“My quads hurt” — Use your hips!
Hey, Lee. For the past couple of months my quads have been killing me on long descents. I’m having a hard time figuring out why, as it doesn’t happen on climbs, even when I’m standing for a long time.
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Send questions to lee@leelikesbikes.com
Switching among bikes
Lee,
First off I must say that you website is a daily visit for me and I appreciate all the time and effort you put into it.
I have been biking steadily for just over 2 years now. I started with a Kona Shred and now I have an 05 Bighit FSR as well since I discovered my passion for extreme sports carries over to DH as well. My problem is that when I switch between the bikes they feel so different that I almost kill myself in certain scenarios. Do
multi bike owners try to keep to specific hardware or configuration to avoid this feeling? Will I eventually get used to the feeling? Any tips or tricks are greatly appreciated.
Thx Lee.
Dan the Man
Ouch, my aching shoulders!
Hey Lee, just ordered your book and I’m looking forward to reading it. In the meantime I have a question for you related to posture and bike setup and how they affect muscle tension.
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Beware the full-suspension Band Aid
hey lee
do you think that even for a fairly slow downhiller a dually would make a rocky track smoother?
rob
Pump track question: Stacking dirt too high?
I am preparing to build a track like yours.”lee’s pump track” With a high water table I have to import dirt. I’ve made my french drains, and planed it all out. I saw a video clip of yours and got concerned. If I import dirt should I expect to see my track close to twice as tall as yours? that would be fine but will it ride as fast? I want to feel confident that if I spend a dump truck load of money on 8 dump truck loads of dirt that I will have a track that rips.
Ron
Clip in for Angel Fire 4X?
Hi, I am just wondering if it is necessary for me to run Clip pedals at Angelfire 4X, I heard it helps alot, should i risk it?
Dustin
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Basic bike for big guy
Hi, I am just doing my research on a new bike and came across your article on what you considered a big guy riding that kept breaking frames. Well I am 280 lbs and want a bike to ride down simple trails and roads with my kids. I was looking at the Iron horse Maverick 3.0 and the Norco Mountineer … not sure which one would work best for me? Also the guy at the bike shop has me worried I will bend the back axle on these 2 bikes just going off a curb and suggested the Norco Bush pilot which is a little more thant I want to spend. Is there another bike that you could recommend that is around the $400 mark. Thanks
Sean
Longer shock on SX? Just leave it alone!
Lee,
Interesting thought, I’ve got an 05 Specialized SX Supercross with 107 mm of travel. The eye to eye and stroke are different than that of the SX Trail, is the geometry totally different on the 2 bikes or can I increase my travel to 150 mm by upping the shock size? What kind of crazy math goes into determining compatability of different eye to eyes and stroke, as well as resulting travel? I need to replace my shock and can get a 7.5″ x 2″, will it wack out my ride?
Thanks,
Dave
Coil shock on 2003 Enduro?
Hey Lee,
Firstly, let me express my adoration for your writing. Being a mountain bike journalist is an admirable career, and you are the best of the selected few. I enjoy reading your blog (and your book) very much – that is when I do not ride my bike.
And it is the bike about which I have a question. I would like to have a coil rear shock on my old Enduro 2003. Although this bike is not the latest word from Specialized, it is so great I do not intend to change it for anything – it just rocks. However, I would like to have a plushy coil at the back, such as Vanilla R.
The problem is that Enduro shocks come at unusual eye-to-eye length (7.765 to be exact). So I wonder whether it would be feasible to put a longer eye-to-eye shock, e.g. 7.875, or maybe a shorter one (7.5 e2e).
The other question is what kind of a shock would fit the Enduro. Is it feasible to install a Vanilla shock? Wouldn’t the piggy back reservoir be a problem on the frame?
Sincerely Yours,
Omer Shapira
How do you define “light stunts?”
Lee,
Can you define light stunts??? It would be cool to understand bike companies’ idea of light stunts as not to void warranty!
Thanks,
John
Suspension tips from Fitz
Howdy Lee,
So last summer I lived up in Whistler and if there’s one thing I did a lot, it was hit berms filled with teeth-chattering holes and braking bumps. I ran a DHX 5 on a VP free with the propedal at its lightest setting and the bottom-out resistance at its firmest setting. I felt that max bump complicance + sturdy bottom out worked well, but i didn’t really try any other settings. Reading the recent piece on propedal (FOX PropPedal and suspension bracketing) got me thinking that perhaps this set up is bad for bumpy berms: perhaps the lack of propedal was allowing my suspension to blow through the first half of travel in response to the G forces in the berm and forcing it into the heavily damped end-of stroke.
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FOX ProPedal and suspension bracketing
Hey Lee,
I saw the ProPedal on my FOX DHX 5.0. What does this do?
Zach