[Closed] Riding extremely steep & slippy stuff?

Keep believing you're in control

Do not stick your weight right back.

Look for things to bounce off.
Point my cock where I want to go.

Look ahead for somewhere that looks grippy to turn/brake on, aim for it, let off the brakes (especially on roots) and pray.

But this advice is probably the best.

Keep believing you're in control

So, how do you do it?

I use the force.

I'm pretty sure that's the only way I've got away with a lot of stuff.

Have faith, ride strong like you normally would and relax.

Easy to say, so hard to do since it is all mental strength.

Locked wheels both ends = out of control, doing Jacobs Ladder in the wet with a crowd of walkers watching, waiting for me to fall off whilst I was on the verge of out of control but looking like I was rock surfing with lots of style and body movement convinced them I was great 😆

Since acquiring a fat bike I've found that 'slippery' is something that happens to other people 😉

You want to try VeeRubber tyres in the mud, my mate will say otherwise, comedy back end sliding about!

I've recently realised i need a LOT more front brake than i'd normally be comfortable with in these situations.

Get off and walk?

I had a moment in the Quantocks on Saturday. Super steep and looking like it had just been rotovated. I think I just fell with style.

I point my bike where I want it to go and then descend on my face whilst the bike clatters down without me.

Is that going up or down???

Walking not an option! 😉

I think i might be using too much front brake, and should be siting on the, probably locked, rear wheel and just "surfing" down?

wwaswas - Member
Since acquiring a fat bike I've found that 'slippery' is something that happens to other people

I bet you've found that "steep" is something that happens to other people too

I find momentum is my friend and then keep the front low and maintain weight on the back wheel for traction. good tread on the tyres and mentally ready to maintain controlled power through the pedals when the rear wheel spins. HTH.

^ Hahahaha!

No, a locked wheel is going to give you less grip, your tyres won't clear and you'll have even less braking power. Don't lean right back, you're weight still wants to be central but relative to the terrain. Don't be frightened to really push on the bars to get the bike to turn. Make motorbike noise.

Steer with your hips...

belief and cock lazer.

Although sometimes not enough, so will wimp out for few months until the memory is suitably in the distance before having another go.

It's entirely down to your choice of equipment. Particularly tyres.

Maxxis High Rollers are universally acknowledged to be the best on the terrain you describe.

Swear a lot, in between the screams of terror...
Something along the lines of 'AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!oh****oh****ofucshitshitshitshitAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!NOOOOOOOO!!!'

Send someone else down first if they crash I walk down.

90% confidence .. 10% luck.

I have bother with super steep stuff cos I can only see out of one eye so I tend to do a bit more walking than strictly necessary as my brain thinks stuff is steeper than it actually is. The really annoying thing is when I walk down something that looks like I can't do it then five minutes later I'll happily trundle down something that is even steeper. After that I usually get a bit annoyed with myself for being such a big girl.

Thing is, if the front slips out from under you, you're pretty much going down immediately, whereas, if the rear skids a bit you have more chance of holding on to it. OK, directionality suffers a bit, but some people seem to be able to just "jink" the bike around or between the trail obstacles (like trees etc) flicking the rear end around ?

IE, here:

[url= http://www.pinkbike.com/news/trans-savoie-2014-day-five-race-action.html ]Trans Savoie 2014 day 5[/url]

at 41 sec and rather less sucessfully at 49 sec !

I like to put my foot out, pretending I'm safer to tripod it, then I run over my own foot and crash, realising if I'd just stayed clipped in I'd have been absolutely fine. I'm well practiced at this technique.

I had a very fast guide in Italy suggest the following for steep stuff, I found it improved my riding vastly. Drag the rear brake lighty and apply the front brake smooth but firmly in pulses, especially in spots you can spot grip. The pulsing the front brake allows you to maintain a rolling wheel and doesn't allow for the front to dive too much and loose speed quite effectively

The theory is you can't modulate the brakes quite so well when it's steep and serious, pulsing it gives you an ABS effect.

+1 solamanda - since I learnt this I feel a lot more in control (sadly no faster)

Most of these are tricks or obviousness, rather than skills, but might as well...

Any speed you carry in is preserved all the way through, so going in slow can help
You can generally brake more than you think- and the effects of using too much are generally managable as long as you're quick.
Often the most important thing is what's at the bottom- if there's a berm or similiar then all you have to do is survive the steep bit, you don't really need to do anything clever at all

Spin - Member

Maxxis High Rollers are universally acknowledged to be the best on the terrain you describe.

Maybe in 2007.

So what's the tyre for steep wet slippy rocks (cavedale) in 2014?

Conti Baron if you're on 26, they're like cheating.

26 x 2.3 black chilli one? £55!

I just spotted there's some in classifieds at the mo

If anything, i think i probably generally go in too slowly tbh!

I find that shrieking and screaming helps if I'm riding down something scary!

Following someone who can ride it well helps an awful lot!

Keep off the front brake while changing direction.
Go on some uplift days and practice.

Wonder in amazement how the pros race down tracks similar to the bds track in Llangollen when a good number of riders did not even take their bikes from the van and drove straight home.

if you think its down to your tyres, then you have already psyched yourself out of how fast you can go.

the fastest riders i know are quite happy to smash through the slippiest rooty muddy steep sections on worn out slick tyres and no one on here would get anywhere near.

they have made me more confident as i wirry less about the tyres etc and more about where im heading

Sancho - Member

if you think its down to your tyres, then you have already psyched yourself out of how fast you can go.

But if you think that changing tyres can't help, you're miles off the mark. What the fastest and most confident riders can or can't do really doesn't make any difference to most folks.

coming as a kid from motorcycle trials i used to love riding in adverse conditions,mud ,snow the lot.
speed can be your friend on cambers and roots, brake before them and carry speed across but be smooth.
really sloppy conditions you can still find grip but theres a point when it start getting claggy and it just jams up the bike.
riding off the normal lines can help as they can be more grippy.
i've always tried to not drag the brakes as it used to kill them ,most are amazing now and can stand constant abuse.
practise,trust in your equipment and confidence are the big things.

Correct tyre for a wet cavedale is the arse end of your shorts, or your helmet

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Tyres help but are not the be all and end all, as someone said if your doubting them then it's game over.
It is about skill technique and mental coolness.
The guy who made the corner in the trans savoire took a great line, harder to execute but easier to complete. Put the front where it needs to go, let the back follow, get off the brakes and keep the rubber rolling. Sort out your speed on entry and on any easier bits.
Also if there is no weight on the front wheel it will go where it wants.

Or as some of the pro's say "You just ride it"