Inside Foot Peg Weighting?

[llamadingo]

Apologies if this has been covered a ga-jillion times...I'm having trouble finding the answer.

 

My current status: On the balls of my feet, outside foot/leg locked to the outside of the bike, arms light, inside arm steering, head positioning inside, inside knee is light, feeling comfortable in the corners and the bike feels stable.

 

I came across a pro-racer video mentioning how he handled a corner in which he was coming in a bit too hot. He articulated what equated to the "hook turn" but also mentioned weighing the inside foot-peg to help "bring the bike around."

 

I currently don't make any accommodation for weighting the inside foot peg. The logic for me is to keep the weight off the inside foot, to allow my upper body to be the "bigger lever". However, years ago with experimenting before CSBS, I had noticed some effects from weighting but I had way too many inputs to isolate this.

 

What is the recommendation on:

• inside foot peg weighting?
• Outside footpeg weighing?
• Distrbution %?
• Timing/when applicable for all of the above (if they actually apply)?

 

I just usually lock the outside, unweight the inside (and the rest is upper body, light steering, throttle control, braking technique, etc.) I just don't want to have a knowledge gap....

 

Can anyone help?

[Willsportbike]

I haven't attended a CSS training session yet but wondered if is covered in any of the levels. The issue of 'weighing the footpeg'? If so what level?

 

 

I tend to weigh the footpeg in the turn I'm going into. Right turn then weigh the right footpeg.

[bashir0505]

There is a thread titled "Is Body-Steering Ever Effective?" that discusses this.

 

By putting more weight on the peg (i.e. moving your body off the center so there is much more weight on one peg than normal), the bike will veer in that direction. However if you were to counter-steer on the handlebars, your turning would be significantly more effective. This was demonstrated in the video for Twist of the Wrist 2.

 

Your bike could veer due to weight shifting because your body accounts for about a quarter of the combined bike+rider weight. But as a sport that is physically demanding, then safety, speed and efficiency usually dictate best practices. All of which is to say that it is better to counter-steer than weighing the peg.

 

As you alluded to, there are CSS drills (like hook turn) that work on body positioning and how to best utilize your body to complement the basics.

 

On a last note, riders often attribute a result to the wrong cause. When executing the hook turn, you could end up putting more weight on the inside peg. One can incorrectly attribute the tighter line to weighing the foot peg instead of the true cause which is putting more weight on the front to modify the bike geometry.

[Dylan Code]

Formally stated, Newton's third law is: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

 

Press on a peg, it gives you the same amount back. Most bikes weigh considerably more than the rider so the harder one pushes down, the more the rider will tend to lift their body up.

 

But think about it: if you sit on a bike and let your feet dangle, the suspension is going to sag under your body weight. If you stood on the pegs, the suspension would sag the same amount.

 

Next time you ride, go straight with a loose grip on the bars and press hard on one peg and see if the bike changes direction. It won't.

[Willsportbike]

Good point Dylan. Thanks for explanation.