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Do you dismount on one side only?

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Do you dismount on one side only?

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Old 03-15-11, 05:15 PM
  #51  
alexvpaq
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Originally Posted by dstrong
Left. Who would want to mount/dismount on the side with all the yucky greasy components?
okay thanks for remembering me where I got all those newb marks.
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Old 03-15-11, 05:39 PM
  #52  
Erik D
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When I get to work I dismount my bike to the left as the door opens from the right. When I get home I dismount to the right as the back gate opens from the left. At lights I don't think about it and unclip whichever foot is at the top of the stroke. If you have ever had a dirtbike with a 38" seat height you quickly get used to dismounting on whichever side has higher ground (you also get used to low speed tip-overs).
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Old 03-15-11, 06:23 PM
  #53  
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ask your mom
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Old 03-15-11, 07:04 PM
  #54  
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Left.

Could be since I'm regular footed (left forwards) when snowboarding; could come from riding motorcycles where I'm used to keeping my right foot on the rear brake.
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Old 03-15-11, 07:06 PM
  #55  
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Originally Posted by dstrong
If you grew up riding bikes with kick-stands, which were typically on the left side, you're probably most comfortable mounting on the left.
Good point - that makes total sense. Otherwise you'd get off the bike, then have to go to the other side to kick the stand down.

That aside, the reason for the kick-stand being on the left side is probably due to most people feeling more natural dismounting to the left....

I'm right-handed, and snowboard "regular", meaning that as I am going down the hill, my left foot is usually forward, and I am more or less facing to the right. (The opposite stance for a snowboarder, leading with the right foot, is called "goofy". Seriously.) But if I am kicking a football, or punting it, I use my left leg, which I think is the opposite from what most right-handed people would do....
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Old 03-15-11, 07:07 PM
  #56  
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i have the bad habit of unclipping on the right side, then getting big cat 5 tattoos all over my calf.
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Old 03-15-11, 07:10 PM
  #57  
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I clip out on the left- mostly just to balance things out, since I'm usually waving with my right hand.
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Old 03-15-11, 07:13 PM
  #58  
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Left
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Old 03-15-11, 07:16 PM
  #59  
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Originally Posted by rjones28
Could left side bicycle mounting be a holdover from horseback riding days?
yes. back in the day, most of us carried our swords on the left hip, so it was easier to swing the right leg over the saddle. that's why iron horses have kickstands on the left and hot exhaust pipes on the right.
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Old 03-15-11, 07:21 PM
  #60  
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Sadly I always unclip with my right and put my left foot down. Sadly, because the first time I went mountain biking my front tire went over a rock, rock moved and I fell. A bush caught me, but there was a 50 ft drop below.
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Old 03-15-11, 07:38 PM
  #61  
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Left. I swing my right leg behind the bike and over to the left side, riding just the left pedal for at least a few feet, or like 50 feet, depends. I've always done that, don't know why. It's fun I guess.
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Old 03-15-11, 08:35 PM
  #62  
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Unclip on the right side holding the tandem upright; unclip the left foot; stoker dismounts and I swing my right leg over the handlebars. I've found when I'm cramping swinging my right leg bent over the stoker's bullhorn bars virtually guarantees a cramp.
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Old 03-15-11, 08:43 PM
  #63  
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Left side
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Old 03-15-11, 09:11 PM
  #64  
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Originally Posted by dstrong
Left. Who would want to mount/dismount on the side with all the yucky greasy components?
"Yucky greasy?" You must not be cleaning your drive train often enough.

Mostly right side, but I'm comfortable either way.
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Old 03-16-11, 01:36 AM
  #65  
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Left most of the time, right is only slightly awkward. I'm right handed and left legged.
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Old 03-16-11, 02:19 AM
  #66  
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Sometime it's fun to unclip both cleats simultaneously and hop off the back.
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Old 03-16-11, 04:15 AM
  #67  
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Originally Posted by hao
...How do y'all do it?
I allways ride side saddle, so there is no dismounting involved.
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Old 03-16-11, 06:31 AM
  #68  
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Originally Posted by renton
What a useless thread. I mean seriously, what difference does it make?
It's just a list of left, left, right, left, right....
Please post a list of topics which you think are useful and we'll be sure to discuss just those. On behalf of the Interwebz, I apologize.

Hao - left side for me as well, although I really need to learn to get better at dismounting on the other side so that in the event of a clipless-booboo, I dont fall in the path of traffic when riding in left-hand drive countries.

V.
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Old 03-16-11, 06:41 AM
  #69  
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Left or else all heck breaks loose.
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Old 03-16-11, 06:50 AM
  #70  
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Originally Posted by Guillotine007
ask your mom
Actually she would say, you rode your bike for 40 miles? Is your car broken? Do you not have money to fix it?
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Old 03-16-11, 07:37 AM
  #71  
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Left side every time.
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Old 03-16-11, 09:05 AM
  #72  
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Originally Posted by kevrider
yes. back in the day, most of us carried our swords on the left hip, so it was easier to swing the right leg over the saddle. that's why iron horses have kickstands on the left and hot exhaust pipes on the right.
Whether that's true or not, it makes total sense.
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Old 03-16-11, 09:19 AM
  #73  
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right.

I unclipped and dismounted on the left once at a rest stop in a century ride and fell down in front of 20 cyclists.

It is also a habit at a stop light where I unclip right and put my foot on the pedestrain island or the curb.
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Old 03-16-11, 09:49 AM
  #74  
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Left, and in cross there's a good reason for it: It keeps the drivetrain off your body when you pick up the bike and helps you to not bash bikes with other riders.
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Old 03-16-11, 09:50 AM
  #75  
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Originally Posted by kevrider
yes. back in the day, most of us carried our swords on the left hip, so it was easier to swing the right leg over the saddle. that's why iron horses have kickstands on the left and hot exhaust pipes on the right.
That's an awesome theory.
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