# Is no hands tricky on a fixie?



## Giant (Jul 29, 2005)

No problems riding no hands on my road bike, but on my fixie that's set up similarly, I can't really ride no hands - it feels too wobbly. 

Is this because my set up or my wheels have problems, or is there a big difference in the balance between a regular road bike and a fixed gear? Is no handed on a fixed gear a special skill?


----------



## whit417 (Jul 5, 2005)

I have the same problem. I can ride my road bike no handed all day, but just started riding my newly built fixie and can only go for short distances. I'm sure I'll get better, but it is definitely harder on the fixed.


----------



## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

Nope. Works like normal. If you aren't pedalling smoothly, it's hard.


----------



## timfire (Dec 13, 2001)

I see two reasons why it might be tricky. First, track bikes _tend_ to have steeper headtubes (depending on the bike), meaning the steering will be faster/twichy. This makes no-hands trickier. 

Second, *personally*, I find I need to be traveling at the right speed and pedalling the right cadence. In other words, no-hands is tricky if I'm going too fast or too slow, or if I'm pedalling too fast or too slow. So, your gearing may be making no-hands seem tricky, depending on how its set up.


----------



## cbass94 (May 19, 2004)

timfire said:


> I see two reasons why it might be tricky. First, track bikes _tend_ to have steeper headtubes (depending on the bike), meaning the steering will be faster/twichy. This makes no-hands trickier.


This is what I would suspect? Also, the rake on your fork could have some bearing in the same type of way. Forks make a big difference too.


----------



## asterisk (Oct 21, 2003)

I don't notice much of a difference. I can ride for a while on my track bike no-handed... and I've ridden 80% of my commute home no handed on my conversion. I honestly think it's easier on a fixed gear as it keeps you smoothly pedaling which probably helps with balance.


----------



## ampastoral (Oct 3, 2005)

*hopefully a non possibility*

i'm with these guys: geometry, fork, pedaling, etc. however, and i (gasp) hate to throw this in, but is the frame possibly damaged? that can really throw off no-handedness


----------



## wooden legs (Oct 20, 2003)

yeah, i would check frame alignment as a possibility. track geometries with steeper angles from what i understand end up having longer trails than road bikes which can make them easier to ride no handed, i know riding my track frame n-h is way easier than my race bike with a 44 offset fork. if your hips are wobbling (too high seatpost) you're bound to have trouble. i'd check fit before anything else. track / fixed gear riding isn't that hard, all you have to do is do it. don't be put off by the mystical cult around the fixed gear.


----------



## Tom Ligon (Jul 1, 2003)

*My old Chicago Paramount fixte ...*

... handles like most Chicago Schwinns, very nice no-hands. Good geometry for it.

No-hands is much easier when coasting. That pretty much cuts out "much easier" on a fixte. Smoothness of pedaling definitely helps.

For a real challenge, try uphill with no hands. It can be done with practice.


----------



## Tom Ligon (Jul 1, 2003)

*Or the headset ...*

My old Schwinn canti cruiser used to be a great no-hands bike until BMX got to be a big thing and I took to jumping it. I landed sideways once and bent the frame rather badly, I straightened it myself, and it always required I shift my weight to the right after that.

I got the frame professionally straightened, and it still tracked the same way. Then the LBS found the headset races were worn out. I tracked down a NOS headset, and it improved greatly.

Later I switched to a Corvette front fork, which is about 3/4" longer (but it allowed me to mount front brakes). That made it difficult to ride no-handed again. I would have predicted the longer forks would stretch the effective fork angle and stabilize it, but they had the opposite effect.


----------



## cbass94 (May 19, 2004)

Tom Ligon said:


> No-hands is much easier when coasting. That pretty much cuts out "much easier" on a fixte.


I don't agree with this part, I find it MUCH easier to ride a straight line (or to control the bike while turning) while I am pedaling. When I start to coast, I find myself veering to the right or to the left and it always seems like it's harder to correct when I'm not pedaling. 



Tom Ligon said:


> Later I switched to a Corvette front fork, which is about 3/4" longer (but it allowed me to mount front brakes). That made it difficult to ride no-handed again. I would have predicted the longer forks would stretch the effective fork angle and stabilize it, but they had the opposite effect.


This is exactly what will happen if you lengthen the forks without adjusting the rest of the geometry. This was discovered quite quickly when the people first started putting extremely long forks on motorcycles. The bikes got very twitchy and hard to control on the road. That is why they are now called "choppers" because people who would do this would literally chop the bike and re-weld it to correct the geometry (principally the castor) of the bike in order to compensate for the different forks.


----------



## Bikehigh (Aug 2, 2004)

No, riding no hands is easy on a fixed gear. I even do it on lumpy bumpy gravel roads. Now riding an mtb no hands, that's a *****.


----------



## asterisk (Oct 21, 2003)

cbass94 said:


> I don't agree with this part, I find it MUCH easier to ride a straight line (or to control the bike while turning) while I am pedaling. When I start to coast, I find myself veering to the right or to the left and it always seems like it's harder to correct when I'm not pedaling.


I'm agree, pedaling does help. I think the gyroscopic effect of pedaling helps maintain your balance easier than trying to do so with just your upper body.


----------



## Spinfinity (Feb 3, 2004)

*Easier than riding no feet!*

5char


----------



## Giant (Jul 29, 2005)

*It must be the setup*

Turns out the fixie setup is NOT the same as my Road Bike. The top tube is a whole 2 centimeters longer. So, I am playing with saddle adjustment. It's getting better, but balancing no handed is still tricky.
==================================================






timfire said:


> I see two reasons why it might be tricky. First, track bikes _tend_ to have steeper headtubes (depending on the bike), meaning the steering will be faster/twichy. This makes no-hands trickier.
> 
> Second, *personally*, I find I need to be traveling at the right speed and pedalling the right cadence. In other words, no-hands is tricky if I'm going too fast or too slow, or if I'm pedalling too fast or too slow. So, your gearing may be making no-hands seem tricky, depending on how its set up.


----------



## Giant (Jul 29, 2005)

*Problem solved. Fixie isn't tricky, it's the setup that is.*

So, I played with the setup more, set the seat forward and I can now ride no handed. Not as great as my roadbike, but it's clearly a fit issue, not a fixie issue. I knew the frame was a bit large when I built it up - but didn't think fit would be as big an issue. Now I know that I would benefit from a better fitting frame (It's a beautiful, clean, red 1987 Trek 400 - touring bike frame). So, next project - get right size frame!

Thanks for everyone's advice!




Giant said:


> Turns out the fixie setup is NOT the same as my Road Bike. The top tube is a whole 2 centimeters longer. So, I am playing with saddle adjustment. It's getting better, but balancing no handed is still tricky.
> ==================================================


----------

