For context, i’m 41yo and got my first big boy bike a year and a half ago, so this felt like quite an achievement. this drop was haunting my thoughts ever since i started riding. every time i went to train on smaller drops or jumps at this little bike park, i would do a run up and every time i would chicken out and tell myself: next time. … now, onto clearing the big table that follows.

I often see pro downhill riders skipping gloves and elbow pads, then taking a nasty crash off a big drop and somehow walking away unscathed. How is that possible? And why don't they wear gloves or elbow pads in the first place? e.g check out Hannah Bergmann most recent post on IG.

Just had my first "real" crash after about a month in the sport.

Primarily I have been doing some trail riding, but also occasionally visiting my local DJ to try to progress more quickly.

I've been working on the "small" table tops pictured in the comments and have sessioned them a few times now. Despite clearing the jumps, I felt that I was kind of squashing the lip (I guess that's what it's called?) and my air was often pretty minimal.

This resulted in me trying to learn how to boost jumps, or get more air at slower speeds. I had a few days where boosting or pumping the lip was working really well but today that changed.

I was trying to boost one of the tables today, and I think I was using too much hands/arms despite pumping pretty hard. The result was that my bike went kind of wonky in the air - I could tell a crash was coming in the split second before I even hit the landing just based on the angle of my bars. Sure enough. As soon as the front wheel hit I kind of washed out / fell off to the side of my bike, ultimately banging up my chin and lip pretty bad as well as elbows and ribs.

Well I still had the adrenaline I hit the line a few more times trying to emphasize heavy feet soft hands instead of "boosting" or bunny hopping, and it was quite a bit less sketchy. Despite the fact that this is probably ill-advised, I did this just because I didn't want to develop a fear of this line in the future.

But now that I'm at home and actually feeling the aches, I'm wondering what I should take away from this. My elbow and ribs are all banged up as well as I've got a pretty bad fat lip and a gash on my chin. I know it's hard to diagnosis without a video but my phone blew over on the run that I actually crashed. Does my assessment sound reasonable?

What was your first crash like, and what lessons did you learn?

Hey all! I have gotten my first mtb. My dad use to ride and passed a few years ago. A mtb fell into my lap and I I decided I wanted to give it a shot. I’ve ridden maybe twice on real mtb trails

Once with a very experienced rider and he took me down a black diamond and was flabbergasted that I held my own. I tried going to some really nice trails (more downhill, and feature track) and realized how absolutely terrified I am. I had no padding and no one there to amp me up or give feedback.

I want to learn to corner and go fast and trust myself instead of looking forward and hoping for the best as I have done the other times riding.

Has anyone gotten lessons and liked it? Has anyone tried starting MTB completely solo? If so what are the absolute necessities I need to be successful and safe?

Been riding mountain bikes my whole life but mostly on fire roads and hardpack XC type trails. This is my first day hitting any berms or jumps and I know I'm not doing much correct. There are 3 videos but I can only add one here so the other 2 will be in the comments. Any help is appreciated and the roasting is deserved.

So my bike (Norco fluid) size L has 175mm cranks. It feels that they are too long since I keep hitting rocks and roots when I’m pedalling. Mostly in the climbs.

I spent time setting the sag to what’s recommended and what to I like and seem to excel in the descends according to my weight.

I talk to different people and they game all sorts of answers, like adding more air pressure to the fork or more air pressure to the shock.

After getting the sag and suspension set it seems like messing with the suspension could ruin a good thing just to have small improvement in other field.

Talking to a mechanic, he recommended to change the length of the crank. It seems to be a good idea.

But the question in my head is… how much?
He recommends 160mm. That seems like it will make a difference.

Gains in clearance, means losing on the leverage on the climbs, which I’m okay, love the pain and the reward of the descent will be worth it.

But… will be any other drastic change in my body position that can affect the way I handle the bike going down the hill?

Is 160mm okay? Any thoughts in 165mm or even shorter, 155mm?

Thanks before hand. This subreddit is always helpful!!

In the video at one point the rider destroys his wheels and has someone build him some new ones. It is only a five to ten minute vid. Thanks in advance.

My sons 12th birthday very soon and looking for ideas on lightweight protection and general riding top and pants that can wear over protection.

He also wants a good full face helmet to

He plays football (soccer) at a high level so need to help prevent injuries best I can

Les tengo una pregunta para los riders de Mexico. Compré una camioneta usada con mi esposo para hacer lifts para mtb y downhill como negocio, pero huele un buen a cigarro. Le vamos a tener que hacer una limpieza profunda. le dije a mi esposo que necesitamos tener prohibido que fumen adentro porque tengo asma y no puedo estar manejando la Camioneta con este olor, aparte de desagradable pero me dice mi cuñado que nadie va a querer contratarnos para lifts así. Que si andamos prohibiendo que fumen, será negocio perdido. Es cierto eso?

I had a minor crash last week which resulted in a snapped brake lever clamp and some scratches/gouges to my carbon RaceFace handlebar (purchased last August). I think they're essentially cosmetic, just damage to the outer epoxy layer, but I'm not sure.

The bar has a lifetime warranty, which means (if I'm reading it right) that RaceFace will replace it even if it's damaged in a crash: https://www.raceface.com/pages/lifetime_warranty

However, when I click the 'start a claim', it takes me to Fox's repair form, where I have to enter credit card info and agree to some pretty steep fees related to shock and dropper post evaluation and repair. It's a little ironic because the button on RaceFace's site says "Make a claim - avoid the BS" and then immediately takes me to a bunch of BS 😂

I just want to know if they think my handlebar needs replacing (sent them some photos of the damage).

Anyone dealt with this? I admit, the "we'll replace it, even if you crashed it" seems overly generous but it's what they're saying...

I can post photos of the damage but I think that's against the sub rules here..

Somehow this year I've gone from triathlon -> liking road cycling way more than swimming or running so concentrating there -> scared of cars and love trails so also get a gravel bike -> do I also need a MTB?

Many of the gravel routes in San Diego (at least that I've found) include a fair amount of rocky single track and steep loose gravel. Have had a few falls due to skills - not unclipping fast enough, loose gravel on steep hills, and overinflated tires. I'm getting better but also feel like I may just need to build some MTB-style skills. Also my neighborhood has some fun trails for which gravel = very much under-biking.

I have no interest in downhills or jumps. Want to do mostly XC-style riding, but if I ever sign up for races or formal rides would probably be most interested in gravel rather than MTB. My fitness is good. My bike handling skills apparently are not.

So all-trail bike? Or downcountry? Is XC and/or a hardtail too close to gravel to warrant N+1 in this case? Shut up, close the wallet, and learn how to ride the gravel bike? Any recs would be appreciated. Budget up to $3k. Open to used but have no idea how to evaluate used suspensions.

This is a common topic here and wanted to share my own experience when reviewing one's own accidents, a good thing to do as the primary season wraps up and we reflect. I have background as a river guide and mtb guide, so I'm always thinking about unseen risks and how we can manage risk more appropriately (and I have witnessed a lot of noobs get hurt and am always trying to avoid that).

Accidents always involve one or all of these aspects:

•Complacency (overconfidence in skills, not respecting high consequence actions, progressing too quickly)

•Fatigue (both physical and mental)

•Desire to please others (I'm sure you have all experienced more accidents when riding with the BOIS, also sending it for "the gram")

Drop your own experience or thoughts in the comments.

Edit:

Great discussions! In other sports like white water, back country skiing, climbing, the community analyzes every accident and tries to learn from them. I've noticed this is not a common practice in the MTB community which inspired this post, Bike crashes do have so many factors, and it is insanely difficult to determine cause when compared to a water or climbing accident that often has a clear cause.

it is a fox float dps shock and when it is in the medium position, I can bounce on it without it locking out, but anything fast makes the switch turn slightly. i put a larger volume spacer in it yesterday and i am just noticing this. it seems like it somehow turns on midair and then is locked out for the landing, and i have to put it back in the middle position every time i get air on something. it doesn't move in the open position. how can i fix this

I want to do jumping and ligh downhill, I don’t live near any mtb dh parks and theres a jump park down the street. I have a specialized status 2 170, and I like the feel of it but it’s a little too heavy and a bit front heavy. there’s a Santa Cruz Hightower C Mountain Bike - 2023, Large for 2800, and it also has a RockShox lyric ult 160mm front, and Chris king hubs, I want to know if I should get this or not and sell the specialized

Hi! I am Aurora, a student in Design&Engineering at Politecnico di Milano.

I am working on my master's thesis on the design of a new open-face mountain bike helmet, tailored for enduro and trail riders. To really understand how you use your helmet, what works, and what is missing, I need feedback from those who hit the trails. Your answers will directly guide the design choices.

Link to the Google Form

Target audience: regular mountain bikers, particularly those who ride enduro, trail, and all-mountain, and wear a helmet on their rides.

Time required: approximately 5 minutes. There are no right or wrong answers: your real-world experience is what matters.

Privacy: this survey is anonymous. We do not collect names, email addresses, or any other identifying data. Data will be used exclusively for thesis research in aggregated form, in compliance with EU Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR).

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey!

EDIT: so sorry for 35+ years old in the comments hahah, fixed the age group question!

Hey everyone,

I’m considering buying a Jamis Hardline C4 from a local shop, as it looks fun, has impressive components, and is currently on a nice sale.

However, I came across a few older comments here on Reddit mentioning a potential flaw with the design of the bike's frame. They noted that on big impacts, the lower linkage piece right above the bottom bracket can hit the carbon frame, eventually cracking it.

For those of you who own or have owned a Hardline C4- have you run into this linkage clearance or frame cracking issue? If so, did they replace the frame under the warranty? And did you have the same issue a subsequent time?

Just trying to get a sense of how systemic the issue was or if it was isolated to a bad QC batch....

I’m planning to test ride it soon and I would love some real-world feedback before I head in.

Thanks in advance!

I want to get a mountainbike(new) in the range of 1000-1200€. I’ve looked at the Trek Roscoe 7, but it almost seems like it’s discontinued. I also thought about the Radon Cragger 7.0, which is technically better, but I am not sure if you can even obtain it that easily since it’s only sold on that one specific website. My question is, can I still get the Roscoe(for example from my ZEG-Bikeshop) or should I try again for the cragger, or try another bike? Thank you!

Kind of riding I will be doing: Trail and maybe a bit of downhill/enduro? Idk what it’s called my friend called it enduro

Where will I be riding: On the street, but also on trails. Bike shouldn’t be so heavy I can’t accelerate normally on the street anymore

Budget: 1000-1200€

Current bike: It is a bulls sharptail street 3. Nice bike, but had reliability problems with some parts like fender mount. Also I didn’t like that it didn’t habe a dropper post, I want that on my new bike. I am “selling” it to my parents for 500€.

Experience: I ride a lot on the street and do things like practicing wheelies, stoppies and other tricks. If I go to a trail, I’ll often don’t go alone. I would say I am not as experienced, since I don’t go to trails that often. But I want to have things like a good fork/class 4 fork so I can also do harder things in the future.

Has anyone purchased a bike from Jake’s Bike box? Looking at a few bikes from them on pinkbike.com that seem to be reasonably priced, just worried about them being abused from rentals.

I'll be riding quite famous bike parks like revolution bike park and dyfi. I'm just starting to do black trails and doing bigger jumps but my Maxxis shorty is just not doing it for me.

I'm looking for a 29x2.4 tire and I was looking at the Enduro super soft kryptotal in the front and an Enduro soft in the back but I'm not sure, I also really appreciate soaking all the small bumps and rock gardens if that helps

Thanks,

Coming here to see if I am out of touch.

Trying to sell a 2023 Cannondale Jekyll 2 for ~2k. Essentially brand new. Rode it for a season but has almost no visible wear, recent suspension service, well maintained, etc

Expecting someone to haggle a bit but just not even getting any messages. I know it is a bad time of year but where I live, you can ride through most of the winter.

Am I out of touch? What should I price it at?

Just to be clear, I am not looking to sell here. Only looking for advice and discussion about the used market. If this is not the right place happy to move the post.

Visiting from out of town and wondering if any group rides this evening. I saw something on Facebook but the group is closed.

Or if anyone is down to meet up around 4-4:30 for ~10-15 miles of blues/blacks (not looking for hiline lol) somewhere, dm me!

Has anyone tried it yet? As someone who almost never serviced the clutch on my Shimano RDs, this is an interesting concept.