front wheel sliding out

stgranty

new to this so just thought i would ask the question

when riding here on the isle of wight it seems to me that my front wheel is sliding out on me alot, im trying to work out if its just me (lack of skill), tyres (maxxis advantage xc), terrain (tennyson trail (bit gravelly) farm tracks, woods) or bike geometry ( ie my bike isnt set up right) it stops me from really getting any proper speed up as i know i will have to be careful as soon as i come to a turn. perhaps its normal and everyone gets this ?

i ride a 19" 2011 hardrock sport with recon silver 100 forks, im 6ft 1 and 47 ( perhaps my bottles just gone)

cheers guys
coyr

Chunkers1980

Did you watch the Olympics?

In all the slow-mos you can see the bikes moving all over the place. Unfortunately that's the skill. Practice, practice and balls.

Barteos

IOW is hardly technical.
How wide are the tyres and what pressure do you run?

cooldad

Could be anything, but generally going too fast. Hence brakes.

stgranty

Barteos wrote:

IOW is hardly technical.
How wide are the tyres and what pressure do you run?

2.1" 35 lbs pressure

Barteos

stgranty wrote:

Barteos wrote:

IOW is hardly technical.
How wide are the tyres and what pressure do you run?

2.1" 35 lbs pressure

Wider tyre (at least at the front) and pressure closer to 20PSI rather than mid 30s should make a big difference.
You'll get more grip and speed.

EDIT: Also try leaning forward when cornering to shift more weight towards the front.

cooldad

Pressure maybe, but sticking a wider tyre (and the good old BR standard, shorter stem and wider bars) is not the panacea for all ills. It is a 100mm travel XC bike.

YeehaaMcgee

More weight over the front, lean the bike, not yourself, dip the elbow on the inside of the corner, blah blah blah. The usual cornering stuff.
It's all too easy to blame equipment, and to spend spend spend on random stuff, but technique is at issue in almost all cases.

stgranty

so basically bigger front tyre less pressure, lean forward abit and practise

cheers

felix.london

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

More weight over the front, lean the bike, not yourself, dip the elbow on the inside of the corner, blah blah blah. The usual cornering stuff.
It's all too easy to blame equipment, and to spend spend spend on random stuff, but technique is at issue in almost all cases.

What he said ^^

I've recently gone back to an old set of tyres which I was convinced were useless for the trails I ride. Turns out the tyres are fine and it was me that was at fault. Basically what Yeehaa said - not waiting the front wheel and leaning with the bike = ouch