Rear wheel traction 2018 geo

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Rear wheel traction 2018 geo
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flag evilbert222
Posted: May 15, 2018 at 21:27 Quote
I've been riding a 2018 Patrol for a couple of months now and I have to say I'm struggling with the rear wheel grip. Prior to this bike I was riding a YT Capra for 2 years so I'm not sure if I need to adjust my riding style or adjust the bike setup.

I'm running 35% sag as per guidelines, magic mary front and back ~25psi and I'm about 75kg. Relatively fast rebound but no compression and have the fox 36/dpx combo.

The Capra was a big old barge of a bike that liked to tank along any path you put it on, but then didn't like to turn off this path, if anything it understeered a lot and needed a bit of back brake to drift the back wheel. Having said that in a steep chute it was super controlled and I could sit back over the back wheel and slide down in a controlled manner.

In contrast the Patrol needs a lot more weight over the front end and the front feels great when I do this. When things are not to steep the back feels good too and is nice and poppy allowing quick line changes without ever feeling the front will wash out. However, when getting in to the steep stuff the back wheel constantly breaks free and tries to overtake the front wheel. In really steep chutes it gets a bit scary as the only grip is on the front wheel, any slight lock up and the bike gets super skittery.

Is this just how the bike rides and I need to get used to it or is my setup my problem?
flag RNeves
Posted: May 17, 2018 at 5:21 Quote
I own a 2018 Patrol, I use 25psi out back and 23psi up front, I'm 80kg and use 25% sag on the fork and dead in the middle of the sag measurements written in the frame for the shock. I don't notice anything like the thing you describe, actually I'm amazed with the climbing traction the bike offers.

On the descents I adopt a fairly neutral position and don't notice any front end grip problems. Maybe this is why I don't have problems with rear end traction.

I use Minions DHF and DHR II
flag evilbert222
Posted: May 18, 2018 at 4:40 Quote
Yeah, climbing traction is fine, it's just when things start pointing down.

I've heard others rave about the dhr2 on the back so I might try that. Otherwise it could just be my position, maybe I'm too far forward now?
flag Xorrox
O+
Posted: May 19, 2018 at 7:56 Quote
evilbert222 wrote:
I've been riding a 2018 Patrol for a couple of months now and I have to say I'm struggling with the rear wheel grip. Prior to this bike I was riding a YT Capra for 2 years so I'm not sure if I need to adjust my riding style or adjust the bike setup.

I'm running 35% sag as per guidelines, magic mary front and back ~25psi and I'm about 75kg. Relatively fast rebound but no compression and have the fox 36/dpx combo.

The Capra was a big old barge of a bike that liked to tank along any path you put it on, but then didn't like to turn off this path, if anything it understeered a lot and needed a bit of back brake to drift the back wheel. Having said that in a steep chute it was super controlled and I could sit back over the back wheel and slide down in a controlled manner.

In contrast the Patrol needs a lot more weight over the front end and the front feels great when I do this. When things are not to steep the back feels good too and is nice and poppy allowing quick line changes without ever feeling the front will wash out. However, when getting in to the steep stuff the back wheel constantly breaks free and tries to overtake the front wheel. In really steep chutes it gets a bit scary as the only grip is on the front wheel, any slight lock up and the bike gets super skittery.

Is this just how the bike rides and I need to get used to it or is my setup my problem?

That kind of sounds like a bike fit problem. How tall are you and what size bike are you on? You could try a slightly shorter stem (although I believe the stock one is already 40 mm so you can only go around 7 mm shorter), slightly narrower bars, a larger rise on your bars, increasing the travel on the fork 10 mm (not sure if this is possible on the fox). All these things will allow you to get your weight back more for descending but some of them will sacrifice climbing ability as a result.
flag joshdodd
Posted: May 21, 2018 at 14:04 Quote
I’ve been riding my 2018 patrol for a few weeks now. It’s coincided with experimenting with a new riding position; weighting the front more than I would before. It could obviously be down to the new riding position but I’ve noticed what you’re saying about a lack of traction on the rear wheel.
I’d be interested to know what psi’s you guys are running in the dpx2. Ive been steadily dropping the pressure in mine to try and find the sweet spot. Got down to 160psi with the 0.6 spacer in. Still got a little way to go to get it feeling anywhere as good as my old patrol.
flag evilbert222
Posted: Jun 14, 2018 at 4:59 Quote
joshdodd wrote:
I’ve been riding my 2018 patrol for a few weeks now. It’s coincided with experimenting with a new riding position; weighting the front more than I would before. It could obviously be down to the new riding position but I’ve noticed what you’re saying about a lack of traction on the rear wheel.
I’d be interested to know what psi’s you guys are running in the dpx2. Ive been steadily dropping the pressure in mine to try and find the sweet spot. Got down to 160psi with the 0.6 spacer in. Still got a little way to go to get it feeling anywhere as good as my old patrol.

It's been a couple of weeks now and I'm getting somewhere with this. Just like you I've dropped the rear pressure to ~160psi. No idea what sag this is but it's more than recommended. I never hit full travel anyway so it's not a problem.

I've also reduced pressure in the tyres and bled the back brake which was fading. I never noticed the brake because so many other things were new. After these 3 changes the bike is completely different. I've got a lot more grip on the rear and I'm still able to lean over the front and get the benefits from the grip there. Happy days!
flag joshdodd
Posted: Jun 21, 2018 at 4:23 Quote
evilbert222 wrote:
joshdodd wrote:
I’ve been riding my 2018 patrol for a few weeks now. It’s coincided with experimenting with a new riding position; weighting the front more than I would before. It could obviously be down to the new riding position but I’ve noticed what you’re saying about a lack of traction on the rear wheel.
I’d be interested to know what psi’s you guys are running in the dpx2. Ive been steadily dropping the pressure in mine to try and find the sweet spot. Got down to 160psi with the 0.6 spacer in. Still got a little way to go to get it feeling anywhere as good as my old patrol.

It's been a couple of weeks now and I'm getting somewhere with this. Just like you I've dropped the rear pressure to ~160psi. No idea what sag this is but it's more than recommended. I never hit full travel anyway so it's not a problem.

I've also reduced pressure in the tyres and bled the back brake which was fading. I never noticed the brake because so many other things were new. After these 3 changes the bike is completely different. I've got a lot more grip on the rear and I'm still able to lean over the front and get the benefits from the grip there. Happy days!

I think I can still go lower with the shock pressure. Not quite getting full travel but I'm fairly sure I've got more sag than is recommended. Still taking some time to get the bike feeling right/ learn to ride it properly.
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