maintaining momentum?

danlightbulb

Dunno what it is recently but I cant get the power down. I'm pushing harder than ever (rather than just spinning in a low gear), and I'm finding myself keep getting bumped all over the place. My seat keeps bumping me up the arse which kills the timing of pedal strokes then its all over.

Is a full sus the only solution to this problem? I usually ride cannock which I know isn't rocky but it is very bumpy and worn out.

I've found it worse in this very dry weather too.

cooldad

If it's that bumpy stand up. And use lower gears.

rockmonkeysc

Get out of the saddle.

lawman

Cannock as you say is pretty damn beat up these days, it may not be rocky but some of the braking bumps are huge. As the others say, best to stand up, keep you legs loose and use them to help you absorb the bumps. If your on flat pedals and don't use a super-sticky soled shoe, might be worth investing in a pair of Fivetens or similar. Pumping the terrain also helps keep momentum, loads of videos on the web to give you an idea of how to do this.

danlightbulb

I find it much harder to pedal standing up, not very good at it and it tires me out alot faster.

cooldad

It is. So you need to work out when to sit and when to stand, often switching every few metres. Basically whatever gets over the ground quickest.
Or just ride and don't worry about Strava.
And it's easier to get over rough ground in lower gears so you don't stall or get bogged down.
The more you ride the easier it gets.

danlightbulb

Been riding for a while now, trying to increase fitness thats why I'm going faster. Dont get me wrong I do stand up quite often, still hard to get the traction on the rear when its bumping up and down all the time.

DCR00

stay off the brakes

learn how to move the bike beneath you so you aren't losing speed through corners and switchbacks

danlightbulb

DCR00 wrote:

stay off the brakes

learn how to move the bike beneath you so you aren't losing speed through corners and switchbacks

Its not the descents which are the issue, its the flat bits which require pedalling. I can pedal faster, I have more power to put down but I can't put it down.

Woodmonkey

Lower tyre pressure might help a little, too hard is bumpy. Or a larger volume tyre

YeehaaMcgee

danlightbulb wrote:

DCR00 wrote:

stay off the brakes

learn how to move the bike beneath you so you aren't losing speed through corners and switchbacks

Its not the descents which are the issue, its the flat bits which require pedalling. I can pedal faster, I have more power to put down but I can't put it down.

The others have already given you the answer, stand up, and let your legs absorb the bumps.

danlightbulb

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

The others have already given you the answer, stand up, and let your legs absorb the bumps.

I do stand up often, also constantly deweight myself. It only works to a point. I cannot pedal well for long sections of flat singletrack because its so bumpy. Its fine at a slow speed but when I try and push the speed I get bumped up and down too much to effectively pedal.

I'm fine on bumpy descents at speed thats not the issue, its flat pedally bits where its also extremely bumpy.

Does this also happen on a full suss or is it hardtails only?

YeehaaMcgee

Practice it, don't be under any illusion that it's simple. Its a technique that needs to be learnt with experience. And, shock horror, mtbing requires fitness. Strange, I know, but true.

danlightbulb

Ok feel like we're going round in circles a bit now. I'm fit enough. Have power left over in my legs, cant get it down through the wheel when the wheel is bumping up in the air all the time over large pebbles, ruts, braking bumps and worn out trail; and the saddle keeps bumping me up the arse and deweighting me.

Does a full suss keep the rear wheel planted?

pete_s

danlightbulb wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

The others have already given you the answer, stand up, and let your legs absorb the bumps.

I do stand up often, also constantly deweight myself. It only works to a point. I cannot pedal well for long sections of flat singletrack because its so bumpy. Its fine at a slow speed but when I try and push the speed I get bumped up and down too much to effectively pedal.

I'm fine on bumpy descents at speed thats not the issue, its flat pedally bits where its also extremely bumpy.

Does this also happen on a full suss or is it hardtails only?

When I ride on the flat bumpy bits I lift myself off the saddle when I see my bike about to go over something. It's not a lot of lift but just enough to absorb the bump and keep the pedal rhythm. You need to practice anticipating what's coming up and get in to the best position on the bike accordingly.

I don't believe full-sussers have this problem from what I've seen. When I ride behind my mates on full suspension bikes they're bobbing up and down but the effect is basically the same, except you're using your legs.

cooldad

danlightbulb wrote:

Does a full suss keep the rear wheel planted?

To a degree, yes. My full sus is easier over rough stuff than my hardtail. I still stand up over anything bigger than small roots, pebbles etc.

danlightbulb

pete_s wrote:

When I ride on the flat bumpy bits I lift myself off the saddle when I see my bike about to go over something. It's not a lot of lift but just enough to absorb the bump and keep the pedal rhythm. You need to practice anticipating what's coming up and get in to the best position on the bike accordingly.

I do this too. Cannock is so beat up that its not just a bump every few pedal strokes its constant. This has the effect of making it really difficult to get any sort of pedalling rythym, whether its standing up or sitting down. I don't have this problem so much anywhere else Ive been.

The other effect I've been noticing more is a kind of see saw effect from the front to the back of the bike. The 'ruts' are amost perfectly spaced for the wheelbase of the bike. the best way I can describe it is it seems to amplify the bouncing and diving from front to rear, like a see saw. This is worse when trying to put power down at the same time. I do try and pump the trail but pedalling at the same time isn't working.

YeehaaMcgee

danlightbulb wrote:

Ok feel like we're going round in circles a bit now. I'm fit enough. Have power left over in my legs, cant get it down through the wheel when the wheel is bumping up in the air all the time

Well, you need MORE fitness then. not much time is spent sitting in the saddle on an MTB.

danlightbulb

Interesting development.

I thought most of the flat pedally bits would be spent sitting.

YeehaaMcgee

They are. But this... is not a flat pedally bit. Flat pedally bits are for 29ers with narrow wheels and rigid forks, and funny shaped handlebars.

angry_bird

You won't go much faster on a full suss if you're thinking you can just sit there and pedal through everything, yes it makes things smoother, but if you're just sat there over the little bumps you're still going to be losing energy. A hardtail is more than capable of going quickly around Cannock.

You really need to be looking ahead to anticipate what's coming up, be out of the saddle pedalling and ready to pump, use your legs to soak up any pebbles/rocks that might knock you about and slow you down. If you think ahead work out where to pump, how you might need to adapt your pedal strokes to get in position and where your weight is going to have to be to keep balanced etc.

Like Yeehaa says, you don't spend much time sat down when on an MTB… I can think of very few places around Cannock (climbs and fireroads as an exception) where I'd sit down. I work hard out of the saddle on the singletrack, essentially sprinting in the places I can and pumping or whatever in the places I can't, then use the fireroads and climbs to sit down and rest the quads.

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

They are. But this... is not a flat pedally bit. Flat pedally bits are for 29ers with narrow wheels and rigid forks, and funny shaped handlebars.

Also, this. Don't think of these sections you're on about as being flat pedally bits, they're not at all. When you're descending you don't just sit on your arse do you? You're out the saddle pedalling when you can, trying to go faster, and when you can't pedal you're out of the saddle doing whatever it is you need to do to keep going forwards. Try thinking of the flatter bits at Cannock like descents but with even less assistance from gravity…