[fathead]

So it seems like I've been regressing.
On steep, off-camber loose stuff I have been washing the front end out a lot.
When i ride 3/4 speed no problems but at higher speeds, no dice.
Any tips on weight distrib. etc?

Thanks

 

[zedro]

i would try knock a couple of psi from your tires...or maybe your tires are simply wearing out, and dont have the sharp knobs no more.

 

[ezweave]

So it seems like I've been regressing.
On steep, off-camber loose stuff I have been washing the front end out a lot.
When i ride 3/4 speed no problems but at higher speeds, no dice.
Any tips on weight distrib. etc?

Thanks

Don't know if this helps, but I tend to lean back and barely hold the handlebars (soft hands?) and just really focus on my line (look up, not at your tire). I only grip em tight when I am about to hit something (if its really washed out). Are we talking gravel or just dirt? Just out of curiousity where do you ride? It sounds like a pretty famous trail in my neck of the woods...

 

[wyrm]

Check out www.go-ride.com/tips.html for some riding tips. For liturature they have great readings to help explain stuff. Read dropping in for your particular interest.

 

[Tracerboy]

Don't know if this helps, but I tend to lean back and barely hold the handlebars (soft hands?) and just really focus on my line (look up, not at your tire). I only grip em tight when I am about to hit something (if its really washed out). Are we talking gravel or just dirt? Just out of curiousity where do you ride? It sounds like a pretty famous trail in my neck of the woods...

I do just the opposite. The tire that is unweighted will be the one to slip first, not counting variables like tire pressure, compound or tread pattern. If you don't want the front end to slip, weight the front wheel thru corners, esp on longer travel DH bikes with slack head angles, b/c they are naturally rear wheel biased. Those other variables obviously play a large role, and you need to be attentive and unweight the front wheel just before any large bumps that might be on the trail in the corner, but generally the physics works out. Lean on the tire that shouldn't slide, and listen for it to start giving way. I'm always playing with my front/rear weight distribution thru a corner.

 

[ezweave]

Wash this!

I do just the opposite. The tire that is unweighted will be the one to slip first, not counting variables like tire pressure, compound or tread pattern. If you don't want the front end to slip, weight the front wheel thru corners, esp on longer travel DH bikes with slack head angles, b/c they are naturally rear wheel biased. Those other variables obviously play a large role, and you need to be attentive and unweight the front wheel just before any large bumps that might be on the trail in the corner, but generally the physics works out. Lean on the tire that shouldn't slide, and listen for it to start giving way. I'm always playing with my front/rear weight distribution thru a corner.

It probably dpends on the "washed out" area... where I live we have really loose gravel (almost fluffy) on some of the popular shuttle trails that we have to share with motorbikes. In that stuff, if you weight the front it digs in and you stop very quickly. You have to steer lightly and worry about balance. It feels like floating a little bit when you come into it at high speeds. The best way to steer through this stuff is to rudder the back end of the bike (the trail is always torn up by the motorcycles).

But this doesn't happen in alot of turns, primarily in steep runouts where the last thing you want to do is touch the front end. Let me put it this way -> a college buddy of mine leaned forward in one of these high speed sections and caught his front wheel in the gravel, resulting in a broken collarbone.