help!! with a weridish problem.
- Thread starter dhkid
- Start date
I've tried running different tire pressures...i.e. 25 front/35 rear; 30 front/25 rear; 29 front/31 rear; etc...didn't seem to make much difference unless I was shoving the back end out like you would doing a cutty in which case the lower rear would fold and allow it to slide easier...albeit at the risk of filling the bead with dirt/rocks. LOL!
With the fork, I think it will be trial and error. I'll have to session a section of trail making changes each time. I've tried different settings, but the only only things that helped were running the compression faster and the rebound faster. But even still the front end is letting go a bit before the rear in most turns.
With the fork, I think it will be trial and error. I'll have to session a section of trail making changes each time. I've tried different settings, but the only only things that helped were running the compression faster and the rebound faster. But even still the front end is letting go a bit before the rear in most turns.
if your tire is folding then you need more pressure in your tires. it is doing no good for traction when the tread is deformed like that. I think the issue here is weight transfer. You really want the front end as low as you can get it. it is only too low if you can't get your weight back enough to prevent going OTB. The lower your front end is, the more traction your going to have up front because more of your body weight is going to be transferred to the front of the bike. they really preached this in a downhill racing clnic i took and it really helps a ton. I lowered my front end of my bike and my cornering ability skyrocketed.
i never have an issue getting my weight back even with super low bars. The only negative i've found is back pain after long rides if you are very tall.
what bars and stem setup do you have? I had a fox 40 a while back and had the same issue as you with my front end already super low. My spring was too firm. the 40 really shines at mid to end stroke ime. Get more sag up front!
i never have an issue getting my weight back even with super low bars. The only negative i've found is back pain after long rides if you are very tall.
what bars and stem setup do you have? I had a fox 40 a while back and had the same issue as you with my front end already super low. My spring was too firm. the 40 really shines at mid to end stroke ime. Get more sag up front!
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My tires aren't folding. And I tend to ride pretty far forward, as mentioned in an earlier post, so far forward sometimes that it rips the side knobs off my front tire.
I have tried 3 different bars with this new bike, ranging from 8mm rise to 30mm rise. The lower rise did appear to hold a little bit tighter line on flat turns, but regardless of the rise, at the limits of traction the front goes first. And I, like you, got some back pain after riding the low bar all day.
I use a deity stem and have tried it in the 48mm and 55mm positions - didn't seem to make a difference other than feeling a bit cramped in the shorter position.
Regarding fork sag, interestingly I just stumbled upon that....I had the air pressure pretty low in it for my weight but it still felt kinda stiff and wasn't bottoming even on trail features with 8ft drop to near flat/slight transition. Discovered that the damper side had built up air pressure. Released that and the fork felt much plusher and it helped the cornering alot. But at the limits of traction the front is still sliding more than I want.
I really appreciate your suggestions regardless!
I didnt read every response but I'd suggest stiffing up your fork and or softening up your shock a bit will really let you push on the front end..set your rebound in the middle on the fork...try bringing your bars up...I used to be all about a slammed cockpit but Im running 20mm rise bars, 20mm of spacers on a 10mm rise stem and my corner speed is better than ever...try rolling your bars back a bit and bringing your levers up...I see so many atrocious lever angles on mountain bikes..really helps keep your upper body in the right position (just looked at the picture of your bike and your bars look pretty forward and your levers are super low)...also try a front tire that has a channel between the sideknobs and center knobs...despite what people say a HR2 works very well for me up front in the same dirt you're riding...26/28psi..also what is your inner rim width?? I've done quite a bit of testing on different width rims and it makes a huge difference...
And of course the most important thing...make sure you are dropping your outside pedal and have all your weight on it through the apex and you are off the brakes completely or lightly trail braking with the rear if you have to...I also really focus on leaning the bike while weighting the outside pedal and grip but keeping my body as upright as possible..sometimes I go to this spot by my house that has the shittiest loose over hard, marbley corners and just practice over and over..proper body positioning (outside pedal down and weighted and elbows up) and having good braking points is definitely the most important thing..also it really helps to be aggressive and attack every turn..I feel like when I'm timid and don't fully commit I'm more likely to push the front end
And of course the most important thing...make sure you are dropping your outside pedal and have all your weight on it through the apex and you are off the brakes completely or lightly trail braking with the rear if you have to...I also really focus on leaning the bike while weighting the outside pedal and grip but keeping my body as upright as possible..sometimes I go to this spot by my house that has the shittiest loose over hard, marbley corners and just practice over and over..proper body positioning (outside pedal down and weighted and elbows up) and having good braking points is definitely the most important thing..also it really helps to be aggressive and attack every turn..I feel like when I'm timid and don't fully commit I'm more likely to push the front end
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Fabien Barrel would disagree with that statement....you see allot of stem spacers on fast guys bikes these days
Back in the day, I used to run a pretty high front end. I haven't tried that on the newer bikes, so its worth giving it a shot.
I tried to find the widest rims I could for 27.5 wheels, and ended up with the novatec demon wheels. I don't recall the inner width, but they are decent by today's narrow standards.
I used to run high-rollers as they used to work well for me on the older bikes. The newer ones didn't seem to work as well with them and have been experimenting with an assortment of different tires. Now that I'm on a 27.5 my tire selection is limited...I have a stack of 26" but they are of no use to me now so I have to drop some coin again on tires for testing purposes - would rather sort out the rest of my setup first as I feel its more related to that at this point.
I have a few spots that have super loose flat turns to test stuff on as well. I figure if I can get it working on the shittiest of turns, then it will work fine on the trail.
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely do a back to back run with low vs. high front end setup and see how it goes.
Cane Creek suggested adding 3 turns of preload and reducing LSC by 4 clicks(for the rear shock). I tried it and was able to nicely drift some flat loose turns again on one of our trails. I didn't change anything else.
However, the front still slides on some of the other turns more than I'd like.
For others plagued with understeer, this seemed to have the most profound effect so far. Now I need to try adding some of the other suggestions here to see what I can do to get the back drifting every turn.
However, the front still slides on some of the other turns more than I'd like.
For others plagued with understeer, this seemed to have the most profound effect so far. Now I need to try adding some of the other suggestions here to see what I can do to get the back drifting every turn.
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