Reply To: Making hardtails less bumpy?

#224045

If you are being “bucked off” your seat and pedals, then the usual problems are:

  1. The most common issue is too high tire pressures. At around 200 Lbs with 2.0″ wide tires, you should be running at around 28 psi. Higher pressures will make your ride bouncy and jittery making you loose control. Wider tires and tubeless will let you go to lower pressures.
  2. The second most common problem is wrong fork spring/pressure and possibly poor rebound setting. Forks with an internal spring are typically sprung for a 150 lb rider from the factory. If you are heavier then you need to upgrade to a heavier spring. If your fork has an air spring, then you need to set the sag properly for your weight. Most forks also have adjustable damper rebound setting. Typically a good starting point is to set it at 1/2 way. If you weigh more than 150 lbs then you can go slower on the rebound. The cheapest forks are often called “pogo sticks” because they have no rebound adjustment and offer next to no dampening at all.
  3. Cheap flat pedals and poor shoe combination will not give you the right amount of grip. A grippy set of flat pedals with soft rubber sneakers will make for a huge improvement in control.
  4. Wrong technique can also be a problem. I rode the trails in New England for many years when I first started riding. The trails there are notorious for having lots of roots and rocky sections. Learning to float your bike over these sections by unweighting (hopping your bike without lifting off the ground) really helps to get through these.  Off the seat, attack position, heals down, stay loose, weight, unweight.