Originally Posted by
crazyotte
Question: I'm having a little trouble manualing. If I have the time to throw all my weight back and yank on the bars, I can manual fine, but its a very slow (compared to the speed of the bike) process. Usually in the situations that I'd manual off a drop, I'm moving pretty quick with my weight outta the saddle and a little forward. (typing that now, it seems wrong...) But are XC bikes not really made, geometry-wise, to be thrown around in such a manner? Or is it just my hackish ability?
A little bit of both. XC bikes have a little longer and lower cockpit with longer stays. That said...one can learn to manual just about anything with practice. I can't manual for crap any longer than a trail obstacle necessitates...or fun'cessitates, but it's only b/c I haven't taken the time to learn. The cool looking 1/4 mile manual is not in my bag of tricks. I can manual long enough to negotiate obstacles in a fun way though...which is all I wanted to do with it in the first place.