Hill climbing pogo and arm extension

[sugarfyed]

I am enjoying climbing hills on my Sofrider. I noticed in the pics of V's and Silvios that the riding position
has fairly straight arms compared to how the Sofrider is. I wondered if it was better to be this way. So I swept the handlebars a little forward. This only moved the grips about 7 or 8 cm forward. It made a big difference to the amount of power that I could deliver to the pedals when climbing. It feels like a much more satisfying full body input and I look for every opportunity to climb .

However, I seem to have created another problem. I am a good sized bugger at 183 cm and 98 KG .Now that I am putting more power into the pedals I seem to be doing the pogo up hills which seems to make things harder . I have the mid bike suspension spring wound all the way up. I may have to get a tougher spring.

Has anyone else noticed the handle bar position difference and any anti pogo suggestions would be handy

 

[MrSteve]

Arm Position

Hand position, degree of recline, bottom bracket height and
yes, handlebar type / height / width / position / stiffness:
all are interrelated and influence your climbing performance.

You can search this forum to find posts about air shocks/dampers
and elastomeric/rubber dampers.
A heavier spring will help, of course, if you can find one.

My Sofrider V1 has a higher bottom bracket, a more reclined seat,
a dropbar for a straight arm position and a triple front chain ring.

Since I weigh much less than you do, the stock spring on the stock
rear damper works fine for me.
However, the preload is very stiff: only a half-inch of sag, with my weight.

All these modifications to the bike added speed, efficiency climbing and
comfort.

One suggestion?
I don't pretend to know your skill level, or pretend to be a coach....
But!
Pedaling smoothly, with a high cadence -revolutions of the crank per minute-
will reduce or even eliminate pogo.

Hope this helps!

-Steve

 

[Charles.Plager]

I now know where John got the

I now know where John got the shape of the new Silvio seat/headrest...

 

[hurri47]

I get pogo at the front of my

I get pogo at the front of my converted Cannondale (with HeadShok) any time I am in a lower gear than I need. I suppose the optimum response is "learning to spin better," but I also get good results by upshifting and muscling up. This works OK on shortish hills - I'm not sure what I will run into on multi-mile climbs.

-Dan

 

[sugarfyed]

Thanks fellas

Thanks fellas,
I expect I am about 10kgs too heavy for the spring . If I keep riding up difficult hills I may lose the extra and then won't have the problem anymore . Saving up for a V now . Can't wait

 

[super slim]

The spring that came on my

The spring that came on my Softrider V1.0 frame was 850 lbs/inch and is a DNM DV-22 standard rear shocker spring for a MTB. (850 in white on the top coil)
It cost me $20 for a new spring from the local Bike shop.(450, 550, 650, 750, 850 lbs/inch spring rates)
Mine might have been heavier than standard, as John asked what my weight was before selling the second hand frame to me!

I ended up replacing the spring unit(165 mm 28 mm travel) with and $150 air spring and shock absorber (Manitou Radium R 165mm 38 mm travel) of the same 165 mm fully extended length, to improve the rear rebound when hitting valve pit covers that had sunken 100 mm below the road surface. (South Australian suburban roads/ waterworks leave a lot to be desired.)

A cheaper option could be clipless pedals and spd MTB or road bike shoes, OR heel clips with sand shoes, as this allows you to push, and pull down towards the ground, so pedalling power is over a much greater crank angle range.

Moving the seat base forward, and lowering the seat back is another way of increasing your reach to the handle bars to get your preferred elbow angle, while not reducing the drive wheel load too much, which can cause traction problems on steep hills.

Super Slim