Uphill Battle

[sergeremillard]

I've been riding my Sofrider for just a few days. I bought it used with plenty of nice upgrades including 700c wheels and X9 shifters. I've followed the technique steps and doing ok. My problem seems to be going uphill. I keep pulling to the left and can't seem to correct. Any tips on what I might be doing wrong? Seems to be an upper body vs. my legs pushing to control the bike. Can't put my finger on it. I'm in the lowest gear and as the grade increases, my control decreases. Help!

Serge

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Hi Serge - Charles and others

Hi Serge - Charles and others will probably have better advice than I can give you. I've never ridden a softride, but I have recent expertise learning the Silvio and Vendetta.

First off if it's only been a few days for you, I would get a lot of ride time on my flat ground first and then increase your hill climbing slowly. The reason is you should master the FWD MMB first. It takes a little patience and time to adjust to the MBB and get a good feel for it.

Sounds like your reflexes have not adjusted yet. In the beginning I was all over the place when going up a hill. I had to hit them hard and fast so as not to get too slowed down. But over time I got better and better. I can now get both bikes slowed down to a crawl even in the 4-5 mph and hold a straight line, but not in the beginning. Just keep practicing.

 

[Charles.Plager]

What Rick said. You need to

What Rick said. You need to get used to riding it and it gets easier.

I can now crawl up steep hills at less than 3 mph in a straight line.

The only other thing I can think of: is your Sofrider geared low enough? Standard is a small chainring of 34 teeth. My small ring is 22 teeth.

 

[Jeremy S]

If you can already pedal

If you can already pedal uphill after a few days of practice, that's great! It does take time. Give it a couple of weeks.

If the problem continues you may want to consider whether your boom is adjusted correctly. I tinkered with my bike a few times this season and at one point, I had the boom adjusted a little too far out. My bike felt less stable and sometimes I veered to the side a bit. My theory is that I was subconsciously compensating for the reach to the pedals using the steering. After I moved the boom in a bit the bike felt stable again.

I think someone on the forum commented about the opposite problem, they had the pedals too far in and the bike felt more stable after moving them out.

 

[Eric Winn]

Don't look down.
Seriously -

Don't look down.

Seriously - you will tend to drift toward where you are looking. At least early on as you are learning. After you get more comfortable and can better feel any drift while not looking forward you can look down without going all over the road.

I was a left drifter at first too until I noticed I wasn't focusing on looking further down the road toward my destination - in this case the crown of the hill.

-Eric

 

[John Tolhurst]

So it turns out you have an

So it turns out you have an asymmetric pedaling technique. Your technique will improve from here.