Falling off

[Cubist]

Rebas aren't as popular as say Fox, possibly because of image, possibly because of looks and weight,(marginal difference by the way) but trust me they are far more tuneable, easy enough to service (if you can build wheels you can strip and service a reba!) and I would choose them over an equivalent Fox any day. I like the Fox I have on the bouncer, but the Reba on the hardtail is like an old friend. Once you get it set up, which can be a bit time consuming, but worth every minute spent doing it, you'll wonder how you ever got on with an old coiler.

 

[fossyant]

I thought falling off MTB's at least once per ride was THE LAW !

 

[billflat12]

Great new,s about the new bike , My sister started on a cheap y frame appollo ( basically a toy ) , luckily she sampled the difference by riding my kona at a local trail centre , since she bought her real bike her confidence improved almost overnight , Just be honest with yourself an chose that bike wisely for the type of riding you want to do and you,ll be fine, she did crash once after adrenaline got the better of her though , she regularly shows the "all the gear with no idea " trendies up , wants to do a local women only MTB course for some reason ?
( i can see myself crashing soon as she gets very competitive when i ride with her )

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Presumably dry stream beds are fairly flat, though. The tracks I'm having particular problems with are 10-20% gradient.

I can see why you might think that. Then I'd show you the Quantocks to dispel that idea.

Rock Shox Reba is a very good fork. rule of thumb starting point for dual air fork, 60% of your body weight in lbs popped in the top chamber as psi, 10 psi less in the bottom.

 

[VamP]

I can see why you might think that. Then I'd show you the Quantocks to dispel that idea.

Rock Shox Reba is a very good fork. rule of thumb starting point for dual air fork, 60% of your body weight in lbs popped in the top chamber as psi, 10 psi less in the bottom.

Good(ish) rule of thumb, but I (and others) go a bit plusher probably more like 45% of body weight, and then there's the school of thought that has slightly more in the bottom chamber. Weirdos.

I never bottom out BTW, and use the pop-lock as an alternative higher setting for when I want to accelerate on smooth stuff.

The lesson for OP, probably, is that there are many ways to approach the wonderful world of Reba, and I would suggest she spend some time on STW and elsewhere to get to understand the possibilities so as to be able to tailor the tuning to her riding style. Following manufacturer instructions is a recipe for disaster BTW, they want you to run them far too stiff.

Edited: to correct my sloppy use of Single Track World TLA

 

[Cubist]

Good(ish) rule of thumb, but I (and others) go a bit plusher probably more like 45% of body weight, and then there's the school of thought that has slightly more in the bottom chamber. Weirdos.

I never bottom out BTW, and use the pop-lock as an alternative higher setting for when I want to accelerate on smooth stuff.

The lesson for OP, probably, is that there are many ways to approach the wonderful world of Reba, and I would suggest she spend some time on SWT and elsewhere to get to understand the possibilities so as to be able to tailor the tuning to her riding style. Following manufacturer instructions is a recipe for disaster BTW, they want you to run them far too stiff.

Good advice. I run my Rebas at about 33% sag on the Cube which meant a full 100mm travel at the likes of Dalby. That equated to about 80 psi against the recommended 120psi
I'm still experimenting with them set at full travel on the Cotic, they currently have 80 PSI in them, and according to my telltale cable tie I got 130mm travel out of them at Llandegla. I'm going for a bit more this weekend, and try a bit less in the negative chamber. Still not going anywhere near 120psi though, I can't compress them all the way even by sitting on the handlebars, and I ain't exactly the sugar plum fairy.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Good(ish) rule of thumb, but I (and others) go a bit plusher probably more like 45% of body weight, and then there's the school of thought that has slightly more in the bottom chamber. Weirdos.

I never bottom out BTW, and use the pop-lock as an alternative higher setting for when I want to accelerate on smooth stuff.

The lesson for OP, probably, is that there are many ways to approach the wonderful world of Reba, and I would suggest she spend some time on STW and elsewhere to get to understand the possibilities so as to be able to tailor the tuning to her riding style. Following manufacturer instructions is a recipe for disaster BTW, they want you to run them far too stiff.

Edited: to correct my sloppy use of Single Track World TLA

IMNSHO that's (the bit in bold) wronger than a wrong thing. If you never ever bottom out you aren't using all your available travel innit?

STW FTW I agree and just bin the instructions for any SRAM/Avid/Rockshox kit and surf the interwebs to find out how to do it properly

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Good advice. I run my Rebas at about 33% sag on the Cube which meant a full 100mm travel at the likes of Dalby. That equated to about 80 psi against the recommended 120psi
I'm still experimenting with them set at full travel on the Cotic, they currently have 80 PSI in them, and according to my telltale cable tie I got 130mm travel out of them at Llandegla. I'm going for a bit more this weekend, and try a bit less in the negative chamber. Still not going anywhere near 120psi though, I can't compress them all the way even by sitting on the handlebars, and I ain't exactly the sugar plum fairy.

I was taught by someone who was once a serious national points series racer and now owns a component company that the best way to find out the right setting is to take your bike to a quiet car park on a Sunday morning and jump, and pogo, and bunnyhop the hell out of it, beat it up, until you find the point where your fork, with your weight, just bottoms out when you really really cane it hard. and then go from there. I think similar advice exists in the book I recommended to lulubel.

I also have a phobia of cable ties on air forks. I've wrecked seals that way when they have bottomed out on a big hit.

 

[VamP]

IMNSHO that's (the bit in bold) wronger than a wrong thing. If you never ever bottom out you aren't using all your available travel innit?

STW FTW I agree and just bin the instructions for any SRAM/Avid/Rockshox kit and surf the interwebs to find out how to do it properly

Innit

You're right, but I am more of a XC animal, and I suspect that if I ever took the beast into proper terrain it would use ALL the travel at least once. Or twice.

It's a 120mm fork, but I only ride 100mm terrain

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Innit

You're right, but I am more of a XC animal, and I suspect that if I ever took the beast into proper terrain it would use ALL the travel at least once. Or twice.

It's a 120mm fork, but I only ride 100mm terrain

Then you know you need to go faster.....

 

[VamP]

Then you know you need to go faster.....

Thanks for pointing out the obvious Brain of Britain.

The bike is willing, the fork is up for it, the tyres are gagging for it... the engine needs a little work.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Thanks for pointing out the obvious Brain of Britain.

The bike is willing, the fork is up for it, the tyres are gagging for it... the engine needs a little work.

The engine needs nowt of the sort. Just get yourself to the top of a tidy Surrey Hill and let her roll!

 

[Licramite]

I come off mostly through the bike stopping as it sinks - and then kealing over into 2ft of cow-s--t.
I loose it on one nasty hill near me , not on the nasty bit, but on the flat bit at the end, bike just slides away!.
harthorn hedges are my normal landing place. but only once have I gone completely over the handle bars, - nice shoulder role and stylishly back on my feet, - then hopped around and pulled out all the bramble and thorn stuck in me.
going to fast can be just as bad as going to slow. - I,m normally to scared to fall off if going fast.

I wouldn,t worry about forks bottoming out , its probably more a symptom of the track than the bike.

 

[Licramite]

forgot to mention - clothing - makes a big difference - you see these off roaders in shorts - they either are on drugs (arn,t we all) or unplugged thier legs from the nervouse system.
even if you don,t crash your legs get cut to bits. - well on the routes I do they do.
so long trousers - padded knees if you can, long sleeve shirts , gloves , helmet , first aid kit ,mobile phone, bike first aid kit, water. - parachute if you read these off road rider magerzines.