Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Keeping The Beanz Man Down MTB RIde

12.8 miles a bit over 2,000 ft gain on the MTB

I think my buddies were trying to keep the Beanz Man down! :whistle:
I've mentioned to them many times that I was somewhat confused as to why I could downhill on a roadie like a demon but really sucked on the MTB. Very frustrating but I had mentioned it to them many times. I wonder if competition had gotten the best of them. Me? I'd never not tell anybody anything hoping they wouldn't take away the one advantage I had on them.
But going downhill just didn't make sense to me. I was doing everything I do on the roadie but the balance was just not there. I'd drift off my line no matter how hard I tried to carve a turn. Once I was on the MTB a while (more seasonal than the roadie) my DH would improve but not drastically. I didn't understand it! About 3 weeks ago I looked into it and yes, mentioned it to my partners again. Yes I had told them of my current settings which were set to MFG'er suggested numbers. Never once did they say "that is too high!"
So I found a video by a dude who actually weighs more than I do, by 40 pounds and he has his shock set to 110 psi. Mine is set to 180 psi per MFG'er.:o The dude says it made a big difference so I gave it a try. I mentioned it on a forum and even ChrisL said that seemed very high.  As well as my tire pressure. I went down from 60 psi to 30 in the front. 35 in the rear feels good to me.
SO it made a big difference over the last couple of weeks. But today I figured I would slow the rebound. Took a chance and went all the way slow! It had been set to high and to medium the last couple weeks. Today I went to slowest and HO HO HO CRAP!!!!! Man I rolled right over the ruts and bumps like a Cadillac!:hapydance:

I read that even the climbing may be better as the bike is not bucking you off. So maybe it was the better traction today but on Strava the times on the initial climb of my second loop today was 10 seconds faster than those set in past years and months! Short section about 100 yards but dang that is a lot.
Then each on of my descents were and average of 2.5 MPH faster than ever! :o That's a 2 mile descent!
Plus my 2 lap time is like 6 minutes better than ever!

Whoah this made a huge difference! Thank goodness some people are willing to make videos and put them out there as guides for others to benefit! Watching that one guys's video just changed my life! :skipping:
Freaking friends! Now I'm going to spank them on the downhills too!

Same ride today and faster than ever! B)

Adding a short video!

Lady put up two fingers asking if I was doing 2 loops. I put this in as I was razzing some forum members saying that women are excited by my legs. They take it so seriously that I figure I'd rub it in with this scene when the lady said I was awesome. Though you can't really hear her in the video.



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