- Braking to go faster?
Yep, that's right.
What I'm really talking about here
is trying to improve your breaking technique,
to smooth it out, find more grip on the trail,
and that could make you faster.
I think braking well is one of those skills
that just improves the more time you spend on the bike,
and it becomes less of a conscious thing.
I think it does for me anyway.
(slow drum and bass music)
Trying to learn how much much grip you've got
on that day of your ride
is gonna help you brake better and be faster.
So, sometimes, maybe I've not ridden for a couple of weeks,
I jump on my bike,
and I realize I'm going a lot slower than I could be
'cause I'm nowhere near the actual level of grip,
not getting to the edge of it at all.
So what I try and do is try and exaggerate
the corners a little bit,
maybe use a little bit too much brake,
tiny little skids here and there.
That'll give you a really good judgment
of how much grip there is on that trail.
Again, that'll start becoming unconscious
once you've got a feel for it,
and then you can start thinking about nailing your lines
and getting the most out of your brakes.
Another mistake is to pump the levers over and over.
This is really a case of misjudging my speed and grip.
It's super frustrating but if I relax and ride more
it'll soon disappear.
Or, the safety brake.
This is when you're dragging your brake
when you really don't need to be.
More about that later.
Proper braking at the right moments
could also mean you're actually braking harder
but for less time.
Think about it in Formula One terms,
where they brake hard, then they brake late,
and they come off the brakes
to find maximum grip in the corners and, therefore, speed.
How does that translate to mountain bike riding?
Well, lets look at corner entry.
(slow drum and bass music)
To be as fast as possible through downhill corners,
try and do exactly that,
brake hard, brake late, come off the brakes,
try and get around that corner.
But, are you doing that?
Pick yourself a corner like this,
where there's a load of hard braking before it,
do it over and over again, see if you nail it.
You'll get a good feel of which attempts are good and fast.
It should feel smooth and you should really hit the edge
of your limits of grip.
Smooth, hard braking, and no pumping in the levers,
with no big slides.
(upbeat dance music)
Can you actually get away without braking in a section?
Of course, brakes feel like the ultimate safety net,
and they are a lot of the times,
but you might be able to ride through that section
just a little bit faster if you dare yourself to do it.
Going full death grip means taking your fingers
off the brake levers and just gripping onto the bars.
To be honest, I maybe used to do it on
the old downhill racing days a little bit, but not anymore.
Nowadays, I'd much rather leave my fingers on the levers
and just dare myself not to pull them.
Steep downhills are the time
where you're gonna be braking the hardest,
and grip is gonna make a big difference to how fast,
but also how confident, you feel on those steep downhills.
So, a tire with big knobbies
that are really gonna dig into the ground
are gonna make a big difference.
And how good are your brakes?
Not all brakes are created equal.
Of course, the fastest way to ride down a steep downhill
is to come off the brakes as soon as you can.
But it's gonna be scary and you've gotta be confident
you're gonna make it.
(upbeat dance music)
Dialing in your brake setup to suit you personally
is also gonna make a big difference
to how well you can use them and how powerful they are.
So, not everyone's gonna like mine
but the way I like to do it
is have my lever adjusted right in,
so on that reach adjustment in there.
Almost all the way in so it's really close to the bar,
my one finger goes right on the very end.
So, as you can see, when I'm pulling it all the way on,
it's almost touching the bar.
But, for me, that feels really powerful
'cause it's almost a closed grip
and I'm really trying to get the most out of my brakes.
I also like to adjust that free stroke to the minimum,
so that my lever doesn't move very much.
Some people say that might be less modulation
because there's, literally, less stroke on there
to determine how hard your brakes are working.
But what I like to do is be able to get those pads
touching that disk as soon as possible,
and then do the modulation myself.
The harder I pull on that brake,
the harder it's gonna stop me.
Again, this is all about dialing in your brakes
to your personal preference,
but making sure they're working as soon as you need them.
Good braking technique does take a little bit of practice,
and I think a bit of thought,
but then, hopefully, it'll become natural
and you forget about it.
Just definitely think a little bit
about setting up your brakes,
and making sure they're working properly.
If you wanna see some tips on wet riding,
click over there for that one.
If you wanna see some tips on how to ride steep downhills,
over there, hit that subscribe button
if you haven't done all ready, hopefully you have,
and give us thumbs up.