Originally Posted by Maelstrom
Mashers stop at every revolution eh?...thats cute.
That is definately true, the more technical the better. If you can blow through stuff you cant pedal up then you can carry the momentum better.
Personally,m for technical and steep I follow the like of the pros. Slightly standing while leaving a tiny amount of room underneath your crotch to let the bike bounce. Its a half sitting half standing type of climbing. You need lots of strength but if you can pull if off body movement becomes natural because you aren't fighting the seat.
Dhillers run less pressure and require more traction at high speeds (if dhillers were 'squirrely' in corners, the death rate would increase). This only applies to xc tires, not dh tires. Keep that in mind when making such a blanket statement.
There is SOME point for a tire/rider/rim combination where the tires simply won't perform correctly. Downhiller tires are thicker and stiffer, so are downhill tubes. There are new "run flat" car tires that will go just fine without any air at all for a certain distance.
Oh, and it doesn't help one bit to put your sidewall down on the ground. There is no traction there. If your tires are so loose that leaning into the corner causes all the slack in the tire to buckle to the inside corner, they will not be effective.
I don't claim to know what that point is for any one setup. But I do know there is such a thing as "not enough air". That is, until they invent "run-flat" tires for bikes.