Joe Bandicoot

I have my first race this weekend. I have a good base from riding my tri bike, but I've only got 60 miles on my new MTB. It's hard to put in a lot of miles when I'm also tri-ing to swim, bike, run. The technical stuff scares me a little, but I entered the Beginners Class. Anyhoo, how much tire pressure is best for racing? I have a Cannondale Jekyll 500 with (Hutchinson?) Mosquitos. I think the maximum pressure is 80psi. Also, any tips on where I should set the Fox Shok in terms of pressure and travel? This is what you call XC race, as far as I know. My class does 2 five mile loops. Thanks! :confused:

a2psyklnut

For dirt, 80 psi is way too much. How much do you weigh? If under 200 lbs, I say no higher that 40-45 psi. This isn't a road bike, you need softer tires for better traction. Also, pump up the air shocks to your weight in p.s.i. (i.e. you weight 180, put in 180 p.s.i.). Use that as a starting point and increase/decrease by 5 p.s.i. to where you like it.

What fork is in the Jekyll 500, a Super Fatty D right? or is it the SL? Anyways, if it's the air fork, do the same with it.

L8R

dirtbikedude

Tire pressure will depend on the course. At Big Bear in the DH racers run somewhere around 16 to 20psi. at another course we run around 28 to 30psi. I do not know what the xc guys run since I do not race xc.

The best way to find out, when you get to the races, talk with one of the expert/semi-pro/pro riders and see what they are running. They are usually more then happy to help out.

Joe Bandicoot

Thanks. I thought maybe lower pressure would be better. I've been running 60psi and I don't seem to get enough bite. Should be fun!

Joe Bandicoot

Here's my first race report!
Whoa, that was intense! I finished 2nd out of 31 in the Beginner's race, so I felt like a sandbagger. There was a lot of technical stuff (logs, rocks, steep cliffs, mud holes, etc.) and that's what scared me but I learned pretty quickly. I've got a pretty good base from all the other stuff I do, so the physical aspect wasn't too scary. I did go over the handlebars once and into the mud, so that was pretty cool. Had a good time and that's all that matters. The Sport race and the Expert race started before the buffoons, so I might've caught up to some of them (not Experts), so with all the bikers out there I didn't know who was in what race. When I crossed the finish line, I asked, "How'd I do?" and the dude says "you got 2nd." Holy crap! It was a 7 mile loop. The Sport dudes did 2 laps and the Experts did 3. 2 laps would've put a hurtin' on me I'm sure. I noticed that the more tired you get, the more likely you are to crash. I ran into an old pal (Jeff) from the HS cross country team and he brought a pal with him. Jeff's getting back into it. I've seen him at a couple of road (running) races. He used to be quite a bike racer. He did the Sport race and he was one beat puppy when it was all over. Me and his pal caught up to him after the race and he could hardly think or talk. This is the hysterical part, but you had to be there. They were talking about seeing each other throughout the race. Buddy says, "Do you remember when I hit you in the head with my tire?" Jeff looks down and thinks, and about 15 seconds go by and he kind of raises his head a little and looks out over his sunglasses and says, "Naw." It was SO funny! :

dirtbikedude

Glad to hear you had a good race. As for being a sandbagger, I would say compare your times to that of the winner and the guys that placed in the sport class. If you would have been competitive with them then I would say you are a sandbagger. If not, then just stay in beginner for the first season then go up next year.

Congrats on the 2nd.

Dannihilator

Congrats on the second place.

Mad Dog JR

7 miles? thats it? Man, my first XC race was 16 miles one lap(beginers) and 2 and 3 for sport ,pro/expert.
but hey great job getting 2nd... my first race i got 14th

Wait

"16 to 20psi."

I would be concerned about flats running my tires that low... and at what?? speed of like 30-40mph...!!

-Joe