A question primarily for those who ride OSS 'bents but possibly applying to USS as well; what is the
preferred practice? Does having the hands completely neutral on the grips, pulling or pushing work
best? Or is it a combination of all? These differences have a lot of effect in other sports.

Frank P. Patterson <frank.p.patterson@att.net> wrote:
: A question primarily for those who ride OSS 'bents but possibly applying to USS as well; what is
: the preferred practice? Does having the hands completely neutral on the grips, pulling or pushing
: work best? Or is it a combination of all? These differences have a lot of effect in other sports.

Neutral: you have the seat for power production, the last S stands for steering anyway :-)

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/ risto.varanka@helsinki.fi

Pulling on the bars for me just meant more stress in my shoulders. My hands and shoulders are relaxed riding up a hill. It makes more a nice ride.

__________________
Derek,
Burley Canto

On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 05:42:07 GMT, "Frank P. Patterson" <frank.p.patterson@att.net> wrote:

>A question primarily for those who ride OSS 'bents but possibly applying to USS as well; what is
>the preferred practice? Does having the hands completely neutral on the grips, pulling or pushing
>work best? Or is it a combination of all?

I ride a VRex and have the RANS flip-it stem adjusted to the most neutral position possible. 90% of
the time, my hands and arms are relaxed and doing little but the steering. However, I have noticed
on a steep hill, that I started pulling on the bars. I don't think it helps, probably just a habit
of 100,000+ miles of DF riding.

> I ride a VRex and have the RANS flip-it stem adjusted to the most neutral position possible. 90%
> of the time, my hands and arms are relaxed and doing little but the steering. However, I have
> noticed on a steep hill, that I started pulling on the bars. I don't think it helps, probably just
> a habit of 100,000+ miles of DF riding.
>
What do you consider a neutral position? I have had people tell me that the OSS results in fatigue
sooner or later and they wouldn't have anything but the USS. But, that seems unnatural to me for
long distances. Is a neutral position where the hands are even with the shoulders?

Pat in TX

Pat wrote:
>>I ride a VRex and have the RANS flip-it stem adjusted to the most neutral position possible. 90%
>>of the time, my hands and arms are relaxed and doing little but the steering. However, I have
>>noticed on a steep hill, that I started pulling on the bars. I don't think it helps, probably just
>>a habit of 100,000+ miles of DF riding.
>>
>
> What do you consider a neutral position? I have had people tell me that the OSS results in fatigue
> sooner or later and they wouldn't have anything but the USS. But, that seems unnatural to me for
> long distances. Is a neutral position where the hands are even with the shoulders?
>
> Pat in TX
>
>
Hi Pat By 'neutral' I mean neither pulling nor pushing on the bars, but such a light touch that it
is almost hands free. As you have noted, the involuntary habit of 'pulling' on hills, especially
near the top is probably a carry-over from those many ks of df riding. Lately I have been trying a
little 'push' when the urge to 'pull' sets in. It seems to help for some as yet not determined
reason. It applies to riding the flats when an additional burst of speed is desired too.

Frank, I have both a USS (Haluzak Leprechaun HR) and an OSS (total custom Giro supreme). The key to
good handling on both is the same. Relax. No death grip or pulling needed. I probably pull a little
when climbing on the Giro. I think that is just to keep the bike straight from any pedal induced
steering if I am pushing hard. I try to just spin but sometimes that last few feet takes some harder
work. On the Zak pulling while climbing is no help and the bike does tend to wander a bit
more----but only while climbing.

"Frank P. Patterson" <frank.p.patterson@att.net> wrote in message
news:<PaUAb.165754$Ec1.6393467@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>...
> A question primarily for those who ride OSS 'bents but possibly applying to USS as well; what is
> the preferred practice? Does having the hands completely neutral on the grips, pulling or pushing
> work best? Or is it a combination of all? These differences have a lot of effect in other sports.

On Mon, 8 Dec 2003 10:53:08 -0600, "Pat" <me@privacy.net> wrote:

>What do you consider a neutral position? I have had people tell me that the OSS results in fatigue
>sooner or later and they wouldn't have anything but the USS. But, that seems unnatural to me for
>long distances. Is a neutral position where the hands are even with the shoulders?
>
>Pat in TX
>

Neutral for me is finding the point where I feel the least strain on my elbows, shoulders, wrists,
etc. all at the same time. In my case, the bars are about shoulder height and my arms are bent at
round 90 degrees, give or take. It's not something that I formulated but found from experience by
moving the tiller back and forth and up and own.

I've only ridden 2100 miles on a bent since June with the longest ride only 75 miles, but I've never
had any arm, wrist, shoulder or neck pains of any kind which is something I can't day about my DFs.

"Pat" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message news:br2a9h$264kj9$1@ID-194653.news.uni-berlin.de...
>
>
> >
> > I ride a VRex and have the RANS flip-it stem adjusted to the most neutral position possible. 90%
> > of the time, my hands and arms are relaxed and doing little but the steering. However, I have
> > noticed on a steep hill, that I started pulling on the bars. I don't think it helps, probably
> > just a habit of 100,000+ miles of DF riding.
> >
> What do you consider a neutral position? I have had people tell me that
the
> OSS results in fatigue sooner or later and they wouldn't have anything but the USS. But, that
> seems unnatural to me for long distances. Is a
neutral
> position where the hands are even with the shoulders?
>
> Pat in TX

I changed from a USS Vision to a ASS Baron and while I had concerns about the new steering position
it hasn't been a problem at all in 2000 miles

Frank P. Patterson <frank.p.patterson@att.net> wrote:
: probably a carry-over from those many ks of df riding. Lately I have been trying a little 'push'
: when the urge to 'pull' sets in. It seems to help for some as yet not determined reason. It
: applies to riding the flats when an additional burst of speed is desired too.

Maybe it stabilizes your upper body against the seat when you are pedalling hard.

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/ risto.varanka@helsinki.fi