steering feel

[gianco 2]

hi!

 

sorry for my english i’m in italy.

 

i ride bikes by many years, sometimes track.

 

i’m able to knee down, but i’m not a fast rider.

 

i’have searched extensively on web, read many books,

 

but still haven’t a answer to my question.

 

 

when i’m cornering with my bike,

i countersteer, and bike lean,ok.

 

but when leaned, i feel that handlebar, try to push against hand,(turn side, internal side)

 

i’m trying to understand the influence of suspension setup on this behaviour.

 

i think i  understood, that if the front end is lowered (reducind preload on fork spring or lowering fork tube in triole clamp)this behaviour is pronounced

 

instead if rise front end i fell this nearly gone,

 

i’m wrong?

[JohnCBoukis 5]

Your observation is correct. Lowering the front end increases the instability of the bike. Part of stability is the bike acting neutral while leaned over, a phenomenon that you described. Neutral means that it leans only when the rider countersteers and that it requires little or no effort from the rider to remain leaned over.

As the geometry is created by the full suspension it behooves us to consider the shock. A good suspension tuner will create an ideal height for the shock. Depending on the model of the bike they can many times add a few millimeters to the stock height. That raises the rear, creating the same type of geometry change as lowering the front. As they do this they make a judgement and avoid making the shock too high. Otherwise the bike will become unstable, fall over too easily, and require work to keep the bike leaned, the same problem that you experienced from excessively lowering the front. 

A benefit of setting the fork at or near the recommended height and lengthening the shock is that the bike will have the most road clearance possible.

It would be educational to hear from the riders and coaches here with regards to making any such compromises in the bike's stance for competition.