This Small Change Made My Trek Roscoe 9 Ride Way Better

[@hardtailparty]

It was great riding hardtails with you and meeting you in person Matty, you crushed it! I can't wait for the next time we get to ride together. Hopefully it'll be in Sedona on dry trails. Here's a bit more detailed info on some of the ideas shared in this video: My tire pressure "squeeze gauge" is "soft like an orange, not hard like an apple." Rim width, tire casing, tire width, rider weight, and riding style will all come into play for tire pressure, but I encourage people to experiment. There are so many small gains to be had by experimenting and trying what works for you. If your tire squirms or you're having rock strikes on the rim, add a psi or two. If you're not, try taking some out. Also, as riders master the hardtail, you start getting smoother and smoother. It's hard to see, but if you look for it, you can tell I weight and unweight my rear tire A TON on the ride. This eats up precious energy, but it makes it so much fun and it makes riding a hardtail smoother and more in control. Because I'm aware of where my rear tire is all the time, and when I'm about to hit a square edged rock, I can unweight for that split second and not worry about bottoming out the rim. Riding like this allows me to run SUPER low tire pressures. I was in the 15-16psi range on this ride, with a 40i rim on 29x2.6 tires. If I rode it like a full suspensions, plowing through stuff and never unweighting the rear wheel, I'd have pinch flatted for sure. For those curious about the cornering/traction conversation, here's the full version: The knobs on your tires have a tough job. They have to hold grip in different directions: forward (climbing), backward (braking) and sideways (cornering). Different knobs on your tires perform different duties. The center knobs are for climbing and braking. The side knobs are for cornering. Their shape has been specifically designed to perform these functions. For example, if you don't learn your bike into the cornering knobs enough (which most new riders don't), you're asking your center climbing knobs to do cornering duty, and they're not meant for that. So using a dropper and leaning the bike a ton engages those cornering knobs, where they can do what they do best: provide sideways knob traction. Assume each cornering knob has 10 units of grip available (harder compounds may only have 7 units, and super sticky compountd may have 12, but we're going to stick with 10 for this analogy). When you brake, you're using most of your 10 grip units for slowing down. So let's say you're coming into a corner hot. You slam on the brakes to slow down so you don't fly off the trail, and you use 7 of your grip units on braking. That only leaves 3 grip units left for cornering, steering, etc. That's not good. You're more likely to slide and lose traction in a corner when you're asking your tire to provide grip in two different ways: cornering (the side of the knob), and braking (the back of the knobby). Instead, separate this into two actions. Before the corner, do all your braking. Use all 10 units to brake HARD and intentionally (not just casually comfort dragging of the brakes). Do this before you enter the corner. This takes a TON of practice and skill to read the corner to know how much speed you can carry into it. This is why coaching sessions and clinics are so valuable; they teach you how to judge the proper speed to enter a corner. And then they practice over and over and over until it becomes second nature. The best way to learn this is to set up cones, or ride the same corner over and over and over on a trail, practicing different entry speeds. Once your entry speed is correct on the corner, you can completely let go of the brakes and use the cornering knobs for what they were meant for: providing cornering grip (rather than braking). You'll be amazed at how much more grip you have through corners, since all 10 units are available for cornering. It's amazing how much this simple change can improve flow, riding, and fun. It takes effort, practice, and paying attention, but that's how fast riders pull away from us so quickly. Hopefully that helps a few people.

[@MattyActive]

Definitely a pleasure riding with you! Really appreciate you letting me pick your brain, learned a lot in a short amount of time

[@hardtailparty]

@@MattyActive Let's ride again sooner than later. Thanks for coming out and saying hi.

[@nodbag6301]

@@hardtailparty Thanks for the detailed explanation above. Love your channel and the scenery in Arizona and partic Sedona is wonderful. From a very green UK

[@ronjroutdoors1980]

Awesome explanation of grip Steve. Your NICA kids are lucky to have you.

[@RKridesMTB]

Thanks for setting up the ride and still doing a neighborhood rip Saturday. Had so much fun Friday we went back to dead horse Sunday on the way out!

[@jamesnicolson6833]

He seems like a great guy to ride with. So much amazing advice

[@joshuaallswang8016]

Glad you met Steve brother, now you will have more respect for the hardtail💯💪

[@RKridesMTB]

Huge thanks to hardtail party for setting it up. Great ride, great group. Steve was awesome and helpful. Great meeting you Matt, super friendly and fun dude. Come back to AZ soon and we'll ride...or wait til October or so when it cools back down. Until then, keep bringing the fun

[@claydogmadman6295]

I remember I was one of the guys who suggest you ride with Steve from "Hard Tail Party" and here you are... Now that's great to see...

[@hornzeerides72]

Steve is the man....I just watched a good video with him on Kyle and April's channel..it's great you had a chance to ride with that group...looks like a great day out ...cheers

[@ronjroutdoors1980]

So awesome you was able to ride with Steve. Watching him reignited my passion for hardtails. For only 2 years in you’re doing some nice riding. Hope your page grows and has the future success that Hardtail Party has.

[@Ecoroof1986]

That was brilliant. Thank you for posting. Steve clearing the trail of rocks with his back tyre while blasting along wow.

[@RiderDycus]

Yea Boy!!!! Got the Roscoe 9 out with Hardtail Party!!!! 🎉 Getting ALL the ProTips!!! Your's and Steve's videos are really what inspired me to pull the trigger on the 9 and I just love it. So much respect and confidence on the Trail. Keep riding hard and putting out great content!

[@mattj6676]

It's great doing things with people who know stuff, there's always more to learn! Love that trail, it has a bit of everything in it!

[@devinbyrnes8058]

Two of my favourite channels. The KZbin who picked up biking the same time as me (and wheelie bikes), and Hardtail party, my favourite tech review channel. The tire pressure issue is a good lesson. I think I run mine too high thinking hardtails needs more air pressure than full sus.

[@MattyActive]

That was my same thought process!

[@boydcrowder4436]

Nice work Matt. Steve seems like a really nice dude.

[@simonsays5979]

Heck yeah, It's awesome that you got to ride with Steve. Like I said in other comments, I bought my 9 based on his reviews. I would never even try to ride with the people in this group or any other group for that matter because the bottom line is I'm just not good enough to ride with other people, they would get mad at me for not being able to keep up.

[@hardtailparty]

A lot of people feel that way, but I ride for social reasons, not to have the fastest lap times. My group rides are open to everyone, and I post the skill level required for the terrain we'll be riding. We had 26 people on this ride, and very different speeds. We ended up breaking into two groups and we waited for everyone every 5 minutes. Group rides are a great way to learn, meet new riding friends, and have fun socially. It encourages us to put down the strava and reconnect with the reasons we started riding in the first place: to have fun. That said, not everyone who leads a group ride shares my approach, but I hope you get a chance to ride in a group that emphasizes community over competition. If you're ever in my neck of the woods, we won't leave you behind on a group ride, no matter what.

[@theymademepickaname1248]

I would not try to ride in a group because I don't like people.

[@E-MTBs]

Welcome to AZ Matty. Lots of rocky trails out here.

[@sixate]

Great vid, Steve seems super cool and helpful, willing to share knowledge. You can always tell who spends a ton of time on hardtails. It's a subtle thing, but a necessary skill to weight shift/unweight your rear tire. That's how you smooth things out. Bigger tires help, too. That's why I always roll on 29x3's.

[@nairsheasterling9457]

Welcome to Arizona! Lotta great desert to ride, and in summer, there's a lot of great alpine trails to ride in northern and eastern AZ, above the Mogollon Rim! Oh, and you can find some good gnar at South Mountain and the Superstitions.

[@edwinharvie6174]

My two favorite hard-tailors together. Way to go Matty and Steve!

[@pauls3616]

Great video Matty. Steve seems like a good guy. Thank you for the video.

[@DaBinChe]

Yeah you gotta play with tire pressure and find how low you can get away with.....it'll take some pinch flats and trashing a set of tires to figure it out. I spent most of last season playing with tire pressure when I got back into mtbing after a 15 hiatus. Tech has come a long ways and everything was so foreign to me. With the tires I'm using, my weight, bike, trail conditions, etc. I run 20psi front 22.5psi rear. to not get pinch flats.

[@charlesholland6851]

Steve seems like a great guy. He’s definitely knowledgeable and I trust what he says. I will say I’m “mad” at him for helping me with my decision to buy Paul Klamper brakes. They’re great but my bank account is unhappy. 😝. Plus his review made me feel even happier about my Salsa Timberjack.

[@X41N3]

Wish I could've been there with my HT, would've been a real hardtail party ^^

[@jurisx85]

I would love to get to ride with Steve. He has teached almost everything I Know about bikes and riding.

[@akebono101]

Awesome Matty! I'm just starting my mountain bike journey. I can't wait to meet you on the trail one day!

[@Skrufcranberries]

just ordered my R9! love the Videos man, Keep it up! Greets from sweden!

[@KeoOutdoors]

My Maniak is set up Single speed also

[@trailheadjunkie]

I ride motorcycles and Steves explanation of “cornering” also applies to motorcycles 👌🏽

[@nodbag6301]

Lovely video Matty

[@RiderObvious]

Glad you were able to ride in Arizona when the temps were low enough to not melt your face. It was cool to meet you on the trails by my house in Westminster. Looking forward to more content! Those are nice looking trails there! P.S. watched till the end, I was surprised you didn't run across more trail users.

[@garyharmon5386]

Great video and awesome ride. Really nice that Steve helped you with some of the settings but that’s what mountain bikers do, Right. I just purchased Trek Fuel EX 9.8 and love it. I have two collapsed discs in my back so I don’t know how a hard tail would do. Enjoying the videos. Pedal safe. Btw, if you are ever in Georgia let me know. Maybe we can do some riding

[@ridecrashrepeat3207]

Great riding!

[@GreatUnknownDingleberry]

Great scenery. Fun ride

[@abendiaye3330]

Another fun and wholesome adventure as usual. Keep up the great work!

[@jmoore3854]

I enjoyed your Great Divide videos. I will try to watch some of your thru hiking videos coming up by I enjoy bike packing more. Last year I did section 2 of the great Divide and will do sections 3 and section 4 to Silverthorne. In a few years I will be interested in a new bike backing location in NW USA. I been using a hardtail but hope to use a Cutthroat this year so interested in seeing your video on a Cutthroat. If your in the States in January or February there is a 350 mile mainly off road trail in Central Florida Called the HurACan 300 I would be interested in you bike backing that route.thanks

[@nick_john]

Matty I Ike your channel, I like the perspective of someone coming from a mainstream athletic discipline especially at your level to a fringe sport with a small community.

[@MattyActive]

Thank you nick I really appreciate it!

[@hardtailrider7172]

Single speed is the way to go. I converted my Marlin five to a true single speed. I’m probably gonna do the same thing with the Roscoe 9. Great video by the way.

[@BlazingTonic2009]

I was doing the same thing with my fork. Feels much better with less air.

[@bongmayor4828]

Oh man I missed this ride. We end up riding Hawes Trail at Mesa. Looking forward for next year's festival to be with you guys!

[@MattyActive]

This was very last minute! I was gonna go down to hawes but I couldn’t make it in time

[@rufuswainwright8171]

Matty your riding skills have come on so much in such a short time. Well done. Would love to ride those trails with Steve. Good work 👍👍

[@MattyActive]

Thank you I really appreciate it!

[@andrewbrown8927]

Dis you ask him about the berd wheels or spokes. It's the best upgrade for any hardtail.

[@mc540flip]

Looks like a lot of flow on that trail. A couple of my buddies were in that ride too! Roscoe out there was a good call. And you should definitely give single speed a go-run 30/20 or 32/20 and ride mellow trails, so fun and a good challenge/workout. Did you get the Remedy 8?

[@MattyActive]

Not yet but that’s the plan for sure

[@Bike4adventure]

Awesome ride!

[@martin-i2p5e]

Great video!

[@the3rddeck78]

Great Job Matty...I'm really enjoying your videos and I'm so glad you made it out to Sedona. New subscriber...

[@MattyActive]

Thank you! I really appreciate you taking time to watch the videos and subscribing!

[@kenetics1344]

Awesome video, I love hardtail party's channel. Seemed like he was ripping thru the trail, was this trail pretty mellow or faster pace then you would normally ride?

[@MattyActive]

It was pretty mellow but a lot of up and down. I’m used to Colorado trails where you just go up then it’s all down.

[@bryanhale3310]

time to go for a ride after watching this 🚴‍♂

[@Chasing-Daydream]

Qs? So what PSI were you running at before the ride started? Did you check to see what PSI you ended up at? Did you have to change the pressure in your front shocks afterwards? Feedback! I couldn't really understand Steve when he spoke. Subtitles would have been nice here I think. Thoughts! I ride a Marlin 8. I haven't found any other creators riding Treks. But I see lots of Treks on the trail. Thank you for creating and sharing your experiences. Great riding. Great hardtail. Looking forward to seeing more.

[@MattyActive]

I was running about 26 in the rear and 24 in the front. I didn’t end up changing the pressure in my front fork but I definitely need to dial it in

[@DreadRaybo]

As my BIL told me, it's not really a single speed. It has 3 speeds: sitting, standing, and walking

[@illwillmtb]

Nice video!

[@Biking_with_Akiva]

So awesome 💯💪🏾🔥

[@rubeng3091]

Hey Matty…..love your channel and am subbed. Do you think this trail was doable on a Marlin 8? I was in Parker CO recently visiting my son (USAF @ Buckley) but weather was not good and I didn’t do much exploring. Would love to ride with you one day although I am a newbie😎. So many beautiful places to ride in CO!!!

[@MattyActive]

Thank you I really appreciate it! I definitely think the Marlin 8 a can handle it no problem

[@Ricky-tr2hd]

Do they sell the Whyte brand of bikes ib the US?

[@MattyActive]

I haven’t seen any

[@GreatUnknownDingleberry]

How many miles did you ride on this trail?

[@MattyActive]

If I’m not mistaken I think it was about 7-10 miles

[@GreatUnknownDingleberry]

@@MattyActive Nice!

[@davidwangeman11]

Awesome video Matty