>>932320
>too much to read for a one-sentence question
Find local bike clubs in your area that do group rides, hopefully they have a beginners group, hook up with them, ride with them, be humble and take direction from experienced riders there to help. Or find a local cycling coach that gives skills clinics/classes and go do that. This is not a read-a-book thing this is a do-it-more thing if you want to improve.

>>932324
I know practice is paramount, and just reading books won't get me there, but written/video explanations can still be useful, and so can outlines of drills/exercises for students, or descriptions of "you need to be able to do these things to ride in traffic safely". All those things could help me get more results from my twice-a-week practice sessions.
It's not easy to google for that kind of stuff as you get a lot of results for advanced tricks that don't really apply to me. One of the few nice results I got earlier (and what prompted me to ask here for more) is this PDF from the New Zealand Transport Agency : http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/cyclist-skills-training-guide/docs/cyclist-skills-training.pdf
Stuff like the slaloming between cones placed 1.5 meters apart is a good thing to know about for example. Even though I don't have cones and so can't actually do that drill completely the same way, it does help give an idea of what kind of finesse I might be expected to learn.

I know that IRL coaching would probably be a lot more efficient for the average person, but I'm a semi-autistic social retard, and talking to a stranger is one of the scariest and stress-full things I can imagine. That in itself is probably also something I should work on, but combining that with learning to ride my bike better isn't likely to yield good results in either area :)

>>932320
>*tighter turns
Its best not to corner too aggressively unless you are certain of the road conditions.

Sand, gravel, mud, wet wood, wet metal can all make your front tire slip out and cause a crash.

Those smooth manhole covers without any holes look innocent enough but can be crazy slippery, so I avoid going over them while cornering. Even going over an individual pebble while corning hard can make the front tire shift an inch as it rolls over. One wood bridge around here has made many people wipeout since there is a 90 degree turn just before it.

>>932320
>steering wheel
say "bar"

>(currently have the pedal below the arch of my feet as that seems to provide the most solid position)
there's your problem. your foot position is not only making your toes strike the wheel, it's affecting your leg extension which affects your seat height and overall fit.

it seems counter-intuitive, but it is well-understood by generations of cyclists and guys who study bike fit: place the "balls" of your feet (the line of round shapes where your toes connect to the foot) over the spindle of the pedal. make it a habit and it will rapidly seem "right" to you. also, then optimize your seat height: with foot in this pedal position and with one crank bottomed out, that knee should be extended as far as it can go without starting to lock (so, a slight bend).

you're going to have to be OK with these truisms of bike fit if you're ever going to pull a 30k ride (or even 10k) and you should notice that you feel more "dialed in" to your bike right away.

shoulder-checking gets easier, but it can be disorienting to the best of us sometimes. one thing to try is looking under your armpit rather than over the shoulder. everything's upside-down, but you can see a car and the movement places less strain on the arm that wants to pull the bar.

oddly, if you ever get to where you can ride comfortably hands-free and also not weirded-out by turning your vision away from the path of travel (I learned this from skateboarding), then shoulder checks get real easy since your hand isn't on the bar to unconsciously pull it in the first place.

everything else comes with experience. creating drills to challenge balance and steering etc seems logical if you wanted to. or just ride everywhere as much as you can.

try this: at the sharpest turn on your usual ride--when clear of traffic--try to take it a little faster and lay to the side a little more each time. resign yourself to falling at least once.

>>932342
also, regarding shoulder checks and riding with one hand: speed is your friend. it will tend to right the bike. anticipate a shoulder check by getting up to decent clip in advance, a couple good cranks in the proper gear.

plus speed is safer for merging in traffic. on bikes, faster really is safer than slow (but a balls-out downhill ride is a different thing, obvs)

the gear thing: it's like a car, if you're over revving, it's time to switch higher. if under revved, the engine wants to stall, so downshift. I'm just assuming a 30yo knows cars somewhat. an automatic transmission does it for you, but you can still feel when it shifts if you pay attention.

anyway, on a bike, you're the engine. you want a good, spinny cadence at all times. you're not PUSHING the cranks except from a dead stop. you keep your cranks spinning freely and the bike does the work. from a stop, be in your easiest gear (small ring in front, big cog in back i.e. chain is all the way next to the frame.) push the crank to get going and usually before you're thru the intersection you'll need to upshift a cog. keep cadence steady and upshift as you feel you're "spinning out" (overspinning without getting any faster.) if you know you'll be maintaining speed for a while, shift front to the big ring, and also on downhills. downshift in anticipation of inclines and stops (all the way down BEFORE a stop.) If you've been coasting for a while, you'll usually want to downshift a cog since you've probably slowed.

tl;dr the front gears are big jumps. small is for starting and climbs, big is downhills and maintaining a decent clip you've worked up to.

the rear gears are like the fine adjustment of your cadence.

>>932320
>Do you have any tips or online resources that would help me build those skills?
All of these things, except traffic laws and etiquette, have to do with being accustomed to riding a bike. Bike moar.

Biking is not learned cerebraly, as can easiely be demonstrated by counter-steered bikes. No matter how good a cyclist you are you can't ride one. Knowing how they work is no help.
Cycling is all about letting the brain build hard-coded routines for doing it subconciously. This is done by practicing and failing, not studying. There's nothing you can 'focus on' or 'think about' to get there faster, and no magic tricks that can simply be taught. You have to let your wetware restructure itself over time.

Sorry.

Learn to countersteer and ride moar.

One of the best books on bike handling I've read was "Mastering Mountain Bike Skills". Why mountain bike skills? Because if you can handle a MTB offroad, you can handle any bike.

Just search the book title. There is a PDF available for web reading.

>>932341
Yeah, I'm not trying to make super-tight turns (and especially not on difficult ground), but I reckon I should at least be able to turn right on a crossroad without veering onto the opposite lane for a bit, which is what would probably happen if I tried it with my current turn skills :)

>>932342
My bad, English isn't my native language :)

I'll try putting my feet like that next time. Will definitely take some getting used to (and gaining confidence in how well my feet will remain in place). But hopefully it'll be worth it in the long run :)

When I just got the bike I lowered the saddle, to make it easier to "walk" on the bike at first, and put my feet on the ground quickly in the early stages of learning. And I never raised it back up again, so I suppose it's time to do that now. Not sure it'll be high enough to let me (almost completely) stretch my leg on the bottom of the pedalling movement though (1m95 tall). But should still be better than the current situation, once I get comfortable doing it like that...

I have actually managed a 20K ride once (well, with a short break to get off my bike, pick it up, and turn it 180 degrees :)). It was a much easier ride than my planned commute (wide straight bike road next to a canal, just after dawn on a Sunday, so no one around), and even though it made me realize that I was going to have to work on posture eventually for long and frequent rides, it wasn't all that bad. Saddle soreness obviously, slightly sore hands/wrists from gripping the steering bar too tight probably, lower back feeling a bit sore (that might actually get a bit worse if I raise my saddle?), and after I got off I walked funnily for a few minutes due to lower body having been worked in a new way for a while.

>>932342
Looking under my arm instead of over my shoulder sounds more complicated (more moving parts), but I can sort of see where you're going with it.

Riding hands-free is probably a long way off though, I'm just experimenting with letting go with 1 hand (but still have it hovering over the bar to be able to adjust quickly). I also notice that when I have just the 1 hand on the bar, I use it even more for stabilization. Then again, even riding with 2 hands, I can't ride perfectly straight.
Overall I reckon I have too little "body" balance going on, and too much manual-steering-adjustment balance (even if the goal is not hands-free riding but just relaxed riding without hand/wrist issues).
I do have to mention maybe that my natural balance might actually be slightly sub-par. My body is slightly asymmetric due to a minor deformity, I don't know to what degree that would actually affect balance, and I don't really want to use it as an excuse, but I'm definitely not counting on achieving anything very impressive balance-wise :)

As far as riding everywhere goes, I don't feel anywhere near ready for riding in traffic (even just mild traffic). I realize that it's a bit of a chicken-and-egg thing, but I reckon that at my current stage, it would be really irresponsible, and dangerous not just to myself, but also to other traffic participants. So it's just a few practice rides per week for now, in the local park, or by the canal :)

>>932366
I actually can't rely on carryover from car-knowledge for gears, as I can't drive that either :) I've always lived in, or on the outskirts of, big cities, with lots of public transport available, so I never really needed to learn.
My current impression about gears is that they're something I should learn about eventually (even if only just because they're a pretty significant part of a bike), but I don't really know if I really have a practical need (though that's probably at least in part because I don't really know what they offer). I live in a pretty flat area, and I haven't really tried inclines/declines yet. My intended route to work (most of which I've walked once) does have a few bridges across railroad tracks etc, so I might need it for that. Or just for speeding up faster in traffic situations, like the intersection stuff you mentioned...

My gear thingy on the steering bar is currently at 3 (out of 7), I'm not sure about front vs back (haven't really looked closely at the chain and clock-wheels etc yet to be honest).

Speed-wise I think I'm kinda slow. A few times, when going for longer rides, I wore a heartbeat monitor with built-in GPS, and checked some stats when I got home, and my top speed was only like 23 KPH or so. I think that muscle-wise I could go a bit faster for a short while, but it just felt like my legs were spinning wildly, I was wobbling more, and I was going to eventually lose control if I went even faster. Average sustained speed was about 18 KPH, and that did kinda tire me after the 20K ride (more due to legs than being out of breath).
I'm always kinda slow though, despite being tall... I walk at a solid 6 KPH, but I jog at a glacial 8 KPH for "long" distances (10K) or 10 KPH for short (4K), and even during "sprints" I never reach 15 KPH. But I have to admit I'm not a very accomplished runner either :)
I do reckon that as my technique improves, I should also try to bike faster, as it is indeed easier to balance then.

>>932381
I hadn't heard the term "countersteering" yet, and the angle at which the guy on the scooter in the pics on the wikipedia page leans over kinda gives me a queasy feeling in my stomach, but that does sound like a very interesting concept that I'll need to look into more. Probably already doing it subconsciously, as the page points out, but doing it consciously might make some things easier.

I'll look into the book recommendation too! In my initial googling I shied away from such "advanced" stuff, and I reckon much of it is probably really not useful yet, but I'm not ruling out that some things can be interesting :)

>>932373
As I wrote earlier, I agree that practice is the paramount factor for success. And automatic movements or muscle memory is probably important too.
But I do think that knowledge, tricks, techniques, etc can help. They're probably not strictly necessary, and certainly not sufficient without practice of course.
But they can make practice more efficient or pay off more, they can teach you good ways of doing things without you having to re-invent them from scratch or just get lucky randomly observing them from another cyclist you happen to see riding by.

>>932324
>>932341
>>932342
>>932366
>>932373
>>932381
And before I forget : thanks for your feedback and tips!
Gonna get some sleep now, and practice some more tomorrow :)

>>932389
>I do think that knowledge, tricks, techniques, etc can help.
Magic thinking. Already riding a bike doesn't help you ride one that rides exactly the same as the one you've learned, but backwards. You can not consciously know how to ride a bike.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPgWlyDkmBU

The countersteering technique you've just 'learned' is a perfect example; it's impossible to manouver a bike without counter steer. That's how you initiate a turn. If you can turn, you already did this. Trying to do it counsciously will be less efficient and less precise than the hard coded neural routine you've already built for this purpouse. It will even be too slow and too imprecise to enable you to ride at all, if there was a switch that could turn off the subconcious processing.

>>932392
This one is better https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzDaBzBlL0&ebc=ANyPxKrSb5MgiuCDbtBYoj08TidueFPs6PNy1QDyIIEDWr9rcTfslfm_XF3tFFUiwuxJK4gCB4QjufN0m-gLKjafZ2wqfbeQrw

>>932382
>it made me realize that I was going to have to work on posture eventually … slightly sore hands/wrists from gripping the steering bar too tight probably, lower back feeling a bit sore… and after I got off I walked funnily for a few minutes due to lower body having been worked in a new way

make sure your saddle is mostly level with the ground. angled too far forward places stress on the wrists, getting pushed against the bar. might be a factor there.

speed is optimized with the stem/bar lower than the level of the saddle (SLAM THAT STEM is the meme). experienced riders will ride comfortably with the stem equal to the saddle height or lower for sport. since you're just starting, go casual mode and raise the stem higher (do not exceed the mark etched into the quill if you have a quill. if threadless headset then you're kinda locked into how high your steerer tube was cut and you add spacers.) As you build skill, you'll benefit from lowering it back down, but for now higher is helpful. don't go crazy, though. stupidly high is probably detrimental to fit/balance etc.

if you feel cramped when bent over your bike, that may be an undersized frame but you can easily move your saddle backwards along the rails as well as buy a longer stem once you're positive you need it.

hopefully these fit tips can help with the pain/grip issues.

>>932385
eh, refer back to what I said about gears later. it will become more self-evident as you progress, but doesn't sound like you're "there" yet. especially if you're in a flat area. but gears are great once you don't need to focus on basic riding anymore. remember the meme "spinning is winning" for now.

I can't even imagine trying to learn cycling from scratch in my 30s (learned to ride when I was 5 and never really stopped.) so much of what I do is intuitive. but I respect that you're doing it. cheers.

>>932397
I uploaded some pics at http://imgur.com/a/Zy0EK (sorry for the kinda crappy quality and lightning, I didn't think of taking my phone with me while biking, so I just took them in the bike cellar of my apartment building after I got back from practice and ran up to my flat to grab the phone).

Raised my saddle a good hands-width, to be about at the same level as the steering bar now. Leg still isn't fully extended with pedal at the bottom, but this height increase already felt scary enough for now :) Will try to bump it up again later if needed.
Getting on and off is a lot more difficult now, but I always do that while stationary, so that's not that much of a problem (other than looking even more embarassing :)). Starting and stopping is also more difficult, for example it takes me a little longer now to get into proper riding groove, but hopefully that'll get better as I get used to it.
I don't really know about all the terms you mentioned in your last post, but I'll do some more research on them by the time I'm ready to consider raising the saddle even higher.
Wrists were actually slightly more sore with the higher saddle, but might be a matter of getting used to the new position, or finally learning to give up the middle-finger-on-the-brakes crutch... But that is a pretty big mental hurdle to jump :)
I knew saddle could be raised/lowered, but before reading this post, I never really realized that the steering bar could be too (at least one some bikes). That might help with the wrists too, if it's possible on mine. Will definitely check next weekend when I practice again.

I also tried the different foot position, and it took some getting used to, and it still feels a bit less solid, easier to slip off etc, but overall it's not that bad. And it definitely helped in turning, as I'm now no longer in real danger of hitting the wheel! So I'm definitely sticking with that.

>>932392
>>932394
Magic thinking maybe, but I don't think you're entirely right and I'm entirely wrong :) Though the truth might also be that I didn't properly express myself before (so your understanding of me isn't entirely in tune with what I'm trying to say).

I definitely don't think that knowledge equals understanding, but I think that knowledge can help build understanding. It's not guaranteed to, and even if it helps it might only help a little bit, but to a person like me (rather cerebral and rational, unintuitive, clumsy, ...), it feels good to have a little extra tool in my arsenal. Even if only because I can only go practice riding a few times per week, but I can read and watch videos and post online a lot more often (commute, break at work, ...), so it allows me to spend more time on attacking the problem :)

I also think that the foot position thing that the other anon explained to me, and that I put into practice today, with great benefit, is a good example. It might be too simple and trivial to qualify as a trick or technique (though I don't really know a better word for it), but it is a piece of knowledge that helped me a lot.
My previous middle-of-the-foot-on-the-pedal position seemed so obvious and correct to me, because it was the most solid position, with least chance of slipping of etc, that it would have taken me a long time of getting frustrated with the foot-against-wheel problem (or other faulty solutions to it) before I would have tried that. Because it would feel like doing something "wrong" most of the time, just to improve in 1 area that's only relevant a small part of the time. But eventually, with practice, I'll hopefully learn to ride just as well with the new front-of-foot position, learn to not let my foot slip even in that position etc.
In this case you might say that the knowledge didn't directly help, but it does give direction of what to practice!

Eventually we might just have to agree to disagree though :)

Stop using emoticons and learn to write as little as possible.
This will get you far.

You type as if you were very anxious. Apparently, /n/ is a nice board but most of the other boards will not let that pass. The same applies with people to a lesser extent.

Hey man good on you, I learned how to ride a bike in my 20s, I'd get up at 5am in the morning and ride around an empty parking lot till I got it figured out.

Anyway I found this helpful for starting and stopping:
http://sheldonbrown.com/starting.html

Once you figure that out, having your saddle at the correct height becomes way less scarier

some other stuff that might help handling skills in no particular order

learn NOT to jam the brakes in the turn (if you're gonna jam 'em, jam it before the turn)
pedal pivot point on rough surfaces (lift your bum and keep hands as loose as possible so bike pivots and dampens chatter under you instead of having to shift your whole weight on every bump)
no hands descending through turns (pelvis steering)
no hands ascending (upper body stability/pelvis steering v2)
bunny hopping curbs and logs (useful skill to have)
maintaining straight line (try edge road line width)
straight line on slow speeds
some degree of trackstanding (~5-10s is fine)
learning the difference of a sprint stand and a climb stand and when to use/not use them (no clear cut answer, depends on preference/tolerance)
keeping momentum through rolling terrain (when to power through small rises instead of resigning to spiiiiiin, having a tactile grasp on the momentum you're carrying also helps on twisty descents wen you have traction feel pat down too)
for unusual/dumb traffic, aim for the butt (people and animals are less likely to turn back when they see you going for their ass, keep a consistent line)

>bike skills

hahaha

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>>932621
>and it still feels a bit less solid, easier to slip off etc,

you can get pedals with pins that grip your shoe better. I think most models you can adjust the pin height with a hex key. look for Wellgo brand for budget price/quality.

a lot of riders use foot retention systems that lock your foot into your pedal, but you're obvs not there yet. after you learn to ride comfortably for a few years you might like it. I've done both and I liked retention but I prefer a flat pedal for stop-start city riding.

>>932652
I'm extremely shy and quiet IRL, but I do have to admit that I tend to be rather verbose in writing :) Though it only tend to notice it when it's pointed out to me, or occasionally on my own, when I come across a wall of text I produced earlier. When I'm writing I actually try to keep things relatively short and to-the-point, but a combination of inexperience, and perhaps a bit of overcompensating for the lack of opportunity to express myself elsewhere, tends to lead to the kind of results you've witnessed here. Sorry!

>>932655
Thanks, that looks like an awesome and extremely useful website! If this board had a sticky, that site should be in it.

>>932667
A lot of that stuff is still way ahead of me, but it most of it does seem very useful, and at least somewhat attainable eventually.
I actually never use brakes for turning (or for anything other than when I want to make a full stop really), but that's probably because I ride so slow, and in such easy circumstances, that I've never really had a need to... But it's good to know that I should brake before the turn, so I don't learn it wrong, and then have to unlearn that later.

>>932792
Heh, I don't want my feet to slip off my pedals, but being locked to my pedals seems even scarier :) The pedals with pins, like in your pic, seem like a good compromise though.

>>932792
why get those over the spikier cheap ones on most commuter bikes, senpai?

>>932867
Not him, but bmx pedals are much wider and grippier than regular pedals.

>>932867
eh, better platform size/support and better build quality but whatever floats your boat

>>932320
>*switching gears : why, when, how?
Shift down as you approach a hill. It's a lot harder (for you and your bike) to shift while riding up a hill. Switch to your climbing gear when you're still on the flat.
>Bonus question
Eh, depends. Keep riding and maybe you'll figure out how to avoid doing it. Otherwise take the fender off (I assume you are referring to a fender)

>>932320
>*tighter turns
When you lean hard into a turn, don't pedal, instead have the pedal on the inside of the turn in the up position, so you don't scrape pedals on the ground
>*smoother starting
Shift into a lower gear as you come to a stop. Easier to accelerate in a low gear.
>*smoother stopping
Some people will say to use front brake instead of rear brake. There's advantage and disadvantage to both. Front brake gives more stopping power and prevents skidding, but it can also be uncomfortable if you aren't used to it, and if you brake hard enough can make you go over the bars. Generally experienced riders use the front brake most of the time and only rarely use the rear brake (excluding mountain bikers where rear is often the better choice)
>*bike maintenance
Air up tires to the recommended pressure (labeled on the tire) BEFORE EVERY RIDE. Tires lose air while they sit, even after a day they can be substantially lower, and low pressure = high risk of flats. Get a good pump such as the Topeak Joe Blow Sport II.
Clean your drive train (chain, cassette, chain rings, derailleurs) and lube your chain from time to time.
Replace chain when it gets stretched (stop by a local bike shop (LBS) from time to time, ask them to measure chain for stretch). If you don't replace it, it will wear out other components and ultimately cost you more money. Should generally be replaced after 1,000-3,000 miles but it varies a lot based on type of riding, conditions you ride in, quality of chain etc.
Carry a few tools with when you ride. A good multi-tool is the Crank Bros M17. In addition to that, you should carry three plastic tire levers, a few spare tubes (patch kits are fine too, but if you have a major tube damage like a blowout, you'll need a new tube), and a portable pump.
Get a helmet, lights, and a lock as well.

Good resources any time you run into a mechanical issue:
/n/
http://sheldonbrown.com/
http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

>>932816
>but I do have to admit that I tend to be rather verbose in writing :) Though it only tend to notice it when it's pointed out to me
Just keep writing and you'll notice and get better at it. Write here on 4chan to improve it, people will call you a faggot but in the end it's just empty insults. You a cool but insecure.
Don't apologize for things this small, it's unnecessary.
>:)
Seriously stop doing that. Just use smilies when you are talking to somebody you know, and don't use them in the middle of the sentence.

>>932925
>http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help
This.
Parktool's help section and youtube channel are great.

>>932320
I used to ride with no hands and standing on the seat when I was ten. So this whole "learning" thing seems weird to me.

> literally busting my balls trying to learn running mount

>>932381
>this x1000
That book will make you a better rider no matter your skill level.

There should be a sticky for the Amazon page on /n/

But please pay for it and don't pirate it. After all it rewards the people who created it and makes incentives for others to make similar books.

>>932320
Where are you from OP? If your in CA I'd be willing to help, but sounds like you maybe in a different continent.

Check out GCN on YouTube. They do some fun informative videos that may help you.

Seth's Bike Hacks is another YouTube channel, but is for more advanced skills.

Art's Cyclery on YouTube is good for maintenance how to.

Also maybe try asking people you know if they cycle or maybe ask around your local bike shops what they recommend for a first time rider, they may even offer classes or tips. There maybe some local community college or community center that offers bike classes. Some retail chains like REI also offer classes.

Finally it's called a handlebar not steering bar.

>>932922
>Shift down
Say I have 3 gears on my left handle and 6 on the right, is down from 3 to 1, 6 to 1, both or vice versa?

>>932320
>being this useless piece of crap.
Dude, if you can't manage to ride intuitively maybe you should become a cager. Yeez.

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>>936518

the little number windows aren't on a lot of bikes including mine, but for all derailleur systems:

when the derailleur shifts the chain inward nearer to the bike frame, that's downshifting; the torque/leverage is more favorable, spinning the crank becomes easier. I'm pretty sure this corresponds with the 1 position on your shifters but you'd have to check that.

shifting the chain outward, away from the frame is upshifting: a faster rate is achieved from the same cadence. this is true on both front and rear derailleurs.

the 3 up front (left shifter) are big jumps, the 6 in back (rt shifter) are finer increments. try keeping the front in 2nd (middle) position for normal riding; downshift it for slow climbs and upshift it on downhills or to mash and unlock sonic mode.

most shifting will be on you rear 6, shift down or up to maintain a good, spinny cadence. downshift the rear all the way when you're approaching a stop so you can easily blast-off again.

lastly, pic related. beware of getting your chainline too diagonal i.e. crosschaining. as long as you mostly stay in the middle gear up front, it won't be an issue on your set-up.

>>932320

If you're riding a MTB or can otherwise get a knobby tyre, you can practice all of that shit on grass.

>>936544
Thanks, anon.

>>936853
I'm so glad someone bothered to read it after I typed it all out :DDDDDDDDD

you're welcome, happy riding