Boom King
downloaded a pic of moorey's bruised arse
When do you twist and why?
Washing out when cornering left
- Thread starter stewyh
- Start date
MARKL
Eats Squid
Pretty much as Ozzybmx explained, I was rushing when I put the previous post up as I had to go pick up the Minister for War & Finance. The biggest issue I have with this thread or similar is that there is so many random bits of advice, which on their own may be correct but not necessarily the issue for a particular rider at that particular time or there may be a more fundamental issue which needs to be dealt with first. And the there can be a loss between what people think, what they write and how others interpret that. And while my riding has improved as a result I don't feel I am yet to a point where I can diagnose remotely for some one I have never seen ride...
The improvements I have made (am still making) to my riding are similar to what the OP is looking for, wanting to stop running wide on some corners, I am similar height and weight to the OP. The biggest change for me has been in riding position which has resulted in me getting better grip and turn in from the front wheel. Interestingly I don't 'feel' more forward, at times I actually feel more rearward (I was trying to get forward on the bike before and weight the front wheel before) but the new riding position is more lower, stronger, more aggressive and resulting in me better weighting the front wheel and getting better grip/turn in. Once you have the riding position right the rest follows from there.
The twisting/rotating your hips is as you go into a corner, makes a big difference as Ozzy has said. What was interesting was doing drills along a bit of fire road, we used cones initially for the drill but you don't really need them and turn left, right, left, right etc. My left turns felt so much better as I twisted through the turn, the same thing going right felt awful, made adjustments to my feet position when turning right and suddenly it felt as good as turning left (I am still at the phase where this is not automatic for me I have to think about it). This is a really good drill if you are getting good results one way but not the other as you can examine them at low speed and work out what the differences are.
I hope the above is of some assistance but really a coaching session has been one of the best bang for your buck MTB things I have ever spent money on. I have improved the things I wanted to but the solutions were very different to what I imagined (and what other people had told me in the past). If we go back to 'twisting' during corners it won't be as effective without getting the basics of stance on the bike right which I had to work on first. The solutions may be a number of small issues rather than one major issue.
Flow-Rider
Burner
Only a few pointers.
Practice, practice, practice, that's what I recommend. Like Johnny pointed out heaps of videos on the net of how to counter steer a bike. It also depends on the bike you have and the components on how well you rail corners, some bike geometries are a lot harder to get them to turn in at different speeds. Watch a few videos and pro riders, go out and see what works for you.
Body position on a bike will change through out a corner and depending on speed, how loose the trail is, how high the berm is, how tight the corner is. You will figure this out with experience and practice. The turning your hips helps you steer the bike and look through the corner, your bike normally follows where you look. Your outside knee should be turned touching your frame or almost touching, that position will also help lean your bike and not your body into the corner. As you start coming into the corner you should start turning your hips, as you get to the centre they should be at the most angle require for that corner, as you come out of the corner you need to start straightening up.
Tyre choice, pressures on the front can make a big deal and running a lower seat post height, hence dropper posts are good for cornering.
The biggest trick I found with cornering hard after body position to countersteer was being really smooth with your turning and weight distribution through out the corner. If you are too aggressive you will slide the front or rear tyre and loose all your speed if not come off the bike.
I also push down on the front bars a bit with minimal weight, when I'm on really loose surfaces. I found that on bikes with really slack HA and long travel forks it helps a bit. Some bikes will be weighted to corner well with Geo and some bikes will just be hard work, take into account things like high or low bottom brackets heights and seat post angles.
Practice, practice, practice, that's what I recommend. Like Johnny pointed out heaps of videos on the net of how to counter steer a bike. It also depends on the bike you have and the components on how well you rail corners, some bike geometries are a lot harder to get them to turn in at different speeds. Watch a few videos and pro riders, go out and see what works for you.
Body position on a bike will change through out a corner and depending on speed, how loose the trail is, how high the berm is, how tight the corner is. You will figure this out with experience and practice. The turning your hips helps you steer the bike and look through the corner, your bike normally follows where you look. Your outside knee should be turned touching your frame or almost touching, that position will also help lean your bike and not your body into the corner. As you start coming into the corner you should start turning your hips, as you get to the centre they should be at the most angle require for that corner, as you come out of the corner you need to start straightening up.
Tyre choice, pressures on the front can make a big deal and running a lower seat post height, hence dropper posts are good for cornering.
The biggest trick I found with cornering hard after body position to countersteer was being really smooth with your turning and weight distribution through out the corner. If you are too aggressive you will slide the front or rear tyre and loose all your speed if not come off the bike.
I also push down on the front bars a bit with minimal weight, when I'm on really loose surfaces. I found that on bikes with really slack HA and long travel forks it helps a bit. Some bikes will be weighted to corner well with Geo and some bikes will just be hard work, take into account things like high or low bottom brackets heights and seat post angles.
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