- Welcome back you beautiful people,
and welcome to another rad video
that's going to help you!
Yes, skills that you need to know
how to progress your riding that little bit more
on your trusty hardtail be it line choice.
Riding aggressive,
don't do that.
Riding light, as well,
and all that goodness
all coming up in this
rad video.
Stick around.
(upbeat music)
This one is about riding light on your bike.
What does that mean?
Well, that means you got to just not put
too much pressure down on your pedals
and let the bike bounce around.
Now, that's pretty hard when you are riding flat pedals
because to eliminate your feet from bouncing off the pedals,
you're going to have to dig your heels in,
and push your body weight down on your pedals
to stop them from bouncing off.
It's super hard to ride super light weight.
Now when it comes to being clipped in,
which I recommend,
is that you can eliminate your feet from bouncing off
cause you're basically clipped into your bike.
That means you can ride a little bit lighter,
you can let the bike bounce underneath you
without having the worry of your feet
bouncing off your pedals.
And that brings me onto riding light.
When you clipped in,
you're riding your bike super light
cause you're not putting all your weight down.
You're just gliding over some rough stuff.
And that does help when it comes to rough.
Just like this up here.
(relaxing music)
With body position,
you want to quite by far back,
but you want to have your knees bent
because the only suspension you've got in the rear
is in your legs.
So, you want to let them be quite proactive
in the rear.
Just to soften the ride.
Also, trust in what you have in the front.
If you have suspension on the front; use it.
Okay, you're going to be prepared to move around the bike
in all four quadrants: left, right, forward,
and back when on your hard tail.
You want to be dancing around,
especially when it's rough.
Be prepared to dance on a hardtail,
because whatever's in front of you
is going to determine where your bikes going to go,
and you need to fight that
to keep it going down the trail straight.
Or when you start to ride super fast on a hardtail
down some rough stuff you have to be ready
for the most unexpected all the time
because it's going to be rough.
You're going to be bouncing all over the place.
Trust me,
I've been there and it's gnarly,
especially when it gets super super rough.
(sound of bikes)
And these guys are all on full suspension rigs,
which brings me on line choice next.
(music)
Alright, another thing we talk about
but it's super key when it comes to hard tail riding
and that's line choice.
And you can see two obvious lines right here.
There's one on riders left,
which is absolutely death.
Why would you want to go around there
on a hardtail?
Whereas this one on the right,
look at it, smooth;
plus it opens up that left (mumbles).
Super nice and super cool.
Whereas that, just looks like a recipe for disaster.
If you're not into riding into that sort of stuff,
line choice is key.
And also, when you're riding a hard tail,
you are looking for the best line possible
just to make the trail a little bit smoother for you
because it is a hard tail end of the day.
You're going to be bouncing around.
And also, it's key if you are riding two different bikes.
Like, I ride a full suspension bike
and I ride a hard tail.
Now riding a hardtail finding those lines
and then going back to the same trail
and riding the same lines on a full suspension bike
makes you a lot quicker,
a lot smoother,
and just a bit more fun with less danger.
Find the best line.
I'm going with that one,
but I'm going to ride both
just to see what that ones like (giggles loudly).
(upbeat music)
Ah, smoother, faster, not so scary.
Oh, don't get me wrong,
I'm a super aggressive rider.
I love to be more in control of my bike.
I like to muscle that bike around
and, myself, ride the bike;
not the bike ride me.
I like to push it down the tail,
but when it comes to a hardtail,
you have to step it back a bit.
You don't want to be super aggressive. (grunts)
(moody music)
(bike rolling down gravel in the background)
Woooah!
Yeah!
Oh man!
Aggressiveness, it's where it's at.
(bike rolling on gravel)
Cause you'd just end up making mistakes.
You come down a piece of trail super rough.
You could just get bounced off
and go into the bush,
or end up just having a puncture
taking the wrong line choice.
Now, bringing all these things together is key.
Ride sensibly; ride at a good speed.
Don't ride it like a bull in a china shop
and just smash everything:
even though that's super fun.
But hardtail...
You just need to bring it back a bit.
Just be a little bit more conservative because
you don't want to ruin your bike.
Plus you want to have a nice smooth ride (deep breathing).
(bike rolling down gravel)
Just like that guy,
nice, just straight on the trail.
Having a great day.
This next one is you got to believe in you hardtail.
Trust it, because it can take a lot.
It is capable, more so than what you're skill is.
This thing can do a lot more
than what my skill can offer me.
Now also, don't be super upset that this
the only bike that you own is a hardtail
because the hardtails a great place.
It's a great bike
and it's a good one to learn all those fundamental skills.
Plus, it will make you a better rider
when you've learned to ride on a hardtail.
Then you move all those skills over to full suspension
cause it's just easier:
you've got dual suspension,
the trails are going to be a lot smoother,
but you know all those lines.
You know all those essential skills
that you've learned on your hardtail.
Believe in it cause I love my hardtail
more so than my full suspension bike.
I'm going to point out two essential things
that I would do to my hardtail just to make it
a little bit more comfortable.
I'm going to start with my cockpit.
Now the handlebars,
you would want to have a little bit wider than normal
because you don't want to have that bike twitchy.
If you have smaller handlebars,
it's going to make that bike a lot twitchy than it already is
By having a little bit more of a wider bike,
keep you a bit more in control on the trail.
The other thing is, that is to me,
I think is a super essential
is being clipped into a hardtail.
Now, I know if you're a flat pedal rider
it's going to be super hard to try
and learn to ride clipped-in on a hardtail
but it's something I've done throughout the whole year.
This year is learning how to ride coach
because it's beneficial when it comes to riding a hardtail.
Your feet are always going to be stuck to your bike
and not bouncing around
which brings me on to riding light
not riding super aggressive.
You can move your bike a lot easier
when you're clipped into your hardtail.
So there you go, a few essential things
that you need to know when riding a hardtail.
They going to help you benefit you on the trail
make you a little bit of a better rider:
that's riding light,
riding your direct line,
not riding aggressively.
All those great things
and trust in your hardtail as well.
Now, if you want to continue to watch GMBN
click over here
where I compete in the Megavalanche,
one of the roughest things I've ever done on a hardtail.
Trust me, my arms are still killing from it.
And if you want to subscribe to the channel
and you haven't like the other rest of us
click that globe.
Also give us a thumbs-up like
if you love hardtails
cause I sure as hell do.
See ya!