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Riding around yesterday I wasnt feeling fast or blasty so tried to concentrate on flow and smoothness , and with that holding corner speed.
I do the outside foot down, heel down and push the bike into the corner , and when I remember the inside hand push to hold the bike 'up'.
It really does work ,is definatly smoother and seems more planted and stable and with that also faster. The problem that I cant get my head around is the reason why. Is it witchcraft or black magic? Hoew does pushing the inside hand make the bike corner with less fuss?
The bike won't corner at speed until it's leant over but what you're also doing is getting your bodyweight over the tyre contact point to make it grip. It's the opposite of riding a motorbike where you hang to the inside to keep the tyre more upright where it has a larger contact patch.
an aside:
goodgrief - MemberIt's the opposite of riding a motorbike where you hang to the inside to keep the tyre more upright where it has a larger contact patch
Contact patch size depends on pressure and weight alone!
Once i got my head around the fact i did it automatically on the motorbike i started really forcing it and i was able to corner much better/faster 🙂
It is scarily addictive on the motorbike well SMs but wore down tyres too quick and would probably get me arrested quicker than you could say drift!
It's the opposite of riding a motorbike where you hang to the inside to keep the tyre more upright where it has a larger contact patch.
Or not...
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A road bike I should've mentioned...
Counter steering is an essential part of riding a bike (motorbikes more so than bicycles). Go into a corner too fast, or it tightens unexpectedly - shove the inside bar and round you go, no drama.
lots of replies and still no answer.
Why on a mtb on firm surface does pushing the inside bar make the bike turn better ?
It works because steering on 2 wheels is the opposite of steering on 4. (or 3 or 6). On a bike with stabilisers, or a tricycle, which is how a lot of people learn, to turn right you turn the bars to the right and round you go.
On a bike, once you are up to speed, cornering is all about initiating a lean, and then controlling it. To initiate a lean to the right you must turn the bars slightly to the left (so slightly you don't know you're doing it) which makes you fall over to the right. To stop yourself hitting the deck you turn the bars right, which catches the fall, pushes you back upright and straightens the turn. Turning the bars left while leaning over to the right does the opposite.
This is why kids get upset when they graduate from stabilisers because it's all the wrong way round and why I made my grandson a tiny balance bike when he was 1 so he's never had to suffer the evil things.
It's also why it is so hard when riding along a sloping traverse along the side of a hill it's so hard to head up the hill. Turn up the hill and you feel you're being pitched off to the other side. Turn down the hill and down you go.
It depends on exactly what you're doing when you push the bar- countersteering's a really specific thing. But if you're pushing the bar forward, so effectively turning the steering against the turn not into the turn, that's countersteering and fundamentally what's happening is you're using the steering to lean the bike. (I used to think I was just pushing it down but I was totally pushing it forward too)
Usually when you lean a bike, you kind of think of the wheels staying where they are, and the body moving to the inside of the corner. But when you countersteer, the body stays where it is, and the bike moves to the outside of the corner- you end up leaned, just in a different way.
I got a brilliantly illogical explanation of this on a motorbike training course. Imagine you have a stack of milk crates that you need to knock over. Standing on top of it like king kong and moving your weight around will do it, but it's hard. Standing beside it and pushing the bottom crate sideways will do it much easier. That's countersteering.
Bikes turn better when leaning over into the corner. Pushing the inside bar forwards/down puts pressure on that side and makes the bike lean into the corner. It's the tilt of the bike that starts the steering at speed rather than the turning of the bars.
Why this is so... Um, physics. Complicated physics.
[quote=aka_Gilo ]Counter steering is an essential part of riding a bike (motorbikes more so than bicycles).
So essential that everybody does it whether they think about it or not - it's the only possible way of turning a two wheeled vehicle.
In order to turn you have to lean into the turn. In order to lean into the turn you have to overbalance in that direction. By pushing the inside bar you steer to the outside of the turn which results in you overbalancing to the inside. Doing so consciously (rather than subconsciously as most do) tends to result in more lean and a tighter turn.