Basic riding skills

In this section we’ll discuss a few basic, but essential, riding skills you need as a mountain biker. These are skills every mountain biker learns in the beginning and keeps learning. Even professional riders still practise these skills throughout their career. Keep in mind that although some skills may seem obvious, mountain biking is very different from regular cycling. Knowing how to handle your bike can make you a better and faster rider.

BRAKING

Being able to brake skillfully can prevent you from crashing and even make you a faster rider. Before hitting the trail, test out your brakes. Check which brake lever controls the front wheel and which one the back. On most bikes the lever on the right operates the rear brake and the lever on the left operates the front brake, but on British bikes this is usually the opposite.

Operating the brake levers

If your brakes are powerful enough you should be able to operate them with just one finger. Put your index finger towards the end of the lever, this will give you the most leverage. Use the remaining fingers to hold onto the grip.

Keep your index fingers on the lever at all times when you’re riding. This will allow you to react fast when you suddenly have to brake. Animals, fallen trees and other people are some of the things you might unexpectedly encounter on the trail. When you do need to brake, make sure to feather them. Grabbing the brake levers and squeezing as hard as you can in a panic will cause you to lose your grip and can lock up your wheels. Instead, gently apply pressure on the levers until you slow down or come to a stop.

Don’t be afraid to use both brakes. As long as you feather the brake your front wheel won’t lock up (and cause you to fly over the bar). Using both brakes will increase your brake power and give you more control.

Some important tips

Try experimenting with braking on a flat open surface to get a feel of how your brakes react and use these tips on the trail:

Stay in control. You need to be able to come to a full stop at all times. Brake when you feel you’re going too fast to maintain control.

Keep your weight back while braking, this will prevent you from being thrown over the bars when you come to a sudden stop.

Don’t brake when you’re cornering, this can cause you to slip. Reduce your speed appropriately before the corner, release the brakes and then make the turn.

Make sure to brake smoothly when riding in wet and loose terrain. These conditions can cause you to slip if you brake too sudden.

Try to brake on parts of the trail that provide grip. Avoid braking on wet rocks, roots or loose sand.

The key to knowing when and where to brake is by looking ahead, which we’ll discuss in the next step.

PICKING A LINE

To pick a line means to choose your path down the trail. In order to do this you’ll have to look ahead of your bike and not right in front of it. This will allow you to identify obstacles and pick a route on time. The faster you go, the further ahead you should look.

When you’ve identified an obstacle it can be tempting to lock your sight on it until you’re past it. However, this can be dangerous as you might miss the following obstacle. Always keep scanning the path ahead.

As a beginner you’ll want to pick the line with the least resistance, avoid obstacles like rocks, steep sections, and tight corners. Usually you can spot other people’s lines as the path here is worn out from their tyres. If you’re not feeling secure or want to improve your time on a certain section, take a look on foot. Most professional racers will walk the route before actually attempting it on their bike, so there is no shame in that!

Keep practising and with experience you’ll be able to pick faster and more difficult lines.

SHIFTING GEARS

Shifting gears might seem like a simple task that doesn’t need explaining. However, the wrong shifting method can decrease your pedalling efficiency and even cause damage to the drivetrain. Here are some tips to shift the right way:

Keep your drivetrain maintained (we’ll be discussing this in a later section). One click of the shifter should result in one gear change.

When shifting, limit yourself to a light pressure on the pedals to prevent clunky and abrupt shifting.

When approaching an uphill section, shift before you start climbing to maintain as much momentum as possible.

If you have two shifters (one derailleur on the front and one on the back), try to prevent cross-chaining as this damages your chain. Cross-chaining happens when you are in the hardest gear on one shifter and the easiest gear on the other.

A smooth shifting drivetrain:

BODY POSITIONING

Being able to have the right body position at all times can make your ride great fun and prevent most of the mistakes, slips and crashes you made previously. Body positioning is not taking a single stance and maintaining it during your entire ride. Body positioning is fluid and dynamic and changes with every little bump, drop and corner you’re riding. Which makes it difficult to pinpoint the correct stance, but here are some of the basics:

Default position

Whether you call it the attack stance, neutral stance, ready position or any of the other terms out there, it is the most common position when mountain biking.

Get off your seat: Whenever you’re riding rough terrain you’ll want to get off your seat. Staying on your seat will significantly limit your mobility and cause you to lose control.

Eyes up: As we discussed in the step “Pick a Line” you should always look at what's coming up ahead and not just in front of your bike.

Bend your knees: Slightly bend your knees and use them as a suspension to absorb any bumps. Do not overbend them as this will make it difficult to pedal. Only bend your knees when you need to absorb the trail or go down steep descents. Keep your knees straight with your feet to be more dynamic.

Heels down: Slightly keeping your heels down will help you keep your feet on the pedals. Place the ball of your foot in line with the axle of the pedal.

Elbows wide: Bend your elbows slightly and keep them wide. This will increase your balance.

Weight centred: Your body weight provides grip to your wheels as it keeps them down on the ground. By centering your weight you distribute this grip evenly on both wheels. Your hips are usually a good reference point to recognize the centre of your weight.

Relax: Being scared to crash can cause you to cramp up your hands and stiffen up your body, which will only increase the likelihood of crashing. Relax your body from your feet to your hands and go with the flow. Let your body naturally move with your bike.

Steep descents

On (steep) descents you’ll want to maintain the default position. However, when you brake you’ll notice that the braking forces will push your body towards the front. To prevent you from flying over the bars, drop your hips and keep your weight in the back. This will counter those braking forces. Before taking on steep descents, practise this on flat ground and see if you can get your bottom to touch the rear tyre.

Climbing Uphill

When climbing a long ascent, stay seated as this is the most energy efficient and go into a higher gear so you can push your weight onto the pedal. For short and technical climbs it’s often necessary to stand up to improve your manoeuvrability and power output.

BALANCING

Maintaining balance is a big aspect of mountain biking and many of the skills you read about in the previous steps. Here are a few exercises to improve your balance and confidence on the trails.

Out of saddle movement

You already know that when things get rough on the trail you’ll want to get off your seat. This quick exercise will help you feel confident:

Go to a flat and open area, like a parking lot.

Get on your bike and start pedalling at a slow speed.

Stand on the pedals and get out of the saddle. Move your body weight to the front and back of your bike without pedalling.

Keep doing this and get used to how these movements affect your balance.

Use your limbs as suspension

Your mountain bike has its own suspension, but did you know there is another way to add even more? Use your limbs! Your arms and legs have loads of travel.

How to practise:

Get back on the bike and out of the saddle.

Start bouncing on the bike by bending your knees and elbows. Try to get your front wheel off the ground by pushing the suspension of your bike down and popping back up.

If you feel confident you can ride off a small drop, like a curb, and try to absorb the impact with your limbs.

Ride the line

This exercise is really simple and will help you in situations where the trail is very narrow. Draw a straight line on the ground or find a curb and try riding on it as precisely as you can. Make it more difficult by going as slow as you can.