[icc97]

If nothing else I find it quite fascinating how some bikes are easier to ride without holding the handle bars than others. I can balance much better on my 1998 Specialized Stumpjumper mountain bike (comfortable for minutes without hands) than I can on my 1998 Cannondale R900 racing bike (max 5 seconds without hand).

But for my colleague - he finds it much easier to balance his racing bike.

As the article suggest - the hope is that this will provide better guidelines for building bikes that are more stable.

The balance on my mountain bike definitely saved me from two near crashes of a knock to my rear wheel by a u-turning car and being hit on the handle bars by a wing mirror.

[willis77]

Some bikes that are hard to ride no-handed have "notched"/"indexed" headsets that are to blame. Small indentations in the headset prevent minor corrections from actually turning the wheel, making it hard to let go of the bars.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/headsets.html#troubleshooting

(see section on "Indexed Steering")

[etcet]

Thank you so much. My bike has been exhibiting this behavior but I just assumed the headset was designed to 'clip' into place. Looks like I need to see the mechanic.

[davidw]

Peter Sagan showing how well some people can ride with no hands: https://streamable.com/2u94

(From today's stage of the Tour de France)

[theOnliest]

And Ilnur Zakarin (also from today's stage) showing how others aren't as good! Starting at about 2:00 in: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4l18sa_flamme-rouge-etape-...

[stedalus]

To be fair to Zakarin, the finish is substantially steeper than the section Peter was on, and he had just spent the 30 minutes on the rivet to get the stage win.

[icc97]

He can also do a wheelie on his racing bike which I definitely can't do either.

[handedness]

I would guess the frame geometry on your Stumpjumper is likely much more relaxed (specifically the head tube angle) than the Cannondale's.

[icc97]

Yeah - to me this made sense. Until my colleague was referring how he had the opposited where he was more balanced on his racing bike.