Llandegla…. Hands are battered!

Went to Llandegla yesterday and by the end of the ride I could barely hold my bars and had massive cramps in my hands.

Also felt like the bike was taking a right old battering.

Do I need to take a look at my fork set up or is it just a rough few trails.

Fork is a 2024 fox 38 factory and I’ve would all compression off and still felt harsh at Llandegla.

I think you need to look at your riding. (don’t mean that in an arsey way)  Llandegla is pretty smooth. Are you using your arms/legs as suspension?

You prob just need to ride your bike more and the feeling will go away. It’s not really an equipment thing as Llandegla isn’t rough.

Yeah I’d probably try less pressure in the fork, unless you’re already blowing through the travel. It’s quite hardpack and fast so it always feels a rather rattly compared to my normal local riding but with 38s your hands shouldn’t be suffering that much.

Let some air out ?

Thanks for the replies.

sag is spot on for everywhere else i rode like Cannock, fod and the wyre Forest.

It’s probably just because it’s a different surface and like you say quite fast rolling.

my bikes creaking more than my knees today !!

Speed up rebound, back off compression?

How much travel are you using?

Also don’t death grip the bars.

How are your brake levers angled?
I found making mine more horizontal made the arm pump/claw finger disappear immediately.

I ride there quite a lot, i have dropped the tyre pressue a couple of PSI made the biggest difference

Two years ago I had a similar problem with my new Fox (36) Forks.

Funnily enough they were fine around Llandegla when I went for a test ride, but when I got them out to the Alps I was getting absolutely battered. I tried everything to get them working properly, but just couldn’t. On the plus side it was worse if I was on the brakes, so I stopped braking.

Then, prior to my next Alps trip, I got them serviced, they removed loads of grease from the lowers, and they were brilliant.

Fox 38 are meant to be even better. I suspect you may have a similar problem to the one I had with mine?

Look at brake lever angle 1st as said above

The negative air side of the main air spring piston will be full of grease – it’s a known issue with 38s that they have too much grease from the factory.

Was the ride within your wheelhouse of fitness? if your fitness wasn’t there that wouldnt have hepled either towards the end of the ride.

I was there for the first time on Saturday and also finished feeling generally battered. I felt my hands getting weary quite early, so made a point of loosening my grip a bit which helped. The black trails are longer and faster than I am used to (only slightly) meaning the features are just coming up quicker. My technique absolutely suffered – I’m used to jumps on trails having a bit more room to land so add that to the increase in speed and I was just more tense.

I expect a second trip would be a very different experience as I know what to expect on some of the trails now. I also know what I need to work on…

A Fox 38 is a burly fork, way too much for Llandegla!!, so must either be an issue with the setup, or your grip.

Also try backing off/opening up your rebound; in my experience the rebound dominates the feel of grip dampers.

Best setup I achieved (for my preferences) was slow speed compression a click from fully closed, high speed fully open & as little rebound damping as I could get away with.

The 38 is a stiff fork too.  Check your tyres pressures. 

Did it on a 100mm xc full sus a few weeks back.  Wasn’t a fast as my tail bike but still….

For the first bit it was def bouncy, so took about 5psi out of the front tyre and it made a huge difference.  I don’t care how good your fork is,  it won’t cope with all the little chatter bumps of the rocks round there.

The trail centre is one of the smoother ones,  but the surfacing is just chattery

IIRC it’s chattery high frequency vibration from the surface when ridden at speed, so tyres and tyre pressure make a lot of difference. What tyre casing are you riding, what pressure, and how much do you weigh?

Im running a two ride old Maxxis Assegai 29 x 2.6 Maxx terra 3c exo thing. Run it fairly hard as Im heavy and tend to hate the feeling of tyres rolling around on the rim.

Dunno, but Llandegla is definitely one of the smoother centers as their lease only allows a certain amount of building new trails per year. Which means the exiting trails get well maintained.  So it definitely shouldn’t feel like hard work.

Was the ride within your wheelhouse of fitness

😂

Someone’s been watching too much apprentice

Run it fairly hard as Im heavy

Can’t advise much further on specifics really without actual numbers.

Try lowering a bit at a time to see if it gets more comfortable. If it does and then there’s rolling or occassional rim hitting issues, increase it and find a compromise, and/or try tyre inserts.

I run lower tyre pressures at Degla than I do most places. I also disagree with the comments that it’s smooth, there are lots of smooth bits but lots of stuff that gets your hands too…

I can do a full day at Dyfi, BPW, Revs etc and my hands always feel pretty much fine. Same tyre pressures at Degla and I feel it, with the earlier bits of trail being the worst. Drop the pressures and I don’t notice it. Chatter 🙂

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I ride there quite a lot, i have dropped the tyre pressue a couple of PSI made the biggest difference

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Having ridden their recently this is what I’ll try next. In don’t think that forks have time to respond to that fast chatter. Long heavys forks be worse on high speed chatter

Did you have all the compression off before you started the ride or you moved to that during the ride?

Run it fairly hard as Im heavy

Being 115kg I also used to take this approach, but since dropping the PSI only a couple it has made the biggest difference to comfort.

Would soft foam grips and/or a flexy bar like the PlanetX “chewy” Knuckleball help significantly?

n.b. if you’re heavy then there’s no two ways round the fact that loads will be higher.  You’ll put more load on the tire during cornering, which means you need more pressure to keep the tyres from rolling over, which means less grip and more discomfort.

Would soft foam grips and/or a flexy bar like the PlanetX “chewy” Knuckleball help significantly?

I run that combination, and yes. Although they don’t do “chewy” in the wider width because the wider bars inherently have a bit more flex anyway.

I also run Stooge Moto bars on my FS which raise the front, taking some weight off the bars and put the wrist in a less trained position (but they are pretty hefty/stiff).  On balance I find the  Stooge bars more comfortable so I think shape trumps other factors.