Skill test..

[RJ]

No.

Well, maybe one.

Same here (though not to order ...).

[spesh]

Answering the questions honestly would have me, by a wholly arbitrary measure, with weak Cycling Fu.

However, I don't give a damn, so it doesn't matter. 

No.

Well, maybe one.

Same here (though not to order ...).

Yeah, I can endo accidentally... 

[PaulR]

I can endo accidentally on fixed when riding down a hill close behind my younger son when a car noses out of a side road and my son slams on his v-brakes.  It makes a nice loud noise when the rear wheel lands again - partly the sound of a d-lock bashing the pump in the saddlebag.

My children get v embarrassed and shout at me to stop when I do 15 along the Embankment.  I also worry slightly about what would happen if the chain snapped while doing this.

[Butterfly]

No.

Well, maybe one.

That's my answer too.

I used to be able to do more of them when I was  more reckless .

[Charlotte]

Dammit, I really need to learn 17/.

Hold on a mo, I've already seen you do this you big dafty. With the Penny Farthing.

Not quite.  Onna penny, you've got an intermediate step 

[The Seldom Killer]

True, but on a diamond frame you aren't quite as elevated.

[Si]

Well, I had to include 'bike surf' in the original list as it's the only one that I can do* properly apart from track stand and small hops!

* or rather could do - when I had a raleigh grifter back in the early 80s!

Glad to see that I'm in distinguished company when it comes to being a bit of a clod when it comes to bike tricks 

[Torslanda]

Pointless skill test for no other reason than it's nearly Friday.

Can you, on your normal road going bicycle...

1/ ride no handed for more than 10 seconds?

2/ pull a wheelie getting the front wheel more than 6 inches off the ground?

3/ pull a wheelie and keep it up for at least 20 yds?

4/ hop both wheels off the ground at once?

5/ do a proper bunny-hop: pull a wheelie then push down on the bars to bring the back up (i.e. hop with out the use of clipless pedals)?

6/ track stand for more than 6 seconds?

7/ while riding along, reach down and pick a tennis ball up off the floor?

8/ bike surf (i.e. one foot on the centre of the handle bars, the other on the saddle, both hands off the bike)?

9/ endo (i.e. hit the front brake to lift the rear wheel more than 6 inches off the ground)?

10/ endo-turn (as above but turn the bars so that you land with the bike pointing more than 90 degrees from the original direction)?

11/ take off or put on a rain jacket while riding along?

Bonus points:

12/ skid stop on a fixed

13/ ride out the saddle on a tandem

14/ ride a unicycle?

1. Yes

2. No

3. No

4. Yes

5. No

6. Yes

7. Are you 'avin a larf?

8. Don't be silly . . .

9. Not without a visit to the dentist

10. See 9

11. You ride in the rain? Doesn't your bike melt?

12. Won't ride fixed

13. With my skillset nobody's been brave enouygh to lend me a tandem!

14. There are nicer things to get stuck up yer arse!

*Bonus! Can ride Wobbly John's Spin Cycle and Wobble Bike. In fact I was laughing so much on the Spin Cycle at the last CycleFest that I felt a little wee almost chopped Mike Burrows off at the ankles!

Mea Culpa, 'We're not worthy . . .' etc. etc.

[Wobbly John]

*Bonus! Can ride Wobbly John's Spin Cycle and Wobble Bike. In fact I was laughing so much on the Spin Cycle at the last CycleFest that I felt a little wee almost chopped Mike Burrows off at the ankles!

Yes, but did you ride the Spin Cycle 'no hands' and wheelie the Wobblebike? 

I can 

[Torslanda]

Smartarse!

[Kim]

 

....I might as well take up golf.

[Torslanda]

....I might as well take up golf.

. . . as what?

[rogerzilla]

6, I think.

The "endo turn" or "kick turn" is a valid MTB technique for silly little hairpins.  You don't turn the bars, you turn the bike, very quickly straightening the bars as you move off again.

Here's another one: on a grass surface, can you jump off a moving bike at 15mph and not hurt yourself?  Bonus points if the bike keeps going on its own.

[Si]

6, I think.

The "endo turn" or "kick turn" is a valid MTB technique for silly little hairpins.  You don't turn the bars, you turn the bike, very quickly straightening the bars as you move off again.

I turn the bars and lean a little - it achieves the same thing, the front wheel stays put and the rest of the bike goes around.

Here's another one: on a grass surface, can you jump off a moving bike at 15mph and not hurt yourself?  Bonus points if the bike keeps going on its own.

No but I can do a similar one on a steep down hill where I jumped off, bike and body passed opposite sides of same tree, then I got run over by my own bike.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I haz no skillz.

[Kim]

Here's another one: on a grass surface, can you jump off a moving bike at 15mph and not hurt yourself?  Bonus points if the bike keeps going on its own.

Ah, that one I can do.  Well, I assume I can, not tried it since I got a 'proper' mountain bike at the age of about 13 and was no longer willing to watch my bike crash.  We used to have competitions to see who could make their bike keep going without a rider for the longest.  I think seeing the 'big' kids doing that, and realising that a bike will balance itself as long as it keeps moving, really helped me gain the confidence needed to lose the stabilisers.

Beyond that, I'm limited to low-grade endos and cautious riding with no hands (although I was getting quite good at it before I realised I was getting more than a little help from a knackered headset).  Though I suppose I could argue that my hill-climbing technique is practically a track stand.

My folding bike with the extra-low gearing will do awesome (if not very sustainable) wheelies if there's a load on the back, often without warning

[RJ]

Answering the questions honestly would have me, by a wholly arbitrary measure, with weak Cycling Fu.

However, I don't give a damn, so it doesn't matter. 

No.

Well, maybe one.

Same here (though not to order ...).

Yeah, I can endo accidentally... 

That's the one 

[Andrij]

Perfect score!



0


I haz no SKILLZ. 
 

[greenmeansgo]

Yay - skids and wheelies thread!


Can you, on your normal road going bicycle...

1/ ride no handed for more than 10 seconds? Yes

2/ pull a wheelie getting the front wheel more than 6 inches off the ground? Not on the fixie. Touring and road bikes yes.

3/ pull a wheelie and keep it up for at least 20 yds? No

4/ hop both wheels off the ground at once? Yep. Took a while to learn on the fixie though

5/ do a proper bunny-hop: pull a wheelie then push down on the bars to bring the back up (i.e. hop with out the use of clipless pedals)? Yes if I put flats on, yet somehow with cleats I end up just pulling up

6/ track stand for more than 6 seconds? Yep

7/ while riding along, reach down and pick a tennis ball up off the floor? No - is this even possible on a road bike?

8/ bike surf (i.e. one foot on the centre of the handle bars, the other on the saddle, both hands off the bike)? Never tried i.e. no

9/ endo (i.e. hit the front brake to lift the rear wheel more than 6 inches off the ground)? Yep

10/ endo-turn (as above but turn the bars so that you land with the bike pointing more than 90 degrees from the original direction)? Yep

11/ take off or put on a rain jacket while riding along? Yep

Bonus points:

12/ skid stop on a fixed Yep

13/ ride out the saddle on a tandem No

14/ ride a unicycle? No. Would love to learn though


Anyone got a video of 17/?

9/14. Reasonable.

[spesh]

Perfect score!



0


I haz no SKILLZ. 
 

Do what I did, which was work out that anything I couldn't reply to in the affirmative didn't apply for my everyday cycling and therefore didn't count towards the final total... 

With respect to applicable cycling madskilz, this guarantees a score of 100%.   

[Jakob]

5/ do a proper bunny-hop: pull a wheelie then push down on the bars to bring the back up (i.e. hop with out the use of clipless pedals)?

That's not a bunny-hop. You load your legs, extend up as you pull the front wheel up and then push the bars forward, whilst pushing back on the pedals and pulling your legs up.

Explanation 1
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/24FJ58Q22D4&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/24FJ58Q22D4&rel=1</a>
Demo 1
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/RAem3L7Rlpk&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/RAem3L7Rlpk&rel=1</a>
Silly contest
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/sXLXR2_1aYE&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/sXLXR2_1aYE&rel=1</a>
Good visual slo-mo sequence
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/NsM977afRDU&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/NsM977afRDU&rel=1</a>

[softspeaker]

Perfect score!

0

I couldn't quite match Andrij:

1/ - 13/     No
14/           Yes

[gordon taylor]

0/14

and proud of it. 

[Biggsy]

1/ ride no handed for more than 10 seconds?
Yes, but it scares me unless the bike is especially stable.

2/ pull a wheelie getting the front wheel more than 6 inches off the ground?
I think my wheelies are always smaller than that.

3/ pull a wheelie and keep it up for at least 20 yds?
No.

4/ hop both wheels off the ground at once?
Yes, with lots of effort.

5/ do a proper bunny-hop: pull a wheelie then push down on the bars to bring the back up (i.e. hop with out the use of clipless pedals)?
Not really.

6/ track stand for more than 6 seconds?
Yes with quite a lot of bar turning and wobbling, if that counts.

7/ while riding along, reach down and pick a tennis ball up off the floor?
I'm not an orang utang.

8/ bike surf (i.e. one foot on the centre of the handle bars, the other on the saddle, both hands off the bike)?
No thanks!

9/ endo (i.e. hit the front brake to lift the rear wheel more than 6 inches off the ground)?
Yes, this is the easiest one (as long as the brake works well).

10/ endo-turn (as above but turn the bars so that you land with the bike pointing more than 90 degrees from the original direction)?
I often correct the position of my bike by endo-turning, but don't think I could manage 90 degrees in one go.

11/ take off or put on a rain jacket while riding along?
Possibly, but I don't want to.

Bonus points:

12/ skid stop on a fixed
Don't do fixed.

13/ ride out the saddle on a tandem
Don't do tandem.

14/ ride a unicycle?
Don't do unicycle.

One to add:
Ride one bike while pushing another and change gear via down tube levers.

[CrinklyLion]

I haz no skillz.

Perfect score!



0


I haz no SKILLZ. 

I haz no skills either.  But I haz fun anyway