I’ve been mountain biking (hard tail) for years and am a lot fitter then I am skillfull (when it comes to descending). I’ve mates that I slaughter going up hill, who destroy me when going down.

I’ve no idea about the best posture/ position and would like some tips please. I kind of lose my nerve and slam on and seem to lose balance too easily.

Is it be being a big girl or am I not setting my bike/position/posture correctly?

How do you get the best out of descending?

I’ve seen a few books about technical riding – are these worth it ?

Cheers!

Arse over the back wheel.
Drop yer heels.
Keep yer wrists down too (might need to change brake lever position)
Elbows out.
Knees bent.
Let the bike move under you.
Stay relaxed.
Look ahead to where you want to go, not a foot infront of the front wheel.
Commit to it, momentum is good and speed can get you over things.
That’s what I’ve been trying to do anyway. Think it has helped.

Arse over the back wheel – covered!

Drop yer heels – will try

Keep yer wrists down too – my brake/gear levers are at about 45 degrees from floor so I reckon thats enough

Elbows out – never heard this – will try

Knees bent – further suspension?

Let the bike move under you?

Stay relaxed – I think this is where I’m going wrong, I’m too tense and rigid

impeccably styled hair..
stylish clothing..
clean fingernails..
spotless bike..
good au de cologne..
immaculate dental hygiene..

all of these things are the mark of a proficient technical descender..

Going faster is quite easy really, just don’t brake as much. The problem is staying in control and letting yourself do it that’s the biggest problem.

Stay as loose, balanced and smooth as possible, sudden movements will make you feel out of control. Use your body as suspension, the best thing about disk brakes is that you can brake without locking up your arms so you can stay lose.

Look ahead, and try to keep you centre of gravity low.

Pick good lines, these may not always be the simplest smoothest ones. Going faster will open up the choice here as you can clear more stuff than you would if you are going slow.

Practice on one bit at a time. Getting used to going fast is probably the first thing as speed is usually your friend. Sometime you are just going to have to let go of the brakes and see how fast you can go/corner without falling off/freaking yourself out.

I actually got faster after wearing a fullface and body armour and doing a few uplifts as well. Feeling safer you realise how much more you can push yourself as a lot of going fast is about removing the fear. Skill of course comes into it but you are never going to learn if you don’t push yourself.

I would disagree with arse over your back wheel. How far over the back wheel you are depends on how steep the hill is not how fast you are going. If you are too far over the back wheel then you won’t be balanced.

Find a grassy soft steep bank with a safe run out and practice going down it without braking then get steeper and steeper. You will be amazed at what you can do.

I’m on that much of a girl on the none technical fast bridleway descents – its just when it gets hairy!

Please keep the comments coming guys – all will be considered and given a shot

Cheers

Walk

Post pictures on here and get STWers to draw lines on it with ms paint.

What’s a technical descent then? Roots, rocks, ruts, drops, exposure, mud, slop, slippy, steepness?

Trouble is they are all different.

As GEDA says too much ‘arse over back wheel’ can be very bad but it’s often peoples default position either when things get steep or quite often when they become anxious/scared. I’m going to stick my neck out and estimate that 80% of the people I coach position themselves too far back. The trouble is moving backwards tends to make sense to us. It feels like we’re doing the right thing, your self preservation instincts want you to remove your face/brain from what it perceives to be the danger and it’s an image we say portrayed in magazines, pictures, etc.

Allow the bike to put you into the correct position in relation to it.

Try to ‘plan’ your braking areas in advance. If you don’t believe you can stop or slow down, then you’ll never want to release the brakes or if you do, you’ll just end up grabbing them at the worst possible moment … not a good way to maintain control 😉

Relax is the main thing,If you are tense the bike will not float.

I use to the Arse over the bike wheel thing then I was told it wasn’t necessary, sure one of them was Jedi the other Ed of Greatrock fame. I had my doubts but tried it, yeah weight back a little but not right over the bike wheel.

Like Geda says also depends what you refer too as technical.

Three things i’ve learnt in the last year (including trips to canada):

1) Only look at jumps/sketchy bits from above when deciding if they’re on.
2) Commitment is everything.
3) If in doubt, add more speed.

3) If in doubt, add more speed.

Quite possibly the most correct thing to do.

Quite possibly the hardest thing to do.

the faster you go the less time you have to fall off.

Kev

saddle down, instantly more control as the bike can move around more underneath.

Do not put your @rse over the back – try steering when basically sitting on the back wheel, doesn’t work.

look and plan well ahead, try to stay loose. Speed does help massively, if you slow right down you lose the stability of the bike. Obviously the speed bit can take a fair amount of time to get your head around though

Get an uppy-downy seat post. Especially if you have long legs (high saddle). Wide, high bars are nice for going down too…

Will agree sort of,Arse of rear wheel is not needed,unless its very very steep.

aim, point,pedal and commit
Seriously it is probably more about nerve than skill and as people say some things are smoother/ easier at a faster speed- not everything though.
I once did a a rocky steep lakes descent at a rather fast speed as it was unsighted.I would not have beleived it could be ridden at that speed by me. it was what made me realise you can do things faster than you thought.
You only got to hospital once a year IME

Quite possibly the most correct thing to do.

Quite possibly the hardest thing to do.

Indeed – i’m always amazed what you can get away with if you just say ‘f*** it’ and let go of the brakes.

Oh and +1e6 for uppy downy posts.

The biggest help I had was riding with people better than me and studying how they ride specific obstacles/terrain. Also get the Lopes/McCormack book which does a really good job of explaining what you should be doing and why

Keva – Member
the faster you go the less time you have to fall off.
Kev
POSTED 43 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

I’m gonna use that as my motto 😀

A skills course is a really worthwhile investment. There are some good Singletrack videos from last year with some of the main course providers which are worth checking out – see http://www.singletrackworld.com/tag/be-a-better-rider/ and http://www.singletrackworld.com/tag/skills/

I’m surprised that no-one has mentioned incredibly clear skin and regular bowel movements yet..
surely miles more important than the other stuff..

The biggest help I had was riding with people better than me and studying how they ride specific obstacles/terrain. Also get the Lopes/McCormack book which does a really good job of explaining what you should be doing and why

That book is outstanding – not everyone is good at learning from books – works for me though! Watching videos of good riders and copying their technique can help. And when doing stuff that scares me I particularly like following a better rider and trying to match their speed and line choice.

If you can’t afford an uppy downy seatpost then a qr seat clamp will make an adequate substitute. Dropping your saddle will negate the need for a lot of this arse over the rear hub posture which is popular in the xc fraternity.

What a fantastic resource! Thanks for all the advice guys, I’m going to Lee Quarry tomorrow to give it all a bash.

Many thanks

Dave.

One thing that has not been mentioned is on the steep stuff trust the grip and braking power of your front wheel. I has always been scared to brake hard with the front wheel but on the steeper section putting trust into that front tyre contact patch really does give ou far more stopping power and control- that is to the point where it tucks under or pitches you over the front : ).

This also ties in with not putting too much weight over the back which will reduce friction of you front wheel and cause it to start to lose some grip.

Another vote for a good skills course.

balance.. move about on the bike..
on really lumpy almost trialsy terrain it helps if you’re confident in making fast and big movements to shift your center of gravity about.. if the ground is really techy you’ll often have to also be adept at progressing very slowly..
practise trackstands to increase confidence in your balance and extreme shifts in weight distribution..

djen83 – Member
Let the bike move under you?

The bike will slither & move around under you, if you’re tense then you will be thrown off balance when the bike moves.
So let it move around with bent knees & elbows and try to maintain balance.

I’ve noticed marked improvement in control, confidence and fun since still_s8tannorm’s coaching day. So do that (or something similar).

Glad to hear it Buzz.

My bit’s easy, you taking the time to implement everything is the harder part 😉

djen83 – Member

my brake/gear levers are at about 45 degrees from floor so I reckon thats enough

try 20 degrees down from horizontal.

and you say you slaughter your mates on the climbs, do you all ride similar bikes?

or, do you ride a super-light xc race bike, and your mates ride heavier bikes with big tyres and wide bars, etc.

?

don’t hate yourself for struggling on the descents if you ride skinny tyres with high pressures on very light wheels, insist on keeping your saddle right up, have racey 640mm bars on the end of a lung-expanding aero 120mm stem.

obviously none of these things make it impossible to descend quickly, but none of them help much either.

i’m not saying you need to spend £4k on a new all-mountain bike, but a few tweaks here and there can work wonders.

Agree momentum is your friend but getting the courage just to go a bit faster than your comfortable with can take a little doing.

I’ve watched a few videos recommended from above and its become apparent I’m too tense, arms locked and gripping white knuckle style!

Thanks for all the advice.

Two things that have improved my riding

1. Look ahead
2. Pick a line and let go of the brakes. (but be aware when you will need to brake!)

if you do number 1, its easier to do number 2

You might see a bit that looks really sketchy, but as a matter of fact its a bumpy but straight route to the next corner (looking ahead will tell you this). Trust your bike will make it and it probably will

As for corners do all your braking early, relax and look where you want your bike to end up. As you improve, you can brake later and a bit less before going into the corner. I find a deliberate head movement that looks as far out of the corner as possible helps the bike point where it needs to go.

Dancake – Member
Two things that have improved my riding

1. Look ahead
2. Pick a line and let go of the brakes. (but be aware when you will need to brake!)

if you do number 1, its easier to do number 2

You might see a bit that looks really sketchy, but as a matter of fact its a bumpy but straight route to the next corner (looking ahead will tell you this). Trust your bike will make it and it probably will
top advice. Deffo agree.

To the Op, You are prob a much better rider than me, I am mince-core the max, but I do love a blast downhill and my top 5, which have all been said, that most benefited me, in order of technical ease:
1) stay loose, e.g. grip on the bars relaxed and with one finger breaking.
2) look ahead, not at front wheel
3) drop heels (this was one I read on here and it makes a bloody HUGE diffence)
4) brake conservatively. Do braking to get speed right BEFORE techy section as much as possible, then roll the tech. Amazing how big a difference it makes, it also allows the bike/ wheels/tires/suspension to do it’s stuff properly. If an extended piece of tech, choose your braking zones and ensure still following principle of rolling through the worst.
5) commit, focus on exit

for me, I was bang on today. Bloody brilliant ride this morning and nailed everything (except one piece which is my nemesis and as it is early in the ride so confidence not up yet).

I want some skills lessons before the summer to get me riding properly however!

Uppydowny post also a big help, as is well tuned suspension.

Kev

Still s8tannorm

Allow the bike to put you into the correct position in relation to it.

Or, as it was renamed , ‘look like a spod’ 😛

Hi Stuart, consciously forcing myself to look up has worked really well, I’ve been kicking the ass of that ballistic path too, cheers!