Originally Posted by Chuckie J.
I'm not *really* slow, I'm just not bombing down the thing. I do ride the rear break, though. I also ride a full rigid bike but I'm not blaming equipment-- I could go faster. I'm curious about bigger tires? I ride regular 2.0 XC tires. What would 2.5's feel like in comparison?
Chuckie
Full rigid is no problem on XC downhill. Just learn to fall off less often and know the limits of your bike. 2.5's may give you a more comfortable ride but will you get the grip or will you float over the surface? Someone else has mentioned it but narrower tyres are faster. Wider tyres will give a more comfy ride, but try dragging them uphill at the low pressure they will need to get the benefit of them.
Some people are fast uphill, some are fast downhill. A few are fast at both.I am slow uphill, so the only way I can excel is forgetting the brakes till they are necessary, and looking ahead on the trail to take the right lines. Bit of a problem on the Tandem as I am on the back and my steering don't work that well, but fast downhill takes skill, good brakes and no-brain.