 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Hi all,
Been riding up in the peaks a lot now and there's a short fast rocky as hell section called zig, as I have started to go after down it with knowing what's ahead I'm finding the vibrations through my bike mean it's almost impossible to see ahead without slowing. Is this a technique thing, relaxing more, or a bike set up problem?
need bigger bouncies....
180mm all round of bounce... will be lovely.
What bike are you riding now ?
Soft hands, soak it up with the body? Turn your suspension on?
Got a cannondale trigger carbon at the moment.
Relax and allow your bodyarms and legs to move around. Can you jump any of the lumps to reduce time for vibrations? Is there a smoother line?
Bike will help but it is technique that will benefit you the most.
Do you ride with anyone else? How do they find it? Also consider investing in your skills, worth more than any bike part and could also cover bike set up
i did a lesson with ride with Mee in October but we didn't really touch on fast techy stuff, might book in again.
I ride trail centres but mainly the peaks. Think it's definatley me not the bike!
Just means that particular section produces the exact same resonant frequency as your spine. Ride it faster and your problem will simply vanish. 🙂
Cornflour in the eyes.....and check your fork is running as it should.
Do your eyes water up due to the wind & cold? Try riding with some safety glasses or goggles.
Vision through watering up isn't really an issue, just the vibrations are awful.
Get a fully rigid bike and you'll know what its really like.
Look further ahead and pump/jump/hop your way down it? Don't brake! Go faster!
Which fork and shock, what's your pressures and settings?.
Stay loose, accept that things get bumpy.
What tyres and tyre pressures are you running?
Specialised Butcher/purgatory at about 30
Which reminds me - make sure your rebound isn't too slow.
It's not about the bike, it's about your position. You need to "float" above the bike, using your arms and legs to allow the bike to move under you. I regularly ride Zig on my rigid 29er and on my CX and while my speeds might be slightly slower, it's rideable if you stay loose#
come out and play sometime, we'll spend some time sessioning different things
Where is this 'zig' descent?
There are a good few rocky descents in the Peak, however on a Trigger with those tyres/pressures, set up correctly, you will be at limit of control I think before your sight gets too badly affected.
It's up near new Mills golf course mate.
nbt's offer is a good one.
Do you have a picture of you descending anywhere on your bike? Post it up for [s]piss taking positive[/s] feedback.
I'm up for that nbt, be good to see.
I haven't got any pics you can rip apart unfortunately!
Worth isolating a few factors to work out what it is;
1. Body position- are you knees and arms bent?
2. Grip- are you holding on for dear life with arms/thighs? Might be that your holding the grips tight, which is tensing your shoulders & arms and thus not doing their bit (I.e.- #1).
3. Are the forks/shocks- are they working correctly? Using all their travel?
4. Tyre pressure- what pressure are your tyres? Never under estimate how much of a difference a lower tyre pressure can make.
That's (almost) behind my house. Definitely technique. I'm not belittling your ability at all, some people can do some stuff better than others but it's really not that rocky that it should cause huge problems. You'll be bombing down it without a care when you've loosened up. In fact, It's a good line to practice riding up and down. Almost dead straight, not a severe gradient, wide...... . I'm heading over to Manchester in an hour. I'll ride up it and get a photo.
How are you at riding down the bridleway to the bench on the other side of the golf course? That's much more technical but a good example of speed being your friend. Stay loose on the bike and off the brakes and it can feel almost Zen.
Forgot to mention but somebody else didn't, look up! This in itself hugely helps you to relax and smooth stuff out.
Monksie gets it.
Not my pic, but this is Zig
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7368/27408037086_d65f48a38a.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7368/27408037086_d65f48a38a.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= https://flic.kr/p/HKXmxy ]Trees at Broadhurst Edge[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/bods/ ]Andrew Bowden[/url], on Flickr
I'd get the suspension serviced to make sure it's working smoothly, then get your approach right/get things tuned right.
The last time I remember any really bad vibration it was in my feet during braking, and it was because I was half way through ripping the rear end off my ti456 at the time (though I didn't realise it.).
Jules! I often recall and hear again in my mind the sage advice you gave me when I was relatively new to bike riding, just in front of you and on a steep descent just off Forest Chapel.....
"GET OFF THE *JEFFIN BRAKES!!!!"
*Sounds like jeffin
I had no idea that was called Zig. Where's Zag?
Anyway you clearly ride far too fast young man, I can see perfectly clearly when descending that on my hardtail.
I remember a few bits on the Malverns where my speed was limited by bumpiness. Then I had my suspension serviced and started crashing more because where I was previously going slow enough to manage any tricky bits I suddenly couldn't any more...
Zag is turn right at the bottom of Zig onto Mellor Rd. 100 yards (if that) on the left is the bridleway known as Zag which brings you out on to Briargrove Road.
*quietly proud of the fact that I started calling them zig and zag about 12 years ago and the name has now stuck*
Ah thanks, got it.
@nbt - however I have two trails in Rivelin and in Galloway that are all called Zig or Zag...
Isn't a trigger a light xc bike? I remember switching from an xc bike to a trail bike and being astounded by how much more calmly it dealt with stuff. Maybe you are really a riding god on the wrong bike, light bikes tend to pinball off stuff
My money's still on the forks needing a service, regardless of the bike they're on.
Obviously a trail bike (with suspension working properly) will be vastly smoother, and an enduro smoother than that (same caveat), and a DH bike (same caveat), but all of them would be pretty horrid if the forks are lubricated with water, mud and grit.
My money's still on the forks needing a service, regardless of the bike they're on.
I would potentially agree, as even I can ride Zig with reasonable ease, and I'm a hardtail-riding, handlebar-death-gripping, brake-dragging downhill mincer.
Is it a Lefty fork?
Could it be a case of bearing migration?
Slow down?
Strangely enough, my buddy recently experienced the very same problem at the very same place, whereas I felt fine. I'm sure it's just a matter of being "loose", as described by nbt.
Interesting, I drive in around New Mills on a regular basis and have seen that lane before, cycled past the end of Zig on Saturday and thought that looks interesting will have to venture up it at some point.
I ride fully rigid and looking at that pic reckon I can get down it ok albeit at a lesser speed than someone on FS.
Probably isn't the fork. I've just done it up and down this afternoon on a rigid bike. No blurred vision. Definitely no problem on my Cannonade Flash with Lefty.
You'll get the hang of it mate. Slow down if you can't relax or speed up if you can. In no time, you'll be surfing down it.
30 psi sounds quite high to me, maybe a factor too. Even before plus tyres and low pressure tubeless setups don't think I ever ran an MTB tyre that high a pressure.
Went back up there and did what was suggested, relaxed, slowed down and it worked a dream, cheers all.
*quietly proud of the fact that I started calling them zig and zag about 12 years ago and the name has now stuck*
I like that on Strava, done in reverse they are giz and gaz, A little bit of genius. And fwiw it could be all sorts of stuff from too much tyre pressure to badly set up forks to forks that simply can't react quickly enough and get overwhelmed by repeated hits to bad technique. Or all of them...
nbt's offer is a good one.
* Shudders... * 🙂