How long can you ride no-handed? And why do you do it?

[theyoungkid]

maybe not advice, but experience:

i learned as a kid, but had to sort of re-learn as an adult. i sometimes just hover over the handlebars in a tuck because i was told it's a good way to build core strength. after a while, you'll notice that you're riding no hands (albiet, not upright).

i think the thing in this thread is how do you ride no hands upright. that is a little different. the big change is in your seat (your butt on the saddle). being upright will put all your weight on the saddle unless you can coast off your seat no hands (which i can)--i just "grab" the nose of the saddle between my thighs to rest my rear end on those long no-hands-down contests (no pun intended). i can't pedal no hands off the saddle--this is for coasting only.

it's harder on a wide saddle just because your leg motion (your butt motion) can destabilize the bike somewhat. it's easier on a slim road saddle, for instance, than a wider comfort saddle. in fact, i pretty much can't ride no hands on my mtn bike's wider but more comfortable saddle for more than a few seconds.

find a good gear ratio that has you always pushing at some slightly higher resistance than if you're spinning. i find a slower cadence (60-80) more stable for no-hands. the faster you go, the more stable you are, but depending on your path/obstacles, you have to maintain higher alertness for braking, etc. and relax, hold your head high. being tensed up actually makes it harder. try pumping your arms like you're running. it's fun. play around. see what your limits are and build confidence.

i CAN'T rid no hands on a road bike, but can go indefinetly on a mtn bike, there is a park near where I live in wisconsin which is in the us, I have gone hours around that park with no hands, even though there is often a lot of people walking

 

[TechJD]

Been doin sense I was young
start doin it to relax a little and I guess like most of us to show off
had to relearn a few years ago when I got back on a bike
then again a couple of months ago lol
didnt ride for a few years ( till my teens all got new bikes and said Daddy lets go)

mine are learnign to do it now
the more speed ya have the easyer it is
make sure your seat is the right height if you want to pedle while doin it

 

[IEatRice4Dinner]

i can stand straight up on the bars and top tube... i learned it from riding BMX

 

[cydewaze]

I can do it until I crash.

 

[birdman23]

Ride straight forever and around moderate corners.
To eat, to stretch, etc.

 

[Yippie Kye Ay]

I could probaly ride all day and do whatever I want no problem riding no handed isn't much harder then with hands.

 

[aTmSpectre]

When I was in junior high school i could do straights, corners, anything. For some reason i've gotten worse as time went on. Maybe the fact that i weigh more than 200 lbs now has somethign to do with it.

 

[smnw10]

i used to be able to go long distances, up hill, down hill, wide turns etc with no hands...of course just for drinking, changing clothes, unzipping jersey, or stretching

then came that fateful day...
when i was unzipping my jersey and got blasted with a 45mph gust of wind from the side (had been a steady 30mph wind which i had dipped down into a small depression and was coming out of it, no wind in the depression) and down i went at 25mph into some ROUGH assphault, was pulling tar and stones out of my elbow, arm, and leg for a week...since then I can't go no hands period...even on a smooth road, straight, and no wind
that hurt too much that i'm scared to death to put myself in that position again

 

[Matt N]

I can ride no hands - straight, around corners, uphill, downhill, etc. I make a point of doing it on every ride, to improve balance and stretch. I have also found that riding on rollers improves these skills. Some people panic when they see you ride no hands, but I panic more amongst riders who can't ride no hands because it tells me they have poor bike handling skills.

The coolest thing I have seen on a bike was Robbie McEwen roll up at the end of a tough mountain stage in the Tour this year (forget which stage), some 20+ minutes behind the leaders, looking completely buggered but smiling and pulling a one-handed mono and giving a peace sign with his free hand. Now there's someone with incredible bike handling skills!

Cheers

 

[qdc15]

Robbie is a little punk. The one handed "mono" (wheelie) was pretty cool.

 

[heheheha]

I ride no handed for as long as I feel I want to, but it does hurt the ass...I learned when I was 8 or so, cuz all my friends could do it Add to that I have a fairly strong background in trials and messenging (no handed trackstands forever, etc)...
As for wheelying a road bike, they have such short chainstays that it shouldn't be hard. However, I owuld be deathly afraid of crumpling the front wheel...I'll leave the cooler tricks to my trials bike and just go with no handed riding and trackstands on everything else.

 

[heheheha]

Oh, and almost forgot to add to the "most damage done to a vehicle."

February. Snowy, slushy, -30 or so. Maybe 3 hours into my shift. Bunch of assholes in their teens pull up, start pestering me. Whtever, deal with it. Next stop they decide to speed by and hit a large puddle, effectively soaking me pretty good, so whatever warmth I had for the day is gone. So I pull up, at the next lihgt, they look over and laugh. I pull out my U-lock and take out the mirror off of mommy and daddys car, and take off down an alley.

 

[forrest brown]

Ridding no handed has alot of advanteges that you have seen but beware.

keep a good eye on pot holes rain groves and other obstacles, my bike will not
ride over 20 mps with out hands. It will get a shimmy and you better be quick
at grabing the bars are you will be on the ground eating asfalt
good luck
Brownie

 

[Matt N]

One thing that I have recently discovered (and I'm not sure whether it's been mentioned above): one's ability to ride no-handed greatly depends (obviously) on how well one balances on the bike; and this, in turn, greatly depends on how well one is fitted to the bike.

I bought a new custom frame about a year ago and (to cut a long story short) have had all sorts of problems finding the correct fit with it, in particular I have developed a hip pain that won't go away, no matter how much I adjust my seat, cleats, head stem, etc. My conclusion is that the frame is simply the wrong fit for me, so I have switched back to my old bike for a while. Anyway, I have discovered that my ability to ride on the rollers is far better on the old bike (better fit) and I can ride no-handed (on the road) much easier and for as long as I want with complete confidence - even in cross-winds.

Therefore, for those of you who have trouble riding no-handed, I wonder whether your bike fit has anything to do with it?

Cheers

 

[chispa60]

Looking over this topic, I thought of a few things that might help in the "quest" for having longer "no hands" time.

Since stability is paramount, it would seem bikes with larger wheelbases (er I think that's the distance from where the front wheel touches the ground to where the rear one touches the ground) could allow one to go further without hands. They are slow the turn and have a tendency to go straight, at least that's what I've heard.

Second, it seems that speed is also a factor. And interesting enough, the faster you go, it seems to be easier to let go of your hands. Netwon's second law ain't it? Things moving in a direction have a tendency to keep moving in that direction unless a force is applied.

Which brings me to the last part, which is a no-brainer, being balanced on the bike. Granted a lot of things can affect balance such as shape of seat, positioning (or posture if you will), and weight distribution. Now, I'm not sure about this, but wouldn't low front panniers add stability to the front wheel? Granted the added weight (not to mention drag) would slow down the rider a bit.

Going to have to try this out in the next few days. Hopefully the bike shop where I work will have a few more '05 bikes out in the next few days and I can try them out.

 

[immybaby]

Second, it seems that speed is also a factor. And interesting enough, the faster you go, it seems to be easier to let go of your hands. Netwon's second law ain't it? Things moving in a direction have a tendency to keep moving in that direction unless a force is applied.
....
weight distribution. Now, I'm not sure about this, but wouldn't low front panniers add stability to the front wheel? Granted the added weight (not to mention drag) would slow down the rider a bit.

Hi, I've just started riding semi-seriously, and I'm also a physicist. The stability of a moving bike is actually due to the angular momentum of the wheels spinning around their axis (so the faster you go the more stable it it) - they act in the same way as a gyroscope does. This means that a bike with heavier rims/ tires will be much more stable than a bike with light ones. Also a bike with larger wheels (at the same mass rims/tires) will be more stable than one with smaller wheels (angular velocity scales as 1/r but angular momentum scales as r^2).

 

[adamallstar]

I learned how to ride no handed as a kid, my mom gave me some good avice: ride without one hand and gradually take the other hand off for short periods of time... if need be see how many times you can clap

Riding no handed is nice when my back needs a break from being hunched over, or just to admire a nice view. I recently started riding no handed on my rollers, boy is that a test of balance!

 

[armsworg]

SLS's advice is good but the key is to have good core strength as this is what will give you your sense of balance. Pilates is very good for devleoping core strength.

 

[squirt]

I did about 3/4 of the west coast of Hokkaido in Japan on a fully loaded touring bike no handed. Nothing like the view sitting up!

 

[TommyGunn]

I generally go sans hands when i want to fully stretch by back out during long rides...