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Steep hills & crouching


Cycleops

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Hi All,

 

I've been riding my KS 16s for about 3 months now & competent enough for regular use.

What I seem to struggle with is when I have to crouch down to avoid overhanging tree branches, the wheel immediately starts the wobbles.

What are your techniques to avoid this?

Also, there is a very steep hill near me that I've had a couple of goes to go down (going up is no issue). It's about 13% & it just gets very unstable & have to step off.

8% seems no trouble, but this hill hates me!

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Are your feet farther forward or backwards on the pedals? A lot of the time foot placement can be the root cause of wobbles, especially when you change the point of balance in relation to your foot, like when you suddenly crouch down. I suggest trying different foot placement and seeing if that can help at all. You might even try a staggered stance, where one foot is farther forward and one is farther back. I've heard that can help make some people more stable...

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I find that having my feet further forward (I have big feet with the larger foot plates) places my legs centrally. I've found that if my feet are further back it's more likely to behave like an oscillating shopping trolley wheel. I also get more leg strain from trying to accelerate, as it takes more effort.

It's something I can experiment with for sure. My foot placement could also be affected by my current ankle flexibility. I am still recovering from surgery & my left foot doesn't bend as far forward at the moment.

 

I played around a bit with it yesterday while relieving some foot discomfort. my left foot a little further forward & less weight on the heel. I wasn't crouching or going down hill at the time though.

 

I guess it's still all new to me at the moment, & I get more comfortable with each ride.

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6 hours ago, Cycleops said:

What I seem to struggle with is when I have to crouch down to avoid overhanging tree branches, the wheel immediately starts the wobbles.

What are your techniques to avoid this?

Your ankle recovery could indeed be a big part in this. The quick method that often works for crouching workout wobbles, is to crouch with relaxed ankles, heels down on the pedals. For some people it’s common for the heels to rise while crouching, and crouching with heels down can be a completely new movement. It’s easy to practice standing on solid ground as well.

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On 7/26/2021 at 7:00 PM, mrelwood said:

Your ankle recovery could indeed be a big part in this. The quick method that often works for crouching workout wobbles, is to crouch with relaxed ankles, heels down on the pedals. For some people it’s common for the heels to rise while crouching, and crouching with heels down can be a completely new movement. It’s easy to practice standing on solid ground as well.

Thanks, I'll concentrate on this & see if it helps. I should be able to do this, as the restriction I have at the moment is forward flex rather than sitting back on the heals.

Edited by Cycleops
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