Viewing 24 posts - 1 through 24 (of 24 total)
  • Ruts. What's the secret?
  • andrewrchambers
    Free Member

    I’m still a MTB beginner. I am getting better (Making more climbs in one go and not putting my foot down so much) but one thing I can’t get my head round are ruts. I’m not sure this is the correct terminology but an example of what I’m talking about would be the decent from Mam Tor to Hollins Cross or from Hollins Cross down to Grasslands… Those kind of things.

    I often find myself getting stuck in them (!). I think it’s possibly a confidence thing since I’ve gone OTB a couple of times when my front wheel has jammed against the side of them.

    Are there any tricks for riding them with confidence? Or is it a case of just being patient and slowly getting better at them?

    Someone told me to just hop out of them when it gets bad but while I am getting better at hopping, a lot of them time I find they’re as deep as my BB and I struggle to hop sideways that high. Maybe I should get out and practise on a high kerb?

    Any advice please!

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    as per alot of mtb looking ahead and reading the trail is key.

    Really the idea is to stay out the rut – if unavoidable then try and get out as early as possible , steering out of them generally doesnt work – even with big fat tires and 20mm axels and big chunky steerers compensating for lack of skill youll still come unstuck eventually when as you are finding the ruts are BB shell deep.

    Hopping is an invaluable skill and means that you can negotiate the ruts wether your on a full on dh bike that could steer out of a hurricane or on a 20lb XC bike with noodle sids

    dday
    Full Member

    I read somewhere that the key is to look up, and the bike will follow. It works for me. Keep a good speed, and keep your head up. Hope it helps!

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    Onzadog
    Free Member

    One thing that does help is a change of mindset. Ruts aren’t always a bad thing. You need to accept that some times, you’re going to be riding in them. As above though, look ahead and pick your ruts.

    smiff
    Free Member

    advanced: side hop without slowing down. practice going off things before going up.
    intermediate: slow down, front wheel up, back wheel hopefully follows if you unweight it.
    beginner: get off, lift bike out, get back on 🙂

    best thing is not to fall in them in first place, always go across them, never at a shallow angle.

    SDW is worst for this, when i did it they’d get me all the time. if you’re tired it’s really hard to avoid.

    scaled
    Free Member

    The ruts in the peak this year are amazing, dig out nbt’s photos from round Marple. a ‘rut’ ~29″ deep!

    soobalias
    Free Member

    looking.

    look as far ahead as you can, if you are not comfortable in the rut spot a bit where the side appears a little lower to hop out, or a bump in the rut that you can use to help launch out.

    somafunk
    Full Member

    Learn how to bunnyhop sideways, start off by placing a small stick or branch on the ground and roll gently alongside it then pop the front wheel and flick the back wheel up whilst using your hips to drive the bike in the direction you wish to travel.

    It sounds complicated but have a look on youtube (how to bunnyhop) and take it from there, if you want to see how the pros do it then check out Danny mackaskill if you want to be inspired (see what i did there?)

    Before long you’ll be able to do it at speed and it’s pretty cool fun to jump from one side of a rutted farm lane to another and back again – plus chicks dig it (no…not really)

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    hold on hope you get to the end without crashing

    On moors with long downhills and much use you get them and they are unavoidable – you just have to practice them tbh.

    Most of the ones i ride there are just a multitude of ruts across the entire route/bridleway and going round just leads to more ruts.

    Watch your front wheel as OTB is the most likely and most off putting

    Trying to get out usually only works if it is very shallow and dry or you hop out

    DezB
    Free Member

    Ruts aren’t always a bad thing. You need to accept that some times, you’re going to be riding in them.

    This! The small, narrow buggers are the worst, my local woods are full of them from illegally ridden motorbikes – try not to deliberately steer out of them, go with the flow of the rut, if the opportunity presents itself, the side hop (or even a small wheelie) will get you out, but sometimes you’ve just got to go with it. Don’t look at the front wheel.

    andrewrchambers
    Free Member

    Thanks for the advice. Sounds like I just need to keep my head up and look ahead a bit more – hard to do when you’re worrying about catching the front wheel!

    FuzzyWuzzy
    Full Member

    Looking ahead down the trail is the key thing, it makes a massive difference but yeah it can take a while to get used to doing it especially when riding ruts with roots/rocks in them. On smoother ruts I’ll relax my grip more on the bars to as if/when you do glance the side of a rut I find you generally have a better chance of correcting it if you let the front wheel do the work rather than try and steer.

    unklehomered
    Free Member

    As above, to not end up in the rut, do not look at the rut. Look where you want your wheels to go. Very tricky, I still struggle.

    If you do end up in the rut, look down the rut, and if you see an exit point, then after then look out of the rut. While you are in the rut, don’t think “Help I’m in a rut! Help I’m in a rut! Help I’m in a rut!”

    Do think “I’m gonna ride down this rut now.”

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I’m not at all bad on a bike, on a good day I’m pretty good, but I’m still crap at these. As our guide said in France, “Remember- a long straight rut is a motorway, and a rut that goes round a corner is a berm. Unless you’re Andrew, when it’s a crash”

    bigyinn
    Free Member

    Stay loose and dont fight the bike too much, just go with the flow.

    eviljoe
    Free Member

    [video]http://youtu.be/Qao5gbj25hc[/video]

    [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qao5gbj25hc[/video]

    Stand up

    It is the only way to do it.

    Or get a penny farthing

    dday
    Full Member

    @ unklehomered “This is me in a rutshell: Help! I’m stuck in a rut!” 🙂

    Northwind
    Full Member

    [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQZ-FbCMIrU[/video]

    kiwijohn
    Full Member

    grin & bear it.

    snap

    ellesar
    Free Member

    Lots of advice on this thread for you, all relevant. Ruts and other obstacles are an inevitable feature of riding off road, the best advice is to practice as much as possible using the techniques others have described (youtube is great for visual lessons). Look ahead, try to go with the flow of the rut and only try to get out of it if a decent opportunity presents itself (the more you ride them the better you get, this itself creates more opportunities). But ruts are ruts, and you can ride a rutted section for years before it decides to bite you one day, so the advice you are reading will certainly help you but is by no means a foolproof way through every rutted section.
    Ultimately all the problems you will face as an MTBer become easier over time, experience allows you to better assess the situation and build more ability, which in turn increases your options of getting through the obstacle. This may sound great, but if youre like everyone else this simply means you end up tackling bigger, harder problems. This is part of the fun though!!
    Carry on analysing your performance and working out how to do things better and you’ll be a better rider in no time, I don’t know if you do already but go riding with better riders than you, see how they ride and what lines they take – this is without a doubt the best way to learn.

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    Look ahead, not down! Get your weight low and centred and if you need to leave the rut, really pop the bike out of it, don’t just try to steer out.

    surroundedbyhills
    Free Member

    Good advice here! Ruts are my nemesis I get hypnotised by them and 9/10 they take me out. I know and use the “look ahead” principle but those ruts, they suck me in. #musttryharder

    nicko74
    Full Member

    Just repeating what’s been said above, really, but IME it’s the most useful.

    Always be looking ahead; often you’ll find yourself looking at a spot about 10-30cm in front of your front wheel, but mostly you need to be looking a few metres ahead – don’t look at what you’re riding through right now, look at what’s coming up 2 seconds from now. A lot of it is on the basis of “your bike will follow where you’re looking”, kind of thing, I guess.

    If you do find yourself in a rut*, my only advice is to unweight the front wheel and try to lift it over the edge. A good ‘boing’ on the forks (push down then pull the front wheel up) is how I do it although a) it’s probably not called this and b) there are probably better ways. If you can get the front wheel out, it’s a start – and with luck you may be able to pull the back wheel up and over the edge by dipping the front brake and pulling up with your feet.

    *NB this may not work if you’re in a metaphorical rut with your life.

    DoctorRad
    Free Member

    Don’t touch the sides…

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