[jmelani]

I've been riding my new XL spot for about a week now, I'm still getting it dialed in.

I'm finding that while I'm going down something steep, it feels like the seat is pushing me up. This is causing me to be unstable going down. I can't seem to get my weight balanced correctly. I have tried lowering the saddle and that has helped, but not enough. I have the Fox ProPedal AVA, perhaps that's why I am feeling this effect? I choose the Fox air because I was thinking I'd probably get the Fox DHX at some point and I would rather have the Fox air as a second shock over the Romic.


Any thoughts?

 

[tscheezy]

Where is your butt during all this? There is no reason why you can't get off the back of the seat and have the saddle end up in front of your stomach if it is really steep.

How steep, and where is your butt ending up (aside from in the bushes)? What bike are you coming off of and how did it differ in descending? Is your fork set up too soft so it dives exessively? Tell us what's going on...

 

[jmelani]

Where is your butt during all this? There is no reason why you can't get off the back of the seat and have the saddle end up in front of your stomach if it is really steep.

How steep, and where is your butt ending up (aside from in the bushes)? What bike are you coming off of and how did it differ in descending? Is your fork set up too soft so it dives exessively? Tell us what's going on...

I'm keeping my butt toward the rear of the saddle, I have never ridden behind it. The trail is steep for me, but I am not a great rider. Oh the bushes, yes I have seen my share of those. I broke my carbon bars and grips on my second ride.

My last bike is a Ventana El Habanero. Suspension action was not nearly as good as the spot, but I could keep my weight back.

I have the Talas RLC '05. I had not had time to adjust this. I'm thinking putting it out to max travel would help me keep my weight back.

 

[tscheezy]

Yup, the fox was designed with a 5" Fox fork in mind. When you start going downhill, it would be prudent to extend the fork all the way. If you find it sinking too deep into it's travel, you may want to take a shock pump along on the trails and play with different pressures from time to time until you find something you like. The owner's manual probably has some setup guidelines too.

Long travel bikes take a bit of getting used to. Let's say you are on a 5" front and rear travel bike (which you are!). Going down a steep hill and applying the brakes causes your weight to shift forward. This may compress the fork 4 out of its 5 inches. The back of the bike does not have as much weight on it so the rear may rise up 1 inch. The bike now has a net forward pitch of a few inches in addition to the steepness of the hill! You may have to exagerate your rearward weight shift (like get off the back of the saddle) to keep things running a little more level compared to what would be needed on a short travel bike. Just keep at it. And crashing is part of riding.

Watch this video clip Pete just posted of his trip to Norway (right click and download to your pooter or just watch it online). Not only is it a cool montage, it also shows some guys going down very steep and rough stuff employing textbook long-travel-trailbike technique.

 

[slowrider]

Setup

I felt the same thing so I added I think 5-5mm spacers and a shorter stem to raise the bars and better weight the rear suspension and I find it to be much better. Another thing to try is to run the rear shock with more sag and a bit more compression dampning so it'll ride slightly lower but the compression along with the rising rate of the airshock will keep it from bottoming, that helped some on my 3 way air but that shock has an adjustable threashold so it may not work for you. Good luck.

 

[Bikezilla]

This may not help Jmelani but while we're on the subject, I've been a chute-monkey since I got my bike. Loved hitting the steeps, couldn't believe the confidence I was feeling... (Z1/w Romic BTW)

Recently I've been going OTB...A LOT... I haven't changed my style and these are the same chutes and steep rollers I've been doing all along, they usually are studded with large rocks that have to be flowed. Overall the bike felt much less certain on fast and slow decents

Long story short, yesterday I went OTB yet again, on something that should have been a no-brainer. While lying on the ground with the bike on top of me, I realized that this all started when I changed one of my fork springs to a softer rate. I checked some recent photos and noticed I've been riding deep into my travel on the drops.

I'll be switching the spring back tonight, I've busted a lot of crap since I changed it(Including my arse). I'll let ya know if it worked in a couple of weeks.

 

[manic mechanic]

I've been riding my new XL spot for about a week now, I'm still getting it dialed in.

I'm finding that while I'm going down something steep, it feels like the seat is pushing me up. This is causing me to be unstable going down. I can't seem to get my weight balanced correctly. I have tried lowering the saddle and that has helped, but not enough. I have the Fox ProPedal AVA, perhaps that's why I am feeling this effect? I choose the Fox air because I was thinking I'd probably get the Fox DHX at some point and I would rather have the Fox air as a second shock over the Romic.

Any thoughts?

I'm not trying to say it isn't just new bike-itis/setup/technique, but anyone running a Fox shock should give this a look-see. http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=38513

My Fox AVA had a serious case of over-sized reducers that were so tight they effected the the action of the shock, kinda felt like the propedal valving was for KING KONG!!!

All it took was a light filing and now the bike tracks and feels plush instead of feeling like a softtail.

manic mechanic