I took out my cobbled-together-from-spares bike at the weekend, and had a great ride on it. It seems I’ve managed to put something together that is very fun to ride. DMR Trailstar with 130mm Floats, 1×9 and flat pedals.
It’s quite a lot shorter than my other bikes, particularly on the chainstays, and I seemed to start riding it with a completely new cornering technique. Rather than getting over the front and sticking the front wheel into the bends, I seemed to just “think” the front wheel in the right direction, all the time keeping my weight reasonably far back and using the back wheel as a kind of pivot. It almost felt like I was steering with my heels only. The same kind of motion as doing a manual, but with my front wheel on the ground.
Anyone else understand what I mean?
I am sure people will come along and tell me I’m doing things wrong (either in my old technique or my new), but I think it’s a useful, very subtle, new thing to have learnt, and something I can apply on the other bikes, now I know how.