How to Drift on a Bicycle

If you love the idea of learning how to drift in a car but don’t have one, you might be wondering if there’s a way to drift on your bike. Well, you’re in luck. While it might take a little practice to get right, you can learn how to drift on your bicycle. Learn how to drift without using your brakes and also while using breaks, and then try the one that sounds the easiest and most fun to you.

EditSteps

EditDrifting Without Brakes

Pedal quickly towards a turn. When attempting to drift without breaks, it’s essential to gain some good initial speed. Pick up some momentum as you approach a turn.
- The first few times you try it, don’t go too fast. Gain a little speed but don’t pedal as fast as you can. It’s safer to wait until you’re more comfortable with drifting to go all out.^[1]
Lean your bicycle over. As you start to round the corner, lean your bike over into the turn. This should make your tires lose traction and the momentum should start pulling your bike outward, away from the turn.^[2]
Control the front with a forward lean. At this point, lean forward on your bike so that the back tire can break free. This will allow the drifting motion to start.^[3]
Put your foot down. During your first several tries, there’s a good chance that you may accidentally lay down your bicycle completely. Take your foot off of the pedal when you start the turn, and catch yourself and the bike by planting your inside foot. This will help keep you from laying the bike down and getting injured.^[4]
Try it with your foot ahead of the cranks. Once you feel comfortable with drifting on your bike and you find yourself hardly ever needing the support of your inside foot, don’t remove it from the pedal. Instead, make sure your inside foot is ahead of the cranks when you start your turn.
- This way, you won’t be relying on your inside foot, but if you start to lose balance, it’ll be in a position that’ll allow you to plant quickly. This can help stop you and your bike from falling to the ground.^[5]

EditDrifting With Brakes

Start pedaling. Start off by pedaling forward. You should be traveling a little faster than walking speed.^[6]
Turn and pull the back brake. Simultaneously turn your bike and pull your right hand brake. This will stop your back tire which will cause the back end of your bike to move away from the turn.^[7]
- If your bike was made in Italy or Great Britain, then pull the left hand brake instead. On bikes in these regions, the right hand brake controls the front tire and the left hand brake controls the back one.^[8]
Move the bike outward with your inside leg. Once you’ve started to skid, use your inside leg to kick the bicycle outward, away from the turn. This will make the back of your bike move outward more intensely, which will appear more drift-like.^[9]
Lean forward and let go of the brake. While skidding, lean forward slightly and release the hand beak. This will cause the back tire to spin, creating a drifting motion.^[10]

EditTips

Either use a bike that has old tires or go to a bike shop and buy wide-gauge bicycle tires that have hard minimal tread in the middle and soft large tread on the sides.
Shift down one or two gears on your bike so you can come out of the turn faster. This also makes accelerating easier and less painful for your knees.
Learn on gravel or wet, slick tarmac/brick surfaces; these are good training grounds.
Learn on a bike that only has suspension (shocks) on the front. Rear shocks won't let you drift as easily.

EditWarnings

Skidding too much can reduce friction on your tire.
Make sure to wear plenty of safety gear such as: a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads. Otherwise, you may get hurt while learning to drift on a bicycle.
If practicing around the corner of a building, always make sure that no one is coming so that no one gets hurt.

EditRelated wikiHows

EditSources and Citations

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