Why is a left hand turn easier?

[Robodog]

Thanks for all the advice, but I failed to mention that my main problem is going uphill where you have to continue pedalling through the turn, failing which you will loose momentum and tumble over.

 

Outside pedal down and keeping pressure on that pedal certainly helps when you go downhill or have enough momentum to go through the bend without the need to pedal.

 

I do the following drill with students who have this problem.

 

Find a bit of smooth, flat terrain with some space (garden, park or driveway works well).

Place two cones (rocks, logs, indigenous plants) about 4m apart to start with.

Now do figure 8's through the cones.

Concentrate on keeping equidistant from the cones as you go around them.

Move the cones closer and closer together.

When you can ride the figure 8's with cones a metre apart keeping less than a metre from the cones, you can consider yourself an expert in tight corners.

[Tubehunter]

I do the following drill with students who have this problem.

 

Find a bit of smooth, flat terrain with some space (garden, park or driveway works well).

Place two cones (rocks, logs, indigenous plants) about 4m apart to start with.

Now do figure 8's through the cones.

Concentrate on keeping equidistant from the cones as you go around them.

Move the cones closer and closer together.

When you can ride the figure 8's with cones a metre apart keeping less than a metre from the cones, you can consider yourself an expert in tight corners.

 

People who are interested in improving any form of bike handling skills (pedal or motorised), have used this method above all else to improve the sense of connectedness between rider and machine for good reason!!!!

 

There's a lot of opinion going on here about leaning and other stuff. Confidence will grow when you are deliberate with your center of gravity and that you are committing this movement to the right situation. Off camber turns require a vastly different body position than banked corners. Getting this right should be your primary goal.

[Robodog]

 

He's talking about the Scandinavian flick. If you watch a few vids of people like Matti Leikonen and Ben Reid you'll see what he's talking about.

 

The flick is different from countersteering. Bryan Lopes describes it well.

 

Capricorn, When entering a left hand turn. Do you push your left hand down and pull right hand up? If you do you are creating forces and tension on the bar which takes away from steering efficiency. If you lean the bike by just falling over to the inside then you not going to be balanced with your weight on the outside pedal.

 

You probably don't realise it but if you are using good technique in leaning the bike over while keeping your body fairly upright, then you most likely are countersteering. It's such a slight movement. Upon entering the lh corner, your body is starting to lean slightly to the left. You turn the bars imperceptibly to the right and you relax your hands and arms and allow the bars to 'flop' into a position where you are not fighting the bars. At the same time your weight is fully transferred onto the outside pedal and you lean the bike down while standing upright (saddle dropped). Throughout this process you are looking through the corner so that your head, shoulders, hips, knees, feet point towards the apex/exit.

 

It takes a lot of practise to get everything working together in harmony but when you do it's all smiles.

[Capricorn]

ok, i'll admit i had to go do some homework, because all this imperceptable stuff was bugging me. In the wikipedia articles, which sounds pretty much verbatim what you, slick and bean that is, were saying, says in essence, for bicycles at low speeds, which is what MTBs are relative to say road bicycles and motorbikes, counterpressure on the bars essentially not necessary to turn a corner of constant radius at high speeds,albeit one bit of the article stated anything above walking speed could 'take advantage' of counterpressure, but not necessary.

 

You are right in that i do apply the counterpressure aspect when turning. You can't not do it if you weight's on the outside pedal. Fully agreed. There's a nice vid here by Bikejames on the matter forthose who want some visuals to aid the discussion.

[Mr X]

Scandi flick works great for leaning over quicker into the the corner. Counter steer is used usually when a corner is taken fast and it gets a bit loose.

[camelman]

Yup, have that same issue although slightly less these days. Naturally my right foot is in front when descending so the left turn is the natural one. I consciously put my lefty in front when descending and feeling fresh, but it takes a lot of energy and concentration. This has also started to help my right hand turns, as my left foot is getting some front time. Anyway, when it gets rough I go into default, right foot in front.

 

If you struggle with his, I have also found that instead of lefty in front, having your right foot at around 1o'clock also works ok. Then it's an easy swap. Right foot at 3 for left hand corners and right foot at 1 for right hand corners.

 

Best advice is just to practice, practice and more practice. If you just practise right turns, at least you don't have to go far to practice, just keep going in a circle.

[Mr Legs]

I did Hoogekraal this morning. I concentrated on two things: opening my hips, ie twisting it to the right when doing a right turn and also pushing my right knee to the right, went much smoother through the corners.

[JTK]

Think this has to do with a few more factors. When you are right handed your left side is the dumb labour and your right side the fine tune. Turning left you left hand holds the bar (couter steer) and you right hand feathers it (control). also your left foot is "off" the pedal and you right foot in control. For left handed people I believe this will be oposite. I feel that which ever foot/hand you feel more adapt to executing tasks with will be the oposite hand to which you feel comfortable in turning... To change this natural instincts will be difficult. I think learn to kick a rugbyball effectively or something simular with your dumb foot may help in the long run

Edited March 15, 2014 by JTK

[RocknRolla]

Its because we are in the southern hemisphere

[SimpleDom]

I'd be interested in whether being left or right handed also had something to do with it. Pushing vs pulling with one hand instead of using the weaker hand / arm when turning the other way...

[LOSMEICHERIE]

hey guys thanks for all the advise now i can to left turn with no problem i took all your advise and put it to practise ... i can do it without thinking about it feels more natural now wow.

[DR ◣◢]

hey guys thanks for all the advise now i can to left turn with no problem i took all your advise and put it to practise ... i can do it without thinking about it feels more natural now wow.

 

Keep up the theory. I had to focus a little on my right turns this morning.

[Robodog]

Think this has to do with a few more factors. When you are right handed your left side is the dumb labour and your right side the fine tune. Turning left you left hand holds the bar (couter steer) and you right hand feathers it (control). also your left foot is "off" the pedal and you right foot in control. For left handed people I believe this will be oposite. I feel that which ever foot/hand you feel more adapt to executing tasks with will be the oposite hand to which you feel comfortable in turning... To change this natural instincts will be difficult. I think learn to kick a rugbyball effectively or something simular with your dumb foot may help in the long run

 

Your theory sounds plausible. Although don't assume that all left handed peeps descend with left foot back and visa versa.

 

I have found that after enough practise I cannot tell which is my preferred corner direction. Practise slalom on a slight downhill. That will get your cornering sorted and work on the 'flipping over' transition from one direction to the other.

 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2014 by SLiiick