Hand signals

Arpit <[email hidden]> wrote:
: I can't do hand signals. I just cant balance that well, or bring myslef to be waving my hands. I
: want to mount some indicator lights on my bike, any ideas about how to trigger them?

I hesitate to be facetious, but it would be far easier to ride more to develop confidence and skill
in a safe situation such as an empty car park, than it would be to fit blinkers. Remember, the only
thing stopping you from making a hand signal is 90% fear and 10% skill.

Try this: walk beside your bike while pushing it, hold on to the rear of the seat, let go of the
handlebars. Notice how the bike has an inherent stability while moving.

Hope this helps, cheerz, Lynzz

Notice what the motor vehicle drivers do and forget about using signals. Signals are 'nice' but not
essential or necessary and in same cases down right dangerous.

What is essential is to improve your balance, so that if you want to be 'nice' you can signal.
Balance needs practice. So find a safe open space and start practicing. Try riding very slowly - as
slow as you can. Try riding one handed again as slow as you can. I found that about 15 minutes at a
time was enough - after that you get too tired.

Megan

Arpit <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I can't do hand signals. I just cant balance that well, or bring myslef to be waving my hands. I
want to mount some indicator lights on my bike, any ideas about how to trigger them?

You can buy them in the UK, triggered by pressing the thumb and one finger.

Arpit said:

I can't do hand signals. I just cant balance that well, or bring myslef to be waving my hands. I
want to mount some indicator lights on my bike, any ideas about how to trigger them?

Arpit said:

I can't do hand signals. I just cant balance that well, or bring myslef to be waving my hands. I
want to mount some indicator lights on my bike, any ideas about how to trigger them?

I'm not sure if they'd be legal, and motorists aren't in the habit of looking for them.

AndreS.au ===> I ride therefore I am

"Megan Webb" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

What is essential is to improve your balance, so that if you want to be 'nice' you can signal.
Balance needs practice. So find a safe open space and start practicing. Try riding very slowly -
as slow as you can. Try riding one handed again as slow as you can. I found that about 15 minutes
at a time was enough - after that you get too tired.

I'll just add that, riding on grass might help remove some of the fear of falling off. It is also a
little trickier to balance on uneven grass so may speed up your one-armed skills. hippy

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Arpit
I can't do hand signals. I just cant balance that well, or bring myslef to be waving my hands. I
want to mount some indicator lights on my bike, any ideas about how to trigger them?

I remember at the bike show (exhibition building) in Melbourne a couple of years ago, there was a stall there with the exact thing you were after...

It was basically a standard, bright green vest that had orange blinkers attached on each shoulder and the buttons were mounted on the handle bars (i think). At the time I remember thinking it was just another wacky invention though, and I have yet to see anyone ever wear one... I wonder if they're still around?

Ah, hand signals for me though.

"Andre S." <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 13:31:18 GMT, Arpit <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I can't do hand signals. I just cant balance that well, or bring myslef to be waving my hands. I
want to mount some indicator lights on my bike, any ideas about how to trigger them?

I'm not sure if they'd be legal, and motorists aren't in the habit of

looking for them.

Quoted message said:

AndreS.au ===> I ride therefore I am

Have to agree with this, I think most drivers wont beware of the indicators. Try changing to longer
handlebars, you will have more control of your bike compared to narrow bars.

Dave

"Dave@fnq" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Try changing to longer handlebars, you will have more control of your

bike

Quoted message said:

compared to narrow bars.

But any wobbles he/she has will be magnified unless they are holding near the stem.

hip

"hippy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

"Dave@fnq" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Try changing to longer handlebars, you will have more control of your

bike

Quoted message said:

compared to narrow bars.

But any wobbles he/she has will be magnified unless they are holding near the stem.

hip

In fact it is the opposite, you have to move you hands much further to get the wheel to turn, a
narrow bar is more 'twitchy'. With a longer bar you also have more leverage, so if you hit
something, it is easier to keep the wheel going the direction yo want it to, this is why wider bars
are favoured on DH bikes.

Dave

"Dave@fnq" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In fact it is the opposite, you have to move you hands much further to

get

Quoted message said:

the wheel to turn, a narrow bar is more 'twitchy'.

But isn't it easier to move the bars, albiet not as far? I'm just recalling what I felt after
swapping bars on a few bikes.. like going from 22" to 27" bars! It might've had more to do with the
frame and fork than the bars though so you are probably right. I feel way more stable though on a
road bike than I do a mtb. Hmm?

hip

"hippy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

"Dave@fnq" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In fact it is the opposite, you have to move you hands much further to

get

Quoted message said:

the wheel to turn, a narrow bar is more 'twitchy'.

But isn't it easier to move the bars, albiet not as far? I'm just recalling what I felt after
swapping bars on a few bikes.. like going from 22" to 27" bars! It might've had more to do with
the frame and fork than the bars though so you are probably right. I feel way more stable though
on a road bike than I do a mtb. Hmm?

hip

This is just from personal experience, but I find it is easier to control larger movements of the
body compared to smaller detailed movements. This is especially true when cold or tired (easier to
control raising your arm than to pick up a key and open a door- if you follow what I mean). With
wider bars I am more confident turning tighter corners than with narrow bars, I can control to a
finer degree, and find wide bars are more forgiving, if I turn too sharp, I have the extra leverage
to straighten up. When I go from my dually with wide bars back to the narrow bars on the HT, it
almost feels as if I'm on a tight-rope (again this might be because of different head angle + the
seat on my HT is set a lot higher).

Must be horses for courses I guess - or whatever the bike equivalent is :-)

Dave

"Dave@fnq" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"hippy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Dave@fnq" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Try changing to longer handlebars, you will have more control of your

bike

Quoted message said:

compared to narrow bars.

But any wobbles he/she has will be magnified unless they are holding near the stem.

hip

In fact it is the opposite, you have to move you hands much further to get the wheel to turn, a
narrow bar is more 'twitchy'. With a longer bar you also have more leverage, so if you hit
something, it is easier to keep the wheel going the direction yo want it to, this is why wider
bars are favoured on DH bikes.

Rubbish - get someone to ride rollers for the firts time and see what's easier, gripping wide or
close - it's far easier to stay upright holding close to the stem. We are talking trying to ride in
a straight line here.... Gemma

I agree with Ms Gemma. Having just got a set of rollers myself :o)

Gemma Kernich said:

"Dave@fnq" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"hippy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Dave@fnq" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
> Try changing to longer handlebars, you will have more control of your
bike
> compared to narrow bars.

But any wobbles he/she has will be magnified unless they are holding near the stem.

hip

In fact it is the opposite, you have to move you hands much further to get the wheel to turn, a
narrow bar is more 'twitchy'. With a longer bar you also have more leverage, so if you hit
something, it is easier to keep the wheel going the direction yo want it to, this is why wider
bars are favoured on DH bikes.

Rubbish - get someone to ride rollers for the firts time and see what's easier, gripping wide or
close - it's far easier to stay upright holding close to the stem. We are talking trying to ride
in a straight line here.... Gemma

Arpit said:

I can't do hand signals. I just cant balance that well, or bring myslef to be waving my hands. I
want to mount some indicator lights on my bike, any ideas about how to trigger them?

I know you asked about indicating when turning, not when stopping, but did you know the Aust Road
Rules exempt cyclists from making stop signals:

rta.nsw.gov.aup5.pdfOpen ↗

This link is to the NSW RTA web site, but the rules are Aus-wide.

By the way, in response to the debate about whether narrower or wider bars are more stable, when
riding with one hand (e.g. when signalling, which is what you asked about) you're definitely more
stable with your hand as close to the stem as possible. With your hand out wide, the extra leverage
tends to magnify any inadvertent steering movements, whereas near the stem, this isn't a problem.
Try it for yourself and see which feels more comfortable. In reality, many of the times that you
need to signal a turn, you also need to brake, so you don't get much choice of where your
non-signalling hand goes, unless of course you have those old-style "panic bars" that you sometimes
saw on road bikes.

HTH,

&roo

Andrew Swan said:

I know you asked about indicating when turning, not when stopping, but did you know the Aust Road
Rules exempt cyclists from making stop signals:

rta.nsw.gov.aup5.pdfOpen ↗

This link is to the NSW RTA web site, but the rules are Aus-wide.

more so, vehicles without indicators are not required to signal for roundabouts and when turning
left. and cyclists are specifically exempted when stopping. ie you only have to signal when turning
right - unless you get indicators!

AndreS.au ===> I ride therefore I am

You can do all of those things but honestly, if you are going to ride on the road, you have to feel
conident enough to be able to take one hand off the handlebars. If not, then you should probably
practice on a bike track for a little while.

"John Staines" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I agree with Ms Gemma. Having just got a set of rollers myself :o)

Gemma Kernich said:

"Dave@fnq" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"hippy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
> "Dave@fnq" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
> "]news:[email hidden]...
> > Try changing to longer handlebars, you will have more control of

your

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> bike
> > compared to narrow bars.
>
> But any wobbles he/she has will be magnified unless they are holding near the stem.
>
> hip
>

In fact it is the opposite, you have to move you hands much further to

get

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the wheel to turn, a narrow bar is more 'twitchy'. With a longer bar you also have more
leverage, so if you hit

something, it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

is easier to keep the wheel going the direction yo want it to, this is

why

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

wider bars are favoured on DH bikes.

Rubbish - get someone to ride rollers for the firts time and see what's easier, gripping wide or
close - it's far easier to stay upright holding close to the stem. We are talking trying to ride
in a straight line here.... Gemma

Andre S. said:

vehicles without indicators are not required to signal for roundabouts and when turning left. and
cyclists are specifically exempted when stopping. ie you only have to signal when turning right -
unless you get indicators!

AndreS.au ===> I ride therefore I am

And that's why the back brake is on the left of the handlebars and the front brake is on the right -
because it's deemed safe to use the back brake by itself but not the front brake. But I suspect
everyone here knew that was the thinking already (now agreeing with it is a different thing
altogether)... :-)

&roo

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

In fact it is the opposite, you have to move you hands much further to

get

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the wheel to turn, a narrow bar is more 'twitchy'. With a longer bar you also have more
leverage, so if you hit something,

it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

is easier to keep the wheel going the direction yo want it to, this is

why

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

wider bars are favoured on DH bikes.

Rubbish - get someone to ride rollers for the firts time and see what's easier, gripping wide or
close - it's far easier to stay upright holding close to the stem. We are talking trying to ride
in a straight line here.... Gemma

But if you are using hand signals, you are usually going to turn. I've never used rollers, but I
imagine they are like riding on a perfectly smoth surface going in a straight line.

Dave

Here's a thought for the budding handypeople amongst us........

Hows about a system attached to a backpack that is activated via a switch on each hand and uses a
couple of servos to raise an "arm" made out of plywood or similar to the appropriate side??

The arms (one each side) could be painted in suitable reflective paint and you could even connect up
some orange LEDs for better visibility at night.

Could even make it so that if you press both buttons, both arms come out and red LEDs come on (act
as wind brakes as well as indicating a stop 😉 ).

Could also have a "third arm" with middle digit raised to allow for appropriate and safe (both hands
still on bars) signalling to inconsiderate motorists.

I coulda stumbled onto a gold mine here..........ehehehhehe

Gags "What's the point of having an electrical engineering degree if you don't come up with
hair-brained schemes once in a while?"

"Andrew Swan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Andre S. said:

vehicles without indicators are not required to signal for roundabouts

and when turning left.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and cyclists are specifically exempted when stopping. ie you only have to signal when turning
right - unless you get

indicators!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

AndreS.au ===> I ride therefore I am

And that's why the back brake is on the left of the handlebars and the front brake is on the right
- because it's deemed safe to use the back brake by itself but not the front brake. But I suspect
everyone here knew that was the thinking already (now agreeing with it is a different thing
altogether)... :-)

&roo