Very good read Danger, will take that advice on! Cheers!
Very good read Danger, will take that advice on! Cheers!
interesting stuff had thought about risers as I was getting a sore back reaching down for the bars while standing was a bit hunched over I'm 6'3 . But found that if I bent my knees a bit more the pain went away and it also brought my body and weight further forward which seems to give me more control . I feel a lot more neutral on the bike like this and was able to hammer some of the hills harder than I normaly would last sunday. The stairway to heaven in maramarua is bloody awsome
also reckless every time I go down a steep hill I now chant to myself "its not a hill its flat" over and over seems to be helping
"The world is a strange sad place. Ride as often as possible and try not to think about it".
Vazza, your bar may not be as far forward as it can go. even though it may look at max, the holes in the bottom clamp are offset and clamp can be rotated 180 deg for max full forward (basically what Reckless said).
Interesting stuff Danger. Good to read as at 6' I'd thought about going higher but I settled on a bar that was 10mm higher than stock high KTM but still had low sweep. Feel I'm at best control through trees when in a bit of a low crouch. Might have a bit more of a play with bar rotate - I would like to nail 1 in 10 turns, this will offset my 9 dodgy ones nicely.
What you've described with rotating bar back to centreline reminds me a bit of what I've always thought was a major design problem with mountain bikes. Your steering input has to deal with dual arcs of rotation. Bar is so far forward from steering head axis the thing is like a tiller. No real problem for road going as this puts you in good position for pedal power but stupid for off road. You always see those guys crashing over the bars. BMX bikes have much more sensible steering IMO, - like a dirt bike.
It's not a design flaw, just means you're riding the wrong bike for your intended purpose Ride a specific downhill mountainbike and the stem is very short, the fork is more raked , and the other angles of the bike are designed to help keep you centered while going downhill.
Heh. There's no doubt I know nothing about mountain bike design compared to the folks who make them. Just an observation really. Interesting your noting the downhill machines are quite different. I'd wondered why I'd never seen a bike with adjustable rake though. Would have thought it would be useful and do-able.
Rolled my bar back a bit halfway through today - then took off and promptly forgot to pay attention to the difference.
Yet again an effin' awesome post from danger. Not "do this it's the only way" but "do this because of this and this, see what suits you". Bling to you.
On the sit vs stand thing. I can't sit... I get bounced out of the seat, it is incredibly tiring trying to stay seated and in control of the bike, effectively I have to squat to take my weight off the seat... may as well stand. That's in XC conditions... but things may change when I get the suspension sorted.
Even when on the adventure bike, I stand a heckuva lot. I tend not to do smooth gravel roads where I can sit comfortably. I've realised it takes less energy to stay standing on the short smooth bits than go stand-sit-stand in fairly short bursts. Standing also has the often-forgotten benefit of letting you see better.
On the mtb, I used to lean back more on the down hills, but I've discovered I go faster and more in control if I stay central and let the bike accelerate/roll back underneath my body. Much more weight on the front wheel. I suspect this parallels what danger is saying about high bars pushing your weight backwards.
Cheers,
Colin
Originally Posted by Steve McQueen
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