Posted by: BC_Nuggets
Rant:
My technical climbing is absolutely garbage this past year.
I've had some wheel slipping issues while climbing on a couple hardtails I've owned the last while so I can offer some thoughts. The tire is slipping because it doesn't have enough traction. A few ways to mitigate that are:
- Get more weight on the rear tire. [saddle backwards, raise bars, taller fork, shorter CS if you have sliders]
- Lower air pressure [if possible]
- Different tire [bigger knobs, softer compound, more volume so you can run at a lower pressure]
- Try a harder gear like RAH mentioned [oval chainring could help]
Momentum is always a great cheat code if the climb is short enough so use it if you can. If the climb is longer and steady sometimes it's better to come in and push through at a constant effort you can sustain all the way to the top.
I'd find a shorter climb that is causing you some issues and session it. Try whatever you can to see how it affects your climbing so you can start to identify likely solutions. If you have climbed these sorts of sections fine in the past you know you can do it so it's worth working on a bit. You'll feel good once you've made some progress. If you can use your phone to grab some video. You can self-coach your riding if you can see what's happening from an external perspective.
I just sent my fork away for service. It'll come back with 20mm more travel not because I want more squish, but because that's a simple way to move some weight onto the rear wheel and improve rear wheel traction for steep loose climbs where I am getting some wheel spin. Although my problem is minor and only happens in some very specific circumstances I get super annoyed blowing a climb that I know I can get up cleanly. Once the fork is back [I'll also put on a fresh rear tire] I'll be going to a local trail system that has a 4-5 of these climbs and I'll do a solo ride so I can session them and get the problem solved.
You mentioned wheel spin [not enough rear wheel traction] and looping out [not enough weight on the front wheel] which are competing problems. I'd work on one at a time so do enough tweaks so you don't get any wheel spin then do the same to keep the front wheel down. You might have to go back and forth a few times. To find an optimal setup for both.