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Why so slow?


ABrooks

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I recently acquired a full-sus mountain bike, 100 mm travel front, 90 mm rear so, in other words, an XC bike. Before this, I used to ride a 100 mm travel hardtail. I swapped the tyres from my old bike over to the new one so riding on the same rubber as before. 

 

The last few rides I have noticed that I am feeling more unstable while riding trails than what I have ridden with my hardtail. I find myself riding much slower whilst constantly braking and in corners or berms I completely slow down as I fear washing out.

 

Is this fear due to the bike really being unstable or is it a mental block that is causing me to ride slower and feeling like I am going to wash out any minute? I also used to take jumps on my hardtail which I now simply ride slow over.

 

I thought the dual-sus would invoke more confidence and at the moment I am experiencing the opposite.

Edited by Brooks42
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I would hazard a guess and say the setup of the shock is incorrect, probably too soft so it feels wallowy. If you have a shock pump set the pressure to between 25-30% then adjust that after a while to suite your riding style

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I would hazard a guess and say the setup of the shock is incorrect, probably too soft so it feels wallowy. If you have a shock pump set the pressure to between 25-30% then adjust that after a while to suite your riding style

 

The fork I tried at 25% but it feels like I am bottoming out the fork so I set the sag to 20%, I slowed the rebound down a bit as well for both the fork and the rear shock. The rear shock also sits around 20%

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Do they set up a FS bike the same as HT?

Reason I'm asking is that I've got pretty much the same problem.

I just re built the parts back as I don't like the FS. I pretty much ride with the rear shock locked 90% of the time.

 

I also didn't like the rear. Tried everything from 10-30% sag.

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I came from a decade of hardtails onto dualsus and it did take a while to adjust and get the confidence required to trust the bike was going to be predictable under me.

 

Maybe ask a friend who has a dualsus to ride your bike and just confirm all is well. If you bought the bike second hand it could have worn parts? If new, there could also be an issue. (I once got a Scott hardtail that had been molded badly and was replaced by the factory).

 

What Tyre pressures. Sag sounds correct, how many spacers you running under the bars? Is the bike the right size for you?

 

Have you actually timed yourself to confirm you slower?

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Your new bike's geometry could be quite a bit different to your old one, meaning maybe the head angle is quite a bit steeper so you feel like your front end will wash out etc. You will need some time to adjust to the new bike. You say that it feels like it wants to wash out, has it?

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I recently acquired a full-sus mountain bike, 100 mm travel front, 90 mm rear so, in other words, an XC bike. Before this, I used to ride a 100 mm travel hardtail. I swapped the tyres from my old bike over to the new one so riding on the same rubber as before. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe give more info RE the frame , could be downhill geometry not XC ?   Is it same wheelset or just same tyres?

 

There few of us from Stellies on here, If you want I can have a look at bike, but i'm not expert on shocks adjustments (I'm a roady) but can quickly tell you if frame worn etc.

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A full suspension does take a little getting used to initially and does require a little bit of a different riding style. You'll never have the quick acceleration out of a corner like you do on a hardtail because the suspension will compress a little killing the forward motion. Unless you have a remote lever to fully lock it when necessary.

 

I ride 2 total opposites of the spectrum, a singlespeed rigid and also a full suspension geared bike. Both bikes are equally fun and faster than each other in certain places due to what they're intended to do.

 

Play with your rear suspension pressures and settings, the full suspension does have a bit of a dead feeling initially until youre used to it.

I didnt like the feeling of not knowing where my back wheel was at first, now its great.

 

good luck

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Your new bike's geometry could be quite a bit different to your old one, meaning maybe the head angle is quite a bit steeper so you feel like your front end will wash out etc. You will need some time to adjust to the new bike. You say that it feels like it wants to wash out, has it?

If I would hazard a guess, I would go with geometry.

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I would say Trust the bike,  drop your heels to get more weight on the rear, I am MUCH faster on my Dual than my son's hard tail, both medium frames.

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That sounds like the new Anthem, which is a pretty fast bike.

Remember, if a bike is familiar, it becomes an extension of yourself. A new bike needs some time to get used to. It probably needs to be ridden differently. My guess (without seeing you ride) is that you need to put move your body weight to the front wheel (I know it sounds counter-intuitive) to get some traction in the front when descending.

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Having switched from a hardtail to full suspension in April this year, I would like to share my experience, as it might be relevant.

 

The hardtail I rode had a 100 mm coil fork.  Not the greatest, but it worked and was reliable as can be. Switching to full suspension (120 mm front and rear) with no experience of air suspension and the likes, I spent over an hour at my LBS to get the set up (geometry and sag) done properly and to learn what I can.  Got the sag dead on at 30% and I haven't changed it since.  Despite doing the set up, with which I am extremely pleased as I haven't had the need to adjust anything, the rebound seemed like an issue.  The guy at the LBS told me about the rebound, what it does and adjusted it to a recommended setting, but he was also very clear about the fact that I should play around with the rebound to suit my riding style.

 

So after two or three rides on the new full suspension, I noticed that I was beating my own PR's on Strava in technical sections.  The reason this is significant is the fact that my fitness wasn't close to what it was a year ago!  After getting some of my fitness back I stopped beating my own PR's, only equalling them.  I had noticed that I felt somewhat unstable on my bicycle in the technical stuff, despite trying to push my own limits.  Then I remembered that I was supposed to play with the rebound.

 

So I watched a couple of Youtube videos on the topic and started to fiddle around with the rebound.  I found that the rear shock was for the greatest part the culprit for my instability, as it was not set to be responsive enough.  In defence of my LBS, they're settings are spot on for gravel roads (of which Bloemfontein has plenty)!!!

 

Another culprit I identified was tyre pressure.  The hardtail had 29 x 2.2 tyres, while the fullsus has 29 x 2.3.  I rode the hardtail at 1.6 bar and it was perfect, so I thought it would be worth sticking to the same tyre pressure.  Jacked it up to 1.8 bar and now I don't have any instability issues anymore, even beating my own PR's constantly as I push my abilities and fitness further.

 

Rebound and sag on the shocks, tyre pressure and the way you ride all have an influence.  Play around with those and I'm sure you'll get to enjoy your fullsus as much as I'm now enjoying mine!

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I have recently moved from a hardtail to a dual suspension. 

I'm quite unfit, coming from a lengthy period of inactivity, so I cannot compare the climbing, but on technical and downhill sections, I'm so much faster (according to Strava PB's :whistling: ).

I must still spend some time to dial the suspension in properly, only got the sag and rebound set stationary, so there is room for improvement still. 

 

So I'll suggest you spend a bit of time on the bike, but do make sure your shock pressure is up to spec, as that will affect the way your bike feels.

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Could be you just need to get use to the new bike some bikes takes time and others feel perfect from the moment you get on it. Try dropping your bars to get more weight on the front wheel without leaning over it. I went back to hardtail (new geometry slacker longer) and I am loving it because I am rather weighty I struggled on the climbs, descending just let go of the brakes and hold on.

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Could be you just need to get use to the new bike some bikes takes time and others feel perfect from the moment you get on it. Try dropping your bars to get more weight on the front wheel without leaning over it. I went back to hardtail (new geometry slacker longer) and I am loving it because I am rather weighty I struggled on the climbs, descending just let go of the brakes and hold on.

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