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08-28-07, 04:59 PM
A few weeks ago I bought a new bike (Specialized Hardrock Sport Mountain Bike 07 (http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=22093)). I took it out for my first ride today and I'm extremely impressed. Sooo much lighter than my old bike and it's also the first bike I've had front suspension on.
The track I took it on today was a quite beaten up old dry mud track, full of biggish rocks, ditches, mounds and sections with an unusually large amount of sand for a country track in the middle of south yorkshire. It was something only a land rover would be able to get over. It was great fun. Other than getting stuck in the sand, the only problem was when I was going down hill. I was going reasonably fast, over the rocks and ditches and I was basically getting shaken all over the place. I felt like a jack hammer :P By the time I reached the bottom of the slopes my arms were felling all weavy, my hands were killing me (they feel a bit bruised now, about 12 hours later).
Has anyone got any tips on how best to handle this sort of rocky track, or is this just something I'll pick up on my own through experience?
I found the easiest, most comfortable position was to stand up on the peddles with my arse back a bit, so that it was more or less over the back of the seat, but I don't know whether this is the best position. I'm also not sure what to do with my arms; whether to keep them rigid, or let them move quite freely with the bounces.
Alternatively, could it just be a case that I need to adjust the front suspension?
The track I took it on today was a quite beaten up old dry mud track, full of biggish rocks, ditches, mounds and sections with an unusually large amount of sand for a country track in the middle of south yorkshire. It was something only a land rover would be able to get over. It was great fun. Other than getting stuck in the sand, the only problem was when I was going down hill. I was going reasonably fast, over the rocks and ditches and I was basically getting shaken all over the place. I felt like a jack hammer :P By the time I reached the bottom of the slopes my arms were felling all weavy, my hands were killing me (they feel a bit bruised now, about 12 hours later).
Has anyone got any tips on how best to handle this sort of rocky track, or is this just something I'll pick up on my own through experience?
I found the easiest, most comfortable position was to stand up on the peddles with my arse back a bit, so that it was more or less over the back of the seat, but I don't know whether this is the best position. I'm also not sure what to do with my arms; whether to keep them rigid, or let them move quite freely with the bounces.
Alternatively, could it just be a case that I need to adjust the front suspension?