Which did you learn how to do well, first?
I couldn’t skid effectively for a couple weeks, but track standing came pretty naturally. I sure hope I’m not physically inept and everyone else learned all this stuff within minutes of getting on a fixed gear bike.
Edit: spelling Edit #2: fucking word filters aaaaaaaaaaaa
I still can’t track stand, I just can’t get it. Eventually though. I learned to skid in like 15 minutes.
Learned skids within a week I think, track stands took about 20 minutes to learn but I didn’t get to them until like week 3 or 4.
Yea, skidz0rs were pretty easy after practicing for a few consecutive half hour sessions. I guess the same went with trackstandz. I won the local trackstanding comp a few months back, but that’s not really saying much as there were only like 15 contestants. lol
I can’t really track stand. I can, however, stop dead and stand with the wheel straight for a while. I can’t do the “turn your wheel to the side and maintain balance with the pedals” thing. I can do it a little bit, but I fall over after like 10 seconds.
ah i am not alone.
i keep thinking its my 85 inches keeping me from being able to trackstand but thats a bunch of hogwash because ive done it a couple times. its getting there. feels way lame to not be able to do that because its so handy.
also i feel like i cant do any fixietricks with foot retention and end up riding platforms all the time. jamaica skidz!
You should just do tiny bunny hops to maintain your balance then. Plus then you’d be able to do it on any bike not just fixed.
I can do no hand trackstands on a freewheel bike. Can’t skid for shit.
i got skids down by the next day. i learned them first because i found it to be a necessary skill since i don’t have brakes yet. and my bike came with a 15/48 ratio which made it damn near impossible to learn at first.
i’m running 15/44 now and now i managed to get a 10 second tarckstand. need more practice though but i get the concept. i still put a food down at stoplights though
Track standing is your friend in all aspects of cycling. Skidding is for nerds who make youtube videos and partake in something called a shesh.
I’m a bit surprised by so many people not being able to trackstand. I would consider the ability to stop at lights without unstrapping one of the major benefits of riding fixed. Sometimes it seems like riding legally in the city is a lot of sprinting and trackstanding practice.
It took me some time to learn (I still can’t do it on my non-dominant side), but now I can trackstand all day. I would even practice in the winter to the point where I could slowly turn in a full circle by going back and forth in the space of my studio apartment.
I didn’t learn to skid until I rode in the rain (mostly because I wasn’t really trying to learn).
kyle! are you from houston? i think you post on txfixed and someone else said you were
i learned to trackstand on my ss a year before i ever built a fixed, then i had skids by the end of the first or second day.
i learned to trackstand by doing circles in my living room. i just inched around as slowly and as tightly as i could since there was no uphill to lean on. after a while i just didn’t have to pull out of my clips at redlights…as long as i could find at least a bump in the road to lean on.
I laughed.
Track-standing rocks. I can only skid when its snowy or rainy and honestly, I’ll keep it like that. Every time I try when its dry I’m worried because it seems like a lot of stress on the bike. That and the fact that I have no idea how its going to stop me effectively.
You’d need to have a fixed to skid 
I can’t do either great. I go fast well (that’s what the kids say,) that’s all.
I hear ya there, I can trackstand for weeks but rarely ever skid.
When I do skid it’s usually in order to make a sharp, tight turn.
You’d need to have a fixed to skid
[/quote]
i’m pretty sure if you pull the back brake hard enough on any non fixed bike you’ll skid.
i can’t skid or trackstand
but i only go 4 miles an hour
and no foot retention
so no big deal
i got wallrides on lock though
and wheelies for days
I learned to skid first. I’m not sure that I can trackstand still. I’d like to think if necessary I could, but most times when riding I can either just abruptly slow down and pedal at a snails pace place long enough for the light to change or traffic to let up or I just put a footdown because cars aren’t giving near enough space in the back for me to feel comfortable messing around. Whenever I would try to trackstand by slowly riding in circles, I guess I couldn’t commit or some crap and would just continue moving forward at slow speeds.