Full sus tiredness

echowitch

I bought myself my first full sus bike (Trek Fuel EX7 26") to play around on trails and not kill my everyday work horse bike, Cube Analog 29er. I have found that the last time I went to Swinley on Thursday I had no energy at all. Everything seemed to be harder to do than on my 29'er. Could this be because of the wheel size change, geometry, or just the fact that it was 30 degree's.

I do feel too far over with my current flat bars and have orderer risers to replace them. Also I've noticed I am having to use the full range of gears on the Trek rather than just sitting in the middle ring which I can do on my 29er.

Should a full sus bike be more tiring ? Or do I just need to continue to tweak my bike to get it right ?

paulyh101

You are riding a completely different machine it will be heavier the rear is now moving via the suspension geometry is different too. It will take quite a while to get it dialled once you have the bar changed don't spend anymore money on anything else instead get the suspension dialled and spend an hour or two with a local bike school your money spent with them will be the best upgrade you can buy ..............

echowitch

Cheers It was suggested to me to go to Mountain Trax in Crowthorne to get a "Bike Fit" done. I will give them a ring once the riser bars arrive and are fitted and see if that helps

paulyh101

Wouldn't bother with a fit as you will never be sitting down long enough but a beginners / intermediate course ,will get you understanding your weight distribution and how to get the most from the suspension .
What You can do once the bar is fitted is roll the bars and space out your controls properly for You the difference in feel will be amazing .There are thousands of people riding around with the bar just how it left the factory . :shock:

97th choice

Apart from changing the flat bars, I'd just get it dialled in, and then do a few more rides to get comfortable with the bike.

stubs

I wouldnt waste your money with a bike fit a faster rolling set of tyres will make more difference and be cheaper. Just set your bike up similar to your Cube ie saddle to bottom bracket height, saddle to bars length, set saddle dead level and make sure the sag is set right on the suspension. Then you have a baseline to play with sometimes just tweaking a saddle nose up or down a fraction can make a major difference.

The Northern Monkey

Could be the heat? I was completely drained on Thursday evening because it was so hot!

cooldad

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Could be the heat? I was completely drained on Thursday evening because it was so hot!

You probebly feel the heat more than most, being a giant hairy gorilla.
Try Veet.

The Rookie

The heat really saps your energy,especially on climbs when airflowdrops, once your body temp goes up your performance drops really fast...so I'd say it was mostly the heat.

mattshrops

Don't know swinley. probably obvious but worth saying just in case. if you're doing xc type stuff and fire roads etc then the 29er ftw.
If you is gnarling it up then the 26 full susser will be your weapon of choice. 8)

Kowalski675

stubs wrote:

I wouldnt waste your money with a bike fit a faster rolling set of tyres will make more difference and be cheaper.

The OE Bonti XR3s aren't exactly draggy.

The Rookie

It's been over 30 for a while here, in the UK yes!

I recently did a long ride in India, in the morning it was fine, come 2pm I was finding the climbs in particular much harder work despite it only being 5C hotter. I went through 3.5litres in 8 hours and never had a wee!

Jay76

Are you locking off your rear when going up hills? if not, all that bobbing up and down saps your energy big time

rockmonkeysc

Jay76 wrote:

Are you locking off your rear when going up hills? if not, all that bobbing up and down saps your energy big time

That depends on suspension design. A good full sus xc bike is efficient enough without using pro pedal. My Anthem has no noticeable pedal bob with pro pedal fully off.

cooldad

I never use Propedal/lockout except on the road bits to get to my nearest forest. And than only because it's there.

Dan-Coll

I find a full sus overkill at Swinley since all the trails are pretty smooth. Im guessing your full sus is heavier? So you are biking round with more weight but not getting any of the benifits of full sus on the downhills.

paulbox

Some days you just feel better than others...

rockmonkeysc

Dan-Coll wrote:

I find a full sus overkill at Swinley since all the trails are pretty smooth.

I found anything more than a cyclocross bike overkill at Swinley. Some of the most boring trails I have ridden.

cooldad

Obviously didn’t know where to look. We have a semi-permanent air ambulance service now.

rockmonkeysc

Really? When I went it all seemed to be fairly featureless singletrack and a crap freeride trail.

cooldad

Obviously didn't know where to look.

paulbox

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Really? When I went it all seemed to be fairly featureless singletrack and a crap freeride trail.

When did you go?

Pre the recent changes there was some great trails, but I could never find them when I was on my own, needed someone who knew where they were going.

cooldad

Because we kept them hidden from tourists. Now there's the trail centre stuff to keep them happy, and the rest is a secret.

In fact there are no other bits except the marked trails. Nothing at all. Don't even bother looking.

paulbox

cooldad wrote:

In fact there are no other bits except the marked trails. Nothing at all. Don't even bother looking.

We went over to the bomb holes and corkscrew a couple of weeks back, first time I've been there for ages. Good riding!