Best - Look where you want to go not where you're going
Worst - Keep your weight back
Best - only carry what you need
Worst - be ready for anything
Follow me
& follow me
It's all rollable...
Best - Be brave! Also, take some air out of your (rock hard) tyres before you start descending (Both received at the top of the Scaletta Pass alt. 2600m)
Worst - You don't need a dropper post.
Best - heels down
Worst - weight back
Best- if in doubt, go left
Worst- if in doubt, go left
Best
If your heads not in it, ride away - it'll still be there next time.
If your weight's over the BB, you're in the right place.
Worst
Speed is your friend. Just send it!
Get your weight back.
Best - speed is your friend
worst - don't use the front brake
Best - don't assume the trail is the same as last time you rode it
Worst- stay off the front brake
Look ahead and don’t forget to breath out
Just send it
Hit it with Speed!! X2
Worst - any advice or trend on bike geometry and fit that takes no account of your own personal dimensions!
Best - buy a bike for the riding you actually do, not the riding you dream about doing
Worst - Just hit it with a bit of speed and pull up. Go big or go home
Best - “it’s not a pull, it’s a push” Jedi
Best: you have to have a second bike, just in case
Worst: That bike would look better with spokey dokeys
Best: 'man up'
Worst: 'man up'
Not to me but my wife was always told by her mum never to use the front brake when cycling as she would go over the bars. When we got together she came mountain biking on my spare bike. Told her that was terrible advice and she needed to use the front brake. As she had no real understanding of how to use it she promptly over did it and went over the bars. Not sure who gave the good advice 🙂
Best - Look where you want to go. Transformative advice for a noob cyclist.
Worst - 29ers are gay.
History of MTB design is prob taught in university courses as a warning to others. Took 25 years to work out the best shape for arranging 8 tubes and two wheels.
Best ‘don’t forget to man up’
Worst ‘don’t forget to man up all over yourself’
Best - the best bike is the one you have
Worst - don’t worry, you can easily bunny-hop over that. My ribs can still feel it.
Best: Speed is your friend.
Worst: "It's just a small drop. Go for it!"
Best - (when I was tripoding down something steep and loose) put both feet on the pedals and stand up.
worst - don’t use the front brake (luckily I already knew that to be BS)
Life is too short for shit bikes.
Haven’t decided which box that falls into yet.
Best : Use flat pedals
Worst : Drop both heels
Best - Try asking on STW.
Worst - Try asking on STW.
Best: Slow/easy rides are important for fitness.
Worst: Bike weight doesnt matter.
Worst: 'Make a fist on the bars to fully commit!' from some Canadian tv programme. Had two epic crashes after doing this.
Best: 'Life is short- buy the bike!'
Best advice I've received (when faced with a gnarly feature) - Just give it a go!
Worst advice I've given (when someone else was faced with a gnarly feature) - Just give it a go!
😐
Best- it's quite a little one but Andy Barlow's "pointy brake finger". It's not always useful but if you're a comfort/fear braker then it can make a big difference, actually thinking about your brake finger and pointing it forward stops you from just unthinkingly or automatically grabbing the brakes. Once you've done it a bit you can see if it transfers back to being sort of "actively ready to brake on demand" with your finger on the lever which is basically the same thing but better. I think I especially like it because I would never have come to it naturally, it's proper "information that you get from outside" advice
(also I love the image of him still doing it while hill running because it helps him mentally not slow down on descents)
Worst, not sure. Even bad advice usually teaches you something.
Quite a few people have said weight back and don't use the front brake for the worst advice. I've been pondering how this advice became so prevalent. The best I can come up with is weight back is from the time when bikes were shorter and head angles steeper so an OTB was more likely. Not using the front brake I'd guess is from bad experiences as children.
@billabong987 - old/crap geo would be the main culprit. And I expect most people
Have at some point in their childhood had a dramatic OTB by yanking on the front brake.
Quite a few people have said weight back and don’t use the front brake for the worst advice. I’ve been pondering how this advice became so prevalent. The best I can come up with is weight back is from the time when bikes were shorter and head angles steeper so an OTB was more likely. Not using the front brake I’d guess is from bad experiences as children.
Yep, when I was getting into MTBing (mid 90's) "keeping weight back" was in all the technical advice columns in magazines.
The front brake thing I think was more just parental "advice".
Worst (90s): You'll grow into it. (meant I rode a huge gate-like Marin Eldridge grade with teeny tiny wheels for a good part of my youth. Although a great bike in terms of the fun I had on it, it had very little standover and wasn't very manouvreable.
Best (2010s): Try a 29er.
Being a lanky git, first time I rode one I was hooked. Waaaaaaaaay better than 26, and also big wheels big (ish) frame mitigates the ridiculous looking 26er bikes I used to have as above.
Can't believe I stuck on 26 for so long, thinking they were more "chuckable"
Can’t believe I stuck on 26 for so long, thinking they were more “chuckable”
Yeah I feel a bit silly for not trying 29" sooner, they really do roll over things better. Still not sure if I'd like it on anything long travel/FS but on a hardtail they're perfect.
Best - Go see Jedi
Worst - get your arse on the back wheel
Yeah I feel a bit silly for not trying 29″ sooner
I had a go on a 29er HT around the turn of the century, (I think it was a Kenesis), and it was a terrible unwieldy thing of terror. Put me off for years.
Best: laser cock
worst: I think has to be weight back, but back in the day bikes weren't really long enough, so it sort of made sense. It's a bad habit though fo'shure
Best: as others have said, look where you want to go.
Worst: it’s only a short hike-a-bike.
I had a go on a 29er HT around the turn of the century, (I think it was a Kenesis), and it was a terrible unwieldy thing of terror. Put me off for years.
Gary Fisher was at one of the Sandwell Park Mountain Mayhem 24hr races once with his 29er, it was the really early days of them when basically just Gary Fisher were producing them.
I remember overtaking him in the night and he was bouncing off every tree in the forest trying to turn this great unwieldy thing around the corners. I mean, he may have been drunk as well but that was enough for me to think that 29ers were a load of shit that couldn't turn corners.
Best: Speed is your friend: nailed it!
Worst: Speed is your friend: medic!
I've also got a bee in my bonnet about 29ers...the ones I've tried haven't been as nice in the tight twisty stuff as smaller wheeled bikes. It has been a few years since I've ridden one and I'd hope the geometry changes have improved things, but I'm now not wanting to try them again in case they do work as I'm invested in 27.5 and don't have the desire or the bank account to change it all...I'm sure the physics still stack up and the larger wheel just won't be as nimble to move around, so I'm happy not to want to try and debunk my thinking there (and I'll ignore any proper physics chat debunking it as well as I can't afford a new bike!!!).
Here's a secret @DickBarton; wheel size is mostly a red herring. Sure they all have their pros and cons, but unless you're at the very pointy end of racing, its mostly irrelevant. If you rode a selection of bikes blindfold, you wouldn't be able to tell one wheel size to the next. and anyone who tells you they can is just justifying their choice.
I've a 27.5 full suss, and a 29 HT and honestly; wheel size is the least useful differentiator between the two.
Not done it blindfolded, but I can tell the difference on my 26 inch bike and my 27.5 inch bike on the first singletrack corner.
Suspect geometry is at play and it isnt all the wheels but the 26 turns quicker.
I coach kids who are on a range of bikes from 24" to 29" wheels and vary in size and age...I'm pretty sure my thinking is just in my head as they all manage very well...which I'm fine with as I can't afford a new bike anyway!
This again? Really?
If you rode a selection of bikes blindfold, you wouldn’t be able to tell one wheel size to the next.
I reckon under controlled conditions (same bike setup aside from wheel size, same trails) then I most definitely could tell the difference.
and anyone who tells you they can is just justifying their choice.
Yes you're right. I can tell. And it does indeed justify my choice. Because it's better for me.
The fact that they look better in big sizes also appeals to my vanity by the way 🙂
I’ve a 27.5 full suss, and a 29 HT and honestly; wheel size is the least useful differentiator between the two.
Erm yes. They're completely different types of bike?
Pain is your friend.
Best - ride with people better than you
Worst - let some air out and put in volume spacers
Best : go back and try that again.....
worst. a cross between speed is your friend and its a cheap hobby. both have cost me greatly over the years.