Holding on tight..

mottles

Recently i've experiencing real difficulty on rocky downhill singletrack. I do cwmcarn regularly but these past couple of trips have been especially tough.

The final 2 sections of cwmcarn are particulary rocky and by the end of them I can barely hold onto the handle bars.

There are a few things why I think this is happening


1. General fitness levels.. I've only just started getting back on the bike after the winter but I consider myself generally quite fit.
2. I'm now riding a full suspension... which I feel is making me go faster therefore more arm pump
3. My hard tail (which i didn't seem to have any problems) had carbon fibre bars.. would this help reduce the buzz?

so the question is do anyone else get this and is there anything I can do to help stop the pain spoiling my fun!

nicklouse

move the brake lever closer to the bars.

Atz

Ride more. Some gym work. Get a powerball and use it daily.

vengeance111

soften your fs a bit and let your arms go loose to absorb impact

mottles

nicklouse wrote:

move the brake lever closer to the bars.

yeah tried that it was a bit better.

As for the other suggestions.. I always thought my technique was ok but maybe I should look at that.. My mate uses a powerball training for climbing.. Worth a shot.

Is it worth while looking into carbon bars?

Atz

It depends. If the pain is caused by hanging on, softening the blow isn't going to help. With the pitch running pikes, not sure that'll be the case, it'll just be you need to strengthen your arms and hands a bit.

peter413

Possibly try some Ergon grips.

Quite pricey but totally worth it IMO.

I used to use them but prefer the feel of my Peaty grips, they were great when I was using them though.

In fact I still have them, just can't bring myself to get rid of them so they are lying in my shed gathering dust

supersonic

Are your forks set up correctly?

Anonymous

And make sure you aren't holding on with a "death grip"

Oxygen Thief

I found the brake lever thing to help me, half way down on Sunday I adjusted so I could grab them easier with a couple of fingers.

Get some captains of crush to get a stronger grip.

cee

yeehaamcgee wrote:

And make sure you aren't holding on with a "death grip"

this.

hold on sure...but white knuckle tight is too tight.

mkf

i dont think carbon bars will make any differance.
i'd take a look first at bike set up i.e your position on the bike then suspension set up aqnd then your riding style.
on really rocky desent i look further forward then i would normally and relax my whole body starting with a light but firm grip like Cee said not a death grip, i alwaya find my hands tends to effect the rest of my body and then just trust in your suspenion and let the bike do the work

Northwind

jonbonjovial wrote:

Get some captains of crush to get a stronger grip.

Not sure this is a good approach, gripping harder's rarely the way forward. It'll reduce your hand fatigue if you build up your grip strength but better to just address the problem IMO.

Deathgrip tends to lead to overall stiffness and you always, always ride better a little relaxed, and let the bike get on with things more. And ironically the stiffer you are the less control you tend to be in and so the less confident you feel and the tighter you grip. One really nice bit of advice I got for motorbike use, but it works for pushbikes too- flap your arms like you're doing the birdie song. If you can't flap, you're too tense.

Anonymous

The hand strength thigns do help though. They basically increase forearm strength (which is where your hand's musclkes actually are), meaniung they'll be less likely to fatigue, or build up lactic acid.
It will slightly help with the broken knuckles feeling, but will massively help with actual arm pump.

Northwind

Yup, but that's treating symptoms not cause if you see what I mean. Can't hurt but better to go to the source generally.

Oxygen Thief

Aye your prob right, bad advice.

Northwind

Not bad advice... Sorry, probably went a bit too far in the other direction, it's just not the main thing I'd do but it's never going to be wasted effort.

mottles

Cheers for all the advise guys..

I think i'm going to look at my technique first, i'm probably seizing up due to me picking up abit more speed than on my hardtail.. In effect panicing and not flowing aswell as I should.

In regards to my suspension setup.. I'm relatively new to the full suspension game, what should I be looking for so I know it's set up properly? I seem to have it dialled in quite well on the climbs (little or no pedal bob) but as for on the downhill sections I'm abit clueless.

Anonymous

Northwind wrote:

Yup, but that's treating symptoms not cause if you see what I mean. Can't hurt but better to go to the source generally.

Fair enough.