Hey guys I have been riding a giant stp 2 lately https://www.giant-bicycles.com/cn/030...sp?model=10947 and I have been doing drops and stairs with it, now I have had to go get my rim straightend twice (even if I land the drops properly, back tire first) and I was just wondering out of curiousity how much abuse do you guys think this bike can take and can it handle trails, if I change the tires of course. Do you think its alright to keep doing stairs and drop with it? And also are there any tips related to doing stairs and drops that would help me keep my bike uninjured for as long as possible?

ps the drops im doing are about max 4-5 feet.

Becuase you are landing on concrete, it is going to break them down alot faster than if you did drops onto dirt. Either get better rims, or try and land a bit more on your nose.

A good hardtail can withstand more then 4-5 feet, just look at evil bikes.

I don't think you're going to snap your frame at all, but if you want to not have to true your rims get some stronger ones.

When you say "trail" what do you mean? cross country, all mountain, (god forbig) freeride etc?

Ok I am guessing you are dropping to flat..correct?

Well then...STOP DROPPING TO FLAT!!!!

Even the best, biggest, burliest rim on the market (caugh caugh Sun Double Track) would be crying after doing a 5ft. to flat drop. So start finding/ building drops that have a transition, meaning the landing will be a nice slope. With the transition you are taking your downwards momentom and moving it forwards, there for not just smaking the ground.

Or you could start taking drops like trials riders, wich is just crazy what they can do.
15feet to flat, pfft no prob

Biggest, yes. But I wouldn't go as far as saying burliest rim on the market. Remember, the strength of any wheel depends on the skills of the wheel builder who built the wheel. If I remember Double tracks tend to like to flat spot alot. A properly built up EX729 or EX823 is as strong if not a little bit stronger than a properly built up double track.

Yeah, it's funny to me to hear people saying what the OP said:
(...I land the drops properly, back tire first)...

Fact is, just landing with the back tire first doesn't mean you're landing properly. If you watch a trials rider, they use their entire body as a shock absorber. The pivot point becomes the point where the rear tire meets the ground. The bike is very vertical when the rear tire touches down. As soon as the rear tire softly touches down, the rider doesn't immediately put all the weight of the landing on the rear. He slowly allows the front to come down by compressing his body down and back and he steadily increases the force that is being applied to the rear tire. By the time the front tire reaches the ground, the speed at which the rider is moving toward the ground has decreased drastically. The front shock absorbs the rest of the impact.

It's not just a matter of letting the rear tire touch first and then the front end slams down and hopefully soaks up all that crap while the rider compresses himself to within a few inches of the handlebars. That kinda riding still puts loads of strain on wheels.

Heck, a person with awesome landing skills can land a 10' to flat concrete with a rigid fork and still come away looking like there was no strain to be had.


Now...if you're doing stair gaps, that's another story. (jumping off the top of stairs and landing on a staircase before you reach the flat. That just needs to be done like a dirt jump or something. Try to stay with the angle of the stairs as much as possible. If you jump up really vertical and land with a huge downward force on the staircase, you'll ding those rims badly. Try to jump low and long.

The vast majority of trials riders don't use front suspension.

Wheels won't warp so bad if people would take the time to tighten up the spokes after every 2nd to 3rd ride.

Pfft, well we will soon see. My friend is waiting on a EX823 at the moment for his cowan, so we will soon see who has the burliest rim. And yes, he is getting his wheel laced by the same person who did mine, a DT Swiss certified wheel builder. Of coarse I almost double him in weight.

Guys thanks alot for your tips I'm sure they will help alot.