skip stops

[Griffen]

I've been riding fixed for like two months now and I really can't seem to get these down, I get my weight forward, take the weight off the back tire, push back, but I can't seem to get the lock-up down for the skid. Any tips/idears?

[dieslow]

What gear ratio are you running?

[wes m.]

Try them on wet cement or something else slippery. Make sure you are pulling up on the front foot as well as locking out the back leg. Fully commit. Make sure you are actually transferring weight to the front wheel and not just humping the stem. They are easier to learn with bullhorns because bullhorns put the weight on your hands in front of the front wheel. If it hurts, you are doing it wrong. Skidding/skipping is one of those things that is really complicated when you can't do it and really simple once you can.

[benitosan]

to skip stop, you don't need to lean super forward like those ridiculous skids that i sometimes see around here.
you do have to shift ur weight forward, push down on ur bars, most importantly, its a simultaneous combo of
pulling up with ur strong foot/pushing back with ur other foot/ and (seriously) pushing ur ass up in ther air like a dog in heat!

if you come out to one of the Tuesday night rides, i will show you how to do this.  way more effictive in slowing you down with control, and it saves the life of your tires too!

[crisone]

Yeah...learning on wet pavement helps, I just got my skids down as well, doin the lean slightly forward, cock-touching my stem, etc....once I got the first skid down on the wet ground, it got easier on dry ground, like wes m. said if it hurts, you're doing it wrong, I was at that point for like a day, now everything is cool now........

Practice....have fun.

Peace.

Cris.

[jsn1]

Hey cris just commit on my hill or my back yard where it smooth. haha. lets head to san jose for that ride.. yah dig!!

What sup BenitoSan

[benitosan]

who dis?

i can't keep track of who i know anymore.

Peninsula, SF, Oakland, SJ... i'm old and i know too many peoples!

[jsn1]

I bought the DB Cruiser from you.

[the_kal]

I've been riding for 4 months now and I think I kinda know how to skid now. However every time I skid my chain/hub slips. What could be wrong?

[Citify]

Kal, your cog and lockring most likely need tightening. Those Motobecane's need tightening when you buy them from BD.

[dieslow]

Also if it hurts your bike might be too big. I use hit my sack on the stem every time I wanted to skid. I had to be really dedicated when i wanted to skid.

[Griffen]

To be honest, I feel like the bike is too small for me. I'm about 6'2", the bike is a 58cm, the only other one I could really find was like 64cm, and that was for like people with Marfan's syndrome or some shit. I'm riding 48/16.

[dieslow]

Thats what i'm riding 48x16. You should be fine with the gearing part. I guess its just your technique, you may want to check out sheldonbrown.com he gives a pretty good description on how to skid stop.

[Thermite]

Try switching your legs.  Lock the leg you normally pull up with, and pull up with the leg you lock with.  It worked for me.  Turnes out my dominant leg is the opposite what I thought was.  
I guess having cheap tires helps also.  Cheappies don't grip as good as Michellins or Contis.

[RickyC]

Its easy once you get it.  One of the cats at Willow Glen Bikes told me how to do it.  At first I kept backing out the bottome bracket cause I wasn't unweighting the back wheel enough.  The dude said as you start your pedal stroke with your dominate leg just push your weight forward and hold the cranks.  It actually works better than the front break sometimes.    

[turk12]

i am still a novice, but this advice really helped me get the back wheel unweighted: think of it like jumping off the bike. once the crank reaches horizontal, make like you are going to jump straight from the pedals.

i can get it to skip, but the top of my foot that is pulling up hurts quite a bit.  someone said that if it hurts, its not right... so i am assuming i am still doing something wrong.