Stupid beginner question : Limits of my bike?

geebee2

I'm a roadie who got a XC bike about a month ago ( One of these http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=59238 )

I have been riding around, gradually getting faster, doing rougher faster stuff.

Last night I did a long-ish fast descent with quite a lot of rocks and holes. I was pretty chewed up by the bottom.

I don't think it's at all likely, but could I possibly damage the bike by riding too fast over rough stuff? I think the brakes have some disclaimer about not doing downhill.

I guess maybe the wheels would be the weakest link?

supersonic

Downhill riding, or DH, is not just 'riding down a hill' lol - it involves large drops (several feet), jumps, boulders and requires 40lb full suspension rigs with 8 inch of travel.

An XC bike though will cope with rocks, dips and small drops if ridden well and not crashed ie don't go head first into big obstackes. They are surprisingly tough!

If you are on the heavy side, tougher components may be an idea.

geebee2

If you are on the heavy side, tougher components may be an idea.

Well I'm 95kg, so not light.

I'm not planning on upgrading components, I just want to know if I need to be at all careful.

If you are right about tougher components, maybe the question isn't as stupid as I thought,

I just looked up the brake limitation I remembered

"Do not use MAGURA Marta, Louise or Julie HP disc brake for downhill sport! Any misuse might cause serious accidents with fatal injuries for you and others!"

Well I'm not doing serious downhill, but I wouldn't mind understanding what they are on about,
Is it the jumps, over-heating or what? Could a very long Alpine descent be a problem?

supersonic

Downhill as in the downhill I described:



This sort of riding is extremely heavy on the brakes due to the constant braking and increased grip of the tyres.

You brakes are fine for XC and general trail riding. There is a risk of overheating on longer descents, but larger rotors can help here if you find they fade.

95kg is above average, but I can't see any problems for the riding you describe. Once drops start getting over 2 feet, landing larger jumps or you whack 6 inch rocks without unweighting then maybe look at a tougher bike. Start slowly, build up your skills and check the bike over regularly. Any crash can ruin a bike, even DH bikes!

Markmjh

I'm about 10kg heavier than yourself and have had a selection of XC and more agressive bikes and have not had any real problems.
I have tended to upgrade things like Wheels and cranks as my riding skills increased to improve strength. But everything on that bike looks fine to be getting youo through at the moment. Some of the XC couses can be pretty harsh, XC bikes are built a lot stronger than they used to be. And as Supersonic says, the brakes will be fine. Just on any long decents that you might notice a small drop in performance.

BigLee1

If the bike you`ve bought was originally a grand it`s a very good bike, the biggest limitation is you! Trawl youtube for skils videos and go out and practice.

This is a very good book, well written and easy to make sense of http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Mount ... 0736083715

When you can go as fast as this down here then think about upgrading your brakes, otherwise don`t worry!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqrzcDzVppQ

geebee2

Thanks guys, it looks like the bike is plenty tough enough in practice for the riding I'm doing.

delcol

BigLee1 wrote:

If the bike you`ve bought was originally a grand it`s a very good bike, the biggest limitation is you! Trawl youtube for skils videos and go out and practice.

This is a very good book, well written and easy to make sense of http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Mount ... 0736083715

When you can go as fast as this down here then think about upgrading your brakes, otherwise don`t worry!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqrzcDzVppQ

true,,,, i would go one step further invest in a skills day with a decent (qualified) coach... this is bar far the best bang for buck you can get it will improve your riding better than any part upgrade..
and even better your a novice so should'nt have any bad habbits to break...
A few hours with a decent coach will have your confidance and skills sorted... trust me.

1mancity2

delcol wrote:

true,,,, i would go one step further invest in a skills day with a decent (qualified) coach... this is bar far the best bang for buck you can get it will improve your riding better than any part upgrade..
and even better your a novice so should'nt have any bad habbits to break...
A few hours with a decent coach will have your confidance and skills sorted... trust me.

This is the best money you can spend better than any bike upgrade, I recently did a 2 day course with Ed Oxley (other instructors available) and the improvments I have made in the 3 weeks since are fantastic, Faster, Smoother, More confident and better trail vision.

BigLee1

True, I had a skills course with Cyclewise at whinlatter a couple of years ago. You can practice the basics yourself tho so if you do a course it isn`t brand new

rockmonkeysc

I have found that before you get to the limits of the bike it will start feeling twitchy & unstable & you are getting beat up by the inadiquate suspension. A XC bike will take reasonably hard descending, but will be better if you learn to ride smoother & pick better lines.

geebee2

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I have found that before you get to the limits of the bike it will start feeling twitchy & unstable & you are getting beat up by the inadiquate suspension. A XC bike will take reasonably hard descending, but will be better if you learn to ride smoother & pick better lines.

I haven't noticed any twitchiness or instability.

For the descent I am thinking about (the permissive bridleway down to Upton-St-Leonards, for anyone who knows the area), you are going too fast to pick a smooth line, plus there are leaves obscuring the view, and not too much light due to overhanging trees, so you probably couldn't see much anyway (I guess I was doing about 15-20mph down this descent, but less on the corners), you just hit whatever is there - a bit like riding fast over very rough cobblestones with the odd pothole thrown in. As I said, I was pretty beaten up at the bottom ( but got a great buzz ).

My main concern would be damage to the wheel rim, I have read reports in places of rims failing, I'm just not quite sure what level of abuse would cause this.

james-m-h

probably already been said but quite often its not aboutthe limit of the bike but the rider i have completed multiple downhill routes on a hard tail with a lower spec than that bike (specialized hardrock) granted they were only red routes but ive done those since i first started riding so to summarise the limit of your bike is as hard as your willing to push yourself

gregwari

Hi

Just picked up this thread, to be honest the limiting factor of a bike is usually the rider.... worth a thought

S-M

Apart from the brakes, the only problem i could see is maybe the wheels would need truing a little more often as you might not have the strongest set for the job.

No big deal though.