How do you power slide?

[GeoffM]

You're going to have to be able to overpower the rear tire, then. The oil idea makes sense. You'd probably have to really saturate the tire (ruining it). Bald tires or loose ground, as I said, will help as well.

In a normal situation with a good tire, you have all your mass pushing down on a tire that is intended to grip, not slip.

I think I'm just going to have to lean forward over the front tire. That should pull a lot of weight off the back. The only issue then is I can't pedal as fast. If I slip I'll kill my knees!
Go I need to hit the front brakes to trigger the slip? Or is it simply so much power it slides?

[toycar]

Nah man you got it all wrong.

Its locking up the rear tire. Thats how you slide. Do you have a bike that you peddle backwards to brake? Thats the easiest way to explain it. You lock up the rear tire and swing your hips around to get the rear end loose. Its a zillion times easier with a sprocket locking brake rather then a hand break.


I was doing this in Oregon like 20 years ago on gravel roads in the mountains. Super fun. Its all in the rear tire though. Think about drifting. You bust the rear end loose to drift. If you locked up the front tires it wouldn't help anything.


Go try it. Use your garden hose, wet the pavement and lock up that rear tire. You'll see what im talking about in no time. On hard surfaces that are dry speed is your friend when trying to do this. It takes more forward energy then drag that the break provides to get the tire loose which is when you lose the traction and can "drift" as you call it.

And yes, its wicked fun once you get good at it. I loved riding my bike as fast as I could, and ripping a 180 with like 270 degrees of swing in the rear tire and a giant rainbow rubber mark on the pavement.


Lol, what I would give to be a kid again...

[mtnbikaah]

It's in the name. POWER slide. You need to pedal like hell. He-man it in a higher gear on a slickish surface like gravel.

I've gone tooling down gravel roads, take a turn as fast as I could hang on to the road then power out half-way through. Got front and rear wheels drifting side-ways out of the corner but not too much. Too much power and you eat it quickly.

It was fun. But not practical. I wasn't racing.

Doing it on muddy trails just destroys the trail. Any skidding or spinning on muddy trails just ruins them.

[MikeW]

[toycar]

Any skidding or spinning on muddy trails just ruins them.

Very very true.


Wanted to add that the kid in the video is probably having better luck because hes using a broken surface-the bricks. In between each paver is enough gap to disturb traction. Thats helping his "power slide" happen.


mtnbikaah is right though, speed is the key, and doing what I suggested will dig ruts in trails and shit.

I usually took my bike on logging roads and never gave a shit about damaging anything. On a trail, you should be more respectfull.

[s.green]

I'm being completely honest here, we would take the trays and put them on the sidewalk and then ride over them and try to slide our bikes with them.

[turbomaxx]

My old DK Rage would spin a good tire even on pavement with a small enough sprocket.

Look into smaller sprockets. The smaller it is, the easier to spin it, but the less speed you get through pedaling.

[dysfunk]

I used to slide on my bmx bike, which didn't have pedal brakes and the rear brake wasn't working. just put one foot down and put most of the weight on that one foot and slide. I could slide on most any surface, but it was easier to do on a slick paved driveway/garage floor. though, there were times that I could do it without putting a foot down.. It's all in weight transfer.. just got to be extra careful.

If I'm not understanding the concept, let me know.....

[GeoffM]

I tired it again today, to no avail. I'll keep working on it.

I am talking about spinning the rear tire, hence power slide.

I think part of my problem is I'm using a mountain bike, not a BMX bike. I can lock the wheels just fine, just don't have very much practice doing it

[Ander]

You would need an incredibly slick tire in the rear for it to even be remotely possible, otherwise the tire will just bounce.

The closest you'll prolly get without being on gravel or whatever is locking up the rear and sliding then pedaling again to stop the slide (like the drift boy was doing.)

[led_fut]

Get your bike going on a nice smooth, wet wooden deck. Thats the most slippery thing Ive ever biked on. My parents had a nice flat deck we used to go nuts on when it rained.

The problem with this idea is 1) you need to have minimal traction to be able to spin but 2) you also need lateral traction to stay balanced. Think of riding your bike on ice. Not so cool. The sweet spot where you are sliding and still maintaining your balance is very small.

I think the only way would be to master your balance skills. Then go pedal your brains out on a wet deck.

[Xsjado]

go to a skatepark that has been painted.

buy one of those 3 wheel tricycles with plastic wheels at the rear end.

[Xsjado]

[gloryaccordy]

Slow down to a crawl, put all your weight on the front tire, shift to the lowest gear, lean to one side and stomp the INSIDE pedal. The tire will kick to the OUTSIDE. We used to do this all the time on dirt bikes w/skidded out tires. I don't know if it would work on a road/mountain bike; I imagine the low rotational inertia of a 20" dirt bike wheel helps a lot