it without knowing anyway. As for learning things with the other foot forward that's an even bigger waste of time, unless your out to impress people that you can do things 'switch'. So simple answer to you questions: No. ← You don't ride much natural or competitions, do you? Being able to trackstand is VERY important when riding natural and comps. Bouncing the front wheel about is ok, but drains energy and is not very good to do if the ground is muddy/wet/slippy or you're standing on something narrow. Conserving energy in comps is very useful, and being able to trackstand is a good way of doing it. Also, if you're good at it, you can release one or both brakes, giving your braking fingers a bit of rest mid-section. Trackstanding is also a good balance training excercise. Try doing it one-handed, with eyes closed, looking backwards, etc. Being able to check the ground under the wheels without dabbing/putting pedal down might come in handy in a comp situation. Trackstanding with the wrong foot forwards is also good to know but not really needed until you start riding bigger stuff that requires getting loads of speed in small spaces, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JIX Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 (edited) IMO you shouldn't be learning to trackstand at all. No one ever really trackstands when they are riding anyway, if they do anything like that, they bounce the front wheel about, it's easier. And if you just ride you'll learn it without knowing anyway. Stupidest thing I have ever heard. EVER!!! So you never learned to trackstand JT? Who never does trackstands when they are riding?? You made me laugh very loud. I think you should be able to track stand with both feet and with the wheel facing either way. Dont listen to JT! As for learning things with the other foot forward that's an even bigger waste of time, unless your out to impress people that you can do things 'switch'. How is it a waste of time?? What if you had to ride up a wall then straight up a wall after that was only 1/2 pedal stroke away and you had to carry all of your speed. You would have to go up one of the walls switch. You really limit yourself by say stupid things like that. Its like saying learning to sidehop both ways is a waste of time, or even why sidehop at all when you could just back wheel it with a run up. Stupid Edited July 20, 2005 by JIX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 well at a guess jt must be either feckin amazing and we just dont know about it, or appaulingly bad.....cos if he cant trackstand then hes missing a vital trials 'trick'-cant think of the word! trackstands are a vital part of trials, riding left foot isnt really necesary, but it does help you improve and adds a bit of a challenge to your riding-great for when you are bored and only have small stuff to ride! go for it, i personally dont bother intentionally practising it, i seem to do it naturally now-then again i rarely get to ride natural and i dont really trackstand whilst streetriding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Yes, I would learn. Once you can trackstand properly with your "wrong" foot forwards, you will learn how to balance and put power through with that foot. After all, to tap/pedal hop, most of the pedal power comes from your bad foot - so if you can put power down effectively, you're half way there. For ages I rode hardly being able to trackstand left foot forwards, and my taps were completely non-existant. Couldn't get the timing consistantly at all. One you can balance bad-foot-forwards, you can start getting those taps (and other stuff - pedal gaps etc) consistant. Perhaps you're not at that level yet, but it's certainly a pretty fundamental foundation to start from. Don't listen to JT :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MesaMan Posted July 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 WOW, Impressed with all the replies, thanks guys n girls. I wasn't going to take notice of JT casue I could tell he was wrong. I'm really enjoying riding now, after getting pi$$ed off trying stupidly hard stuff, I've gone back to basics and am seeing improvments all the time. Great advice thanks again. -Rob- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrishayton Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 (edited) IMO you shouldn't be learning to trackstand at all. No one ever really trackstands when they are riding anyway, if they do anything like that, they bounce the front wheel about, it's easier. And if you just ride you'll learn it without knowing anyway. As for learning things with the other foot forward that's an even bigger waste of time, unless your out to impress people that you can do things 'switch'. So simple answer to you questions: No. ← (Y) and by the way ali is right, as usual :) lol (Y)" Edited July 20, 2005 by chrishayton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 (edited) ....ok. I ride natural all the time for a start, and I prefer to find a rock or something and balance on the crankarm on the stone or something like that. What i said obviously didn't come across right. What i mean is there's no point going riding with the intention of learning trackstands. I never 'learnt' how to trackstand, but i can. I think your better off going out with the intention of learning to do backhops etc, and then let trackstands come naturaly. (Killing two birds with one stone). I never really trackstand when i'm riding. I tend to either hop my front wheel about. Or re-position the front, and re-position the back wheel. Maybe it's just me, probably is, but thats my view. (Y) You don't have to 'take notice' of what i say. All I ask is that you can understand where i'm comming from. :) Edited July 20, 2005 by JT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 when I was new to the sport I didnt go out to learn trackstands (although it was fun to have timed comps with friends :lol: ) but they came of their own acord, so I can see JT's point. I cant see the harm in learning them seperatley. It just means you will have more confidence when you do come to bigger moves. The amount of people I see who can do big sidehops or drops yet are as sketchy as fook with trackstands or on the back wheel :blink: I trackstand all the time, mostly with just the front brake on or if I am facing up a slope, no brakes. It just saves soo much effort. Another good thing to learn (especially for uci) is to lock the wheel in a ledge or groove in a rock. It means you can back off the brakes and have a rest even in tricky situations instead of getting a dap by resting a pedal or bash on somthing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MesaMan Posted July 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 All points taken and considered, thanks. I'm going out learning to trackstand as part of learning basics, so it's not "just" trackstands.....i'm also trying to learn with my front (and rear) wheel up things - this helps big time with learning weight distribution etc. It's all fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.