Hubby and I were out riding yesterday. We met an mtb family that included a small boy, about 11 years old. He was on a 26'er that seemed for him to be the equivalent of a man riding a 29'er.
I was rolling along with the boy behind me. I reached a 14" ledge that I won't climb because I can't lift my front wheel that high. I stopped and stood parallel to the ledge to give the boy room to stop. To my astonishment, the boy lifted his wheel less than half the height of the ledge and effortlessly rolled up and over! Even my hubby and the boy's father struggled to get up this ledge, but not the boy.
So I get that what the boy did was all about weight distribution, but what surprised me was that he easily got over the ledge without lifting his front wheel the full height. I thought that the goal of wheel lifts was to place your wheel on top of the ledge and then unweight the rear wheel to get the rest of the bike up and over.
How do you all get up ledges? Do you lift your wheel high enough to place it ON a ledge or just high enough to reduce the height that the front wheel has to finish rolling up?
I was rolling along with the boy behind me. I reached a 14" ledge that I won't climb because I can't lift my front wheel that high. I stopped and stood parallel to the ledge to give the boy room to stop. To my astonishment, the boy lifted his wheel less than half the height of the ledge and effortlessly rolled up and over! Even my hubby and the boy's father struggled to get up this ledge, but not the boy.
So I get that what the boy did was all about weight distribution, but what surprised me was that he easily got over the ledge without lifting his front wheel the full height. I thought that the goal of wheel lifts was to place your wheel on top of the ledge and then unweight the rear wheel to get the rest of the bike up and over.
How do you all get up ledges? Do you lift your wheel high enough to place it ON a ledge or just high enough to reduce the height that the front wheel has to finish rolling up?