Uphill starts
- Thread starter Milty
- Start date
Mathew Fy
GRU
Practice, practice, practice. Get good with starting on lower inclines and work your way up.
benphyr
Guru-me-not
Stand up, give two quick strides, then slide down into the seat as you lift your feet to the pedals and start pedalling. Practice and don’t be afraid to be patient and let traffic pass before any start that has the potential to scare you or cause others concern. Or even walk to a better starting place.
Frito Bandito
Zen MBB Master
Make sure you are in a low enough gear before stopping so that starting is easier. Also, if you are having a balance issue starting from a dead stop while leaning back then lean up with your chest closer to the bars for the first few pedal strokes.
Not Cruzbike specific, but I will tell, because it's very unintuitive: Sometimes I find it more easy, to not start with one foot on the pedal. In standstill I have both feet firmly on the ground. Then mayby I give a little kick to the ground when lifting them up, but more important is to quickly and decisively put the feet on the pedals and start pedaling, before I even have time to fall down. By standing with both feet, you can start in the most balanced vertical position. With one foot on the pedal, you always have to lean to the side with the foot on the ground.
Maybe it's worth a try on a Cruzbike as well, I'll only be able to try it in the coming days, when I start learning.
Maybe it's worth a try on a Cruzbike as well, I'll only be able to try it in the coming days, when I start learning.
benphyr
Guru-me-not
In my experience:
This is true ( but does require a different kind of balance to be able to keep upright while lifting the feet).
If you are starting with one foot on the pedal then steer slightly into the lean in order to get vertical right away.
As soon as you are moving it is easier to balance because your steering inputs affect your balance much easier than body movements.
Al_D
Active Member
As a Cruzbike Newbie (500 miles on an S40), this is still a bit of a challenge.
Since I mainly ride on quiet, paved city streets... I have realized that I must
downshift prior to approaching intersections just to be ready for a sudden stop
situation. If I don't downshift, the short stop will set me up for a difficult start (esp on
a hill). Clipping in does help, but the obligatory downshift preparing for an unexpected
full stop have helped the most... for me.
Since I mainly ride on quiet, paved city streets... I have realized that I must
downshift prior to approaching intersections just to be ready for a sudden stop
situation. If I don't downshift, the short stop will set me up for a difficult start (esp on
a hill). Clipping in does help, but the obligatory downshift preparing for an unexpected
full stop have helped the most... for me.
Always-Learnin
Vendetta Love
Wisdom shared...
Great advice: it worked
CruzinCambridge
Active Member
Yep... recent posts resonate. I'm only 9 months in. After a super embarassing caught in the middle of a state highway hobby-horsing my way across an intersection uphill while traffic stopped and waited episode, I now downshift into a comically low gear on approaching an uphill intersection. Personally, I keep one foot clipped in at like 10 o'clock, I sit up and hold the hoods for more leverage, and then stamp down and go, trusting I'll stay upright. If I'm in too high of a gear, I'll unclip, stand up and shift down like I would on a DF, lifting the drive wheel while I turn the cranks with my hands. One trick I've only recently learned is keeping my gaze focused 20 feet down the road at where I want to go and not on the line right in front of me to help me keep my balance.
bladderhead
Zen MBB Master
Been there done that. Bike is an attension-seeker. Always plays up for the crowd. Get into a low gear. While you are braking. Easier said than done. If you do not have brifters you will wish you had. You will really wish you had hub gears. Leaning forward helps. How close to your chest is the handlebar clamp? The reason for all my handlebar experiments was to get the bar-ends nearer and the clamp further away. If you do a lot of commuting you learn fast. These days I get away like a slingshot. This I achieved by a lot of mileage. This be the lesson.
Al_D
Active Member
How right you are... I am slo-o-owly learning those ropes. Wobbling at an intersection is a strong incentive...
The local high school discharges new drivers between 2:30 and 3:00... good time to avoid certain intersections.
I was totally spoiled by the Rohloff Speedhubs I had in my WAW, and Flevobike GreenMachine.
The local high school discharges new drivers between 2:30 and 3:00... good time to avoid certain intersections.
I was totally spoiled by the Rohloff Speedhubs I had in my WAW, and Flevobike GreenMachine.
Especially a longer gear brings you further wir the first pedal push, so you have more time to get the second foot in Position. But of course you may not need to push so hard, you need all concentration to counter the pedaling force and keep going forward. With my technique of lifting both feet simultaneously, I start in shorter gears, so I can rev up quickly.
It's always a balancing act to choose the right gear.
It's always a balancing act to choose the right gear.
Minor point. I use Power Grip straps on my pedals, and I just put my foot on the (wrong) side of the pedal and get moving. After I'm moving in a quieter segment I worry about putting my feet through the straps. I don't have a problem with 'clipping in'. I have seen pedals which clip on one side but are usable with any shoe on the other, which might provide the same advantage.
castlerobber
Zen MBB Master
I have that kind of pedal (Shimano M324) on both my Cruzbikes. I put a mounting bracket from an old set of PowerGrips on my starting pedal to weight it where the platform side defaults to facing me, and the other bracket on the other pedal to default the clip side to facing me.
Merczak73
Active Member
Agreed with all above. When I first got my Cruzbike, I really hated it for the first 2-3 months. Wobbly, unstable, tense - not fun. However, three years into it, it has become much more intuitive. I'd say it took me about 6 months to figure some of this stuff out. I regularly start on uphills. and it has to be thought out.
1) Get in to really low gear (I do that for any stops, at this point)
2) sit up. Don't start lying back. Personally, I have my hands on the bars/drops, not on hoods for starting. I use the brake hoods for when I am climbing.
3) stomp on the pedals and get the bike moving ASAP.
4) Practice.
I am now able to start in most situations as normally as I did on my regular bike, way back when. I was really good at balance on my regular bikes, able to track stands on minimal inclines. Admittedly that has helped with the Cruzbike. At three years, I am kicking arse and taking numbers. =)
1) Get in to really low gear (I do that for any stops, at this point)
2) sit up. Don't start lying back. Personally, I have my hands on the bars/drops, not on hoods for starting. I use the brake hoods for when I am climbing.
3) stomp on the pedals and get the bike moving ASAP.
4) Practice.
I am now able to start in most situations as normally as I did on my regular bike, way back when. I was really good at balance on my regular bikes, able to track stands on minimal inclines. Admittedly that has helped with the Cruzbike. At three years, I am kicking arse and taking numbers. =)
