[Karve]

hey we chat a load about tech and hardware on this forum.. thought it would be cool to have a ? about technique.

How do you guys avoid the front end taking a beating on those lift assist days and fatigue in general in ur hands.. I seem to get hammered through rock gardens and when braking bumps are big and frequent. I know I should stay loose and avoid as many of the aforementioned obstacles as possible but its easier said than done.. how do you guys deal with it?

Cheers

 

[RickyD]

Karve,

Lots of reasons for arm pump. Plenty of exercises you can do to help. I won't bother to go into them, cause others will chime in.

I'll just give you #1.

Stay off the brakes.

Best thing is to brake harder sooner if you need to slow down and then get off them, especially thru the rough. This is the polar opposite of what most people do.

 

[T-Coop]

Grip the seat with your legs and loosen your death grip! Ride moto, and play with your lever adjustments ( up and down and were your lever actualy start to grab the rotor ,not to far out).

 

[tmarkos]

I'll go for the obvious, do you work out? I try and do a lot of upper body stuff during the off days. I find it helps a lot.

 

[Djponee]

dont hold on so tight.

 

[tacubaya]

 

[buknoid]

Masturbate more

 

[Freerydejunky]

Masturbate more

My new quote, and the answer to lifes questions.

 

[SHIVER ME TIMBERS]

here a few things

more padde grips
move brake levers inward so that you have more leverage when pulling
better brakes like codes, saints
bleed your brakes and make sure they are running in top condition
lay off brakes
build up muscles
ride easier trails if u can't lay off brakes

 

[ruckus222]

One thing that has helped me was adjusting my levers closer to the bars before they start to actually break. Tough to get used to it at first if you are one that has them all the way out like on the Juiceys but it will help.

 

[bigEhit]

work out. thats the way i look at it. there are a lot of other good reply's before min elike braking before the rough intsead of during and taking on the death grip. i found for me using a thinner grip and easing up my hold helped a lot. but mainly just work those arms out. do a lot of low weight reps. for me low weight is like 35lbs in each hand and just rep it for as long as possible. set them down then go and hang on a pull up bar as long as possible then go back and do more reps. but i warn you be ready for the pain from hell in the morning.:thumbsup:

 

[thump]

One thing that has helped me was adjusting my levers closer to the bars before they start to actually break. Tough to get used to it at first if you are one that has them all the way out like on the Juiceys but it will help.

+1.. move your levers to the inside of your shifters and dial in your reach adjustment to the point the levers almost touch the grip under hard braking. Significantly reduces arm pump.

 

[sodak]

After a day or two at Snowshoe my hands and forarms feel like jiggly jello. I just try to loosen up my grip a bit when I feel the sensation setting in toward the end of the day. Keeping my body loose as well as my grip helped me on my last trip.

 

[Orange-Goblin]

work out. thats the way i look at it. there are a lot of other good reply's before min elike braking before the rough intsead of during and taking on the death grip. i found for me using a thinner grip and easing up my hold helped a lot. but mainly just work those arms out. do a lot of low weight reps. for me low weight is like 35lbs in each hand and just rep it for as long as possible. set them down then go and hang on a pull up bar as long as possible then go back and do more reps. but i warn you be ready for the pain from hell in the morning.:thumbsup:

Thinners grips?

It depends on how big your hands are really, i am running SunlineThin grips, and after a days uplift my hands were f**ked. I am getting the thicker versions as i realised that i'm having to grip harder to stay planted on the bar as the grips are too small for my hands.

Also, i am going for a half waffle pattern i think, as the smooth pattern on the sunlines is allowing my hands to roll around the bar too much and giving me calouses on my upper palm.

I used to have afairly thick grip on my tennis racquet so i figure its the same theroy for bikes. Match the grip size to your hand size, so that your grip isn't too loose (Forcing you to hold tighter) or too tight (Meaning unstable).

I'm hoping these 2 things are going to help my hands, as they were my major problem on my last uplift day.

PS. staying off the brakes for longer if definately a good call too, although it takes guts AND skill!!!

 

[ufisher]

keep your straps on your forearm pads as loose as safely possible. if they are even a little too tight it restricts blood flow and will "pump" your arms up fast. this goes for leg armor also.

 

[KomodoRider]

dubble post

 

[KomodoRider]

start rock climbing or boldering at your local gym if you dont like lifting weights (I hate lifting weight with a passion) and have been climbing for 3 years now with great improvments to my bike control.

I am also building a push-up trainer that consists of basicaly a set of riser bars identical to mine set up to be neutraly ballanced on a medicine ball. you should be able to mimic turns, pumping, and controling fast bumps with the trainer... pics to come eventualy

 

[kapital]

http://www.powerballs.com/

After breakin both my wrists(snowboarding) i was of the bike for about a year and ended up with little girls wrists. got one of these power balls and they are serious for building up forearm strength.

 

[gil_caz]

ride with the weight on your feet (learned this from lee) its helps alot with control, and yes even arm pump. seriously try this.

 

[highrevkev]

ride with the weight on your feet (learned this from lee) its helps alot with control, and yes even arm pump. seriously try this.

I second that- but I'm gonna add something else, 2 weeks ago at Northstar, I started getting some serious arm pump. A friend suggested I slow down the rebound on my fork, the faster rebound was forcing me to work too hard to keep the front from bouncing all over the place:madman: . After some small adjustments, the arm pump went away & I was bombing down trails till closing. Proper fork setup would definitely reduce arm pump:thumbsup: