Skills vs bike size

[mountian_hare]

Hello everyone,

I'm hoping to tap into some of the vast knowledge.

After being off the bike for six weeks I recounted a 'problem/challenge' on my mountain bike. I am not sure if it is skills based or that am as fit as a marshmallow and hence my core is weak or my bike is the wrong size (too small). On climbing steep sections - we were doing the Newlands/Kirstenbosch loop - I would feel my front wheel try to lift and become very vague with ground. 

So I don't know if it is just a skill to try and move weight further forward to combat the rising front wheel - when I tried this I felt that I lost power to pedal.
Maybe my set up is wrong - as in my saddle is maybe a little low, thus shifting weight backwards on the climbs.
Maybe my bike is just the wrong size and so my weight is loaded incorrectly in different attitudes. For some context I bought the bike in 2019 before my first Trans Baviaans. I have subsequently ridden a second TB and W2W along with trails around Cape Town. I have not had back issues, but am definitely less confident than my friends on descending. It is a medium Rock Mountain Element and I am 183 cm in the vertical. At the time I was advised to get a medium and that this was a 'large' medium.

Thoughts and feedback would be most appreciated.

[thebob]

Assuming that is a 2019 Rocky Mountain Element, it has a reach of 419mm. That means it is smaller than most current XC type bikes in their labelled small size. For someone like you a 460mm to 480mm reach would be a lot more "in range". Just a basic analysis

[DieselnDust]

20 minutes ago, mountian_hare said:

Hello everyone,

I'm hoping to tap into some of the vast knowledge.

After being off the bike for six weeks I recounted a 'problem/challenge' on my mountain bike. I am not sure if it is skills based or that am as fit as a marshmallow and hence my core is weak or my bike is the wrong size (too small). On climbing steep sections - we were doing the Newlands/Kirstenbosch loop - I would feel my front wheel try to lift and become very vague with ground. 

So I don't know if it is just a skill to try and move weight further forward to combat the rising front wheel - when I tried this I felt that I lost power to pedal.
Maybe my set up is wrong - as in my saddle is maybe a little low, thus shifting weight backwards on the climbs.
Maybe my bike is just the wrong size and so my weight is loaded incorrectly in different attitudes. For some context I bought the bike in 2019 before my first Trans Baviaans. I have subsequently ridden a second TB and W2W along with trails around Cape Town. I have not had back issues, but am definitely less confident than my friends on descending. It is a medium Rock Mountain Element and I am 183 cm in the vertical. At the time I was advised to get a medium and that this was a 'large' medium.

Thoughts and feedback would be most appreciated.

The bike is definitely too small for you. I'm 11cm shorter and that medium would fit me.

However, we have no idea of your build. You could be a bean pole, or potato masher meaning your weight could be anywhere from 73Kg to 100kg which has a significant bearing on how the bike will feel. The heavier you are the more dramatic the impact of a weight shift forward would be.

SO I'm assuming there are other things going on in conjunction with the sizing.

When last was the rear shock and fork serviced? 

Is your rear shock rebound set correctly? too slow and the rear shock wil stack down causing the front to lift.

On the descents a dry or slow moving fork will cause the front wheel to bounce around a lot losing traction and create a lack of confidence in the steering.

If you're in the southern suburbs maybe pop in at the Bike Park Uitsig and ask Chris, Ant, Jessie or Illa to take a look at it with you riding the bike in the skills park. They will be able to identify the issue shup shup

[mountian_hare]

Thank you for your immediate feedback.

@thebob it is worse than that. It is the 2016 model which has a reach of 409 mm paired with an 80 mm stem.
I totally hear you on the range in which the reach should be for a lad like me.

@DieselnDust wrt build I am somewhere in the middle, about 80 kg at the moment.
The bushings I know need to be replaced. The suspension was serviced about a year ago so maybe due.
Thanks for the suggestion about going to the bike park and speaking to the people there. Can do that. I am not adverse to the idea of selling and upgrading to a large frame.

Edited Monday at 11:18 AM by mountian_hare
correction on reach

[Shebeen]

50 minutes ago, mountian_hare said:

Hello everyone,

I'm hoping to tap into some of the vast knowledge.

After being off the bike for six weeks I recounted a 'problem/challenge' on my mountain bike. I am not sure if it is skills based or that am as fit as a marshmallow and hence my core is weak or my bike is the wrong size (too small). On climbing steep sections - we were doing the Newlands/Kirstenbosch loop - I would feel my front wheel try to lift and become very vague with ground. 

So I don't know if it is just a skill to try and move weight further forward to combat the rising front wheel - when I tried this I felt that I lost power to pedal.
Maybe my set up is wrong - as in my saddle is maybe a little low, thus shifting weight backwards on the climbs.
Maybe my bike is just the wrong size and so my weight is loaded incorrectly in different attitudes. For some context I bought the bike in 2019 before my first Trans Baviaans. I have subsequently ridden a second TB and W2W along with trails around Cape Town. I have not had back issues, but am definitely less confident than my friends on descending. It is a medium Rock Mountain Element and I am 183 cm in the vertical. At the time I was advised to get a medium and that this was a 'large' medium.

Thoughts and feedback would be most appreciated.

I'm 184cm. My 2013 RM Vertex is an XL and fits me well. 

[ajnkzn]

It will make a huge difference to get a larger bike.

 

Most "modern" geo bikes for your height will have a reach of 460-480mm at least.

 

The current Element in a large (suggested size for 177cm - 188cm) is a 480mm reach.