Stand up or sit down?

Stand, keep knees bent, grasp tank with knees, keep elbows up, lean forward to prevent from getting bucked and place your weight over the front wheel, look forward and pick your line, let the rear tire dance around, keep momentum up and work the clutch to prevent from spinning too much or bogging. If you lose traction, shift you body weight back to help plant the rear tire. Worse comes to worse, sit your ass down and 'dog paddle' through the rocks to prevent from stopping.
 
Standing through the rocks lets the bike kind of dance around under you. If you sit you feel them all. The first pic is the most sit friendly and the last is the least.

If you do decide to sit slow down. I could see not standing through the last, but it will take a lot longer.

We have lots and lots of rocks out here in California so those don't even look that rocky.

I see it the other way around...the smoother it is the more likely I would stand snce the less likley the front end is going to wash out (bunce off a bigger rock). The bigger the obstacles the more I would sit allowing me to "dab" my foot if necessary to keep my balance.

I guess all in all it's a preference of style and comfort. But mostly I think it has to do with balance! That's my story and I'm sticking to it! :prof:
 
Stand, keep knees bent, grasp tank with knees, keep elbows up, lean forward to prevent from getting bucked and place your weight over the front wheel, look forward and pick your line, let the rear tire dance around, keep momentum up and work the clutch to prevent from spinning too much or bogging. If you lose traction, shift you body weight back to help plant the rear tire. Worse comes to worse, sit your ass down and 'dog paddle' through the rocks to prevent from stopping.

and make sure you're in the right gear......you don't want to hit a bigger rock and stall out...mainly if on a steaper grade.!
 
stand and pin it if your front wheel isn't touching or barely touching the rocks you don't have to worry about it washing out.plus you have a lot more control of your bike while standing like said above grip the tank with your knees and let the bike do what it does.
 
stand and pin it if your front wheel isn't touching or barely touching the rocks you don't have to worry about it washing out.plus you have a lot more control of your bike while standing like said above grip the tank with your knees and let the bike do what it does.

OK....I'm old.....the ground is closer when sitting. Being projected any distance is lessened in the event of hitting something immoveable.
 
stand and pin it if your front wheel isn't touching or barely touching the rocks you don't have to worry about it washing out.plus you have a lot more control of your bike while standing like said above grip the tank with your knees and let the bike do what it does.
Well said:thumb: The key is a good balanced suspension setup for the type of riding you do. That also will give you more confidence in the rocks.
 
I tried some things mentioned and my ride was a lot of fun this weekend. When ever I came to a rock or something that was sticking up say 4-6" and there was no way to avoid it I leaned back and gave her the juice. She would pull up nicely and half the time the bike would just slip over it like it was flat. Worked awesome on ruts in the road too. You pull that front wheel right before you hit stuff and man its smooth.

So with that when I hit the really rocky areas where they like to just roll on you, I would pull back and let her carry it over the rocks. (Still wouldn't sit but I would adjust my weight back.) I'm starting to think I need to get a little more out of the bike just for this reason.:thumb:
 
If I am going downhill, I stand.
If I am going uphill, I sit.
If it is bumpy, I stand.
If it's smooth, I sit.

A lot of the decision for me has to do with traction and how I can get it. I watch guys flounder going up some steep technical hillclimb because they try to stand the whole time. Knowing when to plant your ass on the seat can be the difference between not making or making it.
 
If I am going downhill, I stand.
If I am going uphill, I sit.
If it is bumpy, I stand.
If it's smooth, I sit.

A lot of the decision for me has to do with traction and how I can get it. I watch guys flounder going up some steep technical hillclimb because they try to stand the whole time. Knowing when to plant your ass on the seat can be the difference between not making or making it.

ive learned this from riding mt bikes so long. most the time on a mt bike you jsut spin the back tire and go no where if you stand. The only times i reall stand when climbing on my dirtbike is if there is a steep rock or something of that sort that might loop me ... then im alsmot over my front fender :P

im still learning technique tho.
 
Hey guys after riding with a couple of guys I thought were very experianced riders. I noticed they were almost always sitting down. I thought maybe I'm wrong standing up. I was alway taught you stand up and if your feet hit the ground your ass will follow. Well our ride was not really technicol just loose gravel and sand on hard packed roads for about 55 miles. We averaged about 30 mph. After one of the guys put his bike down for the 3rd time I really started to wonder if I was right or wrong. In fact I started watching him going around the switch backs. It didn't look like either had as much control as I felt I did standing up. I road 55 miles standing and I think they road 53 miles sitting.

Do you ride standing or sitting?

Is one better then the other?

Ride however feels comfortable.

If I were to ride 55 miles on roads, you can be sure I will be leaned back with my boots up on the front fender at some point while i take nap!

I only stand if I need to...
 
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