Question when climbing

[gnat23]

-a variation of the chocolate cookie thing is "boobs to the tube".

So, I just tried mountain biking for the second time in my life, demoing some different models before buying one. And randomly, during a rather slippery climb, I remembered reading this, so I tried it. Boobs to the tube, boobs to the tube...

All I gotta say is THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! You made my afternoon *much* more fun! I think I might light this mountain biking thing afterall!

-- gnat! (Just gotta write the check for the final amount, and I will have me a pretty sexy tube to put my boobs on)

[DirtDiva]

It probably is a body positioning and weight distribution thing, but if you're still having trouble you might want to look at bar height. Having the bars higher does make it easier to unweight the front wheel when you want to, but can also make it harder to keep the front end down when you need to. You could try moving a spacer from below the stem to above it and give that a few rides to see how it affects things.

[han-grrl]

All the tips here are very good

- weight shifted forward - you may even need to move around a bit to ensure traction on both wheels
- easier gear
- BREATHE! its amazing how many people forget
- patience! nothing aggravates me more than to see people try to "momentum" up a hill in too hard a gear, at an intensity way past their fitness levels. Just be patient, the top of the hill will be there faster than you think. I have passed people who blew up before the top, because they tried to speed up the hill like that.
- riser bars tend to make climbing more difficult as it sits you more upright
- saddle position - make sure it isn't tipping "backwards" because it too will make sliding forward more difficult
- and overall geometry of the bike - all mountain bikes versus a cross country designs - even overly small frames like mine, affect the ability to shift forward and effectively transfer weight and traction to the front tire.

Happy Climbing!