Been riding a Spicy on the Quantocks and The Mendips .Pleasantly surprised at how well it climbed with 160mm of travel and no means of winding down forks or locking shock .I decided that as there was still some adjustment on the saddle i would slide it forward a bit more to make climbing even easier .WRONG !Really struggled last weekend to the point that i considered trading it in for a Zesty .
Back down the Quantocks today and decided to slide seat back to where it was .Hey presto problem solved ! I can’t for the life of me work out why if you were further back it would help climbing ? Surely less weight over the front wheel would make the situation worse ?Not complaining just a bit puzzled .Only thing i can think is you aren’t so scrunched up so maybe the breathing is helped ?

maybe the odd cockpit you created by moving the seat forward changed the way you put your arse on it and infact you hung your cheeks further back for comfort changing the centre of gravity WRT to the wheelbase/front forks?

There was an interesting debate recently about how winding down your forks felt like harder work and vector analysis suggested that with the forks wound down, the bike pushes into the hill rather than up the hill.

Perhaps moving forward puts more weight through the forks and compresses them. Maybe it’s the effect you’re noticing.

However, all of the above is put speculation.

There was an interesting debate recently about how winding down your forks felt like harder work and vector analysis suggested that with the forks wound down, the bike pushes into the hill rather than up the hill.

Sounds intriguing! Got a linky Onzadog?

It was in Mountain Bike Action and even Dave Weagle (DW link fame) was struggling to explain it.

Could only find this on the subject so far

Thanks – will have a look.

I always drop the forks on climbs on the Bionicon, but the angle changes there are, of course, massively exaggerated.

swings and roundabouts ime. logic says wind the forks down but if its a techy climb then having longer forks wound out, making it easier to lift the font wheel, is an advantage.

Moving your bum forwards uses different muscles in your legs. Natural fast climbing cadence (which will be a function of both the bike and rider), slide forwards; natural slow, slide back.
You may have a naturally slow climbing cadence – on that bike if no other.

Winding forks down makes you dig into the hill?! Who the hell suggested such nonsense. The torque from your rear wheel is not affected by the height of the head tube above the ground.

I noticed that with my fork out all the way I seem to get around the cannock switchback climbs a lot easier. However for straight/fire road climbs, fork wound in to 110mm is better.

I bought a set of talas forks for my Orange P7 thinking it would climb better with them wound down. It doesn’t. Should have saved my money and got a set of Floats. Can’t explain why though, I find if you think about stuff too much it messes with yer napper.

winding your forks down makes you lean further forward and put more of your body weight onto them making it harder to climb but giving you more control on the front,winding them up takes the weight off the front making it easier to climb ( front wheel goes over lumpy stuff easier) but harder to control steering at slower speed.

I havent heard anyone else but myself mention that a bike feels like it drives into the ground when a fork is wound down too far for the bike so its good to hear it from others. around 2005 i noticed it on my 5 spot with marzocchi all mountains. the amount they dropped with the eta was awful for the feel of the bike on the climbs and ive noticed it on every bike since.If i can steer a bike on a climb then i will leave the fork, it just seems to climb far more efficiently. I cant say that it definately does.. but if it feels faster and more comfortable, i will continue to do it.

The feel of a bike that is just a tad too low up front can ruin a bike by making it feel sluggish. This is why i have fitted a 29er fork with the wheel kicked out front a little further than what it was all designed for ..and i love it.
http://photos-by-martin.digimig.co.uk/c1914401.html

“There was an interesting debate recently about
how winding down your forks felt like harder
work and vector analysis suggested that with
the forks wound down , the bike pushes into the
hill rather than up the hill.”

BEST FOR YEARS…

Will have to resurrect “BS of the week” thread…

you try a climb on a dropped fork at 95/100mm compared to 140mm cynic and get back to us regarding efficiency.

yes,we know it will make it easier to climb really steep stuff due to head tube angle etc but the arguement is efficiency.

I havent read about this vector analysis but its exactly what i feel when riding. driving into the ground. weird, i know.. but thats how it best describes it.