Keep losing front wheel when cornering

[s14phoenix]

To OP what tires are you running and at what pressure?

 

Phoenix the 4 bars is not the OP.

 

was replying to a bit of both there... 4 bars is over the rating of a lot of tyres. Not a great idea...

[ABrooks]

I read an article once about faster cornering on flat surfaces, apart from putting weight on the outside leg they also suggested rotating your hips in the direction in which you are turning. By doing this you shift more of your weight over the bike while turning. Have a look at the pictures posted by s14phoenix. I hope this helps.

[Dieter ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

The most important is to lean your bike and not your body! Don't drop a knee you aren't on the road...

 

Also looking through the corner with your eyes and your hips helps loads with exit speed. 

[NicoBoshoff]

[Titleist]

I found 1.6bar to be too low when going over fast rocky sections. 1 x snake bite and an hour next to the road taught me that lesson.

 

With a mix of different sections in most tracks, 1.9-2 bar is fine.

[nonky]

Thanks .... so fair to say my old tar-pressures may just be a "tad high" ...   

 

Trek with dual suspension, and 2.35 width on 29'' was delivered with about 4bar pressure .... okay, maybe they allowed for some settling with the tubeless

 

4bar...i think we may have discovered the source of the problem...

[nonky]

The most important is to lean your bike and not your body! Don't drop a knee you aren't on the road...

 

Also looking through the corner with your eyes and your hips helps loads with exit speed. 

 

THIS ^^^^^^ is the single hardest thing to explain and teach to a roadie, as it's contrary to what they've been taught and what their muscle memory does...

 

When swapping over to mtb from road, i consciously tell myself to LEAN THE BIKE

 

Also, weight distribution (ie weight ON the front wheel) is crucial in MTB, while not so important in road.

[s14phoenix]

Important to note: ( as in the video also... ) this covers cornering... no matter the corner - max grip = max speed

 

Easy in fast out - don't try scrubbing speed mid corner by hitting the brakes. A bit of back brake should you wish to drag the rear maybe... but if you are not done all or 90% of your braking before the corner you are only looking for trouble and you are not going to corner as efficiently and smoothly as possible.

 

Smooth is fast - flow - no jarring movements.

[Grease_Monkey]

I found 1.6bar to be too low when going over fast rocky sections. 1 x snake bite and an hour next to the road taught me that lesson.

 

With a mix of different sections in most tracks, 1.9-2 bar is fine.

I am assuming you ride with tubes? (Snakebite). Generally speaking you can lower the pressure alot when riding tubeless.

[HaydenWilson]

Thanks for the advice guys!

 

Its MTB.

 

I am running specialized purgatory's at the front and ground controls at the back I think they are about 2.3 wide. I typically run at about 1.2-1.5 bar.

 

I recently moved from a very slack 26 inch trail bike to a stumpy 29er. (hooray for bikes getting stolen) and it feels like I am a lot more over the front wheel than I used to be when cornering.

 

Maybe I am just putting too much weight on the front?

[Dieter ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

If your weight is balanced well you will find that the rear loses grip first and you can catch it. 

 

Next time you ride your local route, try to take corners without covering any brakes and just commit. You will learn the correct speeds before coming into a corner rather than halfway through it. It does make for some hairy moments so start slowly. 

[HaydenWilson]

Thats a great idea.

 

Cool, Will give it a try!

[karlito]

On a road bike you drop your shoulder and lean the bike as far as you can cause you have loads of grip.

 

On a mountain bike weight the outside pedal and keep your weight over the bike.

 

It helps to drop the height of your bars, this will keep your front end planted.

[Robbie Stewart]

4bar...i think we may have discovered the source of the problem...

 

hahaha, a mate of mine went pedaling around Chappies a year or so back with his neighbour. They both ride MTB, but solely on tar...(yeah, go figure). So anyway, the mate tunes his neighbour that in order to get the best performance and speed, they must pump their tires to at least 5 - 6 bar.

 

Ja, so coming around the last corner before the Suikerbos summit, the poor neighbour's tubeless front tire spectacularly detonated. He sat there for 3 hours waiting for his buddy to finish riding to Chappies first (no lies) and then return to the stadium where they parked the cars, before being collected.

 

just smile and wave, guys. just smile and wave.

[mtb impi]

Apart from good tyre pressure, grippy front tyre and technique, suspension setup is important.

 

I used to wash out the from wheel every time until I went for a bike fit a while back where they adjusted my suspension and didn't have the problem again. I regularly check the suspension to make sure it right

^^^ this (imho)

 

As much as tyre type and pressure are important, so is your front shock set up.

[Sarge]

And once you have taken in all the advice in this post, go and spend as much time as you can out on the trails enjoying yourself.

Have a great weekend

Sarge