The best and worst mtb advice you've received

Best - only carry what you need

Worst - be ready for anything

Smiles not miles

Follow me

& follow me

It's all rollable...

Best/ Ride more with folks that are better than you, watch what they do really closely and ask them how they do what they do.
Worst/ Believe anything you read on here from folks you've never ridden with.

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

It's not a race.

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 - there's a new MTB magazine that came out a year or so ago - its all wheels on the ground and longer ride stuff, you'd probably like it...

Worst - I think they have a website

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, ride ride ride because you cant buy fitness.

worst, buy the Orange.

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: Have a shot on a fatbike

Worst: Flat pedals will improve your riding

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.

From over 30 years ago

Best - Get a mountain bike, they’re great…

Worst - ….and it’s a cheap sport

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.

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

Yep, I don’t think it's terrible advice, just 30 years out of date!