- Drop offs, the nemesis of many a mountain biker.
In this video, I'll talk you through the common mistakes
people make when trying to ride drops and how to avoid them.
(upbeat music)
Mistake number one is just go for it
and rolling off that drop off.
You will get away with that if the drop off isn't too big.
You see, like this, if I rock my front wheel off
and just get the back of the bike,
it's not big enough to hit much A-rim.
But when the drop off gets much bigger than this,
much higher than your axle height,
you'll start dragging your tail ring
and can go over the bars.
So to avoid making this mistake, you just need
at judging the size of drop offs and know when
they're too big just to be able to roll off them.
So when it gets that size, you've then got to start
lifting your front wheel using a bit of technique
so you don't just bomb that front wheel
down to the ground straight away.
(upbeat music)
So this is an important one to try and fix
if you're doing that, because not only
can you lose your balance, but also,
just 'cause you're using your muscles to do it,
actually your weight stays near the front of the bike.
Therefore, if you get the timing wrong
and land your front wheel early,
your weight is on that front wheel as well.
So the right technique, check out my manual videos.
It's all about using your weight, so going down and back,
getting your hips over the back of the bike,
and really your hands just come back with you.
So the bar should stay straight,
weight is nice and safe over the rear of the bike.
Another bad technique that can lift the front wheel
but can lead to problems if you get it wrong
is rather than just pull on the bars
is trying to use your weight to go up.
So standing up tall can swing the weight up
and pull the front wheel up, but really what happens then,
is you're standing really tall, and when you land,
your weight's just gonna slap down onto the bike.
You also risk sort of lifting off
your pedals when doing that.
So sort of like trying to roll to the back of the bike,
stay nice and low, you've got that bend
in your legs as well, so then push the bike
down into the ground, will just soak up that landing.
(upbeat music)
We've stepped it up a notch now.
Check out the size of this drop off.
It's definitely not rideable, and that is proved by
the hundreds of grooves in here
from people dragging their chain rings,
pedals, and the hillside just drops away after it.
So it's not really the size of the drop here
that's gonna catch you out, it's what happens after it.
So the next big mistake that people make,
especially when moving on to bigger drops, is brain freeze.
(winter wind whistling)
If you actually look at the size of this drop off,
it's not that big, it's only a couple of foot
if you go nice and steady.
However, it looks much bigger and you can go
six, eight, 10 foot if you a bit further.
But what I'm talking about here is a brain freeze.
The drop really isn't the problem.
It's the run in and the run out,
because people focus so much on that drop off,
they forget about these other parts to it.
So this run in is quite technical, it's quite flat,
you've got a 90 degree corner with not much support,
and you wanna roll over with a bit of speed.
But if you mess this up, it doesn't matter
about the drop, you're in trouble.
Same on the way out, you can be concentrating so much
on this, nail the drop off, got the technique,
but realize then, you're offline,
you're in the ruts, and that's where the problem happens.
So it's really a case of trying to think through
the whole section, not just focusing on this,
'cause it could be that that catches you out.
Another disadvantage of being too focused,
or even scared about a section,
is you might even stop breathing or blinking,
and then your body starts to freeze up as well.
So just try and breathe, try and relax
and concentrate on your line and
you'll stay nice and loose on the bike.
(upbeat music)
Another mistake that can be pretty catastrophic
on drop offs is moving too far back.
So, I always talk about against the back of the bike,
touching manulin, sometimes don't need to
if you've got a bit more speed.
But if you move too far back, hit your bum
into the rear tire, it's gonna stall the bike
and can send you over the bars.
And I've seen this a lot of times
in the fails and bails that people send in.
Deivathin actually did this at the Fort William World Cup.
He jumped on a twenty-niner, 'cause that is a difference.
A bigger wheel, you've got less room than you think
or you might be used to, and you hit the rear tire.
It really stalls the bike and big crashes can ensue.
Even Dave Gentry, a fellow YouTuber did that very thing
on this very drop and it ended in tears.
So big thing is getting used to how much space you've got.
And this all by practicing, moving around the bike,
practicing manuals, until you almost just
sort of drag your shorts up a little bit
and then you just get used to it,
you know how much space you've got.
Of course, like I've just said,
if you jump onto a bigger wheel bike,
you have to get used to it all over again.
(upbeat music)
Hitting the brakes in a panic when you come to a drop off
could be the worst thing you do.
So, of course, touching the brakes,
you're just gonna send your weight forward.
So yes, I would still recommend covering your brakes
at all times, but it's definitely a trick
to try and stay off the brakes, learning to just
keep your head up, get your weight back
when all goes wrong, staying off
the brakes does take a bit of practice.
Right, so there are some common drop off mistakes
I've seen people make over the years.
Hey, try and avoid them.
Don't forget bike setup if you're new
to doing bigger drop offs, you might want to go
harder with your tires and suspension than normal
because any mistake could amplify by overloading
your bike or maybe your tire even squirming,
that could make things go even worse.
If you wanna see a video on how to manual,
click over there if that one,
that should help out a little bit.
And if you wanna see Blake's recent video
on some common jumping mistakes, over there for that one.
Thumbs up if you like Learning to Do Drop Offs,
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