Long story but here goes:
I have really been struggling to keep up with mates on the downs from not being able to commit to corners. I would lose all my speed and thought it was a lack of grip so beefed up the tyres, then thought maybe I'm not getting enough weight over the front so changed bar stem combo a few times, then I watched vids about feet placement and getting weight on the outside, and then I thought it was just about confidence and committment to the turns. Every time I would just wash out and crash so gave up. Then for the last few years I just thought it was because I was just a lot crapper than others because I easily had the best equipment I have ever had and maybe just getting older and more fearful. Because if everyone around me could do it but I couldn't it must be just me.
Since I started mountain biking 20 years ago I started with toe straps for the first couple of years then changed to crank bros candys and had used them ever since. Recently I started watching vids on how to bunny hop correctly and manualling which I would love to do. But practising in the back yard I struggled to commit to lifting the front with being clipped in and not being able to bail out. All the vids say use flats to start with so I bought some large crank bros stamp 1 and chucked them on. Along with some chuck Taylor 2's in the yard they felt different but oddly good. So I thought I would test them out on the trails. What's the worst that could happen, pins smashing the shins, that was fine by me.
Riding up the trail I had to try to conciously make an effort not to pull up with my legs. It felt different but surprisingly fine and not really any slower, not that I cared. The first short down had a couple of little jumps and the feet slipped a couple of times but overall good and survived. Next up was a climb followed by a longer descent with a lot rougher rocks and sharper corners. Going down feet stayed really planted at 3 and 9 over the rocks with no reduced performance from clips and then I hit the switch backs. I was significantly faster. Easily a lot faster than I have ever been in my life and carried plenty of speed out. I loved it and had so much fun. So for my second ride I went riding with a mate who would normally smash me but instead I felt I could probably keep up with him now. I wanted to follow him to see if there was any difference but he had a gopro on so followed me. After he watched the footage and said I was smashing it! riding well, and just kept pulling away from him. He was genuinely surprised I think.
So during my rides here's what I realised:
With clipins although I had my feet on the outside in corners I wasn't actually putting/pushing my weight out on them. I thought I was but I wasn't.
With jumps my timing is all off because I would lift the rear with the clips and not push down on the pedals and compress and lift the forks at the right time. I would just use it as a launch but not get very far.
When I lean the bike being able to tilt my feet to the sides seems to help a lot with my body position over the bike.
My legs feel very different after riding. I had always put the pain down to having skinny legs but now they don't feel as sore. They feel fatigued but not as painful. Different muscles?
Feet placement is really bizarre. I naturally wanted to pedal on the front of my foot like I always had but feeling the axle through the shoes helped position it a lot closer to the middle of the foot and felt very stable.
Heels down makes so much more sense now.
Clipins feel like I am floating with the pedals rather than being connected to the bike.
I still have a lot to go to change the way I ride and my muscle memory and need to test out a few more of my normal tracks but I reall think this is the biggest performance improvement I have had in the last 3-4 years and I think I'll stick with them.
So if you've come this far what are some good shoe suggestions. Are skate shoes fine? Five tens seem to have a billion different versions and at $180 they just seem way overpriced. Are they that good?
Tldr: changed to flats now cornering is all good and am a lot faster
Cheers
Mas
I have really been struggling to keep up with mates on the downs from not being able to commit to corners. I would lose all my speed and thought it was a lack of grip so beefed up the tyres, then thought maybe I'm not getting enough weight over the front so changed bar stem combo a few times, then I watched vids about feet placement and getting weight on the outside, and then I thought it was just about confidence and committment to the turns. Every time I would just wash out and crash so gave up. Then for the last few years I just thought it was because I was just a lot crapper than others because I easily had the best equipment I have ever had and maybe just getting older and more fearful. Because if everyone around me could do it but I couldn't it must be just me.
Since I started mountain biking 20 years ago I started with toe straps for the first couple of years then changed to crank bros candys and had used them ever since. Recently I started watching vids on how to bunny hop correctly and manualling which I would love to do. But practising in the back yard I struggled to commit to lifting the front with being clipped in and not being able to bail out. All the vids say use flats to start with so I bought some large crank bros stamp 1 and chucked them on. Along with some chuck Taylor 2's in the yard they felt different but oddly good. So I thought I would test them out on the trails. What's the worst that could happen, pins smashing the shins, that was fine by me.
Riding up the trail I had to try to conciously make an effort not to pull up with my legs. It felt different but surprisingly fine and not really any slower, not that I cared. The first short down had a couple of little jumps and the feet slipped a couple of times but overall good and survived. Next up was a climb followed by a longer descent with a lot rougher rocks and sharper corners. Going down feet stayed really planted at 3 and 9 over the rocks with no reduced performance from clips and then I hit the switch backs. I was significantly faster. Easily a lot faster than I have ever been in my life and carried plenty of speed out. I loved it and had so much fun. So for my second ride I went riding with a mate who would normally smash me but instead I felt I could probably keep up with him now. I wanted to follow him to see if there was any difference but he had a gopro on so followed me. After he watched the footage and said I was smashing it! riding well, and just kept pulling away from him. He was genuinely surprised I think.
So during my rides here's what I realised:
With clipins although I had my feet on the outside in corners I wasn't actually putting/pushing my weight out on them. I thought I was but I wasn't.
With jumps my timing is all off because I would lift the rear with the clips and not push down on the pedals and compress and lift the forks at the right time. I would just use it as a launch but not get very far.
When I lean the bike being able to tilt my feet to the sides seems to help a lot with my body position over the bike.
My legs feel very different after riding. I had always put the pain down to having skinny legs but now they don't feel as sore. They feel fatigued but not as painful. Different muscles?
Feet placement is really bizarre. I naturally wanted to pedal on the front of my foot like I always had but feeling the axle through the shoes helped position it a lot closer to the middle of the foot and felt very stable.
Heels down makes so much more sense now.
Clipins feel like I am floating with the pedals rather than being connected to the bike.
I still have a lot to go to change the way I ride and my muscle memory and need to test out a few more of my normal tracks but I reall think this is the biggest performance improvement I have had in the last 3-4 years and I think I'll stick with them.
So if you've come this far what are some good shoe suggestions. Are skate shoes fine? Five tens seem to have a billion different versions and at $180 they just seem way overpriced. Are they that good?
Tldr: changed to flats now cornering is all good and am a lot faster
Cheers
Mas
