Dodgy Steering

Sikora

I've noticed on my new Stumpjumper FSR that on tight bends and switchbacks, i turn to a certain degree then its as if the wheel will suddenly keep turning and almost throw me off the bike.
Any idea how i can retify this? Would a shorter stem help? Its got a 90mm stem, while my Rockhopper has a 75mm stem and never has this problem

supersonic

Ah, steering flop. Often very noticable on bikes that have slacker angles than you are used to , especially in slow tight turns. Though on a stumpy, that soesn't sound right. But compare.

Sikora

Yeah it definatley seems to have a slacker geometry than my Rockhopper, just just seems odd that a trail bike makes you take such wide turns on corners.

Maybe i'll just used to it, but i'll try swapping the stems over. Hope it helps as its bloody dangerous

supersonic

At high speed though, and when you arent cornering as sharply, this sort o geometry adds stabilty over the bumps (front end gets harder to turn). However as you can see, at slow speeds it is not very good.

Shorter stem may make it worse!

nicklouse

also you need to make sure that you have the rear end sorted and sag set right at both ends.

cee

I also find that not turning the bars, but leaning the bike right over helps to avoid this. I really noticed it when borrowing a friends big bike with triple clamp forks, and kept finding that the forks kept hitting the frame (at the point where the bars would not turn any more).. This caused me to OTB on a few occasions, but adjusting how I corner helped.