Wait, does everyone mount a bike from the left?

triggermortis

magicbastarder wrote: »

what's the dominant hand used for in drumming? i didn't know handedness was a thing for drummers.

The best drummers don’t have a dominant hand, but most will set up with right foot on the bass drum and the smaller toms to the left getting larger to the right

cletus

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Left hand on the snare , right hand above on the hi-hats. Right foot on the bass drum.

I can play or could back in the day and there is no way in this lifetime I could play like that or hold a beat and be in time, I'd have to be set up left handed. I could just switch hands as in play not crossed but then my right foot would be a problem on the bass drum.

It's actually great in one sense when watching youtube videos of people playing guitar or bass. You don't need to mirror the video if you are left handed

Try being left handed and right footed...

triggermortis

cletus wrote: »

Try being left handed and right footed...

I am but It’s never been a problem for me, but then I’ve always been monumentally bad at sports so never played any since school.
I did have to learn to shoot right handed years ago, but that was because the bolt on the rifle was on the right, so it was easier to work the action ( showing my age a bit here). Also, semi automatics eject to the right and it’s nicer if they do this away from your face as the cartridges are hot (I was in the military)

plodder

Like boarding aircraft, always from the left.

magicbastarder

triggermortis wrote: »

I did have to learn to shoot right handed years ago, but that was because the bolt on the rifle was on the right, so it was easier to work the action ( showing my age a bit here). Also, semi automatics eject to the right and it’s nicer if they do this away from your face as the cartridges are hot (I was in the military)

That's another one I only found out about recently too, a chap I know showed me his left handed shotgun.

Wishbone Ash

magicbastarder wrote: »

That's another one I only found out about recently too, a chap I know showed me his left handed shotgun.

There are a few sports where one must be right handed to participate (or be willing to use non-dominant hand). Polo and field hockey are two of them.

Nobody in an orchestra can play left handed either as far as I know , likely so bows don't clash. I seem to recall someone mentioning once they can't even get lessons to play a violin left handed?

cletus

triggermortis wrote: »

I am but It’s never been a problem for me, but then I’ve always been monumentally bad at sports so never played any since school.
I did have to learn to shoot right handed years ago, but that was because the bolt on the rifle was on the right, so it was easier to work the action ( showing my age a bit here). Also, semi automatics eject to the right and it’s nicer if they do this away from your face as the cartridges are hot (I was in the military)

The one and only time I fired a gun (.22 rifle), I did so left handed, and promptly ejected an exceedingly hot shell into the crook of my right elbow

tomasrojo

galvo_clare wrote: »

I’m from Ennis too but I don’t use that method!
Left handed and I tend to approach and get off from the right but the stand is on the left for my one bike that has one. For the Brompton you also need to be on the left to fold/unfold so I’m gradually trying to train myself. Feels weird to me though so I’m constantly switching sides.

Oddly enough, I always fold/unfold the Brompton standing to the right of it. Slotting the fork into place with the plastic hook around the chain stay seems easier that way.

But I do dismount and mount bikes from the left mostly. Not sure why. I was late to having a kickstand on my touring bike, and I think I dismounted on the left before I had it, but the left is is the more convenient side for accessing the kickstand.

tomasrojo

homer911 wrote: »

Kick stands are always on the left - is it even possible to have these on the right side of the bike? No, because of the chain!

Mostly, but some kickstands are fixed just behind the bottom bracket and have two legs, so these would be easily accessed from either side. E.g. Dublin Bikes.

tomasrojo

magicbastarder wrote: »

what's the dominant hand used for in drumming? i didn't know handedness was a thing for drummers.

Ringo Starr's drumming style is often attributed to him being a left-handed drummer on a right-handed kit: his fills tend to be backwards. I've read this repeatedly, but I'm not a drummer.

(Before anyone says it, I can't see any reason based on the records or recorded footage of him to say he's a terrible drummer, and John Lennon never said he wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles.)

tomasrojo

I heard it said that the old-fashioned one-foot-on-a-pedal-and-push-the-bike-roll-for-a-while-and-then-swing-the-other-leg-over method puts a lot of strain on the bottom bracket. Don't know if that's true. Sounds sort of plausible, but they seem to be designed to take quite a lot of strain, at least the old-fashioned ones.

Weepsie

tomasrojo wrote: »

Ringo Starr's drumming style is often attributed to him being a left-handed drummer on a right-handed kit: his fills tend to be backwards. I've read this repeatedly, but I'm not a drummer.

(Before anyone says it, I can't see any reason based on the records or recorded footage of him to say he's a terrible drummer, and John Lennon never said he wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles.)

I've always thought this was a running joke. He's just not flashy, but he had near absolute metronomic precision for the songs they recorded.

People see/hear Neil Peart, John Bonham and the ilk and get blown away (and rightly so) and learn to drum in a particular way.

Then they go to record their stuff and realise they need to listen to Ringo because he was near perfect for just complimenting the song

Stewart Copeland is a huge fan, so if he's good enough for him

mickdw

Weepsie wrote: »

I've always thought this was a running joke. He's just not flashy, but he had near absolute metronomic precision for the songs they recorded.

People see/hear Neil Peart, John Bonham and the ilk and get blown away (and rightly so) and learn to drum in a particular way.

Then they go to record their stuff and realise they need to listen to Ringo because he was near perfect for just complimenting the song

Stewart Copeland is a huge fan, so if he's good enough for him

Not a running joke. He is left handed and plays a right handed setup.
I do the same simply from learning beats on my knees with a set of sticks and copying drummers from tv.
It does make it very hard to run around the drums in the normal way as left hand is leading and right hand gets in the way.
Thats why you wont see ringo doing this.
Love the way he worked though. Simple but not.

Weepsie

mickdw wrote: »

Not a running joke. He is left handed and plays a right handed setup.
I do the same simply from learning beats on my knees with a set of sticks and copying drummers from tv.
It does make it very hard to run around the drums in the normal way as left hand is leading and right hand gets in the way.
Thats why you wont see ringo doing this.
Love the way he worked though. Simple but not.

I meant in that he's a bad drummer, because he isn't.

Hurrache

Thargor wrote: »

I changed a tube on a crappy MTB for a guy in my estate a couple of weeks ago, Id say he's only about 30 but when I gave it back to him he used the old man mounting technique I hadnt seen in about 20 years, he stood on the left pedal and rolled down the road a bit standing straight up with all his weight on the left crank before swinging his right leg over, I couldn't believe it tbh, it just looked so strange to see a young person do it. He's from Ennis, maybe they're a bit old fashioned down there.

Lol, I didn't think that was a thing. If I'm setting off and taking it handy, usually with the kids, I do this. And I do the same dismounting, fly into the drive standing on one crank ready to jump off, looking deadly.

Actually, the more I think of it, that's how I actually mount the bike the majority of the time, I rarely ever straddle the bike then pedal off.

tampopo

I've thought abut this a lot, and my question is, do people who live in countries where they drive on the right mount their bike on the right?

rubadub

Thargor wrote: »

he stood on the left pedal and rolled down the road a bit standing straight up with all his weight on the left crank before swinging his right leg over, I couldn't believe it tbh, it just looked so strange to see a young person do it.

Loads did it in my school, you were not allowed cycle beyond school gates so people did this to get in/out faster. It probably sticks with some people.

Type 17

tomasrojo wrote: »

I heard it said that the old-fashioned one-foot-on-a-pedal-and-push-the-bike-roll-for-a-while-and-then-swing-the-other-leg-over method puts a lot of strain on the bottom bracket. Don't know if that's true. Sounds sort of plausible, but they seem to be designed to take quite a lot of strain, at least the old-fashioned ones.

The forces on the BB when standing up sprinting, or climbing a hill would be way more than simply standing on one pedal, so I doubt it would wear/damage anything prematurely.

Regarding that mounting style, I remember Dublin in the early 80's (yes, I'm old), and it was common to see, amongst a few cyclists waiting at a red light, older women (some may have been nuns?) on Raleigh 3-speeds or similar bikes with a step-through frame, waiting with their left foot on the left pedal and, when the lights changed, they'd push off with their right foot, freewheel a few feet as they stepped their right leg though the frame and begin pedalling. A slow start-off method, which often got in the way of other, faster cyclists (me, aged 12, on my Raleigh Burner!).

triggermortis

tampopo wrote: »

I've thought abut this a lot, and my question is, do people who live in countries where they drive on the right mount their bike on the right?

I lived and worked in Switzerland and Belgium before and never noticed what anyone else did, but I always got on from the left

Flaccus

Cetyl Palmitate wrote: »

Left handed, left footed. Always mount by keeping left leg standing and swinging right over and dismount left leg first.
I find it very strange going the other way. So much that I almost have to think through the process before doing it.

Exactly the same here

crosstownk

Thanks to this thread, today was the first time I paid attention to which side I mount the bike.

I did everything as I have done over a thousand times before and was surprised to learn that I always mount the bike from the RIGHT :eek:

So I analysed it as I headed off: I open the hall door, and holding the bike by the back of the saddle, I carefully push it down the two steps. The car is parked on my left which is why (I surmise) I mount from the right. Once straddled, I clip in with my right foot while waiting for the Garmin to GPS lock.

I stopped for a coffee at a service station. This time I remounted from the left.

It would appear that it's the position of the car in the driveway that forces me to mount from the right in the drive.

I'm right handed and when I played football (badly) as a young lad I was left footed. But I've noticed in recent years that when I'm kicking a ball with my young lad, I use my right foot. It seems I'm crap with both.

I (also badly) play drums right handed and I remember (unknowingly) sitting behind a left hand kit. Not a chance could I play that. It'd be as difficult as attempting to play a left handed guitar.

thesimpsons

Left handed mainly but fairly ambidextrous and can't kick a ball for love nor money. Always left leg over saddle and clip in. Right clips in once moving. Unclip right foot first always. Virtually every other person I know does the opposite to me - and yep, they are right handed. For purposes of this I tried the reverse of all this - almost ended up in heap on the road.

Simon201

Yeah never thought of it but always mount from the left.

Just wondering though, if I mount from the right will it feel like I'm getting on someone else's bike

seamus

Hah, the things you're never aware that you do.

If it's not a road bike (i.e. not SPD-SL), I usually mount the bike more like a horse - left foot on the pedal, move off and then swing my leg over. I can do this from the right hand side, but it feels weird and I'm sure I'd fall over 10% of the time. I'd rather straddle the bike before moving off.

I probably naturally start from the left on a road bike, but mounting from the right doesn't feel weird.

CramCycle

Never paid attention to this but since this thread started, I can say its 90% right hand side. This said I am one of those people who when driving will park my car in the opposite direction (in regards non parallel parking) to the car beside me so that both drivers can get ample space for the door, thank fully most people drive into spaces so I can reverse in which is also my preference.

My rebellions are small but principled.

GreeBo

murphyebass wrote: »

After watching YouTube clips of people falling on to traffic I took the advice and got into the habit straight away of unclipping on the left. Makes sense to be fair.

If you want to stop yourself from falling into traffic then you should unclip the traffic side foot, so you can stop yourself.

Having your left foot unclipped wont help you if you start to fall to the right.

woody33

I don't use clips, but I find it much easier to save myself if falling left rather than falling to the right. Actually, I think I'm better turning sharply left than right. (Jeez, maybe I shouldn't be let out at all). :eek:

seamus

Gotta be honest, falling to the right hasn't happened to me in over a decade. It's very far from my mind

But then I don't try to trackstand while clipped in.

swarlb

Thargor wrote: »

I changed a tube on a crappy MTB for a guy in my estate a couple of weeks ago, Id say he's only about 30 but when I gave it back to him he used the old man mounting technique I hadnt seen in about 20 years, he stood on the left pedal and rolled down the road a bit standing straight up with all his weight on the left crank before swinging his right leg over, I couldn't believe it tbh, it just looked so strange to see a young person do it. He's from Ennis, maybe they're a bit old fashioned down there.

Christ... 'old man technigue'.....I was watching a rerun of some stages from the various Tours on Eurosport. I saw Peter Sagan take a run at his bike, jump and clip in his left foot, and throw his leg over 'old man style' and ride off to start the stage.
I was 'horrified' that in this day and age, a modern professional cyclist would use such a method. And he was only in his 20's at the time.