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My nearly 6-year-old is now bombing down blue trails. His mum is a good road rider but never mountain biked growing up, so not confident on rocks/berms/mini drops etc. and hasn't got riding bumpy stuff stood up sorted yet.
At moment she has an old 16" Ragley Mmmmbop with a 150mm Sektor fork, 26" wheels, 50mm stem, Chunky Monkey tyre on the front, V12 pedals, BB7 brakes. I was wondering if a nicely fitting 29er would make her feel better on the rocks etc. but then she says the current bike feels unwieldy, tho I think it's the correct size as she's 5'7". I think it might just be the slack hardtail feels kind of wandery at the front when you're used to a flat bar road bike with narrow bars.
Don't want to start a classic 26 vs 29 wheel size discussion but if anyone has any good tips on bike choice or setup to boost confidence for a beginner mtb-er that would be ace. I know practice is part of it too. ta!
I suspect she just needs more time riding with the saddle down - getting used to it on easy terrain and then progressing.
Is there a local bike shop where she could demo a few different bikes to see which wheel size and style of bike she prefers? Or perhaps a group of local female riders who could give her a spin on some of their bikes and offer advice?
It may not just be a case of wheel size, the geometry of more recent bikes may inspire more confidence. Although, if she finds her Ragley too slack, then perhaps not. As a lot of more modern bikes will probably be even slacker. Maybe she needs to try something that isn't all 'long, low and slack' but a bit closer in style to what she's accustomed to, like a cross country bike?
There's also female specific mountain bikes, such as Liv (made by Giant) and Juliana (Santa Cruz). I don't fully know just how different they are to the masculine versions to be honest. And whether the differences between the gendered frames are radical or not.
If she's used to road bikes, maybe an XC oriented bike would be better to get used to riding off-road. Slack bikes with wide bars really do feel unwieldy compared to steeper bikes with narrower bars, it feels like driving a truck compared to a sports car. Insisting that it's the right size for her when she's not comfortable on it isn't going to help at all.
I don't road ride but did start MTB relatively recently so I have some sympathy!
I have found simple "car park" type drills to be great for getting a feel for the bike. Things like flat turns (leaning the bike over), track stands, fore and aft weight shifts (saddle down, get a feel for shifting weight about the bike). Progressing to front and rear wheel raises.
In terms of trail riding, I found a night and day difference in confidence when replacing my fell running shoes with five tens.
Stuff like berms and drops I think are more mental than technique, so I think you just have to keep at them until you're confident in your own mind.
Best of luck to her!
Forgot to say: it's well worth considering a coaching session too.
Thanks everyone, some good ideas there. @hols2 XC bike probably not a bad shout...there's certainly no insisting from either of us that the current bike is perfect, though we both reckon it sizes up well in theory. Just the feel is off. It's funny one, on the one hand you'd think being a bit 'overbiked' would help a beginner, but I can see how bigger tyred slacker bikes do feel cumbersome and less intuitive. I'm wondering if the Ragley is overforked (150mm) and the BB is high - feels a bit weird when I ride it, but then I'm very tall so hard to tell. It does seem a bit of an oddball bike.
Going to try a few things/bikes for sure. Having the kid figure biking out has made me realise how less experienced riders probably need their gear more dialled than people who've been at it a while. I teach piano and it's kind of the same with that too.
can the forks be adjusted down to 130 mm or 120 mm? What stem and bars are on it? My commuter bike has 700 mm bars and a 70 mm stem (plus an 80 mm travel fork). It feels much more agile on XC stuff than my trailbike with 750 mm bars, 50 mm stem, and 130 mm fork, bot with about the same TT length. I've tried the commuter bike off-road, it's bit hairy on rough stuff and steep descents, but much nicer on smooth XC stuff.
hmmm maybe..adjusting travel is a bit beyond my mechanic skills!...it's an old Sektor 150 (bit knackered to be honest), I did think about sticking a flat bar on it just to weight front a bit. I have a Revelation fork lying around but think that's 150 as well.
Think we're going to hire a decent 29er for a half day just to see how that compares and to try a few sizes out.
Sounds as though she needs a bike that's right for her. For starters women can be shorter in the body compared with men meaning a long tt may not suit. Added to which is a long fork that will affect handling plus it's presumably a heavy bike. Also consider 650B. Have you looked in the Classifieds on here?
@cinnamon_girl you're right, she needs something better. 650b could well be fine. I reckon taking a hire bike or two out will give her some frames of reference for what feels good and then will have a good look at singletrack/pinkbike classifieds etc.
@tb927 yes, trying out some hire bikes will help. Would also say that at 5'7" it's worth looking at men's bikes and not restricting to WSD. Wheels and forks can always be changed or upgraded too. Good luck!
Mrs Oldnick appreciates a lightweight bike, at 5'2" she was ok on my 26" med Anthem with a short stem until she smashed it in a crash, we replaced the frame with a small with a 70mm stem and that seems to work well for her.
Old-school geometry and a short fork seem to suit her. Cheap as chips on ebay too.