Watch the forward weight shift as he rides into the quarterpipe.

what has this got to do with this topic?

Relax and let the bike run.

That’s all I do 😆

Once you are riding the steep run in correctly the drop becomes easy. If you need to control your speed on the run in then by all means move your weight back whilst braking but make sure you bring your weight back forward and release the brakes as you commit to the drop.

This is my problem, all of the very steep roll-ins I have done on a mtb I have always need to control my speed due to run out, roots / rocks manoeuvring round trees halfway down e.t.c. This is why I’m having trouble imagining it I think.

Robz – Member
what has this got to do with this topic?

because dropping in, especially off of a sub box (a essentially a raised drop off out of the top of the ramp) is the same as doing a drop from flat in to a very steep landing. I can handle that it’s the idea of a drop half way down a steep roll in.

Ok, next time I am flying down a steep slope with a drop off halfway down I will make sure I come to a complete stop and approach the drop at 45 degrees making sure not to catch me chainring on the coping then.

Dropping in to a quarter pipe is not the same as actually dropping off something, especially a drop on a steep slope where you are traveling, usually very quickly, in a straight line. (which is the topic under discussion on this thread)

good example of such a drop at about 3.40 on this vid.

you tube clip

Incidentally thats me on the Cannondale aged about 15 showing you how not to do it.
And some dude on an XC bike showing you how exactly to do it follows me.

That xc dude is way mote skilled than the rest. Love the way he uses the ditch as a berm instead of being buccarrude off like the rest. nice oldskol vid though.

I know – he absolutely nails the corner straight off the drop.

Although Paul French and Crawford Carrack Anderson both breezed down it there too.

Later footage shows the steepness

The guys who pinned it were much nearer the centre of the bike, the guys off the back fluffed it by and large, but that guy in yellow -Legend–.

stay centered not back!!!!

Robz – Member
Ok, next time I am flying down a steep slope with a drop off halfway down I will make sure I come to a complete stop and approach the drop at 45 degrees making sure not to catch me chainring on the coping then.

You can go straight into a quarter pipe and you can be moving too. As I said it was explain how I too would have a problem with the situation the op mentioned and described a, in many ways similar situation where I would not have problems. A drop from horizontal into a steep roll in and gave the example of above of a sub box and quarter pipe. It’s perfectly simple, I’ve explained the situation twice to you but for some reason you clearly are determined to be a dick head about it. There is nothing I can really do to stop you acting like a dick head. This probably because you are a dick head.

jedi – Member
stay centered not back!!!!

back on topic – so for the slope i’d be off the back of the saddle – as front wheel goes over lip move forward but not too much? (and keep heels dropped and slightly lift bars so rear lands)?

usually man or mouse for me but getting better at not going eek eek on steeper stuff

no, stay centered on the steep as you would the flat. land both wheels together never rear!

Good vid robz, is that you on the Canondale at 18seconds? are you wearing a bulletproof vest? guess it must have been hunting season 🙂

That drop doesn’t look too bad (never does in the videos/pics tho) but I reckon I’d struggle with the corner after, as many people did. Not too bad on obstacles, it’s the run out I screw up.

Nope thats not me – I was on an older Cannondale with a carbon swing arm although I think I was wearing similar stuff under my lycra 😳

Hard Knox body armour if memory serves me right.

no, stay centered on the steep as you would the flat. land both wheels together never rear!

What I was trying to say.

what has this got to do with this topic?

Exactly what the post said about forward weight shift into the downslope before the drop and no more.
Attempting to help TheBrick visualize how to perform a steep down to down drop using an existing point of reference. Usually quite an effective teaching method.

Usually…

I just didn’t see how it was relevant to the OP. Forgive me.

Now if you’d linked to the first video on this thread…. this is steep and shows rider positioning quite well.

link to steep videos.

I think the first step is to get used to going fast down steeps. You can then get used to not break as you really only need to get your weight right back to counter the braking. Once you can layoff the brakes then it is easier to get in the correct landing position as momentum will keep you from going over the bars. You are only going to fly front of the bike if you keep living but the bike slows down. This could be from a bad landing, braking in the wrong place. So get rid of the fear first then follow the bike down.

Fantastic old school footage there Robz. Brings back loads of memories of bikes/gear/people. That compression after the drop looked nasty!

Fun old video, esp. the guy who looked straight ahead and rolled over the fire road into the trees :-D.

At a guess: I’d be inclined to enter the steeper slope dragging my back brake a little and pushed back a little to help it grip, just to create some thinking time. As I got to the little drop, I’d look up and left to the turn and release both brakes. The bike would naturally rebalance itself going over, I might push the bars away a little bit too.

I’d be a little worried about ploughing the compression before making the turn. But if already looking left, you’re probably going to be moving left before rolling into it and all will be well.

Interesting obstacle.

hang on hang on hang on….. can we go back to page one for a minute because i seem to have missed the descriptions for the following

yoink
tweak
thrutching (actually too scared to run that through the urban dictionary from work)

graphical representations if you please.

As mentioned a few times already, it’s mostly a mental thing. The most important thing is staying relaxed and loose. It’s when you tense up that you find yourself in a bush/wrapped around a tree, everyone’s done it!

If I was coming up to a drop on a steep section I would control my speed further back on the run-in, then let go of the brakes about 10(ish) feet away whilst moving into a more central position on the bike. Look ahead, spot the landing and move your weight back a little whilst going off the drop. No ‘yoinking’ of the bars required, especially on steep landings.

I came across just such an obstacle yesterday evening – albeit not as gnarly as all the Youtube links being posted on here. My technique was to scream loudly whilst hanging on for dear life. Seemed to work a treat.

I think that is actually the most credible technique. It helps if after the inital scream or whimper (depending on the severity of the drop) that you then start to say whoa whoa whoa in the style of a cowboy trying to stop a run away horse.

grab a hand full of brakes on the steep, go into a skid, slide off the drop onto your front wheel and bottom out your forks. occasionally go over the bars

or is that just me?