Help an old man find his ideal ride

[JoeBlow]

I have a Trek Powerfly 4 FS with 130mm of travel but as my riding has improved I've started to bottom out the suspension so I have ordered a bike with 160mm of travel. At my age I'm very unlikely to be taking any serious air time so I'm confident this will be enough for the riding I'm capable of.

 

[steve_sordy]

No - many riders dont do this, it sounds like a bad idea to me, it will just reduce grip and make it more likely that you'll slip off the pedal in the first place, just learn the proper technique (drop your heels on downhills) , get the right shoes (grippy soft soled flat pedal specific shoes such as five 10s), and use decent pedals.

I cant remember the last time I bashed my shin with a pedal, or slipped off one.

I have no idea how many riders do it, never looked, never seen any reports on the topic either. I wonder how you know?
I do it and it worked for me so I passed it on.
Flat pedals with proper pins (not those moulded studs that can be found on some pedals), coupled with shoes with proper soft rubber have an excess of grip; losing one pin is not a problem for me.
I do drop my heels on descents and also when braking. I have the proper shoes (Shimano AM42) and pedals (DMR Vault). Most of the problems occur for me now when I'm not actually riding, like when I'm stood astride the bike, or walking it forward for some odd reason. I once got a right clout when I was walking by the side of the bike down the path between the garage wall and the fence. One pedal caught on the wall and the other whipped round and did the damage. I'm more careful now!

 

[B1rdie]

Well, the central pin is the one that will stamp the bone, when the time comes, no matter how appropriate the thecnic is applied.

 

[Patchinko]

Thanks everyone. My local bike shop is a cube dealer and not Focus. Is the Focus that much more suitable than the Cube stereo 140 HPC SL and if so why? I can get a Focus but it will from a dealer 70km away.

I am of a similar age to you and this year got a Cube 140 hpc race with 625 battery, it has been a revelation for me.
I have a fair bit of mtb experince having done a little dh racing a fair while back (my first full sus was a 1998 spescializedbut FSR extreme). like you i no longer wanted to be doing any thing extreme. But the cube has rekindled my passion for riding and I have been enjoying some pretty techy stuff on places like Exmoor, Dartmoor, the Quantocks and the Purbecks. As well as gentler off-road stuff in the new forest. Over 1600 miles since February.
I think the Cube will be a good choice.

P.S, I have also opened up my shin to reveal bone from pedal strikes but that was from jumps and drops, that didn't go quite to plan. Gentle dh single track and fire roads I do in sandles with no real concern of misadventure.