[Closed] Go on then - analyse my riding style.

Smile. It's supposed to be fun

😀

I've told you once & i'll tell you again! A new bike is the answer, full sus. Either your getting old or that baby is rattling like my old cow horn bike from the 70's!! Don't give me any of that i can't afford it because i'm getting married stuff either, and you a comms' media director and all that.....

didn't look crap from here.

Outside foot down inside arm pushing bike into the ground/straight on corners

Needs more beard

looks alright to me.

but, if i'm being picky, and comparing you to an internet full of awesome riders.

try leaning the bike more, and leaning yourself less.

in the static image i see above, you+bike are leaning over at the same angle. The fast boys don't do this very much (for reasons i don't quite understand).

Wider bars , relax those tense arms 😉

Did you sort that video just to ask us that question?

In some flat corners you're leaning more than the bike. Do / did you have a motorbike?

CruzH - what's the thing with the arms?

Ahwiles - I'm always worried I'll slide out...are you saying I should be more upright?

it's how the fast kids on the tinterweb do it

[img] [/img]

look at his arms, they're doing different things; the 'inside' arm is extended, the 'outside' arm is compressed/bunched.

it's called 'countersteering' (i think), you push the bike over with the inside-arm. i try and ride like this, i don't think it's instantly made me any faster, but it feels ace.

you didn't do this as much...

(if anything, you're doing the opposite. Sam hill's head is on the 'outside' of his bike, your head seems to be on the 'inside' of the bike)

nice vid and good riding 🙂 maybe pedal out of corners/berms though 🙂

your rdings better than mine anyway 😉

so weight over the contact point of the tyre then. Gotcha.

no expert - leave that to the tutors but, Relax, Look forwards, Learn bike into corners before, weight the bike, compress before the jump and extend through the jump, and keep straight, over the jump. Carry speed by focusing on what's gonna happen ahead, find the flow-maybe saddle down a little- and continue having fun 🙂

wilde has good balance and looks to be doing a good job.A little speed on steps can make them smoother. imho.

Yes I definitely think you need lessons! And the positive thing about it is you can admit it. That's the first step, the second step would be to get some serious lessons! Stick with it and don't ever give up hope! It's a great sport that can change your life! 🙂

Find a bit of flat grass that you don't mind trashing (back garden?). Cycle a tightish fig. 8 loop over and over until you have a track forming. Now keep doing it sticking to the line exactly but lean the bike over further and further with each loop spinning in the cross over section. Increase spead gradually and keep smooth. You will be amazed how low the bike will go and retain grip. Make a conscious effort to drive the bike into dirt with that compressed outside arm and foot, oh and have your sadle low. Enjoy

now, here's the exception;

[img] [/img]

he's in a berm, and both arms are equal.

more body bike separation. you are two units.

ahwiles, counter steering is steering left to initiate a right hand turn. It sets your bike leaning into the corner.

enjoy

You do look a bit stiff.. I'm no expert though- just try and loosen up a bit, let the bike move about under you..

You're displaying most of the correct technique nicely in that little clip... Only thing I would say is your weight is possibly slightly forward of optimum. But it is a small amount. If you relaxed a little more, flattened your brake levers up and drop/roll back your wrists a little, and drop your heels at the same time, that would help.

Oh, and don't "jump" the bike. You're pulling up on the bars, and relying on your clipless pedals to get the bike airborne. You should never jump, but actually push the bike forwards on a lip to get it airborne. It feels odd at first, but once you've done it a few times, you won't be tugging on those bars any more, and your landings will improve no end as a result!

😀

Rather than go into specifics, I'll suggest a few general things:

Try and learn to be looser and more fluid on the bike.

Be more aggressive with pumping and moving the bike around.

Look further ahead.

Cheers all - good advice here. I thought my vid would be flamed to be honest!

probably a load of bad riding habits i have that I am not even aware of though 🙄

A bit of air with a bar tweak at the start and a decent drift round that corner at the end. Pretty stylish.

Best thing to do, ride with some really "good" riders. There ain't a shortage of those in sheffield area.

See a good group of riders out, don't be scared to say hello and see if they'll let you session a section with you for a bit. If they blank you and look disapprovingly at you, they're too up themselves and are rubbish people. Generally, anyone sound really won't mind.

PS, i'm located in sheffield and more than happy to go riding and give pointers to anyone, looking at getting some coaching bits of paper later on in the year.

You do look very rigid. There's a teeny jump at the start that you look to land oddly.

Maybe you're thinking too much about the manoeuvre rather than just enjoying the trail?

But who cares. If you want to improve go see a coach. If you enjoy what you do - keep going it.

you're far from crap, but reeellaaaaaaax guy.

more body bike separation. you are two units.

^this
let the bike move around underneath you*, articulate at the wrists and ankles, suck and pump with the legs and arms.
don't try to ride, feel the ride.
dude.

*there's a fella who rides near you who is the master of this, think he's known as Peataayyy or something.

Second DrRS**** & althepal you look tense, upper body/arms look stiff

nice to see another well shot vid from up there.

There's another guy who's a bit closer who might be good. Chris something 😉

You've strayed off the tarmac and into some manky old woods! How can you expect to ride well in that crap?

Your woodland could use a bit of coppicing..

Chris already rides with better people but he never listens to us, he's too busy racing ahead then crashing.

watch this video, some very good practical advice from one of the best riders out there.

he talks about cornering alot, and it all makes sense

oh and as someone else said, i dont know what position you brake levers are in, but alot if people have them very low. this putss your weight further over the front when descending. It might be worth moving them up a bit, to see how this effects your body position when braking

Good film that, Fabien is great.
Strange though that at 23.00 minutes at the start of the climbing section his drivetrain would appear to be on the left-hand side of the bike...

 

All,

Well I went out today and put your hints and tips into practice - and it worked!!! I felt i could carry more speed in the corner, lean in more and I felt more stuck to the trail.

Thanks all. I''ll keep working on it.

I did film it a bit again too, but the edit will come later....