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Stairs


duane

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Hi,

I was out on my bike falling all over some rocks again yesterday when a runner stopped to talk to me. He talked about how great he was at mountain biking and asked where else I ride. I mentioned that for a fitness circuit I hop up all the stair cases around the lake that we were talking by. At this he seemed very unimpressed and said that he rides up them all on his FS bike. I thought he was talking nonsense, but then if you had never seen a side hop and someone described it you would think the same.

So is it possible to ride head on up a 10 foot stair case just by pedalling a low gear on a full suspension bike ?

Tell me I am right to think he was bull 5hi11ing,

Duane.

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On a good full suser it is entirely piossible yes. It doesn't even really feel like your riding up stairs... more sort of a hill with a few protruding tree roots. The bikes are quite heavy though, so riding up hills in general is quite tiring, but yes... it can easily be done.

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On a good full suser it is entirely piossible yes. It doesn't even really feel like your riding up stairs... more sort of a hill with a few protruding tree roots. The bikes are quite heavy though, so riding up hills in general is quite tiring, but yes... it can easily be done.

I can't believe it, the stairs are 45 degrees, theres no run up and they are 10 foot high, how do you stop the bike looping out ? a trials bike has longer reach, but its still very difficult not to fall back even when just hopping in place with the brakes locked.

I really don't want this guy to be right, it felt like such an acheivement the first time I got up every set of stairs and now there some guy that can just ride up them like a normal hill.

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I can't believe it, the stairs are 45 degrees, theres no run up and they are 10 foot high, how do you stop the bike looping out ? a trials bike has longer reach, but its still very difficult not to fall back even when just hopping in place with the brakes locked.

I really don't want this guy to be right, it felt like such an acheivement the first time I got up every set of stairs and now there some guy that can just ride up them like a normal hill.

You lean forwards the same way you don on a trials bike. Plus the front end is generally fairly heavy so it won't loop out.

Stick it in a low gear, make sure your chain isn't gonna snap and get pedalling. Its as simple as that.

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Gutted ! I always suspected people thought "look at that idiot scrabbling about on the steps, why doesn't he just get a bike with a seat and ride up them like a normal person". Now I know its true. From now on I will only ride after dark until I can side hop at least 40 inches and gap over busses.

Thanks for the answers anyway,

Duane.

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Well i can ride up stairs but i would never be able to get up a set of 10ft. I can just get up like 4ft by just pedaling up to them and then rolling up them with speed. If hes nt bulling i dont have a clue how he mangaes it. :S

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Yeah, sounds to me like he's bulling.

It is possible to ride up a stair set on a full sus' bike, but a 45deg stair set sounds too steep, even if it was a flat slope then you still couldn't get up it.

I've ridden up sets of 12/13 steps before, and the only way you can do it really is to take a run up and just un-weight the bike and flow up them.

If you wanna see a stylish way of getting up steps then watch the toxicity trials-kings video, Danny Holroyd manuals up what must be a steep 12 or so set of steps! But again, a run-up's needed.

Edit: link to the video, check out 2:33!

Edited by Dont you Just Hate it When...
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i dowt the stairs are 45 degrees the stair regs say maximum pitch of a public staircase is 33 degrees.

The maximum pitch for domestic stairs is 42°, semi-public stairs, eg factories, offices and common stairs serving more than one dwelling, 38° and public stairs, eg places of public assembly, 33°.

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i dowt the stairs are 45 degrees the stair regs say maximum pitch of a public staircase is 33 degrees.

The maximum pitch for domestic stairs is 42°, semi-public stairs, eg factories, offices and common stairs serving more than one dwelling, 38° and public stairs, eg places of public assembly, 33°.

I haven't got my protractor out to check, but I live in Dubai where regulations are something we will think about in a few years time after everyone has already moved into thier villas on the "palm jumeriah" man made islands or thier apartments in the 120 storey and growing by 3 more storeys a week "Burj Dubai" tower.

What I do know is there is no run up at all, there is a lake, a fence, a bike width of path and then the stairs. Being Dubai and completley free of any building regulations, every set of steps is at a different angle, some I can hop up head on, while the steeper sets I can only get up by angling across the two or three steps to reduce the incline angle a bit.

For a while opinion seemed to be more in the BS camp but now we have a few more claiming stair mastery.

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You can think i'm bullshitting all you want, but i HAVE done it. The stairs weren't at 45 degrees because thats not usually an angle that stairs are built at, and as for height... well it was 2 sets of 10-12 steps with a small 2-3 foot long break in the middle of them. 45 dgree angle stair sets are the kind of things you find in castle towers round the winding stair cases.

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Don't think your BSing - "For a while opinion seemed to be more in the BS camp but now we have a few more claiming stair mastery." - thats suposed to read something like - "popular opinion was saying it wasn't possible, but now the weight of opinion has shifted to yes it is, we know it is becuase we have done it."

Anyway I still want to think this guy is full of it, mainly because there is no run up and unless someone says otherwise I am assuming you need you a good run up ?

Duane.

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Don't think your BSing - "For a while opinion seemed to be more in the BS camp but now we have a few more claiming stair mastery." - thats suposed to read something like - "popular opinion was saying it wasn't possible, but now the weight of opinion has shifted to yes it is, we know it is becuase we have done it."

Anyway I still want to think this guy is full of it, mainly because there is no run up and unless someone says otherwise I am assuming you need you a good run up ?

Duane.

I would like a run up of about 4-6feet if it was really steep. Otherwise it would be SERIOUSLY hard work :lol:

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I've ridden up a a fair few sets of stairs on my trials bike. Me and a mate got bored one day and had a competition trying to race each other up a huge set near where we usually ride. Felt like we had square/triangular wheels whilst doing it, but it was fairly easy. Just have to keep the momentum going.

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