Crank arms catching

matt-h

Hi all,

Last night i went to Queen Elizibeth Country Park for the first time on my Felt Hardtail.

I was finding the pedals were grounding out really easily.
Is this due to the racy geometry of the bike?

I was thinking of changing the arms to 160-165mm instead of the standard 175.
Will this help at all?

Matt

Chunkers1980

Yes it will help, but not by much.

I'd suggest inproving your technique to stop this from happening.

matt-h

Ah, ok.

I would prefer it to be a technique issue - i can resolve that.
But how? any good guides, vids, youtube clips to watch?

Matt

cooldad

Crank arms will make no difference. Interrupt your pedalling when the bike is leaning.
And have your weight on the outside pedal when cornering, the inside one should be up.

matt-h

it isnt when i'm leaning.

Its over large roots at slow speed etc.

I'm fine with the quicker, inside pedal up of the trails. Just the slower, more tech sections

Chunkers1980

That's a different technique. Tilting the bike side to side when you know the bottom of your pedal stroke is close. Technical sections are where you are stuggling, as they are, er, technical, and require these skills.

Although I do know some people who just don't like low BBs, supersonic is selling one of his bikes as he doesn't get on with it.

cooldad

As chunkers said, it's technique. When to pedal, when to lean, when to jiggle. Some pedal strikes are inevitable.
Over large roots stop pedalling for a sec and have your pedals level.

bennett_346

Just carry more speed into the section and try your best to flow over the rough, losing as little speed as possible. If you have to pedal, you can pedal part way down the stroke then backpedal the cranks flat and repeat.