Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

Get a pompino ... Do they still do them?

Until the frame broke, my BMC Alpenchallenge was pretty much the perfect commuter bike. Was a total bugger to get hold of in the first place though.

Alpenchallenge where THE commuter bike in Switzerland when they first came out.

Doing some skill training and small trial stuff on this tank is a good reminder to go to the gym more often...
Also really have to get used to this on/off feeling of the 4 pot Deore brakes

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The head angle on that at rest looks mad, what is it?!

It's 64.5

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I would love to have a go on the Grim Donut

Snap, possibly literally

I gave it a dose. It seemed to help a bit but it's still sticky at the end of the rise.

Upped the pressure yet?

Not touched it, other than cleaning and lubing the shiny shaft.

I was thinking I might just take it to the shop and have the forks first service done at the same time. I don't have the carpet for oily work.

I was chatting to another SoG rider and he said forks are heaps better after their first service anyway. Not that I'd be able to tell.

Actually I just tried it again and it did pop all the way up, just slightly delayed getting over the last few CMs or so.

Needs more pressure

I'm not riding it for a bit so will mark the saddle and try pulling it apart and adding more air. If this is a regular thing though I'm going to be grumpy.

I don't like things that don't "just work"

It's a bit luck of the draw I think, my 170mm transfer post has the frustrating "bump with arse to get it to return to the top fully" thing going on, but my 200mm transfer post never needs that.

I have topped up mine 3 times in 2 years. It's a five minute job. The clamp is easy to deal with.

Yeah, but when you have a bunch of bikes all needing 5min jobs...

The saddle has a cut-out so it might be quicker than I thought to just undo one bolt, preserve the saddle angle and hit the pressure thingie. Nothing I touch is ever straight forward though.

I back off the seatclamp a bit and it's better so I guess the clamp is deforming the post slightly and that's causing the extra friction. I don't know how loose I can get away with running the post clamp though.

I know this is a dumb question but I don’t understand Mtb geometry. On my xc hardtail I fitted a 20mm longer fork which is loads nicer to ride, but on steep or technical climbs it feels like the front end wants to lift/ doesn’t have enough weight on it. That means I have to stand and risk spinning the back wheel.
Would lowering the bars help (whilst realising this would have other impacts?)
Shorter or longer stem?
Or just suck it up and accept the trade off

I’m going to be doing an everesting type off road challenge so will be climbing a lot so it’s worth a bit of effort to get right!

Have you tried leaning forward?

#dontlean

You could lower the bars or move them forward to move your weight forward but if you're not already sticking your torso much closer to the bars you might not need to.

doesn’t have enough weight on it

Partly that, partly that you've now slackened the seat angle. Try lowering the bars a little at a time, but also moving the saddle forward too

Also what hippo says. You might just need time to adapt

slam that stem for climbing

I know this is a dumb question but I don’t understand Mtb geometry. On my xc hardtail I fitted a 20mm longer fork which is loads nicer to ride, but on steep or technical climbs it feels like the front end wants to lift/ doesn’t have enough weight on it. That means I have to stand and risk spinning the back wheel.

Would lowering the bars help (whilst realising this would have other impacts?)
Shorter or longer stem?
Or just suck it up and accept the trade off

I’m going to be doing an everesting type off road challenge so will be climbing a lot so it’s worth a bit of effort to get right!

You need to steepen the seat angle to compensate - what you describe is the issue I had with my Scalpel, wheelie going uphill then spin the rear tyre when you moved your weight forward.

Try moving the saddle all the way forward on it's rails, and if you have adjustable length chain stays (my Pace hardtail does) move them to the longest position possible.

Maybe fit a longer stem to go with the saddle moving forward.

but also moving the saddle forward too

This. The more you get over the front of the bike the less it'll wander.

Technique wise, try to not pull up on the bars but instead hinge more, shimmy forward on the saddle and keep pressure downwards when it gets steep. That'll help your front wheel stay planted

I have a 140mm -20 degree stem somewhere which I might be willing to part with...