Please help. I am starting to twist to the right when I ride. I have
my left shoulder forward (about 10 degrees) and a twist in my hips to
match. That lets me go straight.
I’ve tried feet position, checked the seat is straight and not twisted.
I’ve tried sitting upright and throwing back my shoulders (just makes me
veer of to the left).
Background notes.
My right calf is rubbing on the frame.
For the males in the audience - I hang left and adjust to centre.
I dislocated my right shoulder over Easter so I’m still a bit weaker and
tighter on that side.
When I ride on a path I can ride straight, but tend to ride on the right
hand side of the path (wrong side for us colonials).
Tends to get worse as I get tired - so short rides aren’t as much of a
problem, anything over 30 mins exacerbates the problem.
Right hand turns are much easier than left hand turns.
Appreciate any words of wisdom, insight or just odd ideas that have
worked for others.
I explain to new riders in our club that when they mount the uni for the first time, they will most likely experience twisting of the uni and themselves. But I also explain that within a small amount of time, the twisting will dissapate and they will be able to mount and sit on the uni (while holding on to the railing) without the uni wanting to spin out from under them. I believe it’s a matter of muscle memory, the same memory that allows us to learn to ride in the first place. I agree with Dave that your “syndrome” will eventually dissapate with experience. I did find once that riding an extreme knobby tire on pavement causes a wicked lean to one side or the other.
> Phil,
>
> I explain to new riders in our club that when they mount the uni for the
> first time, they will most likely experience twisting of the uni and
> themselves. But I also explain that within a small amount of time, the
> twisting will dissapate and they will be able to mount and sit on the
> uni (while holding on to the railing) without the uni wanting to spin
> out from under them. I believe it’s a matter of muscle memory, the same
> memory that allows us to learn to ride in the first place. I agree with
> Dave that your “syndrome” will eventually dissapate with experience. I
> did find once that riding an extreme knobby tire on pavement causes a
> wicked lean to one side or the other.
>
> Bruce
>
>
> –
> yoopers - Bruce & Mary Edwards
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Bruce
I am riding knobbys on the road (mainly).
My mounts are reasonable, most days, so I don’t think that’s where the
problem is.
I think GILD in a previous post may be closer to the mark - I have a
strong dominant right foot and maybe I need to learn/relearn to balance
with my left.
I also have this twist. I’ve been riding (but not nearly as frequently
as most others) for two years now, but the twist has never dissipated.
For most of the time I owned only a Semcycle Pro, which has a system
that prevents the seat from becoming misaligned. Since about a month I
own a Max Traction MUni. The body-twisting was just the same,
confirming that it was me, and not the uni. Just this week I
discovered that I can make the unwanted twisting go away by purposely
misaligning my seat a little bit. OK not an elegant solution but it
works.
Could the seat be centered under you, but the cycle cocked to one side- where the sadle is not above the axel, but slightly to one side, resulting in a cocked hip, and a tendancey to ride with the uper body forward on the oposite side? This posture is a natural developement of riding across a heavly pitched surface.
Likewise, this position can be emphisized by knobby (or heavy center beaded) tyres, while also pitching the cycle to one side…
The seat may be too high, forcing you off to one side at the pedal down position.
Just speculation.
How to fix it? Humm… folks may not agrea, but lowering the seat might help… say to hopping height (1-2" low), then practice riding standing slightly off the seat. A firm link arm will help. You need to develope increased peddle pressure sensitivity, and riding out of the sadle will force you to be less dependant on the sadle for balance. Developing a still stands and hopping will aid this- as will the more demanding seat-out-front. At the very least, I would try a varriety of seat heights or test your ride on a less aggressive tyre.
Okay, here’s my theory. I think I had this problem when I was first riding, particularly when I was at the stage where I could turn more easily in one direction than the other. I never actually took much notice, but at times it did feel like one side was twisted further forward than the other. My situation was reversed (I could turn more easily to the left than the right), so if my theory is correct then it would have been my right side forward.
Anyway, here goes… when riding forward, your body (being controlled by your mind) is constantly making corrections to keep you upright and travelling straight and level. A large portion of this, I guess, involves twisting. If your body has learnt how make the uni turn to the right, then any movements it has to make to twist in that direction to retain balance will be able to be performed smoothly and without too much trouble. However, if you are still having trouble turning to the left, corrections which involve twisting to the left will be more difficult. Hence, if you ride with your left shoulder forward, when you need to correct to the left, you can quickly jerk your left shoulder back, causing the rest of your body and the uni to follow, and ultimately resulting in a twist to the left (and hopefully stopping you from falling off). Do you think this (i.e., the jerking) is happening?
So , if that’s the case (feel free to correct me if the above sounds like absolute garbage), I think your situation would be improved by practicing your turns, so that you are equally proficient at turning in either direction.
I also think GILD’s suggestion about one foot being stronger could have a lot to do with this aswell.