Look no hands

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si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
I can sort of do it on my roadie but too much of a scaredy cat not tried it on my mtb yet

I find it much easier on an MTB (though it's not difficult on a road bike) as the tires give you more grip and the additional width makes balancing easier in my experience.
 

Wolf616

Über Member
For those of you who want to try it but are a bit scared, the best way I found to teach yourself is to try riding with one finger of each hand on the handlebars. This provides you with the psychological comfort of still being 'attached', but also proves that actually your hands aren't really doing all that much. You can then gradually progress to letting go for longer and longer. I've tried this method on several of my more cautious cycling friends and they've all found it very successful.

My only trouble is that when I am being super cool and cycling with no hands (often to pull my jersey down as it always bloody rides up) my arse starts to slip forward on the saddle. Great when you've got an itchy arse, not so great for the washing basket.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
That shouldn't happen if the saddle is at the correct angle because the scoop of the saddle should be cupping your sit bones. Sliding forward must mean there's a huge amount of pressure on your hands.

Adequate speed is the key to hands-free riding; as somebody else pointed out a couple of pages back, the gyroscopic effect keeps the front wheel stable. Obviously you wouldn't do it on a bumpy road or approaching a hazard or sharp bend.
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
Adequate speed is the key to hands-free riding; as somebody else pointed out a couple of pages back, the gyroscopic effect keeps the front wheel stable. Obviously you wouldn't do it on a bumpy road or approaching a hazard or sharp bend.

I'm not so sure speed is the issue, cadence is, I can ride no hands slowly with the proviso I'm in a low enough gear.
 

Wolf616

Über Member
That shouldn't happen if the saddle is at the correct angle because the scoop of the saddle should be cupping your sit bones. Sliding forward must mean there's a huge amount of pressure on your hands.

Adequate speed is the key to hands-free riding; as somebody else pointed out a couple of pages back, the gyroscopic effect keeps the front wheel stable. Obviously you wouldn't do it on a bumpy road or approaching a hazard or sharp bend.

Admittedly it's an ever so slow slip; glacial in fact. I definitely don't put much pressure on my hands/arms when cycling - believe me I'd know about it as I've suffered from RSI for years

I've now progressed to no handing it over pot holes. One of these days this will probably kill me, but until then I am officially the Coolest Cyclist on This Stretch of the Road (n.b. no other cyclists may be present)
 

Accy cyclist

Legendary Member
A bloke on yesterday's club ride took his hands off the bars, pulled a pastie from his back pocket and ate it. I watched him, he must've had his hands off the bars for about a minute or so, and we were doing about 15 to 20 mph.:ohmy:
 
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