What's your one technique tip for a newbie to MTB?

[4dabush]

If you are coasting, feet level...

heaps of videos on the fundamentals of mountainbiking...here's a couple of good basic ones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEWYwZuI9tI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lienHJ82Pj4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aw6a736QLk

 

[teK--]

Learn how to dismount/crash properly to minimise risk of injury

 

[Knuckles]

Buy an cheap eBay dialysis machine in advance. No matter how much disposable income you think you may have, you WILL require it eventually.

 

[stirk]

Good advice here, ride flat pedals, the shin scars earn respect. Go hard over obstackles and you'll learn to front endo into the run stage and pick up valuable seconds.

Most important of all is to ditch those boring run stages and just ride!!

 

[wkkie]

I don't do it enough, but.... Get off the brakes!

 

[Daisy]

Cockpit Setup

Get your cockpit/controls setup correctly.
This article is about complete bike setup. Cockpit is last on the list.

http://www.mtbiking.com.au/how-to/bike-tech/cockpit-setup

Cheers, Daisy

 

[Knuckles]

Learn good bunny hopping technique, a lot of trail skills stem or contain elements of bunny hopping.

And learn on flats.

And ride flats.

 

[johnny]

momentum is your friend.

Be fluid over obstacles, let the bike do the work.

If in doubt pin it.

.Respect the mountain. Ride the bull. Feel the flow.

 

[pink poodle]

Trust the bike and push your limits.

 

[mtb1611]

Learn your gears and when to use them; developing a comfortable and efficient cadence is trial and error but definitely contributes to your ability to build and maintain momentum and traction, particularly over obstacles. In a similar sense work on how you position your body when you're out of the saddle - for pretty much the same reason!

Horses for courses but I've been riding SPD's since around '93 and wouldn't even consider using flats; having said that there are definite pros/cons to both, just a personal choice.

Dozer made a great point re Strava and co; by all means use them, but don;t let them dictate the course and fun factor of your ride.

Trail etiquette; if you're stopped for ANY reason, move off the trail to keep it clear for other riders, and adhere to direction signs.

Have fun! (The most important part).

Sorry, I know you only asked for one!

 

[John U]

Going slow makes certain obstacles harder. Pick up some speed so you can glide over them

Never, ever, ever stare at the things your worried about running into. You look at it, you'll hit- guaranteed.
Oh, & momentum is your friend.

Both of these.

It takes a lot more skill to ride the majority of obstacles slowly. A bit of speed, bent arms and legs, and let the bike do the rest.

 

[ChrisJC]

As others have said - ride flat pedals! Flats and a dropper post IMO are 2 of the best things a newbie could get. I used to ride mostly fire trails and when I started riding technical single track I realised I sucked balls and went home with my tail between my legs. After that wake up I switched to flats and rode the tightest technical trails I could find and now I'd never go back. Being on flats gave me extra confidence to push things just that little bit more knowing I could easily dab a foot. Learning to bunnyhop, jump, track stand etc are far safer using flats!

 

[aanon]

Look ahead and where you need to go, look at the big rock or tree and you will hit it.

 

[schred]

If you want to be the fastest rider get a 29er KOM machine and practice the same track over and over and over, and if you want to be a better rider, get out and ride different tracks with what you have, with different people, and have fun, IMO.

 

[cramhobart]

Money spent upgrading parts that are not broken returns very little.
Money spent upgrading the rider, returns lots.

 

[Daniel Hale]

Learn to (flat) corner:

Get behind the seat, point hips in the direction you want to go, drop outside heal and push forward on the pedal to keep some weight on the front wheel. Lean the bike, not the body, let the side lugs of your tyre do their job. Allow your inside arm to straighten out and your outside elbow to bend a fair bit. Start wide, look around the corner, get off the brakes and pedal out - pull a mono for style points.

thanks johnny, never thought of pushing on the inside pedal [I'm a slow cnr'er & have often lost my front wheel when pushing harder

 

[droenn]

Get a Leatt neckbrace asap

 

[Ultra Lord]

I think johnny means weight the outside foot.

If you weight the onside you'll be pushing the tyres away from you, and wash out.

 

[TonyMax]

Thanks for the tips so far I really appreciate it.

On Saturday I tried some flat cornering technique and looking further ahead down the trail. I was more successful in looking down the trail than flat cornering.

But I also tried some of the new trails I haven't ridden before and had fun negotiating some rocky obstacles and some steeper down/up sections.

I'm REALLY enjoying this MTB thing, I'm not fast or technically very good but I am having fun!

Keep the tips coming through, you never know who will benefit from them .

 

[johnny]

I think johnny means weight the outside foot.

If you weight the onside you'll be pushing the tyres away from you, and wash out.

Oh yeah, definitely outside foot - pretty much impossible to drop the inside heel/foot when laying the bike over.

The idea of dropping the heal means that you're actually forcing the pedal forwards a bit as well as dropping your centre of gravity. This helps because as you move yourself behind your seat to lower centre of gravity and allow your hips to turn into the corner you start to unweight your front wheel, which can wash out without out enough pressure. It also helps in pushing the side lugs into the ground when you lay the bike over. Lastly, it seems to even out the weight nicely between the wheels. When I get this balance right I can get some nice two-wheel drift going without that "oh shit" feeling.