Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 83 total)
  • Drifting/sliding corners?
  • AndyRT
    Free Member

    Anyone know of a good article or video on this technique?

    glenp
    Free Member

    No.

    No no no.

    Ref endless STW topic "skids are for kids, discuss".

    Unless you've got your own land to play on/rip up.

    glenh
    Free Member

    AndyRT
    Free Member

    but is that it, grab a hand full of rear brake and make a mess of the land? I thought there was more to it?

    UK Bike park has some trails which means you need to do it, and to be honest I don't see many downhillers going fast with a locked up rear….

    Don't worry GlenP I fear for trail longevity too…

    DaveyBoyWonder
    Free Member

    The OP isn't asking how to skid.

    Not seen any topics but I love it. Theres an awesome corner for doing this on one of my regular rides. Sweeping left hander on dirt into a short descent in the trees. Come into it at speed, touch the back brake and turn into the corner to kick the back end out and lay the bike over to the left. End up going down about 10ft sideways and it feels great!

    wors
    Full Member

    Have a look on IMBIKEMAG there's a couple of good articles on cornering.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    Isn't learning the limits of your traction helpful for racing?

    glenp
    Free Member

    I realise it's a matter of terminology, but going 10ft sideways is skidding.

    Just because it takes more skill than banging on the back brake, doesn't mean it's an acceptable way to ride on shared trails.

    DaveyBoyWonder
    Free Member

    My wheels are still turning so its drifting, not skidding.

    glenh
    Free Member

    It's still skidding sideways

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    Where do you get your soap boxes from glenp, do you get a bulk discount?

    glenp
    Free Member

    Drifting, skidding, whatever. It isn't rolling.

    DaveyBoyWonder
    Free Member

    FWIW, any idiot can slam on the back brake and turn the bars whilst the back wheel is locked. That is going to f*ck trails right up.

    Drifting a corner is very different.

    thomthumb
    Free Member

    its all in the hips.

    philconsequence
    Free Member

    girls love skids… end of discussion

    coffeeking
    Free Member

    Skidding is just a loss of traction, whether it be sideways, backwards or straight on. It's about the best way of trashing trails for everyone else if they're not concrete.

    FWIW, any idiot can slam on the back brake and turn the bars whilst the back wheel is locked. That is going to f*ck trails right up.

    Drifting a corner is very different.
    It's not MUCH different. It might take different technique, but it's still ripping the trails up.

    glenp
    Free Member

    Bloody hell, another one. What's your problem al? I merely referenced previous very long discussions where it has been discussed that skidding (in all forms) wears trails out pretty damned fast. If everyone did it we wouldn't have much left to ride on – fortunately most people choose not to.

    thomthumb
    Free Member

    if done properly the weight will be on the front; the back wheel will drift across the ground without causing as much damage as a skid.

    If everyone did it we wouldn't have much left to ride on

    lol – where would the trail go?

    DaveyBoyWonder
    Free Member

    Give it a rest.

    Skidding = slamming on your back brake and locking the rear wheel.
    Drifting = carefully and skillfully kicking the back end of the bike into the outside of a turn whilst turning the bars into it, causing the back end to arc, wheels still turning. The back wheel will be about 50/60 degrees to the direction you're travelling and will be turning because its in contact with the ground that allows it to move rather than it being say at 90 degrees which wouldn't allow the wheel to move and yes, then cause a skid (although it your back wheel was at 90 degrees to the direction you're travelling in, you'd probably have more to worry about that whether you were pulling a skid or not!).

    coffeeking
    Free Member

    if done properly the weight will be on the front; the back wheel will drift across the ground without causing as much damage as a skid.

    I don't tend to skid with my weight back, so isn't that the same?

    It's all for vanity anyway, admit it 😀

    The back wheel will be about 50/60 degrees to the direction you're travelling and will be turning because its in contact

    It's still skidding, you do realise that don't you? It's still dragging sideways over the trail.

    You know when your tracking is out on your car and it shreds your tyres in no time? That's because they're 1-2 degrees out of line and skidding sideways while turning. Same on the trail, only you're talking 30+ degrees, so think about the level of scrub involved!

    buzz-lightyear
    Free Member

    A little rear wheel drift only happens to me by accident on fast, muddy corners, and is quite exciting! It's not a braking thing though.

    glenp
    Free Member

    I know what drifting is. The wheel is moving sideways across the ground as well as forwards. Not locked, but not just rolling along either. Skidding, basically. Just because it takes more skill doesn't mean it's a good idea.

    RudiBoy
    Free Member

    : Start of lesson :

    Just ride raly fast into a corner and make this noise just as you begin to turn…..BRAAAAAAAAAAAP

    : end of lesson :

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    glenp only kidding 😀

    Very few folk can drift, I bet it makes **** all contribution to trail damage.

    MostlyBalanced
    Free Member

    Find a gravelly corner with a bit of a berm on the outside. Go in (a little) too fast, aiming for a line a foot or two inside the berm. Keep your weight back and hands OFF the brakes. Get it right and the bike should slide out to the base of the berm and no further.
    With a bit of practice you'll be able to get the wheels ploughing through loose surfaces in much the same way a skier ploughs through powder snow.

    geetee1972
    Free Member

    Glenp I really can't believe that you're even tryin to make an argument for not drifting. Are you out of your mind? If you think those of that can drift corners are going to stop because of trail wear you're seriously deluded.

    philconsequence
    Free Member

    you should see what the heavy rain does to some trails 😯 i've even seen sediment and rocks that started at the top of a hill end up halfway down!!!! rain causes much more damage than the odd locked back brake from what i've seen.

    i've been out there with lots of scientific measuring stuff and i can safely conclude that the weather damages stuff, as do people walking, people riding, people skidding, animals mating whilst wearing studded bondage gear and so on….

    Lionheart
    Free Member

    I though this was part of riding a bike off road! Ride most days and drift most days, though rarely as intentionally as I would like. If I follow my son or his mates, too quick for me to stay with, their wheels (back and front) slide / drift (rarely if ever lock up) as they get round most corners, long ones, switch backs, tech ones, even berms. We are off road vehicles looking for grip and losing it, MTBs are more like motor cross and rallying than driving a car on the road.

    As for vids watch some of the 4X or WorldCup DH ones for people drifting in control. Bet Jedi drifts, could be good to do a course with.

    or did you mean drifting doughnuts on a push bike!?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sneksh2URjU

    edit as Rudeboy says!!!

    duntstick
    Free Member

    Scandinavian Flick, stylee at 1m:10
    Sorry about the crap 'SHON' song

    Eggbox
    Free Member

    You can make the back end drift on a loose corner by dabbing the ground with your inside foot so the weight goes onto your foot for a fraction of a second, unweighting the tyre. No braking required. Entering the corner you can stick your leg out forwards and decide where to dab. I learnt it after seeing JMC do it in a Vid many years ago 🙂

    13thfloormonk
    Full Member

    you should see what the heavy rain does to some trails i've even seen sediment and rocks that started at the top of a hill end up halfway down!!!! rain causes much more damage than the as a result of odd locked back brake from what i've seen.

    I got some great drifting done during the heavy snow, if you got the back wheel out far enough it 'caught' and the bike would want to straighten out. If you flicked your hips the other way you could end up slaloming down the pavement like a mogul skier. 😀

    DaveyBoyWonder
    Free Member

    My last word on the subject.

    Drifting (as in the motorsport). Its not skidding is it? Skidding is what Barry does in his Vauxhall Corsa in Asda car park on a night when he flies around pulling his handbrake.

    Me, I love drifting. And skidding. And wheelying. And endoing.

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    I know what drifting is. The wheel is moving sideways across the ground as well as forwards. Not locked, but not just rolling along either. Skidding, basically. Just because it takes more skill doesn't mean it's a good idea.

    All contextual really isn’t it?

    You tend to find the tallentless Marys who aren’t willing to ride corners properly will brake heavily on the approach to corners, so they can trundle through at a minimal pace (probably jabbing at the brakes on the way through the corner too). Even if they don’t lock up and skid doing this they will place extra pressure at different points on the trail surface and enough of this nonsense over time does result in divets, puddles and wave/washboard effect corner entries in a lot of cases (we’ve all seen trails like this)…

    Riders regularly difting through a corner tends to result in uniform displacement of material through the apex of a corner towards the outside, often forming a mini berm and/or uniform grove/rut in that corner, at least a smother, easier and often, actually safer to ride line than a bumpy, diveted, knackered trail from brake jabbers…

    Most trails are built considering braking points and corners/feature which allow an “Off the brakes” rider to carry speed smoothly with minimal damage to the surfaces (riding with “flow” if you like), a bit of drifting is often expected in certain places as that carried speed may well usefully feed into the next section of the trail…

    Just because you’re riding slowly doesn’t mean you’re not damaging the trails for everyone else, pretty much everything you do on a trail causes some degree of damage, there are different forms of damage and some have more of an effect than you might think….

    Shandy
    Free Member

    I am confused. I want to ride my bike but I'm concerned for mother earth, what ever will I do?!

    philconsequence
    Free Member

    dont do it shandy!!!

    you should see the state of some of the cliffs on the south coast…. they've been battered by the weather so imagine what riding down them would do.

    if you want there to be a planet for your kids or grandkids to enjoy, then for mother-earth's sake dont leave your house.

    jhw
    Free Member

    Using SPDs helps because you can feel more precisely what the back wheel is doing and "place" it better. This is helpful generally but particularly when traction is an issue. On the other hand it's harder to drop a foot, so it's a judgment call.

    Running low tyre pressures is key. I only just really clocked this.

    Swing your hips and gradually (not in one harsh movement) ease the tyres onto their sidewalls – it takes a while to get this feel of rocking the bike onto the edges (it is exactly like carving on skis).

    When you begin the turn the front wheel should be straight. As you go through the turn your bars will naturally turn so the wheel is actually pointing in the opposite direction to that in which you are turning. This makes it easier to get onto your sidewalls. This should happen naturally – if you resist it in a drift and try to point the front wheel in the direction of the corner, you'll probably highside!

    It's not a technique that's useful that often – fire roads really. If you're doing it on a road, it's probably accidental and you're probably heading for roadrash.

    glenp
    Free Member

    Well, maybe you all take me too earnestly. My point is provocative. Obviously going outdoors at all has some effect, it's a question of degree. Personally I think part of the skill is riding and leaving no mark, or at least not intentionally and not any more than is necessary while still making enjoyably rapid progress.

    There are others who like to tear it up a bit more – it's a big world and there is room for all kinds. But the only reason the skiddy few can carry on like that is because not everyone does it.

    jedi
    Full Member

    Drifting is soooo last year. Levitation is where its at

    Scout
    Free Member
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