Oooohh Oooooh Ooooh Good vibrations, ooooh oooh Good vibrations.

Wasn't there a song about that?

I did a very steep long hill climb the other week for the 1st time and found I could feel front lifting so lean forward a little. back slipping, lean back a little, it was quite a long climb but i could definately "feel" the difference of moving your body around and how it affected the bike.

so if you're climbing an uphill, muddy, stone, dry or otherwise, whats the best positioning for the body on the bike ?

people keep telling me to shift further back to keep weight on the rear tyre for traction purposes, not to lose drive and slip.

but i find myself more comfortable and in control leaniing forward, B*****ks on the petrol tank.

Disclaimer; I forget all theory when I ride.

I find it's best to lower my crotch 'into' the dip in the bike (where the seat should be) with very bent knees...and try to modulate my weight backwards or forwards ,from there,as needed.

I know it's easier said than done as the bike is normally bucking around.

I could never call this position 'comfortable' as I am committed to the bike and feel like I can't easily 'abort the mission' (i.e.bale out or take a cowardly dab ) if it all goes Pete Tong.

Edited June 20, 201214 yr by ham2

It seems to be two opposite methods here but people are really in agreement. When they say put the naughty bits on the tank they really mean to lower your center of gravity to help keep the front wheel down on climbs. Think about the angle of your center of gravity vs the contact patch of the rear tire. When you move forward you increase that angle but it tends to unweight the rear wheel which causes spin. Sqatting down allows you to increase that angle while keeping pressure on the rear wheel.

its good advice your both saying, but as ham2 says, squatting in the middle of the bike will probably mean that if you take a tumble then you are gonna hit the floor rather than be able to jump off and land on your feet.

And putting your man parts on the tank while climbing only applies the people who DONT ride Sherco's

Find a nice long hill without ideal traction and try riding up and while you go up, shift you weight forward and backward. To far forward the you wheel spins, shift and bit back and you will find the traction, too far back and the front end lifts. Its amazing to see what a subtle movement on the bike does. Try again with legs fully extended then bent and you see the effect of crouching down on the bike.

Going down, get your butt down on the fender as far back as you can - again keep you CG as low as possible.

K