Bad habits in mountain biking are easy to pick up, especially for those of us who are self-taught. Skills clinics haven’t always been accessible like they are now, and many of us were left to our own devices in learning how to ride. Regardless of how we began, all of us can undo bad habits, learn correct fundamental skills, and improve our overall riding on the trail. Below are some tips to move beyond common mistakes we see on the trail:
Vision
It is instinctive for riders (especially new riders) to look down at our front tire as we ride, focusing on the obstacles and trail directly beneath us. Instead, we want to be looking ahead and further down the trail at the upcoming terrain. As we look ahead we can prepare with correct body position, proper speed, line choice, techniques, etc. We don’t want any surprises on the trail. We can use our peripheral vision to scan down when needed, yet mostly we keep our vision focused and looking ahead. While some of us stay focused and looking ahead most of the time, it is easy to become distracted with an upcoming rock or trail obstacle. As we approach a rock, for example, we can fixate on the rock as it rolls underneath us, instead of preparing for what is next. We can be more intentional with our vision, taking note of when we are looking down or not focusing on the terrain ahead. With correct vision we can find ourselves able to travel at faster speeds and with greater control. For more information about vision, please read this Tech Tuesday Article or better yet join us for a clinic to better understand your vision when riding through rocky terrain, cornering and everyday singletrack.
Tense Grip
When we ride, are we gripping so tight that our shoulders, arms and hands are stiff after the ride? If so, it’s time to loosen up that grip. A tight grip on our handlebars keeps us in a more rigid position. Then as we ride, our bike is harder to maneuver underneath us. Our bikes are meant to handle the terrain, our legs are meant to absorb the extra jolts and movement (when using the correct ready position) and our arms and hands are meant to lightly grip our handlebars to brake, steer and lean the bike. Think of it as heavy feet (weight in our pedals) and light hands. This simple technique will greatly improve dynamic riding skills.
Lean Your Bike, Not Your Body
Learning how to properly execute bike-body separation techniques will greatly improve our dynamic riding and allows us to ride faster and more difficult terrain. Often riders will lean their bodies with their bikes, instead of properly leaning their bike while staying upright, centered and balanced on the bike. Staying upright and balanced not only keeps us stable on our bike, but generates traction in our tires so we don’t slide out. Learn how to properly lean your bike and not your body in one of our Cornering Clinics.
Hand and Finger Placement
Hydraulic disc brakes and wider handlebars have really changed our stance as riders, giving us more leverage and control over the bikes we ride. Older brakes or non hydraulic disc brakes often needed more force for braking which ultimately took away from how many fingers could wrap around our handlebars. However, modern mountain bike brakes are designed to be used with 1 finger only - our index finger. If we position our hands towards the end of our handlebar grips (utilize the full length of our handlebars) our index finger should line up with the slight bend towards the end of our brake levers. Minor adjustments to our brake levers may need to be made to ensure proper positioning for our index finger. This Tech Tuesday Article goes into further detail.
When our brake levers are in the correct position, our index finger can rest on our brakes. Then, our remaining fingers can wrap around our handlebars, which includes our thumbs being below the bar. This grasp gives us more control as we lean, maneuver and steer, compared to the grasp we have when 2 fingers or more do the braking. This full grasp should not be confused with using a tight grasp. We still apply the principles of light hands, yet utilize the rest of our fingers and place our thumbs beneath our bars for a full grasp.
Identifying bad habits on our own is difficult. Sign up for one of our skill’s clinics and let one of our professional coaches help identify areas of needed improvement. Even slight changes have big results on the trail, whether we are just starting out, or have been biking for many years!