Just got my first full suspension bike — this is about my 5th ride on it, and already my 2nd washout. I've had a few more close calls too. I'm currently running Maxxis DHF front / DHR rear.
On my old hardtail, I used to run Assegai up front and DHR in the back. I never had washouts with that setup, but yeah… the Assegai definitely felt slower.
I really don’t want to go back to the Assegai just for the extra grip — falling sucks, but so does riding sluggish tires. So I’m looking for some feedback.
Do I need to drop my tire pressure? Focus more on body positioning? Or maybe it’s just getting used to how a full suspension handles?
I’m 180 lbs, running 23 PSI front / 24 PSI rear.
Any advice is appreciated!
by Psychological-Ad4310
27 Comments
In my experience the DHF as a front requires leaning the bike past the channels in the tire. Semi-leaned like you are in the video might put your contact patch in that channel and there’s no grip there.
Don’t overthink it. Falling happens. I don’t think you can blame the tires. Get up and try again. Probably won’t be your last fall.
DHF has a section that likes to drift when you lean it over. It’s one of the reasons people enjoy the Assegai so much, because it doesn’t drift like the DHF.
It’s more likely you’re getting used to different geo on the new bike. I doubt the tires would make much of a difference here (especially because they’re new).
I would just keep riding what you got.
Everyone talking tire choice like this was in anyway shape or form the result of the tire not being grippy enough.
Y’all are gaslighting this man into spending money for 0 reason lmao. You could take this turn on 28mm slicks 10mph faster without any issue.
This is 100% a skill issue and almost guaranteed its incorrect body position.
New bike especially going to a full susp requires you to actively ride the bike not holding on.
Get active , get your weight over the front tire.
Lean the bike more so those knobs can grip.
Take a skills class to work on body position.
You can ride a corner like this at speed with slick tires /.xc tires /.gravel bike tires , it’s not a purchase issue .
Tires aren’t gonna make a huge difference if you’re not getting weight over the front on loose flat corners tbh, DHF can be a little vague but it’s a great front tire. Turn the bike more by leaning the bike and less just turning the bars and it puts more weight into the knobs, especially in flat corners. Works the same on my gravel bike with slick gravel tires and XC tires that have way less grip than a DHF
i’d say more on body position yeah, it kinda just looks like you just turned the bars into the corner and nothing else ngl lol…
but some tires are definitely more forgiving when it comes to cornering traction, especially tires like the assegai and kryptotal with their intermediate cornering knob between the center and side lugs.
i currently ride the schwalbe tacky chan which has a pretty pronounced channel like the DHF, you have to be deliberate in laying the tire onto its side or you don’t end up loading the side knobs enough for it to produce traction.
https://preview.redd.it/f97n9amhqhdf1.jpeg?width=722&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=faf4bc6e231a987bd2214f7ed525dc803ee2f4c9
that’s the tread pattern for the tacky chan, but there are plenty of cornering videos for you to look at and everyone is going to chime in with their favorite one but your best bet is to actually experiment on your home trails and session sections of the trail until you feel more comfortable cornering.
You havent addressed your suspension settings which have a huuuuge impact on grip on rough terrain
It looks like you locked your front tire. That is the quickest way to wash out. As soon as your tire locks, you have virtually no grip on it, and a small lean input washes you out.
https://preview.redd.it/4m57wx9orhdf1.png?width=436&format=png&auto=webp&s=e0a9be67aba422850cfe64b7c11088aa2ef0cdcd
It wasn’t the tyre’s fault. DHFs are great tyres and grip really predictably when cornering.
I’m going to guess it’s a combination of things:
New bike / different geometry versus your hardtail – with longer / lower / slacker angles, it is more important to get your weight balanced correctly.
dry and loose over hard pack conditions
and improper body positioning.- Its hard to tell with the go pro effect but it looks like you are over the back of the bike which unweights the front tire and leads to a washout.
You say this is your second crash. It’s pretty easy to subconsciously push away from the danger of your front wheel washing out, which in turn makes a washout more likely
Sorry mate this is a plain skill issue 😭
1. weight your front wheel, don’t be scared!
2. don’t use your front brake while turning
if you do these two things, you’ll get rid of 95% of front wheel washouts
Possibly due to your full suspension bike being slacker than your hardtail?
Instructor here. 9/10 your problem was body positioning. 1/10 it was some sort of fluke accident. 0/10 that the difference between a DHF and an Assegai would have saved you. If you were running something like Big Apples and were asking about grip, sure your equipment would matter. But DHFs are a solid MTB tire.
Washing out your front is generally indicative that your weight is too far back. Washing out in a turn is generally indicative of your weight being inside your bottom bracket instead of being above it.
Without seeing a video in profile, my guess is that your weight is too far back and you had inadequate counter balance.
Lean the bike keep your body vertical for all flat corners.
You mean poor body position washout?
This wasn’t down to your tyres. You were not putting adequate weight on the front and you were not leaving the bike enough. I can’t tell but it looks like the small amount of lean you did have you were leaning with the bike.
One of the grippiest tires out there, not the tires fault.
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its mostly what terrain and tire pressure.
I’m pretty sure that 90% of your problem is that you are loading, or putting the weight, on the inside hand. You are likely leaning in the bike by pushing it down with the inside hand. As some already suggested, stand on the outside pedal, and at the front, lean on the outside hand. You should basically be pushing the handlebar to the inside of the turn with the outside hand only!
There is a simple trick to demonstrate the vast difference between loading the inside and the outside of the handlebars. Stand *next* to your bike, preferably with the front tire on a loose surface. Hold the bars like you normally would when riding. Lean the bike over to about 45 degrees. Now try to push your bike away from you with only the hand closest to the ground, where you are basically trying to push the front tire through its grip. Now repeat this with only the upper hand, starting from the same position as you did with the exercise. If the exercise is done correctly, you should experience a huge difference in grip between the two executions.
It’s hard to tell due to blocky video, but if the edge of the trail is cupped at all on the inside of that bend (where your tire is), that’s not helping you here. There’s a bend like that in my park and I’ve caught my tires on the rising inside edge of the trail a few times with “exciting” results (but no falls). I now try to take it wider. I have DHR (not DHF) front and rear on the bike I ride the most.
I had the DHF/DHR combo on my first FS bike and it took some getting used to. The general tenor of the comments here are correct. (1) The DHF has that open channel and is known for washing out at intermediate lean levels when you’re not used to it and (2) this is overcome by developing your skills and learning to lean your bike and move it under you better. That turn isn’t a washout for a more experienced rider with the same setup.
I was on the DHF/DHR combo for years and recently put an Assagai on the front. I don’t like it for my riding. It’s grippier and a good tire, but it’s so much slower to me than the DHF and I’d much rather deal with the looser tire than lose that rolling resistance.
Difficult to say, but my initial reaction if you’re getting dramatic wash-outs like that I’d say you need to get more weight over the front wheel.
Your inside (in this case Right) foot should never be down or forward. Your weight should always be pressing the tire down. Even just putting your inside foot forward can cause an outward pressure on your tire causing it to slip.
Even if your weight was entirely on your outside foot simply having the mass of your inside foot forward of the rotational point of the bike will place outward momentum on your front tire.
Lean the bike more. It’s counterintuitive but if you’re leaning some but not enough you’ll be in the no tread zone between the side knobs and the center knobs.