Front End Tucking..............

cheehee

More and more I am finding that my front end feels like it is going to 'tuck'. I can't think of a better way of describing it.

Turn the bars and all of a sudden the front feels likes it is gonna wash away and I have to correct/catch it.

I'm on a Large Spesh Epic, with a 100mm stem, I'm thinking maybe a longer stem will help in that the steering will be 'slower'

Any Ideas???

Cheehee

supersonic

A longer stem will reposition your weight, and add a litle stability and slow the handling a little as you say. Does sound like the classic symptoms of a steep head angle - try a little less sag at the front first, or more low speed compression damping to help prop the fork up.

infoxicated

I've had the tuck/washout problem since I switched to Panaracer semi-slicks and I can't say I like it.

I really have to put a lot of weight on the front wheel into corners to make sure it sticks, but I'm always nervous about the possibility of it not sticking and it's not exactly conducive to keeping up my speeds on the trails.

I never had this issue before with fully treaded tyres, but when I first got the semi-slicks last summer I thought it was just because I was new to them. This summer I'm not and they catch me out all the time.

Think I'll switch back to fully treaded early this year - the trails are wet enough anyhow.

nwmlarge

i changed my tyres and suffer this much much less now
i have a very short stem and wide bars setup
my head angle is still too steep i need some longer travel forks both for the riding i'm doing and to soften the angle

Tank-slapper

Let a few psi out of your tyres and see if that makes a difference.

paul.skibum

As SS says I'd check your fork pressure - I had a tucking under problem on steep hairpins in Alps recently and upped my fork pressures a little to compensate for the steeper hills/more loading and it helped - getting further back on the bike helped too.

Could it be that your position on the bike has altered lately - seat further forward perhaps?