time for a new bike or improve skills?

Hey, In need of some advice (the pleasures of this forum).......

To start my adventures in mountain biking I opted for the Specialized Rock Hopper Comp 2010
(link to specs) at the beginning of last year.....

When I ride at speed on roughish ground and my where my confidence exceeds my ability (like the end of the roller-coaster) my rear wheel gets a little twitchy and the rear of the frame flexes quite a bit. Is this due to my bike being a beginners bike and time for me to upgrade? Or is it time to learn more self control?


Many thanks

Mark

How about some new tyres? or a new set of wheels?

That should help the problem out

John

Thanks John, I have tried with different tyres but no real change still very twitchy. I wasnt sure if this was due to it being a hard tail and therefore more bouncy on the rougher stuff. If i went with new wheels - I presume then it might be worth upgrading the cassette & brakes etc.

Ta
mark

Hi Mark,

I started with a Rockhopper as well, good bike. I found the same with mine as I became more committed/aggressive. Not having a lot of experience with different bikes I'm not sure if it is a limitation of the frame or hardtails in general.
It helps to increase the weight over the back wheel but doing so can also make the front skitty (not good for steering or grip). If you try and keep your body in your usual position but push your heels down, this will put more pressure on the back of the bike and reduce the effects your feeling.

Or just treat yourself to a full suss!

Its that time of year when the trails are dry and a little unforgiving! The roller coaster is riding nice and fast it has to be said :-) You just have to learn to love the skitty twitchy back end of a hardtail bouncing away underneath you. Big fat tyres with a lower pressure may help. Or as Martin suggests get your wallet out and buy a full sus.

Give it time mate, you'll get the feel of it.

Thanks guys....having shown the missus this thread and said you are 'experts' (artistic licence ) - I can now go and buy a full susser ....

Any obvious things I should look for/avoid? And in the meantime if you see someone in a crumpled up mess at the end of the rollercoaster you know my bike got the better of me!

Thanks!

One option to keep things a little more real with expense is to buy a frame and use the parts from your Rockhopper to build a complete bike. I did it this way as I was offered a second hand frame at a very silly price. You can always upgrade parts as they wear out or you brake them.

Buying a complete new bike can be a gamble, very easy to get it wrong. You can look at all the angles and get what you think is right but it may not feel right for you in the real world.

Think about what sort of riding you do most of the time. XC/DH/Trail center etc. Go for what you would get best use out of.

Ask others in the club when your out and about if you can have a go on their bikes, try it on your favorite bit of trail, I'm sure others will be happy to help with this. Do take in to consideration that how they set there bike up may not be what you would go for.

Getting a test bike from a shop costs money.

Demo days are a very good idea, you could test a range of makes and models.

I wouldn't rush out and buy a new bike just yet. I ride both a hardtail and a full suss and the hardtail will take the rollercoaster just as quick, albeit requiring a touch more skill. The Rockhopper has a lot to give, so give it a chance. As Kurt says, it will come in time.

In my opinion the single biggest thing you can do to smooth out your riding and help the bike flow with the trail rather than hammer against it is to keep your head up and look as far ahead as possible. It's sounds trivial, but planning your lines as much in advance as possible will help you stay smooth and loose. Everyone will have their own bit of advice but this is what works for me.

It sounds dead cheesey but when it 'clicks', you'll experience a coming together of bike, rider and trail and everything else will disappear. The bumps won't feel harsh any more and everything goes eerily quiet. Yes, I can hammer the same trail on a full suss at the same speed (or faster) without getting into that flow, but it's not as rewarding.

Having said that, if you see me out and about and I'm riding my full suss (red and white Spesh FSR XC), feel free to say hi and swap bikes for a trail or two. I'm not out as much as I'd like at the mo tho' due to having a 5 week old baby

Thanks for all the advice so far......

I went out for a little ride tonight and took the roller coaster with my normal gusto but with a little air out of my tyres and rode with my heels down - I felt more in control..... wooohooooo!

I rode my first trail centre last weekend at Cannock Chase (the dog and monkey trails) and didnt realise you could have so much fun for no money and keeping your clothes on! I think I could be a trail centre convert!!

My favourite run at woburn is called 'Corkscrew 2' (I dont know what you call it). The corkscrew is the trail which cuts across the rollercoaster and the corkscrew 2 just veers off to the left at the start of the corkscrew - goes over a few step downs and a right hand tightish turn and links up with the roller coaster. Its fast, quick and fun!

I will keep my basic hardtail for the time being - but will start looking for a full suspension XC or AM bike. It feels like christmas is about to happen

***slides back chair, cracks knuckles and sits down with popcorn****

The old HT vs Full Suss discussion....I love this.

Its funny I have a similar debate / discusison with the good ol' Americans over here regarding 26" vs 29"....they still don't understand we had 29ers about 6 years ago....they still think its something other than marketing. I love it when someone new jumps on a 29er in the car park and immediately you here them say...."Oh yes, it just rolls over stuff so much better"...... Eeejits

Anyhow, the best free advice that ANYONE can give you when looking at new bikes is simply to beg, steal and borrow and ride on as many bikes as possible. Friends bikes, demo bikes anything. Next time you are up the woods, ask to jump on someones bike and swap for 10 mins or so. Preferably not in the car park as that will only determine if the bike fits or not. Some bikes behave completely different on a trail at speed.

I have had 21 bikes so far, a little excessive I know....but if you see any you are thinking of trying let me know and I can give you the good, the bad and the ugly.

Best Hard Tail for me was the 853 steel on-one
Best Full Bouncer is the Yeti 575 by far!!

1 Giant XTC2 HT
2 Litespeed Tanasi HT
3 Scott Genius Ltd 3 - 5" FS
4 Santa Cruz Blur LT 5.5" FS
5 Gary Fisher Rig HT 29r SS
6 Carver 96er HT 96r SS
7 On-One 853 Inbred HT SS
8 Kona Unit 2-9 HT 29r SS
9 On-One Scandal HT SS
10 Cannondale Scalpel 1 3" FS
11 Litespeed Ti Obed HT
12 Focus Cayaro RD
13 Litespeed Niota 4 - 5" FS
14 Trek Remedy 9 6" FS
15 On-One Scandal HT SS
16 Yeti 575 5.75" FS
17 Scott CR1 Pro RD
18 Giant Anthem 2 4" FS
19 Orange 631 P7 HT
20 Jamis 631 Sputnik RD SS
21 Specialized Demo 8 8" DH
22 KHS Lucky 7 7.3" FR

But remember, riding a Hardtail creates and hones your riding skills....the more travel you have, the more of a retard you can become. Just point and shoot, the shock, forks do the rest up to a certain level.

If I had one bike......ohhh thats a tricky one. I always think you need to be 100% honest with yourself and think about what you ride 90% of the time. For me it was Woburn woods, then the odd trail centre maybe once a month, every two months. If I really had to choose I would go for a long travel, steel hardtail with a 140 - 160mm form on the front. Maybe a Cotic Bfe, O-O Summer Season, or even a carbon 456 as I've heard those things are effin awesome !! A hardtail frame with some flex, so it doesn't rip your arms off after a day of epic riding.

Why don't you start with something like the Scott Genius range, they have clever technology that allows you to set it as a hard tail (fully locked at the rear), 4" travel and 5" travel...all from the remote on the handlebar. I used to love mine, although the BBs are super low and I was constantly bashing my pedals !

Have fun......oh and I'll try and hook up in about 7 weeks, I'm moving back to the UK.