(tires crunching and rolling)
- We're here today at Tirpentwys Bike Park
and this place is absolutely full of corners and berms.
There is no better place to show you
all the common cornering mistakes.
(upbeat hiphop music)
So the classic, you're coming in way to hot for a corner
and you're going to blow all your lines,
why has this happened?
Number one, is that you've obviously
carried way too much speed into the corner.
It's way to much to control,
you missed you braking point as well,
so you need to set a braking point,
where you're going to get that entry speed down.
And lastly you're going to miss your line as well,
'cause you're going to be all out of control,
you're going to be hitting the loose stuff
and maybe firing up the top of the berm.
So the way we are going to get these corners dialed
is actually setting a braking point
so when you come into a corner,
think about where you are going to slow the bike down,
bearing in mind the weight of the bike too.
Pick as line as well, it's really important
to get the dialed, you need to look ahead,
around the corners to make sure you've got
that line locked in all the way out.
Good thing to think about in corners
is slow in, fast out.
Get on the gas and make that exit sharp.
(upbeat hiphop music)
The one thing I do witness out on the trail
and it is a pretty scary thing to witness,
is riders ride in sat down on their bikes
now this is not pretty at all.
Really when it comes to riding corners
and things like that you need to get the seat dropped
so it's out of the way.
That way you can move the bike around
underneath you a lot easier.
And also you need to be standing up
and if you stood up, it just means
that the bike is going to be able to move,
the suspension is going to work
as the designers wanted it to.
The thing is when you sat down
and you've got all that weight just dead
mostly on the rear wheel bias and on the bike as well.
So the bike is going to have weight
on the back wheel all the time
so you are going to lose front end grip
and things like that.
so it's real important to slam the saddle, stand up tall,
look ahead down the trail and let that bike move.
(upbeat hiphop music)
One of the biggest mistakes I see riders do
when it comes to riding berms
is grab it with a hand full of brakes
when they are actually committed to the berm.
Which this is obviously going to disturb
the grip, bike's wheels and the tires,
it's going to disturb your balance.
The idea of the berm,
is that it's going to hold you in the turn.
You should commit to it at the start,
if you start braking in it,
you kind of doubted yourself,
it means that you could have potentially
slowed down the berm and lose traction.
When it comes to riding berms,
it's all about commitment
and get that braking done early.
The thing is when you come into a berm,
you really need to break it down into three points,
the entry, the mid point, and the exit.
Just make sure you ride on that nice high line
on that berm, you committed to it,
you're leaning the bike in and laying off the brakes.
As soon as you start grabbing those brakes
you begin to disturb the momentum
and the grip in the wheels.
That way it means that the wheel
is going to want to slide down the berm
instead of railing it.
(upbeat hiphop music)
When it come to hitting corners hard,
raising your inside pedal is definitely a good idea.
Sometimes I see riders doing it a little bit too early
before they have actually committed to the corner.
The thing is, if there is rocks and bumps in the way
what it can do is just disturb the grip on your bike
and if you get a pedal high before a corner
or across all that bumpy stuff,
you're not very stable on the bike,
it's going to allow your weight to be all on one side
and it's not going to allow
the suspension to work properly
and the grip is going to be sacrificed too.
Just make sure that when you are coming in to a corner
that you are not doing it to early.
So if you do find yourself setting up
that a little bit too early,
just wait until the bump and all the nasty stuff
is behind you before you commit to the corner.
Usually a lot of people brake in a section
before a corner and that's these are is braking bumps.
So just make sure you are off the braking bumps
before you drop that foot and rail into corners.
Now, raising your inside pedal is quite a hot topic.
Ah, it does work for some riders
and it doesn't, you know, for some of the people.
A lot of people do coach it, some don't.
It's kind of finding what works for you.
Personally, I do like to raise my inside pedal
when I feel there isn't a lot of support
in the corner but when I'm hitting berms
I kind of go for flat foot and switch up.
So just see what works for you.
(upbeat hiphop music)
Now this is a mistake that I can be guilty of.
I tell ya, I was just on a really hard climb
to the top of a trail head,
I hit the top of the downhill trail, I dropped my saddle,
I'm all set to go,
and I cruise into the trail,
go to hit the first berm,
come out of that,
I go to pedal and I've forgotten to change down
into a harder gear,
meaning that it's nearly going to fling me
straight over the handle bars and be all compressed
into the bike and could slip a pedal.
It is really one you definitely don't want to forget.
Now one of the key things to do when dropping into a trail
is definitively looking ahead
and anticipate on what is coming.
First off, obviously you need to
get that gear selection right.
If I was dropping into this trail
and it was straight into a really steep downhill shoot
then I know if I dropped into my hardest gear
now straight away, I'm going to have that power
going into the cranks and I'm going to be
cruising down that trail flat out.
Whereas if I dropped in and it was quite flat,
I'd probably for a medium kind of gear
and look at the speed and how much flow I'm getting
and then I'll drop down in the gear selection
and then maybe change my power mode as well.
It's really important to look ahead
and anticipate the trail thinking about the gears
and the power mode.
(upbeat hiphop music)
So again, I really hope that you've enjoyed
today's video and all those cornering mistakes
and hopefully eradicate a few of those on the trail
that you guys might be doing.
But, if you want to check out more mistakes videos
check out my jumping mistakes video.
That one's playing down here.
Give it a thumbs up if you've enjoyed it.
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We will see you in the next one.