OK, embarrasing question. I’ve been riding off road reasonably competently for 20 years, inc a bit of racing here and there. I’ve just moved from a hardtail onto my first FS bike and am having a problem riding through dips – little dips in the track, dried out puddles, etc. Usually, on my Zaskar (with 100mm forks) I just stand up out of the saddle, get my weight back a little and let the bike just flow through the dip with my arms and legs bending to let the bike do all the work.

I’m now finding on my Spesh FSR (120mm forks) like I’m about to go over the bars whenever the front wheel drops into a dip – like the front wheel sinks down, stalls and doesn’t fly out the other side like I’m used to. I’ve actually ended up completely over the bars in a heap on one occasion and embarrassingly out of shape, feet out of the pedals in preparation on a number of others – this is mostly on trails I’ve been riding for years too.

The time I ended up over the bars was just dropping down a 6inch step onto sand, the front wheel just stopped dead and pitched me over. I’ve flown past that a hundred times before on my HT without even thinking about it.

WTF?! Front forks too soft perhaps? Geometry related?

Sounds like you are riding too much on your hands and not catching the deceleration with your feet. Maybe the new bike has a more forward position/shorter front-centre. But I wouldn’t blame the bike – if your riding hasn’t altered you were getting away with it previously, rather than getting it right.

Tip your head back more and push down with your heels behind the pedals – get the weight off of the handlebars and drive the bike forward with your feet.

Oops – bit too much info – for more in-depth you could try allbikedup.com

Glen

you need to learn to pump properly.

Firmer spring or more compression damping may help…and opposite at the back end.

Cheers. I thought my pumping style was pretty slick previously – I can fly through rhythm sections on BMX tracks at speed, maybe it needs some work. On reflection I don’t think the geometry is putting me too far forwards as there’s plenty of pretty steep descents on my local loop that still feel comfortable, no probs getting my weight right back. It’s more when the front forks compress suddenly that I feel like I’m being pitched forwards. Might just be the added factor of the rear rising at the same time as the front compressing that I need to get used to.

are you staying seated now, compared to out of the saddle before?

are you unweighting the front to let the wheel lift a fraction?

do you have your shock set with really fast rebound?

a dried out puddle shouldn’t have you over the bars no matter what your bike.