Enduro/gravity bike suspension and geo

[Jewbacca]

I tend to agree with you and I'm not planning on buying a 29er fork and wheel for my enduro, but after my recent experimentation with tyres, air pressure and suspension settings I am  far happier on my bike. I think that this is just another thing to try in the search for a better, more fun and  possibly faster ride. 

 

Just had a thought - my 26er HT might go well with a 180 fork and 27.5 front wheel...If I sell the 26er Pike I could start saving for a 29er fork and wheel for the Enduro. Mmmmm :-) 

Tire pressure, rebound speed etc all makes sense to me. That is part and parcel of bike setup.

 

I'm not saying it isn't 'cool', but I am saying that weekend plonkers who finish 5 minutes behind Matt Lombardi, who in turn finishes nearly 4 minutes behind the guys who might (I say might) benefit from these shenanigans on terrain that would probably make most of us 15 minutes slower than Matt, just aren't good enough to really benefit from them.

 

There are so many more things we can do to improve that would be way more beneficial and make way more sense than fiddling with 69ers.

 

Getting really fit is probably going to benefit everyone 500% more than a different sized front/rear wheel....

[Hairy]

Tire pressure, rebound speed etc all makes sense to me. That is part and parcel of bike setup.

 

I'm not saying it isn't 'cool', but I am saying that weekend plonkers who finish 5 minutes behind Matt Lombardi, who in turn finishes nearly 4 minutes behind the guys who might (I say might) benefit from these shenanigans on terrain that would probably make most of us 15 minutes slower than Matt, just aren't good enough to really benefit from them.

 

There are so many more things we can do to improve that would be way more beneficial and make way more sense than fiddling with 69ers.

 

Getting really fit is probably going to benefit everyone 500% more than a different sized front/rear wheel....

Hang on ... does this mean I need to cut out beer ... sorry skollie, aint gonna happen!

Edited April 2, 2019 by Hairy

[Rigardt@Scott]

My biggest issue with plonking a 27.5 wheel on the back of a niner frame or a niner fork and wheel on a 27.5 frame is what you will be doing to the geo of that bike.

 

In essennce you will slacken out the HA, STA, and lowet the bb (in the case of the niner frame). So the bike is going to pedal like crap, and have a ton of rock strikes while descending.

 

So to remedy this bike manufacturers will make 27.5 frames with geo dedicated to this setup. In which case it will "work". But it will mean new frames for us.

 

Playing around with that on your current frames will cost you for a new rear wheel if using a 29er frame, or a new fork and front wheel in the case of using a 27.5 frame. All for something that resembles the new concept but isn't quite it. Then add to that people shortening travel on their forks to address a bike that is too slack, and then some new cranks to adrress the bb that is now too low (let's say 165mm ot shorter) which will mean even crappier pedaling.

 

Not worth it IMO.

 

Maybe in 6 or 7 years I will change my tune when it is the new norm and bikes are sold like this out the box. But I am not gonna be the guinnea pig for it...

Edited April 2, 2019 by Grease_Monkey

[Headshot]

that look will work for you

 

My BIL has a chopper very like that in black. Not built for corners at all ..

[Jewbacca]

Hang on ... does this mean I need to cut out beer ... sorry skollie, aint gonna happen!

Cut out beer?!

 

No one said that, especially not me!

[Duane_Bosch]

I think you're 100% right. Improving fitness would make a MASSIVE difference to most of us. Not only in dragging you up the strava leader boards it also with injury prevention when the inevitable does happen.

 

Having said that at the pleb end of the sport we need good bikes to compensate for shitty technique, boeps, brain fade. But for now I'll stick with my wagon wheels and admire Maes from this side of the Tele.

[Duane_Bosch]

To continue my monolog.

 

If you look at the Supercross guys. They are pretty much obsessive about fitness and conditioning. That is about race fitness but it's also about injury prevention. They have MASSIVE get offs and walk away. Don't think that's cos of the roost guard they are wearing. That's fitness.

 

*caveat. I make no fitness claims and I like pies.

Edited April 3, 2019 by Duane_Bosch

[Meezo]

To continue my monolog.

 

If you look at the Supercross guys. They are pretty much obsessive about fitness and conditioning. That is about race fitness but it's also about injury prevention. They have MASSIVE get offs and walk away. Don't think that's cos of the roost guard they are wearing. That's fitness.

 

*caveat. I make no fitness claims

What's good conditioning for trail/Enduro type riding, I'm familiar sort of with getting fit and racing being a roadie an all

[Thermophage]

What's good conditioning for trail/Enduro type riding, I'm familiar sort of with getting fit and racing being a roadie an all

Build upper body muscle. You'll fatigue less on a descent, be able to better man-handle the bike and have more protection when falling.

Including strong core. If you can't L-sit or hollow sit for a decent time period your core is poo.

Things like pushups even or holding a plank in a half pushup position will simulate keeping strong over the handlebars, etc.

Also I have found recently, squats, walking lunges, static lunges, hamstring curls, etc have been a big help to overall pedalling fitness and muscle fatigue.

[Duane_Bosch]

What's good conditioning for trail/Enduro type riding, I'm familiar sort of with getting fit and racing being a roadie an all

You are asking the WRONG oke. I am only interested in one thing and one thing only. That's Morzine.

 

In an effort to #getstrongformorz

 

I'm averaging about 125km a week on the bike(s). About 70km of this is in a spinning studio. I have major time constraints so this usually happens when it's still dark. I've been told that spinning doesn't count by some but that's usually said from the comfort of the couch with a beer in one hand and a smartphone in the other. We've dialed back the road riding a bit doing mostly coffee runs on Sunday mornings at the moment.

 

I'm also doing 50 of these a day * 4 times a week

 

Push ups

pull ups

sit ups

bicep curls (10kg)

bench press (20kg)

a sort of shoulder pull thing (20kg)

hand squishies (500 per hand)

 

It remains to be seen if I'll be any stronger this year than last year when i did fokkol. Personally for riding i think having lekker friss arms and being able to bench 120kg is a waste of time and would rather work on light weights and many reps which more accurately mimics what happens on the trail.

 

But having said all that my trophy cabinet is pretty empty so....

Edited April 3, 2019 by Duane_Bosch

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Anyone who says spinning doesn't count for fitness / whatever is smoking some really good stuff, and I want some. ????

[Rigardt@Scott]

What's good conditioning for trail/Enduro type riding, I'm familiar sort of with getting fit and racing being a roadie an all

It's not everyone's cup of tea, but coming from a gyming/bodybuilding background I picked up crossfit from the start of this year.

 

I am much fitter and stronger on the bike now than I was last year, even dropped a few kg too. Last year I was putting in (not consistently) around 100km per week on the mtb (no other exercise), this year my schedule looks something like this:

 

Mon: Crossfit

Tuesday: Crossfit

Wed: Mtb

Thurs: Crossfit

Fri: Mtb

Sat: Longer mtb ride

 

I'm not that consistent with following it religiously, and I am not the right person to be giving advice on fitness, but I must say that for me this has made a massive difference, esepcially on longer descents and short hard efforts.

 

But I digress, there is actually a dedicated thread for this.

Edited April 3, 2019 by Grease_Monkey

[stefmeister]

You are asking the WRONG oke. I am only interested in one thing and one thing only. That's Morzine.

 

In an effort to #getstrongformorz

 

I'm averaging about 125km a week on the bike(s). About 70km of this is in a spinning studio. I have major time constraints so this usually happens when it's still dark. I've been told that spinning doesn't count by some but that's usually said from the comfort of the couch with a beer in one hand and a smartphone in the other. We've dialed back the road riding a bit doing mostly coffee runs on Sunday mornings at the moment.

 

I'm also doing 50 of these a day * 4 times a week

 

Push ups

pull ups

sit ups

bicep curls (10kg)

bench press (20kg)

a sort of shoulder pull thing (20kg)

hand squishies (500 per hand)

 

It remains to be seen if I'll be any stronger this year than last year when i did fokkol. Personally for riding i think having lekker friss arms and being able to bench 120kg is a waste of time and would rather work on light weights and many reps which more accurately mimic what happens on the trail.

 

But having said all that my trophy cabinet is pretty empty so....

 

Like most things, a strong posterior chain will benefit you more than having an aesthetic anterior physique. 

If you're not going full out strength training, at least do some bent-over rows, romanian dead lifts. 15 min on those stepper machines also helps for endurance as you can target glutes and hammies on it depending on your positioning.

 

I probably do core once a year, and when I do it's just to make sure I can still do a set of 10 of these;

Edited April 3, 2019 by stefmeister

[Headshot]

#1 The more you ride the more beer can be drunk.

[Duane_Bosch]

It's not everyone's cup of tea, but coming from a gyming/bodybuilding background I picked up crossfit from the start of this year.

 

How will you know if someone does crossfit?

[Rigardt@Scott]

How will you know if someone does crossfit?

Hahaha he was asking what works! But touché