Please help with my confidence mystery...

Rochester_Marin

Hi, Im hoping that a few of you might be able to shed some light on the following problem I have...

I have 2 bikes, a Trek 8000 hardtail and a Marin Mount Vision 5.8 and for some reason I have much more condifence in fast cornering (DH trail sections) on the Trek than I do on the Marin... and considering I use the Marin more its really starting to bug me.

Firstly I put it down to tyre differences 2.25 Bontragers on the Trek and 2.1 Maxxis High Rollers on the Marin... I have recently fitted Conti Mountain King 2.2's to the Marin and it has slightly increased my corning confidence but im still not happy... I get the feeling that any minute now the front wheel is going to wash out under me...

On the Trek I have a 585mm flat bar... the Marin has a 685mm riser bar so if anything I should have more control with the Marin.. but it just doesnt feel that way...

So im stumped! Any ideas...?

scotto

I feel 1200% happier on my cannondale with slim straight bars than the gt with wide risers.

Cannondale just has superb geometry with gives me 10 times the confidence the GT has.

Tyres all in the mind to a degree in my opinion, until you do have an off or a near off you will not know how close you have pushed it or where the limit is, just my opinion of course.

Rochester_Marin

I have toyed with the idea of fitting some narrower flat bars to the Marin.. but 90% of its time is spent on trails so risers 'should' be the better bar...

paul.skibum

Kind of difficult to answer but I am guessing it could be something to do with the way you ride.

Forgive me if I am wrong in my assumptions but do you sit ont eh saddle a lot? Are you a static kind of rider when on the trails?

As the Marin will squat into corners on its suspension especially if you are agressive, riding with pedals up and down (as appropriate to the corner) and shifting your weight - if you are static on the bike when riding it make make the moving suspension of the Marin feel a bit unsettling and potentially upset the bike mid corner if you ar enot working with it.

My 6p worth is that its technique not equipment causing the issue but thats without seeing either the equipment or the rider!

Where are my stabilisers?

I wouldn't say it's just down to the bars - the suspension and frame geometry will have a lot to do with it.

I used to be completly comfortable with my hardtail, then I got my full suss and the ride was totally different. My full suss is out of action at the moment and I've picked up the hardtail again - OMG, the first ride out on it was terrible - I've got so used to full suss, I'd momentarily forgotten how to ride a hardtail. A lot of it was down to the poor quality fork I've got on my hardtail when compared to my full suss, but you do have to work the bikes differently!

Keep trying and you'll crack 'em both!

Raymondavalon

Another factor is riding gear.
A full face helmet and decent padding often helps one's confidence.

geordiefreerider

Contrary to what scotto say's about tyres I believe they make a HUGE difference, I didnt trust my bike as far as I could throw it with continental 2.1 speed kings on but with a wtb timberwolf 2.3 on the front and a nokian gazzaloddi 2.3 on the rear it feels solid as a rock, mind you so it should these are downhill/freeeride tyres and they run a lot slower when im riding xc but im willing to make that sacrifice for the extra cornering and braking benefits - and big tyres look sweet !!

Also im not sure what length stem your using but I find a shorter stem = more control but again there are compromises like a longer stem is better for climbing, so it depends what you want from your ride, if you have mates with different parts try swapping some bits over for a ride !

FSR Si

I'm another flat bar rider, Since putting them back on my fsr it seems to go round the corners better also seems to climb a lot better, Might be because the front end is now slightly lower with the flat bar.

Raymondavalon

geordiefreerider wrote:

Contrary to what scotto say's about tyres I believe they make a HUGE difference

+1 on that.. the Panaracer Rampage tyres I've fitted to the FS make an incredible difference.. no more front end wash and that in itself is a big confidence boost.

CycloRos

There are too many factors to choose just one as the root cause.

Could be riding style, maybe your better suited to riding a hardtail, maybe the XC geometry of the Trek is better suited to the trails you ride?

Could be bars/stem, if you think it is swap em over between your Trek and Marin and see if it makes a difference.

Same for tyres too, put the Trek tyres on the Marin, tyres can make a MASSIVE difference to rider confidence.

delcol

how many spacers do you have under the stem?

try putting a spacer or 2 ontop of the stem thus lowering your bars....

pte1643

CycloRos wrote:

put the Trek tyres on the Marin

I can't beleive it took so long before someone said this.

Just swap the wheels over for a quick comparison, if nothing else, at least it'll eliminate the tyres from the handling/confidence question.

tompug

This may sound drastic, but I would sell it. You will end up changing everything, still not be happy and out of pocket.
Just get rid and buy a frame you like.

Stu 74

Tyres are the obvious thing to look at first but not just tyre type, tyre pressures too. Letting 5 psi out of your front tyre can make the difference between washing out and railing corners.

Perhaps you have not got enough weight over the front end of the bike? Try taking a bit of air out of your fork and / or putting a bit of extra air into your rear shock. As has been suggested you could also try lowering your bars.

Stu