Ok, well, a few days ago me and a friend had finished building up a new jump at the bottom of a hill, the jump is about as steep as the typical BMX style jump and about 3-4 ft tall. I was hitting it all day without a problem, my friend tries it for the first time and asks me to let him use my FS (hes got a HT).
So i said ok, he comes charging down the hill and huts the jump quite fast, (although it seemed like i was hitting it at about the same speed). The he goes up into the air and the bike takes a sharp dive downward, he goes crashing into the hard San Diego clay and hurts himself, some runners tried to call 911 but i told them not to and i rode home and got my car and took him to the hospital. He has a jammed shoulder and a hairline fracture of his forearm (which shouldn't be too serious).
Anyways that brings me too my question, why did the bike just dive down really hard as soon has he went off the lip. Keep in mind that i ride a size large, and he rides a size med....could this throw him off that much? and why?
It might be to much rebound in the rear shock. As you preload at the face of the jump, it pops back up and givees you more air. If the rear shock rebounds really fast, it can throw the nose down and the back tire in the air. It also doesnt help that he normally rides a hardtail, he probably wasnt expecting that to happen.
almost exactly...he pitched the bike higher up tho, i was afried he broke his collar bone
well about the rebound, i had it cranked up to more oh a DH ing speed, but i had hit the jump on the same bike about 20 times before without having a problem like he did, im thinkin the prolly just wasn;t used to the bike...
also why would the rebound matter for the jumping part...i can understand for landing but, the shock should be under compression when you hit the jump anyways....
I wasn't talking about you, or saying anything about bones at all really. I was just saying that he probably got bucked because he wasn't used to the bike.
well his shock might have blown or something, but i can do stuff fine on a fs even with high rebond, you just have to know what your doing. i also crashed like that on a small jump, i wish it were bigger cause then i wouldn't have lnaded on my head. anyways pulling back can definetly help
whats with all this rebout and sh!t talk? a good rider could go off that same jump no matter how high or low the reboud is. u just have to pull up. 90% rider 10% bike
Sounds like you didn't balance the pre-load (Which is why people endo). And it sounds realistic cause he was new on the a FS. You gotta preload evenly that way your bike will spring even, not misfire off the lip and pitch you forward or reverse.
by balance the preload you mean adjustment of the rear shock with the fork? I think you are on to something because he is about 20-30 lbs heavier than me which would put more weight on the rear causing it to act different that the front. I usually go off the jump going the same speed without a problem...
also when people say you have to lift up, does that mean shifting your weight back, or letting the jump push the front up while keeping your body orienated the same by letting your arms move...
Sounds like you didn't balance the pre-load (Which is why people endo). And it sounds realistic cause he was new on the a FS. You gotta preload evenly that way your bike will spring even, not misfire off the lip and pitch you forward or reverse.
could it be that he tried to preload and pull up, but he got fvucked up cause hes not used to fs, then with the speed he still managed to get into the air, but with out pullin up he was almost accelerated into the ground?
by balance the preload you mean adjustment of the rear shock with the fork? I think you are on to something because he is about 20-30 lbs heavier than me which would put more weight on the rear causing it to act different that the front. I usually go off the jump going the same speed without a problem...
also when people say you have to lift up, does that mean shifting your weight back, or letting the jump push the front up while keeping your body orienated the same by letting your arms move...
What I mean is not setting up the bike suspension properly to be even (That should be done before you hit the dirt). I'm talking about preloading your suspension evenly as you launch off the jump. Keep your wieght evenly distributed on the suspension. Compress the front fork and rear wheel evenly so that you spring up fine. A jump with a mega steep lip wont allow to do this (Why people typically have to build bigger jumps for dual suspension).
If you do NOT preload the suspension evently either wheel will respond at a different time, pitching you off balance at a given moment. Leaning too far back and preloading the rear more than the front will cause the rear to pitch you forward, very far forward right as you launch the ramp.....
think about it...it makes sense especially sense the guy was fresh on suspension.
Edit: what I described above is the sole reason why my friend stacked:
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