Riding a bike - did you know...

[Dogg Thang]

I will indeed. I'm definitely going to have to try this for myself!

[J0e Musashi]

Release all pressure on the left side and gently pull the right bar towards you (thus turning the bars to the right). You will instantly turn left.

You seem pretty adamant about this, so I will not dispute you. However if I want to turn left on my bike I push the right bar away from me, not towards me. (I even just practiced it on a pump truck in our print room). If I pull the right bar towards me I turn right. Perhaps it works differently on an actually bike, so I will try it. I'm not convinced however. When I ride no hands if I want to turn left I lean to the left, not to the right, which goes against what Commander Marklar's link says.

I feel I am going to be proved totally wrong however. *Asks for a go of Dave's bike*

Hmmmm, it works. Only if you are moving at 1mph or thereabouts though. ¬_¬

[Ian(not Ian)]

Do not try and countersteer on a pushbike chums.

[MattyD]

Do not try and countersteer on a pushbike chums.

I ride a bike for a living and get reguarly get flashed by speed cameras. Is that cycle-l33t enough to countersteer?

[Nijo]

I can see *some* logic to this, but not enough for it to outweigh the logic that says its wrong. I lean left to initiate a turn, then steer left to follow-through. How do I lean left? I lean the bike slightly to the right... but I'm not steering it.


Ah, unless....


... nope, thought about it some more. Still doesn't make sense.


... watched the video - he's just lifting the bar! That's not steering, that's leaning!


... oh, and thinking about it, if you turn the bar right but don't lean into it you're going to fall off to the left. That's for granted.

[J0e Musashi]

I ride a bike for a living and get reguarly get flashed by speed cameras. Is that cycle-l33t enough to countersteer?

Raleigh Vektar?

[Ciaran]

Right, I tried to do this this morning and its doesn't apply to mountain bikes. When you turn right you lean right and turn the handlebars to the right, no counter steering at all.

[charlesr]

It does apply to mountain bikes. You can't turn right without first steering left. Bicycles are so light that you barely notice what you are doing with your hands though.

Lets' consider a little kid on a bike with stabilisers. They decide to go left, so they turn the bars to the left because that's what seems natural. The bike instantly falls to the right and the only thing stopping them actually going right is because the right hand side stabiliser prevents it leaning any further. They then proceed left with the bike leaning 5° to the right

This is what makes it so difficult to make the jump from stabilisers to no stabilisers. The stabilisers have taught the kid completely the wrong thing.

Ciaran, you say when you turn right, you lean right. But it's not you leaning the bike - it's the fact that you shoved the bars to the left that makes it lean right. The faster you are going the easier it is to notice this. At walking pace speeds, the effect is cancelled because the bike stays bolt upright so you have to be going a bit quicker.

Do what he does on the video, but on your mountain bike - ride along without your hands on the bars fairly quickly. Then reach down and with just one finger, (very!) gently push the right hand bar away from you - the bars will turn left a bit, but you will go right. Please don't fall off mind.

[Pavey]

NTSC in mountain bike accident shocker!

I smell a lawsuit

[charlesr]

lol. yeah, it's an april fool for massive facial damage. (no, it's all true).

[Canton Province]

I'm a little bit confused over this, especially since I can't test this out for myself but, something in particular is bugging me. Why are you specifying that you should "use one finger...gently push the handle bar..." Surely, if what you say is correct, all anyone would need to do is look at the position of their handlebar next time they are in the middle of a turn.

[charlesr]

It's the start of the turn that matters. But yes, if you pay enough attention, you should be able to see it. It really helps to feel it though too.

[Canton Province]

ah, OK thanks man. Can't wait to catch people out with this...

[Rossco]

Didnt get a chance to go cycling today but I may be out tomorrow and I'll try it then.

[Keith]

Someone please video themselves doing this to explain. I haven't got a bike to test it, but this has been doing my head in all day!