These steps, over on the right of the pic, have just been built near where I live. I pass them everyday going to work but I´m not sure if I´ve got the beans to attempt going down them.

Would you do it? (my bike is full sus,160mmforks)
I can´t find a closer pic, might grab one with the phone tomorrow.

What pic would that be, then?

This one: http://www.architectureweek.com/2011/0406/images_/14984_image_4.jpg

I dunno. Apparently I don’t have permission to access that image. 🙂

Can’t see it here either

sorry bout that, try now, I edited the first post

hard to say from that picture but they dont look too steep im sure itd be doable, certainly on my dh bike 🙂 but 160mm full suss should handle it
also long run out which always makes it easier imho

doable yes, just don’t touch the front brake and hang on. But enjoyable? no.

CX bike. Flat out. Just pump tyres up hard!

It just looks like a flight of stairs. I have ridden a few, some folk I know ride them easily. to me its a bit dull pointless and potentially painful

Totally. Break it down into 6(?) small sets of steps rather than one long set. Arse off the back of the seat, heels down and majority of the braking done on the flat bits is how I would do it.

So breaking while on the steps is not a good idea? Cos I´m sure I´d be tempted.

Looks BMXable to me.

CX bike. Flat out. Just pump tyres up hard!

Just picturing someone trying that, hitting them at 25mph or so. Wondering how it would go wrong.. 😀

So breaking while on the steps is not a good idea? Cos I´m sure I´d be tempted.

Stay loose, heels down, don’t use the front brake, weight slightly back, and you can ride down pretty much any set of steps ever, on pretty much any bike. Tiny pic, but I used to ride down these almost every week on a bmx, no probs.

So breaking while on the steps is not a good idea?

back brake if you really have to, and at worst feather the front really lightly at the same time, don’t lock up what ever you do. Although can’t say i’ve been down many stairs since i was a kid… but that’s what i remember, try it on a smaller set of similar steps first.

found a better pic:

nice building

Gate might pose a few problems, but yeah, you can ride those easy (assuming they open the gate, or your bunnyhopping puts MacAskill to shame).

I think there could be a crashing issue with the fence thats 3/4 of the way down, maybe

assuming they open the gate

yeah, its only shut at night to deter drunks from wandering up into the mountain, castles etc behind it

Where is it, looks nice?

Ok, I´ll have a go at it this weekend. Just waiting on some new cranks to arrive.

Where is it, looks nice?

it´s where I live, San Sebastian, Basque Country

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/16/donostiaigeldotik.jpg/

Doesn’t look too steep or narrow so should be ok. That being said I probably wouldn’t do it as I hate riding down steps for some reason.

I think you will have no problems. Just stay loose and put your weight way back (saddle down of course), and it will not be a problem. 🙂

Looks comfortably doable. Only a 45° angle give or take, just have someone waiting at the bottom with a new set of wheels for you

Sunrider, totally rideable! Looks like fun. Have you ridden the steps from Ulia down to Gros? Lots of small sets. Or what about the ones from Ulia down to Pasaia, past the lighthouses? Those are harder, I’ve been calling them the steps of death!

Ride down the balustrade at the side. 🙂

doug_basqueMTB: That first pic makes me feel ill! I’ve never taken a picture cycling or snowboarding that could convey the steepness of the slope I was on so I have to assume that those steps are even worse in real life.. 🙂

I can see a cultural exchange opportunity in the making.
Come to Calderdale and we’ll do steps for a day or two.

Then we’ll all come over to the Basque country and you can show us your trails for a month or so 😀

They look fairly easy as steps go. Plan your assault now!

Yes you need to practice on some smaller steps to build up your confidence. It’s quite possible to stop completely and “trackstand” midway down a staircase – but I try to maintain a very slow rolling pace by dragging both brakes. If you just launch them you’ll go very fast very quickly and not be able to stop or slow. I find slow technical riding much easier with a rigid fork, so perhaps you could try using your lockout(s).

without the gate they’re no problem.

Yup, you’ll be fine.
I used to ride down a flight like that occasionally on my road bike, till the seat stays cracked.
With 160mm travel I reckon you should really be trying to ride up em too. 😀

Doug, you´re the only person I know mental enough to try those lighthouse steps all the way down, they really are as steep as they appear in that pic.
I can manage the first couple of sets then I bottle it and walk 🙁

I´m going to London for a few days in Sept. so I gave jedi a call to see if I could do a one-to-one session with him to work on jumps etc but he´s booked up with all the Stw´ers.

I´ll have a go at the steps anyway, and try and get a pic while I´m there, plenty of bemused tourists about to help with that.

Was much like yourself with the can I cant I question before I went to the Pyrenees earlier this year. One of the rides ended in a village with big flight of steps down which before the ride in the hills I woudn’t have contemplated but at the end of the ride it was arse out and let the bike do the work. If you’re committed you’ll easily do it again and again and wonder why you ever doubted yourself.

I now take a route home which takes in some very old battered steep crumbling sleeper steps all slippery and green in some woods and find myself getting excited before reaching them…adrenalin? I still wonder how I get to the bottom of them

I love a challange, with steps I find if you go too slow the pitching forward/backward of the bike can compress the forks and steepen it all up a bit, sending you over the bars.

A little speed will have you skimming the tops with you hanging off the back as far as you can. Of course saddle down as far as it will go.

I used to freeze up on steps, then one evening i spent an hour just doing a set of steps near my house. Bingo fear has gone. Although i still shit myself on the steps with a wooden lip. Slippy bastewards!

I’m far from gnarr but those steps look fairly tame (perhaps the photo doesn’t do them justice but given they’re newly built I can’t see then being like some silly-steep health hazard steps of ye olde days). Still you could easily come off and break something so not sure I’d bother myself :p

You have a fs bike and you’re questioning steps????

Rode a lot of steps while I was at uni (there were a lot of steps) some of them were very narrow, steep and a decent length without a break. Probably not as narrow and steep at the lighthouse ones, though!

I found the scariest bit was rolling up to the top, the anticipation rising the closer you get, and the steeper the flight, the longer it takes to see down the flight. Then suddenly they’re revealed, and you’ve got no time to get used to the view before your front wheel is rolling over the first step. So easy to jam on the brakes and refuse at that point.

Once you’re in and rolling, you’re fine. Never came a cropper on any once I was in. Although I did pinch my jangles climbing off the back when someone appeared at the bottom of a set just as I rolled in.

My approach: Yes. Hardtail, as it’s what I’ve got. (I’d rather not be in the drops of a cx bike for this!) Unless the edge of the steps are rounded and slippery, it’s easy to control the speed down to a crawl with judicious use of both brakes. Brakes off for the last section or so for celebratory speed!

Have a look at the angle from the side. It’s often surprising how shallow the angle really is. They might only be 35 degrees, or maybe less.

yes they look quite easy really… done these when i used to live in cornwall…. sacred the shit out of me…