pittsteelfan102

hey i have two questions but my main 1 is this: so today i was going down a very thin single track downhill, very technical.anyways i seemed to not have that good control of the bike yet my friends who normally are way bihind me were rideing my ass all the way down... i was wondering if any1 could give me any tips on going downhill. i think i need to lean back farther but anything else? o yea and it was awsome i hit a tree and whent over my handle bars and slid to the edge of a 15-20 ft. cliff into a river bed(w/ no water lol)

second question: what would be the easiest ways to make my hardtail lighter? im going to do xc races ive already done 1 but im looking to make it lighter over the winter while i have nothing to spend my money on.

squeegy200

Q1. I personally am NOT a good descender so I won't answer this question. Other than to say practice. There are some good tips each month in Mountain Bike Action. I've collected a few skills by reading some of those tech tips.

Q2. For XC, one of the best places to loose weight is at the wheels. The easiest would be lighter tires and tubes. The reduced mass allows for greater acceleration and quicker braking. HOWEVER XC racing tires usually have thinner casings and smaller knobs which means less purposeful braking and sometimes sketchy handling in loose environments. Other than that, get yourself fit for racing and get your body to optimum racing weight. That will be the most effective and cost effective weight reduction plan you can make.

If you require more weight reduction on the bike - go to weight weenies. They have listings of available parts and their weights. Then start shopping. Good luck with your race season!

pittsteelfan102

ok thanks! so the weels are the esiest way to take wieght off or gain wieght huh. i thought it would be the crank set.

Funkychicken

please spell better if you can. no cutting of corners.

technical descending - get off the seat and lean back, the steeper the rock, the further back you go. shift weight around in the opposite direction that the bike is moving to maintain a balanced centre of gravity.

weight weenie'ing - lose weight in the wheelsets, maybe think of getting a light air fork and then work towards stem and handlebar, or you could just replace the whole frame for a carbon.

pittsteelfan102

sweet. thanks funkychicken. hey guys i found a crankset on pricepoint for $85. its a shimano m572. is it any good?

zx108

for downhill if you want to get speed and really flow down it. try and go down it once slowly taking notice of the line you want to take. then walk/ride back up and try the peice again. it will be much easier and you will flow becasue you know what is ahead of you.

with practice comes perfect, well close to perfect.

mtnbiker66

What you want want to do is take off your braks levers. That will make you faster and your bike lighter at the same time.Find the steep and gnarly and let er' rip!

chris_pnoy

Your friends behind you are probably following you when you're taking the best line which would make them seem fast, when in reality, they're just as fast as you.

Like mentioned though, you want to get your butt off the saddle, and get it behind the seat, the lower/further back for more inclined hills. If you're doing it really well, you won't have to move the handle bars too much, you could practically steer with your body weight.

pittsteelfan102

yea i geuss.

LowCel 

Like others have said get behind the saddle on steep downhills. By behind the saddle I do not mean above the saddle. A lot of less experienced riders get above the saddle but think they are behind it. On really steep descents it is not uncommon for the back tire to actually hit your butt. As for control on steep technical descents, sometimes you are not in control. Thats just the way it is. Just hold on and hope for the best. The goal is to be fast and just borderline in control, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

As for weight savings the wheels and tires are definately the most important places to save weight. Rotating weight is much more important than non rotating, IMO losing a pound of weight in the wheels and tires equals two pounds anywhere else on the bike. However losing weight off of your body if you have any extra is the best place to start.

Now, for the crank. Do you already have an octalink bb? If not you will need to get a new bottom bracket as well. The LX is a good crankset but it is definately not light. It weighs 651 grams. The LX bottom bracket that you would probably get to go with it weighs in at 276 grams. That is a pretty high combination weight. If you go with an ISIS compatible crankset you can save a lot of weight by going with a lighter bb, such as the American Classic which weighs in at 141 grams. That is a pretty big weight savings for a few bucks.

For an example on my race hardtail I use an FSA crankset w/lightweight bolts that weighs in at 570 grams with an American Classic bb that weighs 141 grams. Total weight for the set is 711 grams. Compare that to the LX crankset/bb combo which weighs 927 grams. Thats a difference of 216 grams, or basicly 1/2 pound.

BTW, it would really help if you would post your budget.

pittsteelfan102

thanks, i have like a $350 budget on makeing my bike lighter. ill see how much wieght im going to lose for $350 and then ill decide