To Hell and Beyond

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rick81721 said:
I run about 20 there, at sourlands 10 works well. What about CR - I'm heading there soon and figured somewhere in between so I'm about 15
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18-20 at CR
20-22 at L-M
22-24 at 6MR
I borrow a bike if I'm forced to ride Sourlands
 
Today:

got a bit backed up with honey-do stuff, then headed to MCP for a loop with @michael.su. Just a nice spin for both of us, nothing crazy.
enjoyed it - cause when i go alone, i miss half of the trails....focused on moving "the plan" down the trail - even at low speed, not looking at
an obstacle after committing to a line...

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I here ya @Norm - if i'm 1/2 way in, one leg is dragging.... sure, experimenting with body position, bike fit, and line is one way to learn - just worrying that i'm practicing the wrong stuff - i've taken
some of the stuff @clarkenstein and @Kirt have mentioned to work off of. I'm also watching line choice of the faster peeps. So i'll put a bit more into it - and see if there is an improvement in "feel"

did some thinking about the snowboarding thing - i did a couple lessons, a 3 day camp, then a lesson each year - for about 10 years. so not only did it properly ingrain, exposure to the latest teaching "words"
to describe the feel probably helped. so yeah, maybe something there.

Still, i'm not a competitive person, but competing(participating) does a couple things for me. My expectations are only to improve. @Mountain Bike Mike, keep rockin' it! it is working for you, and it is on the radar for me!

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@davidcarson48 - if there is no problem hooking up at 6MR, why lower the pressure? The front tire isn't drifting, .....Ninja mentioned that i can also steer the back tire - not sure if it is a flick, or drift at speed - or
if it is a "thought"

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Time to go out to eat!
 
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Funny - I hadn't looked at the strava results for yesterday's MCP loop. That nice, smooth spin was pretty much the fastest i've ridden there. Interesting.

Jumped on the road bike this morning at 6:00 for a quick spin around the sourlands with @Roadie, and there was a nice mist. still about 1 minute back of my
best zion time, although it recorded a PR for one of the segments that only gets triggered when coming off amwell in the other direction. kept the heart rate
up, and tried to keep the cadence up a little (still kinda low) - so there were some nice mid-ride PRs. Jelly legged up the last hill.

the mist made some of those smooth downhill turns look treacherous! rode the brakes quite a bit......kinda takes away the reward for the climb....

off to work at the snack shack at our baseball complex today - gotta stay away from the funnel cake!

Saturday in the Sourlands
 
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I'm not a physicist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

All else being equal, lower pressure equals more traction. But go low enough and you get rim hits or a really squirmy feeling because the sidewall flexes too much.
 
Pat straight up lesson, your eyes steer your bike not your hands. This was learned back in moto days. If you are seeing your front tire in your vision of the trail your doing it wrong. Your sight and choice with mtb should already be made up 10 yards ahead. Faster the speed the further ahead you should be looking. If you focus on not hitting an object you will more then likely flounder in it. In rocks pick it blasted it and shoot for exit/beyond. Stay away from in between rocks for lines and pick lines over the rocks. Where you are on your bike (position/balance) is to be practiced over and over. Elbow positions are extremely important in turns, jumps and tricks.
 
davidcarson48 said:
I'm not a physicist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

All else being equal, lower pressure equals more traction. But go low enough and you get rim hits or a really squirmy feeling because the sidewall flexes too much.
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i was thinking a higher pressure to prevent the squirlies...

perhaps my clunky style also means i can't go low because of the reasons you mentioned......
 
fidodie said:
i was thinking a higher pressure to prevent the squirlies...

perhaps my clunky style also means i can't go low because of the reasons you mentioned......
Click to expand...

btw take your rim width and tire sidewall in account. If you ride narrow rims (like 19mm) and non tubeless tire then you probably need more pressure.
 
alex_k said:
btw take your rim width and tire sidewall in account. If you ride narrow rims (like 19mm) and non tubeless tire then you probably need more pressure.
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ZTR Arch EX 26" with Ardent 2.25 EXO running tubeless.....

24.6mm rim

perhaps the 2.4 would have been a better choice tire for the front?

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it just felt significantly different up front than the 29r HT - perhaps it is the suspension i'm feeling? the fork is also a bit more plush.
will keep playing with it to learn - mess with the pressure a bit, and see what happens....more experience....
 
Crank the compression is you want to prevent fork dive for places like six mile. You could also be feeling flexing of the fork, do you have a Reba on your bike? I ditched my Reba because it was like a wet noodle.

2.4 is a really fat tire for 26 but I like fat tires. All I can say is change settings and ride them or. A few rides. Otherwise everything is going to feel weird if you change settings every ride.

You may need some instruction, but trial and error is still the best way to learn and ride as much as possible.
 
stb222 said:
You may need some instruction, but trial and error is still the best way to learn and ride as much as possible.
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Agreed, and I think it should be noted that instruction is going to make more sense if taken after a lot of trial & error.
 
stb222 said:
Crank the compression is you want to prevent fork dive for places like six mile. You could also be feeling flexing of the fork, do you have a Reba on your bike? I ditched my Reba because it was like a wet noodle.
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I have a Reba fork and monarch R shock on the back - suspension on my bike just suddenly seems to have gone to hell - not sure if it's the back, front or both but yesterday at CR it felt like I was putting more energy into bobbing the bike than moving forward. Sag in monarch was low so I pumped it up and pumped the fork another 20 psi (+ and -). Starting to wonder if I should upgrade both fork and shock or just upgrade to another bike?
 
stb222 said:
Crank the compression is you want to prevent fork dive for places like six mile. You could also be feeling flexing of the fork, do you have a Reba on your bike? I ditched my Reba because it was like a wet noodle.

2.4 is a really fat tire for 26 but I like fat tires. All I can say is change settings and ride them or. A few rides. Otherwise everything is going to feel weird if you change settings every ride.

You may need some instruction, but trial and error is still the best way to learn and ride as much as possible.
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I like slight fork diving in sharp turns, that decreases a turning radius.
IMHO Reba with thru axle is the best 26 inch XC/Trail fork - it is laterally stiff as old Pike
I just realized that I have 2.4 in front but Conti X King is not as big as Trail King on my AM bike
 
alex_k said:
I like slight fork diving in sharp turns, that decreases a turning radius.
IMHO Reba with thru axle is the best 26 inch XC/Trail fork - it is laterally stiff as old Pike
I just realized that I have 2.4 in front but Conti X King is not as big as Trail King on my AM bike
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They may have improved but an f32 compared to a quick release Reba was no comparison with lateral stiffness.

I think pat may have a Sid though.
 
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