General: when nobody's there.

Even when there's nobody there, do you still track stand?

I track stand by myself at times, and I track stand on my road bike, and mountain bike when I can

Is this like "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there, does it make a noise?"

Plenty of people track stand alone. Its called practice.

Track standing on a fixed gear is moderately easy
Track standing on a bmx, road, cruiser, mtn is not.

Licked you have had some good discussions lately, this not being one of them.

sure. fugghedabout the practicality of it.

I track stand on my fixed gear at stop signs or stop lights so I dont have to clip out, not really for looks. as far as my road bike or mtb bike, its quite tough to track stand on those, only can really do those on inclines, and that is rarely happening(sometimes at stop signs or lights, and mtb really never, cause Im always climbing or going through swithbacks and single tracks( funnest thing ever!!)

Track standing is not supposed to be for looks, or to show off, its use in track racing as a competition

I'm to lazy to take my foot out unless I have so I trackstand most of the time at stoplights. Off-road I end up trackstanding occasionally in technical sections of singletrack.


I think I do the majority of skidding and especially attempting new tricks when nobody is watching, I hate falling in front of people.

Posted By: SkidMarkI hate falling in front of people.

I love when people fall in front of me. Especially these college students.

On a side note, searching for images of the work "gawk" does not yield the expected results.

Nobody gawks at you for trackstanding in Portland OR.

Not in Eugene either. I was joking, by the way. Except about laughing when people fall. Shit's hilarious.

When no one is there, can't you just run the light....

Posted By: GOBSTOPTODROPWhen no one is there, can't you just run the light....

Oakland Boy, you should know better. If you run the light, you're a perfect target for getting run down by the driveby shooter, or the three police cars following him in the high-speed chase.*

I don't trackstand much. I'm an old guy, I'm not riding fixed-speed, I have no one to impress, and I don't think of unclipping/uncleating as a big deal. As a result, my trackstands aren't very confident; I'm never completely sure I'll pull them off. Being clipped/cleated actually makes it worse, as I'm not confident I'll be able to get my feet out if I suddenly tip over.

The few times I have keeled over on the street have always been from stopping suddenly, usually because the car in front of me stops suddenly or cuts me off in an unexpected turn. I've never heard anyone laugh; everyone who responds does so with concern, if only just the ritual "you OK?". This is especially true of the drivers who've caused the falls; apparently, they are unaware of the consequences of their own actions, even when the consequences are right in front of them.

If y'all are doing a lot of fiddling with your toestraps when you get in/out of clips, then I must be using the straps wrong. I wear my straps loose enough that I can just stick my foot in or pull it out of the clip; they don't need to be tight enough to get any real speed going, since the clips are on my townie bike. But my toeclip learning curve has only been over the past year; so I may not know what I'm doing.

*That drive-by in Berkeley about two months ago, the one that led to the car chase/crash in North Oakland, happened two blocks from my house, and the shooters fled right down my block. America's Most Wanted had my street blocked off for several days filming the story a few weeks later.

Posted By: eaglerock

Posted By: GOBSTOPTODROPWhen no one is there, can't you just run the light....

Oakland Boy, you should know better. If you run the light, you're a perfect target for getting run down by the driveby shooter, or the three police cars following him in the high-speed chase.*

I don't trackstand much. I'm an old guy, I'm not riding fixed-speed, I have no one to impress, and I don't think of unclipping/uncleating as a big deal. As a result, my trackstands aren't very confident; I'm never completely sure I'll pull them off. Being clipped/cleated actually makes it worse, as I'm not confident I'll be able to get my feet out if I suddenly tip over.

The few times I have keeled over on the street have always been from stopping suddenly, usually because the car in front of me stops suddenly or cuts me off in an unexpected turn. I've never heard anyone laugh; everyone who responds does so with concern, if only just the ritual "you OK?". This is especially true of the drivers who've caused the falls; apparently, they are unaware of the consequences of their own actions, even when the consequences are right in front of them.

If y'all are doing a lot of fiddling with your toestraps when you get in/out of clips, then I must be using the straps wrong. I wear my straps loose enough that I can just stick my foot in or pull it out of the clip; they don't need to be tight enough to get any real speed going, since the clips are on my townie bike. But my toeclip learning curve has only been over the past year; so I may not know what I'm doing.

*That drive-by in Berkeley about two months ago, the one that led to the car chase/crash in North Oakland, happened two blocks from my house, and the shooters fled right down my block.America's Most Wantedhad my street blocked off for several days filming the story a few weeks later.

haha this is true. On Discovery channel there is a two part special about the new "war-zone" of America, which is Oakland of course.

I am with eaglerock on this one. I know the benefits of keeping your toe clips and straps tight however, I dislike adjusting them depending on what shoes I am wearing or what I am going to do. I know that my clunky vans for winter are much larger then my work shoes, but I dont want to adjust my straps each day.

I might be missing out on a more efficient skid or pedal stroke but I am not trying to be the next Mark Cavendish. I also like to try and get from one place to another without uncleating so I keep my straps moderately loose for the 'just in case'. In the short period of time in which I rode clipless I had many concerns about clipping out if a track stand were to go wrong. I will chalk it up as an experience thing, I probably didnt give it long enough for myself to get the hang of clipping out in dire circumstances.

i do trackstands no matter what. they're fun to do at a light or stop sign even if nobody is around. if people are around i must say i like to see the looks on their faces when i'm track standing at a light..haha..most people look really confused, some people say stuff like 'nice balance' or 'lookin good' or some crap..i smile and ride off. i don't want people thinking every biker is arrogant or a jerk. i don't have to worry about 'clipping out' or fiddling with straps as i don't care to use either and i don't skid(i 'ghetto e-brake' with my back foot like i did in my bmx days growing up. oh yeah!!) so i can just put my foot down if i fear falling over. good times!

certainly do not..i've been riding without brakes just about my whole life..i'm sure i'll get all sorts of guff on this forum for it but its ok. i'll ride my bike and you ride yours and everybody is happy.

it's all about riding. and having fun of course.

[edit] riding safe as well.