Cornering technique at speed, 20"
 

I've put Stelvio tires, and Crank Bros. Mallet C pedals, on my DT FS. My FS is now much faster than the Helios P8 I tested. Which brings me to .... cornering technique at speed for tall riders, i.e., very top heavy on a folder. What I've arrived at is a motocross technique of "pushing the bike down", i.e., increasing the lean angle of the bike while shifting the rider's weight to the higher edge of the saddle.

At slow speed, hanging your inside leg out and forward, also a motorcross technique, works, but if you use cleats, you have to uncleat and recleat to use the technique. Not something to do at high speed.

Any other high speed cornering techniques for tall riders on 20" wheel bikes?

Keep your inside pedal up, if you don't want it to hit the pavement.

Turn the handlebars in the direction you want to go ;)
I'm a croucher leaner, but I'm not too tall so have no need to worry about top-heaviness..

I'll clarify my quesiton: does anyone "hang off" a 20" bike when cornering at speed? The alternatives to hanging off are staying with your c/g vertically aligned, or "pushing the bike down" to increase the lean angle (which feels more comfortable to me at this point, at least with Stelvios).

I know about pedal position and countersteer (above 10 mph, the bars are actually pointing in the opposite direction from your turn; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countersteer ). My FS is now faster than any 20" bike I've ever ridden (haven't ridden an Air Friday, but I would like to), so I'm worried about things like head shake, placement of CG.

I stay with the bike. I suspect most do. I don't think the phenomena you are noticing is restricted to tall riders. 20" wheels are inherently more unstable than the much larger wheels of standard bikes. The riders center of gravity is well outside of the wheel diameter and therfore the moment arm of any disturbing forces is very long. To hang off into a turn means unweighting the seat and in that instant an already unstable system is going to be upset further just at a time when you want to be setting up for proper corner entry speed, lean angle, etc.

H

I stay with the bike. OTOH, 'pushing down' is a classic motorcycle technique for steering through a turn...

I stay with the bike. I did skid out once, but I was pedalling through the corner for more speed and hit some gravel. My question is, don't you feel like you can corner faster and tighter on the 20" wheels than on any full size wheel bike already? How much faster and tighter do you want to corner?

Actually this is incorrect at speed. Once above about 7-10mph (depends on bikes but applies to motorcycles too) you actually push the handlebars on the side you want to turn. In other words, push right to turn right, push left to go left. Only at walking pace or what would be pretty low speeds do you actually turn the handlebars in the direction of the turn. The harder you push the quicker the bike will lean over and turn harder. It is more obvious on a motorcycle at higher speeds but it is there on bikes and motorcycles one you get above a fast job. So push left, go left; push right, go right. Don't be too agressive when trying this for the first time and at speed. You can snap your bike over quite quickly this way.

Yeah, go easy...the first time I tried it I was going pretty fast and nearly ended up doing an endo 'cause I wasn't prepared for such a tight turn. It did work really well, though.:D

juan162

My reluctance to stay verticaly aligned with the bike is psychological. I had no trouble staying with the bike with the 20x1.5 OEM tires, or on road bikes with 700x22 tires, but with the Stelvios, I've just entered a new, significantly faster, realm. The Stelvios are "28.6 mm" (1-1/8"). I'm in the 20x1-1/8 adjustment period.

Check your weight distribution over the bike. Folders typically provide a more upright position, with more of your weight distributed over the rear wheel (and your bum) and less over the front (hence many folder-riders' need for thudbuster seatposts, sprung/extra plush saddles). If you dial a little stretch into your bike with a longer stem, you can center your weight more evenly betwen the 2 wheels...

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cm...p?articleid=65

Good point. Yep, phase two is "new quill and stem". I find I'm leaning or crouching in turns to load the front wheel more. A long stem would make that natural.

Did you mount the Stelvios to the stock rims? Do you have an 05 or 06? Must work/track great with the suspension..

Bruce

@ Bruce, yes stock rims, an '05. The rims aren't too bad for machine built. The lateral compliance on both wheels was out by 5 mm when the bike was new. With my 190 lbs, I had to do minor truing for weeks after the first truing until they settled in.