pedalsimotxilla

So today I went for the first time with no suspension on my former mountain bike-turned hybrid/gravel grinder on one of those extremely rough roads, you know, with so many bumps that it looks "wavy". To make things worse, I was going downhill and fast enough so those stretches felt quite bad. My question is, is there much more to do other than lift your ass from the seat, try to keep everything flexible and pray that it's over soon? At some times it felt like I'd loose control of my bike.

Kopsis

Arms and legs are your suspension - more riding will upgrade them. Maybe drop your tire pressure (might need to get wider tires). Slow down. Find a different route. Rule #5 .

DirtRoadRunner

I always lift my butt off the saddle. When descending fast hills on gravel, I ride in the drops and lift my butt about 1" off of the saddle, while holding the saddle between my thighs. This seems to help in controlling the bike. If I see a rough patch coming up while riding at slower speeds, I just stop pedaling and stand up off the saddle, keeping my knees bent to act as suspension.

Or - as mentioned above - slow down. Wiping out on gravel is not fun - lots of rocks/sticks/etc to pick out of your body.

Some of the roads and ATV trails I ride on are so rough I just go down them at 5-10 mph to avoid wrecking. They can be really rocky. If it is bad enough, I'll dismount and walk - no sense in riding 3 mph when the section could just as easily be walked at 3 mph.

caloso

Keep your grip as loose as possible. It's counter-intuitive but you have to trust your bike. It wants to go straight so just let it find its line.

unterhausen

agree with loose grip and butt off the saddle. Knees bent. We have some washboarding around here, it's not much fun without suspension

Leebo

Tire size and pressure?

pedalsimotxilla

26x1.5 Pressure: Left home around 50 psi but dropped it down a bit when I saw that it slipped when cornering.

gamby

If it were me, I'd either switch to some bigger/wider tires or an MTB with suspension (if there's one in the fleet) before riding that route again.

I'd also not bomb through it. What's the rush?

knobster

You could go faster and skim across the top. I use to do that on my dual sport motorcycle, but the same should apply to a bicycle as well. I simply go slower but I don't like wrecking.

blarnie

As noted, speed is your friend. You must be relaxed yet attentive. Keep your eyes on what's coming up to see the best line. Avoid big rocks. Have fun. Using your legs as suspension is not the best idea. It becomes more difficult to unclip a pedal in the event you need a foot down. I stay loosely seated. Use the body to shift direction.

Fullrigid is the only way. Ride the bump tops like moguls. Stay away from the trenches. Drift the sand.

pedalsimotxilla

Thanks for the input, mates. There is a suspension bike on my fleet, but I don't really enjoy it for longer rides on fire/gravel roads, and, besides, it's in the village, so not even an option. Wider, or at least, a bit knobbier tyres are an option I was considering and that maybe I'll have to go that road, but then I'd need something that can handle road too... I'll see what I do. In any case, what I suppose that counts at the end of the days is lots of practice.

Jiggle

Strong hand grip. Loose arm muscles. Always ready for the bunny hop.