How can you skid / How to do skids / skidding

I thought it was impossible when I first went fixed and relied on my brake far too much.

Agree with wet roads or smooth paving stones etc. so she can learn the correct positioning. Weight doesn't have to too far forward to be scary. Good luck, she'll be skidding in no time.

Unless you have a video of him playing the piano naked whilst staring directly at the camera - this will remain a bald assertion.

disagree. but what do i know, only do research in bald assertion

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mDThbgvMQZI

Probably my highlight of the olympics that - awesome!

disagree. but what do i know, only do research in bald assertion

disagree. but what do i know, only do research into disagreement.

stick -> spokes = skiddy mcskid

Lol at some of the replies to this post. Let me clear some things up:
I'm no newbie to fixed riding, I've been doing it over a year, I'm just new to this forum!
She has wanted a fixie for a while so I finally found one suitable for her from a mate at work (XS Giant Bowery cos she's small!)
I've gone through the "lean forward & lock yer legs" thing for an evening & it didn't work too well, as mentioned by somebody, will try it on grass next!
We aren't in London so I won't be able to meet up with people any time soon :-( , but hopefully in the new year!
I can skid in many different ways thanks!
Here's a video from the other night to prove this! (With added mate-in-background-on-phone)

[ame="http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m129/timwilkey/?action=view&current=DSCF5029.flv"]DSCF5029.flv video by timwilkey - Photobucket[/ame]

Thankyou to everyone for the help! I'll let you know on the progress!

Tim, my boyfriend taught me, there was no arguing. I learned on the "trixie chix" court on columbia road which is a great surface (slightly soft and smooth) and where 90% of the women here learned.

-Mike's winning tip for me was to try to lean forward over the handlebars far enough to look under the front wheel. The leaning forward part is the hard part (general consensus). Most of the ladies got the skidding part but couldn't make the skid last for long because of not much weight distribution.

-Also pulling up with your strong foot I think is much more important than the "locking of knees". The knee locking thing is more likely to lead to the feeling of/actuality of being thrown over the bars or sore knees.

-pulling up/pushing down when your feet are at 3 and 6 o'clock.

-speed is best, and the faster the better.

-Our muscles have a 'memory' of positions so hold the bike for her while she just stands in place in the correct skidding position, so she can feel the position she's trying to achieve.

Thanks for this post, didn't notice it first time round. Yeah, I was telling her that she needs to lift her front foot more than pushing down the rear, I guess I'm just no good at putting the words into a sentence that makes sense! Took me a while to get used to the motion of pulling a skid, but once you learn it just gets easier!
After thinking about it, the locking legs thing isn't at all how it's done, more just the push/pull thing! Wicked, cheers!

Muscle memory is a common term for [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromuscular"]neuromuscular[/ame] facilitation, which is the process of the neuromuscular system memorizing [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_skill"]motor skills[/ame].

Not the muscles remembering something but the brain remembering how to control the muscles in a certain way. As a target archer this is extremely important since training your body to do EXACTLY the same thing for EVERY shot is how you get consistent aim. Then you simply adjust the sights for each distance and deal with external factors and Simon Fairweather's your uncle.

My advice is eat lots and lots of pickled onions and wear tighty-whities.

Just practise - I found it IMPOSSIBLE to begin with, as alot of you might have too.
but once I got past the initial hip join pains and quad burn I was on my way =]

And if you ever play the guitar (and I guess any other instrument) you will see/feel how muscle memory works.

http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m129/timwilkey/?action=view&current=DSCF5029.flv

Isnt that a skid fail?

Your trying to teach her to skid as a means of stopping right?

Perhaps you should do the sensible thing and leave the brakes on her bike.

Get her to ride down a hill in the rain as she wont have to lean forward as much and will get the feel of doing small skids by just having to lift her body off the saddle a little bit.

Nope, this isn't about my smack habit.
I got a Fuji Track [thanks for the advice and threads I searched about this before making my purchase -- a 58 and it seems to fit great.]
On the basis of other threads, I got a Shimano 105 on it. The guy at Evans was very pleasant and enthusiastic but reckoned that if I was going to get one brake I should put it on the back, but I sort of thought that was wrong.
I cycled it from Spitalfields home and it was an interesting first experience riding fixed. No zen thing going on, of course, but however.
But... um, how was I supposed to stop?
A daft question, perhaps, but searching the forum I didn't find any information for an absolute newbie like myself. Yes, I could ride for three days in the Cotswolds and find out how to stop, but I'm looking for some tips that'll let me survive the first 20-odd hours of riding my new bike.
I rode about ten miles an hour on my short trip and tried to use a combination of braking and sort of pushing back on the pedals to stop. I wasn't properly secured by the straps since I thought that might spell disaster. But maybe I should have, and rely more on pulling up on the pedals than I was?
I think the Fuji Track has quite a high gearing. Would I find brakeless stopping much easier if I got the gearing changed to something lower? Is it just that it takes a little while to get the right muscles up to scratch?
I'm a little confused by the fact that if I'm using the front brake I should shift my weight back with the whole thing about somehow shifting my weight forward if I want to use the pedals to brake.
Do I have to pretty much decide between a) a brake stop or b) leaning forward and locking the back wheel.
And the whole thing of locking the back wheel is unclear. Does one lock one's legs? I understand from other threads [and, yes, I really, I have done a search] that I want my legs at 3 o'clock/9 o'clock, but how do I lock my legs like that!?
If it's a toss-up between braking and pedal-stopping [sic?], what's the maximum speed I can do the former at?
I know that all this will come with time, but I'm hoping to get some information about it all before going under a bus. Maybe it's the case that you can't stop within 20 metres before riding for a certain length of time, but if there are any tips or links that'd be great.
Sorry for such a possibly ridiculous-sounding query, but in my little journey the other day I just found it impossible to stop in a shortish stretch despite going slowly.
What, also, out of interest, will be the best I can hope for after time? Say you're going along at 18mph or so, is it simply the case that you can't stop within a given distance?
Looking forward to the sarcastic remarks as well as, hopefully, some helpful pointers,
Ben

Front brake and feet attached to pedals ffs.

Now use the search button up the top for fun words like "skid" "stopping" "skip" "brakes" and read the results.

But is the suggestion that I get a back brake as well as front?

just change your cog to an 19t one and it'll be easier.

you found it hard to brake simply because of the big gearing, (Fuji are 16 teeth rear 48 teeth front I think), not exactly comfortable in London, wack a 19t on the back and you're sorted.

Well its totally your choice, but the majority of fixed riders would find a rear brake unnecessary, since you use your legs to slow down.
How high is a high gear BTW, the higher it is, he harder it is to slow down the bike using your legs.

But is the suggestion that I get a back brake as well as front?

Front at least, until you work out what's going on. Maybe a parachute too.

Jeez...

this must be the longest one ever.

You have have missed the uber hip craze of fixie wheeled bicycling by a year and a half.

If you wish to keep your bicycle to use as transport be sensible and use brakes, (front more important than rear)

And note importantly, that leaning forward will in no way assist in decceleration nor is it a good idea when faced by Bus/HGV/Ped/wet descent

Front brake and feet attached to pedals ffs.

Now use the search button up the top for fun words like "skid" "stopping" "skip" "brakes" and read the results.

Ok, I'll spend some more time browsing. But it appears that 95% of the threads are dominated by discussions of whether it's sensible to forgo a brake for aesthetics or which bit of a tyre gets worn down by stopping.
But, indeed, I should spend some more time looking around.

people want things so easy!

basically it's called practice, like anything. all the things you wrote in your post are true, those are ways to stop, now practice...in a few months, maybe years you will be able to brake effectively with just your legs. you can't expect to just get on a track bike for the first time and be able to control it like you used to control a freewheel!

sorry for having a go it's just there is no technique eluding you, it just takes time.

Also get clipless pedals, although it may not seem it being firmly attached to your pedals makes life on a fixed gear a hell of a lot easier

go up and down your road until you can stop with your legs if your brakeless or you could end up under a car... less time on the internet and more out and about