Ah, Rollercoaster! Ray - to keep the front end on the ground, all the suggestions are good. It should be possible to get a well-fitting bike to stay planted on a steep climb by practicing, rather than changing the setup (bars, stem, etc).
There's a balance point between the front lifting and the rear spinning, and it's different for every bike. Slide forward, lean over, and actually pull up on the bars. The 'balance point' has a latitude of maybe two inches forward or backward. Say one-to-three inches. I think it might be an inch and a half... It's small. It takes concentration to stay there, hunched over on the nose of your saddle You also need to pick the smoothest line, and keep to it, which takes more concentration than the balance point. Some of us used to climb a fireroad from the Mountain Home Inn fire station up to the legal road. I don't think I ever made it all the way, but when you bailed you had to get out of the line sharpish to let the next guy through. It's rewarding, but not that fun to climb like that, and I've been passed by trail runners. More often now, I get off, stretch and push. The scenery is usually prettier than the 14" of trail in front of my tire. So I think you can learn to make the Bleriot climb the steepies, but you may just want to push. It took me a few rides to learn how to climb the Quickbeam up some steep Marin Headlands fireroads, because the balance point was so different from my mountain bike. Now it's good, and the rear won't spin if I lower the pressure. On granite, that's not so much of an issue. Philip Williamson www.biketinker.com On Oct 14, 9:25 am, Ray Shine <[email protected]> wrote: > This has been an interesting thread. Just last weekend I rode my Bleriot on a > long single-track in the Sierra. I can count on one hand the number of times > I > have ridden a single-track trail, and my technique is certainly begging. > Anyway, I did OK, but in particularly rocky sections (boulders, not gravel) my > front wheel kept coming off the surface when I was climbing, and that always > threw me off-balance, especially going around trees. I always made a point of > falling off uphill, not over the trail rim. I had that much sense. I tried > standing and leaning over the bars, but that was a cumbersome position, and I > felt more in control sitting. There were many sections of this trail (8.5 > miles > long) where I did more walking than riding. I trust that is the "discretion" > to > which Jim refers! > > I was using the Bleriot, jitensha straight bars, and Fatty Rumkins. Like I > said, steep pitches or going over boulders up-grade and my front wheel kept > popping off the surface. Aside from my novice technique, would a better > cockpit > help me out more? Or, is the Bleriot just not the best bike for this stuff? > > ________________________________ > From: CycloFiend <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Thu, October 14, 2010 9:06:00 AM > Subject: Re: [RBW] Headlands Ride Report - Now Tam > > on 10/13/10 10:09 AM, James Warren at [email protected] wrote: > > > > > I had a great Atlantis ride up Railroad Grade on Mt. Tam in Marin County the > > day after the Rivendell garage sale. I used Marathon Extremes, knobby 40ers. > > > On the say down, Hoo Koo E Koo was good, but then on Blithedale Ridge > > heading > > down back toward Mill Valley, I chickened out a few times and walked the > > bike > > down the steep stuff. I probably would have done the same on my MB-4 with > > two > > inch knobbies, probably would have done the same on a full sus bike. > > The upper part of Blithedale Ridge (from where it connects with HKEK) has a > couple of spots which are just about the steepest sections of roads on the > mountain. This time of year, it's dry, dusty and very loose. There are a > couple spots where if you did go "off piste", you'd have a while to think > about what you did before you started hitting stuff. > > Nothing wrong with discretion! > > -- > Jim Edgar > [email protected] > > Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries -http://www.cyclofiend.com > Current Classics - Cross Bikes > Singlespeed - Working Bikes > > Gallery updates now appear here -http://cyclofiend.blogspot.com > > "Maybe a bike, once discarded, pines away year after year for the first hand > that steered it, and as it grows old it dreams, in its bike way, of the > young roads." > > -- Robert McCammon, "Boy's Life" > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW > Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
