From what I can remember, my front tire seemed to slip then catch and I felt the jackknife. I was wondering if, from the video, there are any obvious causes, e.g. body position, steering angle, etc.
The weakest part of my riding is holding traction on turns and I’ve never felt such a sudden slip like that before. Thanks!
Can somebody explain why I washed out?
byu/hashtagVenusNotMars inMTB
by hashtagVenusNotMars
33 Comments
I blame the leaves
Just looked like loose debris, that part of the berm/turn had some foliage which can be like riding on marbles
You went into the leaves while leaning, back tire slid out, end of story
Leaves
leaves
maybe you were too much at the back? and unweighted front wheel too much?
on the vid, looks like your front wheel was “outside” the main line, maybe you were already on loose part – more gravel/loose sand/leaves ?
Not an expert but it seems like leaves and loose dirt which caused a slip, it seemed the front tire was going slightly right and upwards, then lost the wheel and jackknifed once it caught grip. Make sure pressures are low, could go more aggressive tires.
The slight outside edge could have been loose and muddy too which can upset the suspension and traction.
Looks like you went a little wide and into the leaves. That’s a hard transition to hold.
Probably a mix of leaves plus loose rocks. I love riding in the fall but them leaves have gotten me a couple times lmao
stay loose and
slow down your rebound damping on your fork
Leaves are the devil man!
Because : Autumn !
Leafs + slightly off camber corner
Looks so sudden I’m thinking something on the trail you were rolling over gave out like a rock or a stick.
tire lost traction
Leaned into the turn with slippery dry leaves.
My take is that you leaned into the turn while the front wheel was unweighted. Try to have some at least some compression on the front shock before you lean hard.
Leaves or acorns?
wash outs are part of leaf surfing season.
laugh it off and get back at it.
Probably leaves. Maybe a damp tree root, if you hit it the wrong way
Leaves.
You hit leaves.
Keep your front tire weighted an on the dirt.
Offline into the edge of the leaf litter/unweighted front wheel/little too much steering input
Bit of end of ride tiredness?
Need to loosen your upper body and weight your feet more.
Your front wheel slipped for a second, which wouldn’t be an issue except for the fact that a lot of your upper body weight was held in your hands/arms rather than with your core.
If you’re fully weighed in your feet, with hands doing nothing to support/balance your upper body, and your core is engaged, you would have absolutely saved that, probably without even slowing down.
Proper body positioning is 95% of the game.
Loose leaves decrease traction. Mossy surfaces like wet tree roots and rocks also have the same effect. You don’t want to be turning too aggressively when riding through slippery terrain like that.
Leaf snake. Popped out and grabbed ya
No idea! I can’t beleaf it myself.
Every9ne saying leaves might be right… but with proper body position, you should just slide a bit and then re-catch the dirt. I know because it’s something I’ve been practicing for years.
Chainstays too short
I used to ride like you when I lived where there was loam and traction is superb. Then I moved to CO and was forced to learn the low traction cornering required in the drier climate.
When you corner try leaning the bike underneath of you rather than leaning your body around the bike.try this video:
https://youtu.be/8y6ocZHpLoE?si=Ci7S0rzcLteL__i9
You frenchfried when You should have pizzad
If you lean into the curve you’re reducing weight on the edges of the tire. You want to keep you body vertical and you lean the bike. That places more pressure on the aggressive side knobs of the tire, and if you slip on a leave, it will grab on the dirt.
Leaning too much means your body weight is aimed more toward the ground. When the wheel slips, your weight goes the way you already have it directed, right into the ground.
Yes leaves reduce traction. Yes, flat corner. I’m willing to say there isn’t ONE reason unless you want to be pedantic and say “not enough traction.” Hard to say what broke loose first not being able to see rear tire so I’ll trust your recollection. On this type of trail I try to avoid leaning into corners more meaning I try to keep my mass over the contact patch of the tires on the dirt for just these occasions where there is a slip. It gives you more time to recover and the tires more time to find traction. It also requires smaller bar input which reduces the needed traction to not slip. It happens. In skiing it’s talked about as “inclination” vs “angulation”