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Problem with front tire sinking into the dirt.

1K views 12 replies 11 participants last post by  WVBikr 
#1 ·
I have a friend, 6'5 300~lbs. We had a rain and it softened the trails a bit. It was great riding conditions for me. He was complaining about his front tire sinking into the dirt, making the ride no fun. He said it primarily happens in the corners.

Is this a common problem with bigger boys? He is a new rider and riding a HT. My only thoughts are that maybe his front shock needs some adjustment or he could be keeping too much wait forward.

Any ideas?
 
#2 ·
Lean back a bit?

How much pressure does he run in his front tire? If it's high he might benefit from lowering it a bit, let the tire somewhat deflate and spread the load over a bigger area.

How bad does he dig in? I'm a clyde too and it always takes more effort to plow through a soft, wet trail than a dry and harder one, it's part of the game..
 
#3 ·
I'll take a look at his tire pressure. I'm not sure how bad he was digging in. I didn't realize he had a problem until after the ride he mentioned it. I couldn't tell he was even having the problem.
 
#7 ·
I actually have that problem from time to time as well when I ride with my friends who are lighter. they float over the dirt while it is trench warfare for me. Bigger riders need bigger tires. I would only run 2.0-2.1" tires in a pure XC bike but other than that I stick to larger 2.3-2.4" tires that have high volume casings most of the time.

also it might be that the tire is sliding out. if that is the case it might just be a tire that does poorly in softer conditions.
 
#11 ·
Good suggestions above. If running higher volume tyre at lower pressure and making sure his forks are set up properly so they're not diving under braking doesnt fix it, then maybe look at his bars and stem.

Higher rise stem and bars plus a layback seatpost might centre his weight over the bb a bit more, stop him being so front heavy. Been playing around with this myself recently and noticed a difference with higher rise stem and layback post, next on the agenda is a wider set of 20mm rise bars(can get upto 38mm).
 
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