Finally did some hucking

[zuma_sicks]

Well, I got lots of protective and inspiration from videos and finally did some hucking. There's a construction site where new homes are bing built in the hills up here in Valencia. Lots of great drops and SOFT, freshly plowed and hard packed dirt. I hucked my brains out and noticed a BAD noise/shimmy on the way home. Come to find out my rear skewer and rear brake disc are TACO'ed .

I should be able to straighten my disc, but the skewer needs to be replaced. Seeing as how I have a hard tail, I can see that the skewer is the weak link. Can I buy a skewer that's tougher/stronger than others?

Is there an axle set-up that beats a skewer for hucking?

Any advice would be appreciated, as I'm off the trails until I hit the LBS for a new skewer.

[dirttorpeedo]

unless you've got an inexspencive wheelset the skewer may have been loose and let the rear wheel moov in the frame.OOOORRRRRRRRRR you have'nt gotten the smooov landing technique down yet.

lets see some pix or video footy eh!

[zuma_sicks]

Well, I did a few one wheel landings (guess which wheel!). So the secret is to hit both wheels at the same time and split the force by 50% on each tire. How in the EFF does that xeplain my bent disc? Bear with me, this is all fairly new to me. I get some pretty big air, I must say, and only went down once.


I took a buddy out with me- he was too busy trying to keep up and hang on to take any footage- but I'm working on it. Sometime I feel like a digicam is a jinx- you're bound to crash when someone can record it.

[roadkillross]

not totally truei film all the time and i dont fall

it may be becuz i dont want to crash my new bikejust yet

Originally Posted by zuma_sicks

.... Sometime I feel like a digicam is a jinx- you're bound to crash when someone can record it.

not to be a dick, but the crashes are the best part! sure landing clean is fun and all, but at the end of the day, everyone talks about the crashes!!! did you see our crashfest video on T&A awhile back?

[Von-Skipp]

Originally Posted by DINO

not to be a dick, but the crashes are the best part! sure landing clean is fun and all, but at the end of the day, everyone talks about the crashes!!! did you see our crashfest video on T&A awhile back?

I'm still feeling that crashfest. Ribs are still sore!! But I agree with DINO, crashes are awesome to watch back on video. (as long as no one dies...)

[zuma_sicks]

Don't get me wrong- crashes are the best part- Especially now that I've got some decent protective gear- but my one and only bike is starting to feel the affects of hucking and I only crashed once. I learn a lot from most of my big crashes, but crashing = damaged bike and damaged bike means less riding due to waiting on parts, etc. I think I may be picking up a second bike an dor frame here soon so that part of the equation will be taken away. I'll have TWICE the opportunity to crash!

[Flat Broke]

Zuma, If your skewer bent because it was loose, its possible that is what took out your rotor. If the hub can move to a position other than perpendicular to your forks or chain/seat stays, all of the suden your rotor will be wedging against your caliper. If your hub is set up properly, the axle is bearing some of the load and the skewer is just clamping everything together keeping the dropouts sitting on the axle. Depending on your hub, there may be a solid axle kit available for it, but I don't think thats the issue... yet.

As far as technique, it varies from landing to landing, and unfortunately the answer isn't as simple as landing flat on both wheels at the same time. If you try that technique on an HT or a 20" you'll start busting things, and once you beef up the bike to handle and resist the forces being applied, your body will become the next weak link. When you're landing, force is being exerted as the bike crashes into earth. You have the weight of your bike and the weight of the rider being pulled down by gravity. The bike should be plenty strong to handle the stresses of it's own weight, but what you do with the weight of the rider is what's more important. There are two ways to deal with the forces involved; the first is to absorb them (a la full squish rig), the second is to divert them. Since you're on a HT, you can't rely on the bike to fully absorb all the energy of the landing. So your body has to help with a combination of diversion and absorbtion. Basically you'll still be rear wheel dropping first, but as contact is made, your body needs to absorb some of the energy (knees and arms), and you need to divert the remainder of the energy to forward motion. Your body works like the best shock money can buy. After you ride for a while, your brain knows how much resistance to apply (think of it as compression dampening) in order to let the body absorb the impact, yet still stay firm enough to control the bike and not wrap yourself around the top tube. Unfortunately, the best shocks in the world have their limits and at some point if the drops get big enough and the landings are flat, you're going to need to get a different rig. Dig around for videos of guys on 20" bikes and trials riders doing drops to flat. Watch the technique and just ride more and I bet you'll be doing better in no time. Oh and double check those QR skewers to make sure they're tight before the next ride

Chris

[zuma_sicks]

Chris-

Thanks for the input. I replaced the skewer and rotor yesterday and went for a test ride. I don't think that the skewer was loose when I did the damage. I've gotten good at the absobent landing- it's my take off that needs work- I think I'm pulling up on the bars too aggressively, causing me to do a manual and land on the back wheel. I'm sure it looks good.

I like the hardtail- but it's time for a squishy. If I could just decide on a set-up and weather I'm going to do a frame-up build or buy the entire package and modify from there.

How's your project coming along?

[Flat Broke]

Just picked up most of the remainder of my parts today. Should have some pics up by the begining of the week. I started building everything up this afternoon and should be crashing into stuff tomorrow or Monday

If you've got most everything you need in terms of wheels, discs, drivetrain, sounds like it would be better to do a new frame/fork and then just slowly upgrade the rest of the parts as they break/wear. I don't even have my HT together, and the Transition Bottle Rocket has already got me thinkin.

Chris