Another new rider

dakkar

Hi Everybody,
Fairly new to MTB ing althogh plenty of road biking and just spent the weekend in the Lakes yesterday on the North Face trail at Grizedale and today on the Winlatter Altura red north and south routes. Can't believe how much fun I had and how exilerating the whole experience was, I don't know what I have been doing with my life. I'm riding a Gary Fisher alu hard tail which seems to bounce around on the back end lot. As a newbie I have to be honest and say I came off a couple of times. A few times on the banked curves on the steep descents don't know whether I was breaking too much and taking them too cautiously. Another time I went over the handle bars on a drop off at the end of the north loop on Winlater having managed to negotiate similar drop-offs around the course, a bit winded but I got back on to finish.

What I did notice where guys passing me and going faster than me on fully sussed bikes, is this an obvious question but do fully sussed holed the tracks better rather than the back end bouncing around like my hard tail or is it that I'm a newbie and just need to build up experience?

supersonic

Depends on the bike and rider - what bikes did they have?

The Rookie

Generally at trail centres a hardtail is as fast as a full susser, bear in mind that a full susser going the same speed as you, you'd never see as you'd neither catch nor be caught by it, better riders with more experience are 'more likely' (cue flaming) to be on a more expensive bike and probably FS's.

You get used to the back end bouncing a bit, and staying out the saddle more and letting your legs be the rear sus, I suspect you may have tired towards the end and not got the front end up over the drop off, hence your OTB moment.

Another roadie who has suddenly realised that getting muddy is more fun, I would say if only more would try it, but then the trails would be full!

Learn to get the most out of your HT, a GF will be a decent frame, all you need then are the right tyres at the right pressure (maybe yours are too high based on your roadie experience - certainly that will make the bouncing worse - most people will use around 35psi as a starting point) and decent enough forks and it will be capable of going within 10% of the speed of a top quality HT, it's that last 10% that costs!

dakkar

Hi Supersonic, one was on a Spesh and the other a Giant

The beginner, yes my tyres were pumped to the max! :oops: Will know next time, I guess I also have to put my weight right back over the saddle and back wheel when attempting a drop off? Ribs feel pretty bruised today but looking forward to another go. Tyres at the moment are Bontragers. Any reccomendations fro single track, trail riding?

YeehaaMcgee

The Beginner wrote:

better riders with more experience are 'more likely' (cue flaming) to be on a more expensive bike and probably FS's.

That may well be true, but I think there's enough new riders with plenty of spare cash around, for the newbies on full suss bikes to balance things out too.
A far more important factor is that more experienced riders will generally be better and faster riders - regardless of the bike they're on.

The Rookie

I agree YHG, the point I was trying to make is that faster riders were more likley to be on FS bikes, not that FS was faster by itself.

Drop offs, weight back enough and lift the front wheel slightly as you go off to keep the bike level until the rear drops, that's the theory, I'm rubbish at them! And yes max pressure in the rear tyre will make it bounce around a lot more and loose some grip, in the front will just loose you grip - probably why you came off on the berms (banked turns)

1mancity2

dakkar wrote:

Hi Supersonic, one was on a Spesh and the other a Giant

The beginner, yes my tyres were pumped to the max! :oops: Will know next time, I guess I also have to put my weight right back over the saddle and back wheel when attempting a drop off? Ribs feel pretty bruised today but looking forward to another go. Tyres at the moment are Bontragers. Any reccomendations fro single track, trail riding?

Putting your weight right back (in some situations) will make the front end too light and your more likely to loop out (land on your bottom) better to learn to stay relaxed and move your body around, i.e move back as you come off the drop and then get central as you land, start small and build your confidence and skills.

Loads of tyre advice in loads of threads do a quick search and you should find plenty.

dhobiwallah

Following my slightly less experienced mate to see why he was having issues with a straightforward trail centre his bum seems to be glued to his saddle - he is damn sure he is going to get every penny's worth out of it

On a HT on rooty trails this means he (and his bike) are bouncing all over the shop like buckaroo and he doesn't think about weight distribution unless it is something pretty major/or its too late.

As a rule of thumb till he could work it out a bit better I told him that he shouldn't be sat down unless he was actually pedaling. Up/down/flat if you ain't pedaling you should be moving or at least absorbing the trail with your knees.
Seemed to improve his riding by 100% (till he got tired on the second loop and resorted to sitting down and just going where the trail suggested again)

dakkar

Thanks guys for getting back to me and offering the advice. As a roadie I was sitting in the saddle too much and need to stand more on the pedals move weight around. Thanks again for tips re drop offs, I will definatly be bearing all this in mind the next time I can throw my leg over a bike as my ribs are really sore at the moment.