One-Handed

NicolesMan said:

Hey everyone,
I have recently started riding again and have been doing some commuting. This is a bit embarrassing but I have a hard time signaling because I really struggle to maintain my balance and direction with only one hand on the handlebars. Does anyone have any general tips to methods to help balance the bike better when signaling?

Practice. Practice. And relax.

Well personally I think being able to ride one handed comes quite naturally with time as you feel more confident riding. Such as you need to wipe the sweat of your forehead you will just wipe it without thinking, not realised you went one handed for a few seconds.

You could maybe find a quiet smooth road or park and just ride up and down one handed with your free hand just relaxed by your side(Dont put it in your pocket though) until you feel okay doing it?

Ive not tried one handing a road bike from drops(I have no idea what bike you have) or if people even signal from the drops, but from the top of the bar you should no problems with a little practice.

While riding around a neighborhood or somewhere else that's safe and gives you some room to swerve, start by practicing reducing the grip on the bars to just a very light stabilizing touch and feeling the weight shift to your hips. Then in that situation, get a feel for keeping the bike stable with your hips/weight rather than your arms and shoulders. Gradually work up to where you aren't touching the grips at all, but have your hand nearby, and get comfortable controlling the bike in that state.

Practice and work up to where you can take one hand off easily, then both hands eventually. Not that you'll ever really *need* to ride no-handed, but you really should be controlling the bike with your hips/weight rather than your hands, arms. Your neck and shoulders will thank you for it. 🙂

Start by placing your one hand close to the stem to center your weight on the bars.
And as stated practice.

Before signaling, move BOTH hands closer to the stem (about 6-to-9 inches apart) ... then, remove one hand and see if you can comfortably maintain your balance when the hand is extended away from the bar in any direction.

If that works, then in the future you can gradually place your hands further apart.

BTW. Presuming you are currently using 'drop' bars, you may want to install some "CX"/auxilliary brake levers which are designed to be mounted close to the stem.

BTW2. Regardless of the type of handlebars that are on your bike, you do NOT need to elevate your hand to shoulder height when signaling a left hand turn ... just bend your elbow to hold your hand out while keeping your elbow close to your body. When signaling for a right turn (I'm presuming that you are in country where vehicles are on the right side of the road), simply raise your elbow a little & point your hand down.

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You may be having a problem balancing because of a lack of forward speed ... shift to an easier gear ratio in case you need to pedal before you actually begin the turn.

Also, when you are simply coasting at a reasonable speed (about 6mph/10kph, or more), momentarily remove one/either hand and let it drop by your side just to get the feel of having only one hand on the bar when you aren't focused on doing anything else.

It comes naturally for myself but i like to practice with no hands in 53 x 11 at 30+ mph, controlling the bike only with my feet. i raced a boat that way, and won.

yup, encourage the use of riding and controlling the bike with your feet and through your core is what i'd suggest.