Had an ace ride last night as the sun came down, but this morning I'm questioning one aspect of it, and hopefully someone can offer some advice!

Through riding lots my absolutely rubbish technique is slowly beginning to improve (or at least my confidence is!) and I've started carrying more speed through on rocky descents.

The issue I'm having though as the bike merrily skips about underneath me is this feeling like I'm about to pitch forwards over the handlebars. My saddle is normally down and out of the way, and my backside is quite far back, my arms are almost straight, but loose at the elbow to absorb the bumps. My knees are bent and loose, and my ride position doesn't feel like I'm to high. It feels almost like I'm accelerating faster than the bike and about to head over the bars, if that makes sense. Any tips/suggestions?

I'm going on a beginners course on the 7th of May, but I was wondering if there's anything I can concentrate on before then, as it's quite an unsettling feeling which is stopping me from going faster!

Weight further back or bigger forks.

It sounds like you're hitting rocks hard and the bike is slowing abruptly and you're carrying on forwards. If you can't anticipate it better and push your self backwards as you hit the rock, then maybe you're at the limit of the bike.

It's not really an abrupt feeling, it's kind of constant during the decent, and feels worse as the bike goes faster.

What bike?

Hmmmmmmm, I find/found that the bikes usualy more capable than you give it credit for. Your not on the brakes are you? Often letting go of the brakes makes everything magicaly better.

Think about the front wheel. If you put the brake on even slightly it stops it from being able to roll up and over obstacles.

I'm as guilty as anyone, was at Swinley last weekend and realised i was dragging my brakes through some seriously steep corners, let them off and instantly the bike accelerated through them rather than it being the diorientating, slow, about to fall off nightmare that the first corner had been.

What forks do you have. If you run a 80 or 100mm fork then the fork themselves will be out of there depth

If you haven't got them try some wide riser bars, other than that check your feet positions and as PRL suggest, when you come to obstacles try slightly lifting the front end

Heels down will help keep your weight back. Might help.

As above – what bike?

I used to get this on virtually every steep descent on my old Stumpjumper & it got to the point where it was really hampering my riding. Everytime I fell off it was always over the bars.
I tried all sorts, cutting seatpost down as far as possible to get the saddle out of the way, different saddle position, stem length etc.

My new Stumpjumper feels completely different when descending and has given me tons more confidence. Kinda pleased as well that it turns out to be not JUST my poor technique, but bike related too!!

run your brake levers closer to the horizontal to bring your weight back and allow more bend on your elbows?

It's a Specialized Rockhopper Comp 09 with a 100mm ToraSL fork

+1 for heals down!

unless the fork is paacking down? it's unlikely to be the bike.

heels down, wrists down.

I found that braking was my enemy, and not just for obvious reasons. Covering the brake levers makes it difficult to lift the front end

my backside is quite far back, my arms are almost straight, but loose at the elbow to absorb the bumps. My knees are bent and loose, and my ride position doesn't feel like I'm to high. It feels almost like I'm accelerating faster than the bike and about to head over the bars, if that makes sense. Any tips/suggestions?

From this description I can only suggest you bend your knees more and lower your body. If you arms are almost straight you can't go any further back or you won't be able to steer.

The descent must be pretty steep for you to all that way back though ? I shouldn't think it's got anything to do with the amount of travel on the fork. A fairly steep (71') or more head angle on the bike can sometimes give a feeling of leaning forward too much.

Kev

Brake before the nasty bits and stay off them over the chatter. Use your legs to take more of the hits as well. Might be worth checking that your forks aren't too soft as well.

The descent must be pretty steep for you to all that way back though ?

The descents aren't particularly steep (or at least I don't think they are!) , it's just that I find that if I don't really put my weight back, the feeling of travelling faster than the bike gets worse!

My riding is pretty much exclusively around the New Mills area so sorry for those that have offered advice but dont know the trails.

The downhill bits I've noticed this feeling on are the drop down into Rowath from Lantern pike, Linnet clough, the rocky bit towards Little Hayfield over Middle Moor and the two bridleways that drop down towards Strines station (starting here Streetmap)

I'll try my brakes in a more horizontal position and dropping my heels to see if that helps

Heels down and get off the brakes also look up and much further ahead than you might think. A lot of your weight shifts and stuff should go through your legs a bit like skiing. You do need some weight over the front to keep the wheel planted so you may just need to gain some confidence and ignore this feeling.

When you have all of your weight going through the bottom bracket you are already putting weight on the front tyre, so providing you aren't hanging really hard backwards and pulling the handlebars back you do not need to add more weight to the front. Head up, heels down is spot-on.

This sounds similar to the position i was in, mainly feeling like you're going to pitch over the bars, etc.
It could be worth moving the height of the stem, perhaps also try a different length one? I did find that doing these things made more difference than I expected.

tis a good descent the one that you flag up, and not particularly steep – espescially the first section before the road. you definitely don't need your weight back that much.

my guess is that you are being to rigid on your bike. you need to loosen up and absorb the majority of the rocks with your knees and elbows more. i know you say that you are trying to be loose but if you are getting that feeling you are going to go over the bars it is likely that you are trying to fight against the bumps rather than go with it. it might be a bit pyschological too – are you worrying about going over the bars and what might happen if you stack it? this will automatically have an negative affect on how loose you are being.

enjoy it for what it is – there's loads of bits to pop off and plenty of lines to choose on that descent. go up and spend an afternoon sessioning it rather than just ride through it once on a ride. take it easy at first and start trying to increase your speed. it's a great one to practice on.

It isn't an equipment thing. If you aren't balanced back on your feet you can put whatever stem you like on and you still won't be driving with your feet. Basically, you've just got to consider which way is down, and then put the bicycle in between you and the ground. All you need to add to that is that the bike is going forward and will be subject to forces slowing it down abruptly (bumps), so your engagement needs to anticipate that and be behind the contact points, not rolled over the top of them. Hence heels down, head up – rotate back to avoid being rolled forward.

maybe you're at the limit of the bike.

that's a load of bollox. you can rag a 80/100mm HT down a rock-strewn descent.

Agree with Peachos used to hammer down the one in Hamsterley top side of the wall on an 80mm HT

the only limit on the bike is the rider., thats teh poor excuse that means so many people "require" 7" of travel to ride off tarmac
100mm was DH levels of travel back in the day

how is the fork behaving?
if its too soft or packing down it will make the front very nervous and squirelly

run the fork harder to prop it up?

also, i find it MUCH easier if i ride with attack.
sitting over the back of the bike, with the brakes on and being resistant is a sure way to be uncomfortable.

unless you actually want to change your velocity, your better off in a neutral position over the middle of the bike, even if you are tear arsing downhill. this reqires the confidence that your going to be able to deal with whatever the trail ahead may throw at you without too much worry though.

this reqires the confidence that your going to be able to deal with whatever the trail ahead may throw at you without too much worry though.

Which is why I was saying to just rotate back and anticipate the bike catching. Riding back on your feet doesn't mean hanging way off the back, just having heels down behind the bike and weight on pedals only is enough.

Its not just about getting your weight back, learn to manual, so you are lifting the wheel over obsticals, and not diving the front fork as it hits flat ground.

How steep is your head angle, can be more important for confidence on rough steep terrain than fork travel, although DH races used to take place on nothing much more than fireroad descents so "100mm was DH levels of travel back in the day" is a BS argument.

i agree with what Olly is saying and it kind of backs up what i was saying. i've seen people before hanging right off the back of the bike when descending stuff that's not really that steep. it appears that they are trying to put as much distance between their faces and the rough stuff they are riding.

DH races used to take place on nothing much more than fireroad descents so "100mm was DH levels of travel back in the day" is a BS argument.

by the time i was racing DH ~'96 the tracks certainly weren't fireroad descents but i was racing on a HT with a 2.5" fork

Heels down, wrists down and try a slightly lower tyre pressure. Could be that your riding position isn't too bad, but too high pressure will not be very forgiving and will make it quite skittish.

Had a play today going up and down a bit of bridleway.

Feeling pretty good, and able to go much faster, feeling more secure with a combination of
[list][*]Brake levers more horizontal [/*]
[*]Using one finger to brakes, and only using brakes on smooth/flatter sections rather than them being on slightly for most of the decent. [/*]
[*]Heels down[/*]
[*]Slightly lower tyre pressure[/*][/list]

Thanks for all the advice!