Turn direction preference poll

[Biggsy]

This is for road cyclists, but try to forget about other traffic for the moment (even if subconciously relevant), this is about how you feel about the act of turning itself, particularly with tight turns.  If not sure, think which way you'd go for a tight u-turn when there is the free choice, like on a deserted road or footpath.  What comes naturally?

Riding on the left/right means the side of the road you generally ride/drive on in your country.  You may answer for the side that you learnt on, or have much more experience with, if you have moved regions.

[hubner]

I'm not sure I have a preference.

I think maybe it's more to do with which foot do you start to pedal. I start with my left foot although I'm right footed, so with a left turn my left foot is up and right is down.

[Kim]

Definitely nothing to do with feet for me.  I'm naturally right footed, but taught myself to use the left because of knee trouble, and that became a habit.  I'm effectively ambi-footrous (and can happily do either for tandem purposes, as long as I remember which).  Besides, foot position makes no difference to turning if you have a sufficiently high bottom bracket.

[Greenbank]

I taught myself to start off on either foot, or wherever in the pedal stroke the pedals happened to be, from riding fixed. Lifting the rear up to sort the pedals out when there's 20kg of stuff in panniers gets old quickly, especially with 20+ traffic lights on my commuting route.

Besides, foot position makes no difference to turning if you have a sufficiently high bottom bracket.

Or if you don't ever lean enough. I have a relatively high BB and short-ish cranks and I still have to be very careful.

[citoyen]

I'm not sure I have a preference.

My preference is to turn in the direction of the bend. I did try turning right on a left-hander once. Never again.

[hubner]

Maybe it's subconscious, turning right means going into traffic (coming from behind or ahead), whereas turning right is not. Therefore turning left feels safer.

[ijsbrand]

I live on the continent, and would find it odd if my preferences were pooled with those of people obliged to ride on the other side of the road.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I think feet can be something to do with it. I'm right footed but naturally freewheel right foot down (or right foot forward if I'm standing), which means my foot's usually in the wrong place to put the power on in a tight turn. Even worse in those stupid croquet hoop type barriers.

[Tigerbiten]

I was left handed until a Tiger ate it, so am I now right handed ....... 

I prefer to cycle on the left so my right hand is next to the traffic. this makes waving at the traffic so much easier.

It all depends on which arm I wear if left or right turns are easier.
My cycling arm is 2" longer than my non-cycling arm. This makes right hand turns easier.
But the shorter non-cycling arm makes the angles at the ball joint better for left turns.

I normally have the trailer behind the trike. As the hitch is on the left, I prefer left hand U bends as I can turn further before being stopped by the trailer hitch.

[cycleman]

I prefer right turns when I ride a bike and get on the bike from the lefthand side. I also put my left foot down and push the right pedal to start..I can turn slightly tighter to the right on my trice and slightly tighter to the left on my sun ez3

[hellymedic]

Never really had the ability to take hands off the bars or look back without wobbling. Slightly better at taking right hand off..

Being a right-handed British resident, left turns are less complex but I can't say they're preferable.

[ElyDave]

Slow turns on a df I prefer left, but still do uturns to the right. Also prefer left handed faster turns.

Much more neutral on the 'bent for fast turns, several fast rights yesterday at roundabouts. Slow turns are the real trick, with slow rights often also associated with junctions, ant the trickiest part of recumbent riding. Specific practice at this has got me confident enough not to worry about it.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I was left handed until a Tiger ate it, so am I now right handed ....... 

I prefer to cycle on the left so my right hand is next to the traffic. this makes waving at the traffic so much easier.

It all depends on which arm I wear if left or right turns are easier.
My cycling arm is 2" longer than my non-cycling arm. This makes right hand turns easier.
But the shorter non-cycling arm makes the angles at the ball joint better for left turns.

I normally have the trailer behind the trike. As the hitch is on the left, I prefer left hand U bends as I can turn further before being stopped by the trailer hitch.

Interesting. As everyone has one arm (and leg) a smidge longer than the other, albeit usually far less than 2", I wonder if this is a factor that we're not aware of? (because we're not aware of the minute difference in length between one arm and the other)

[Cudzoziemiec]

Barakta's input might be useful here.

[Kim]

Barakta's input might be useful here.

She's onna train fleeing the sun at the moment, but...

Barakta has her handlebars set in different positions to compensate for her asymmetric reach.  Consequently, the left bar hits the edge of the seat sooner than the right, so she's got a wider turning circle when turning left.  She may take her left hand off the bar for full right lock?  But that's fine on a trike, and all her controls are on the right.

While she can technically ride an upwrong bicycle, it's painful and unsafe, so I don't think she's done enough of it to develop a preference.  She sort-of fits the streetmachine, but only when sitting up out of the seat due to lack of reach to the bars.  I reckon she might have more luck with the Red Baron's tiller steering, which is ridden with elbows bent, but she's not keen to fall off it (and I'm coming round to this point of view).

She had an adapted upwrongular trike when she was a kid.  Don't know if she had a turn preference then?


Cycling aside, she likes to keep things on her right for hearing reasons (her original BAHA implant is that side, as it's the side with slightly better hearing and easier to reach with her good hand - most of the time she doesn't bother with the second BAHA), and will position herself to the left of a group.  She also habitually tilts her head (we reckon due to a combination of Duane's and lipreading), but I don't know what, if any, effect that has on moving around.

[Tigerbiten]

It all depends on which arm I wear if left or right turns are easier.
My cycling arm is 2" longer than my non-cycling arm. This makes right hand turns easier.
But the shorter non-cycling arm makes the angles at the ball joint better for left turns.

Interesting. As everyone has one arm (and leg) a smidge longer than the other, albeit usually far less than 2", I wonder if this is a factor that we're not aware of? (because we're not aware of the minute difference in length between one arm and the other)

A lot of this is due to the fact I can only alter three joints in my arm once I'm clipped in. Ball and socket joint angle, elbow angle and shoulder joint
The length of my arm is fixed once I've clipped into the ball and socket joint where my hand should be. So once my arm is straight the only way to alter the length is by movement in the shoulder and not from how I hold the handlebar. Plus I cannot let go of the handlebar if I suddenly need an extra inch of distance. So the reason my cycling arm is longer is because it lets me lean further to the left with my arm straight. Going left I would just open my hand so I push on the handlebar more with the base of my fingers and not with the palm of my hand as this will easily give me an extra inch in length between the shoulder and the handlebar.

As for why a shorter arm makes it easier to turn left all comes down to the forearm-handlebar angle at my ball and socket joint. As I lean left the elbow drops and the angle increases. My longer arm has a longer forearm and the longer forearm increases this angle. Once the angle increases enough, I'm in danger of being unclipped from the ball and socket joint. One of my crashes when I rolled on the trike was caused by this type of unclip when I had my right hand off the handlebar at the same time. Plus once unclipped, I cannot reclip without using my right hand so for a few seconds I'm riding hands off as I reclip in, not something you want to do going down a twisty road.

[RichForrest]

At slow speeds on the bent I can turn sharper to the left as that is the leg I'll unclip to balance while still pedaling with the right.
I suppose round here (with the amount of roundabouts) I tend to lean left twice as much as right and can go faster on left turns.

[Basil]

At slow speeds on the bent I can turn sharper to the left as that is the leg I'll unclip to balance while still pedaling with the right.
I suppose round here (with the amount of roundabouts) I tend to lean left twice as much as right and can go faster on left turns.

Hmm.  I unclip and stand on my right leg.  I prefer right turns.

[LEE]

As a motorcyclist I could always get lower when turning left, grounding various parts of m/c in the process.  I never managed to ground anything on right turns.

For some reason I feel rather exposed when turning right, like I wouldn't know how best to fall if the worst came to the worst.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I never had that feeling on motorcycles and regularly grounded r/h pegs and exhaust bolt on my Z250 on roundabouts. I'm coming to the conclusion (or rather, a feeling) it's to do with power delivery; on m/c it makes no difference which way you're going, on pedal bike it does cos you have strong and weak leg.

[Greenbank]

I live on the continent, and would find it odd if my preferences were pooled with those of people obliged to ride on the other side of the road.

They won't be pooled though...

Riding on the left/right means the side of the road you generally ride/drive on in your country.  You may answer for the side that you learnt on, or have much more experience with, if you have moved regions.

[Biggsy]

Yes, just answer for the side that has been most influential for you.


I voted option 2.  I'm coming round to the camber theory, although I still think the sheer amount of extra practice with tighter left turns (that we get in the UK, etc) has been a factor for me.  Handidness, I don't get the relevance of (not that I'm saying it is irrelevant), and feet certainly have nothing to do with it for me.

[Samuel D]

It is well-known (for whatever that’s worth) that right-handed people prefer to corner to the left on two-wheeled vehicles. I don’t know why that might be except that I share LEE’s feeling of being exposed and awkward when turning right. Perhaps it is related to weighting the outside pedal and handlebar with my ‘wrong’ limbs on right turns, and therefore not feeling I can vary the weight as quickly and precisely as I can in left turns where the weight is on my dominant limbs.

I don’t believe the predominant camber or side of the road matters. This is a deep instinctual feeling. Even when I was a child trying extreme leans on a flat outdoor basketball court, I favoured left turns. Besides, I have mostly cycled in countries where you ride on the right.

[jsabine]

It is well-known (for whatever that’s worth) that right-handed people prefer to corner to the left on two-wheeled vehicles.

Citation needed, I think.

FWIW, my counter anecdatum is that I couldn't give a rat's arse.

[T42]

Yes, just answer for the side that has been most influential for you.


I voted option 2.  I'm coming round to the camber theory, although I still think the sheer amount of extra practice with tighter left turns (that we get in the UK, etc) has been a factor for me.  Handidness, I don't get the relevance of (not that I'm saying it is irrelevant), and feet certainly have nothing to do with it for me.

Yebbut the predominant preference among those of us who ride on the right is also for left turns.  El Presidente, who has never been to the UK in his puff, is also happier with left turns.  I think it depends predominantly on handedness.