- So, believe it or not, Si from GCN here
used to be a professional cross-country mountain bike racer.
- That's right.
I had to make the switch over onto road
about 10 years ago now.
I do still ride my mountain bike all the time,
but I'm definitely very, very old school.
So I was kinda hoping, Neil, if you could maybe gimme
a couple of tips just to help me get a little bit,
you know, up with the times.
- All right, Si, this is five hacks
to teach an old dog new tricks
and become a faster cross-country racer.
- To do, to do what for me?
(smooth music)
- So when it comes to trying to corner fast and find grip,
a low centre of gravity is really important.
And that is difficult with your saddle really high.
But just try and take the pressure off of your bum
and into your feet.
Specifically your outside foot.
And actually try and dip your outside foot.
So here's gonna be your left foot.
Try and put your weight and pressure
through that left foot
to try and get your centre of gravity as low as possible.
- All right.
You know, the funny thing is,
I drop my outside foot instinctively
when I'm riding on the road,
but I just, I guess I'm just lazy on my mountain bike.
I just don't do as much.
Probably 'cause there's more corners,
so you gotta move your feet more.
- Yes, definitely a technique that helps.
I'd also say try and bring your hips
to the outside of the saddle.
So as soon as you hover off the saddle
and drop your outside foot,
bring your hips out as well.
So it dips the bike over, and your body stays
relatively upright.
Also, lower your chest to the bars
trying to balance that weight over both tyres
so they grip about equal.
- So move weight forward?
- Yeah.
- All right then.
I might have a crack at that then.
(smooth music)
- 'Kay, Si, I've got a skills exercise for you here.
I wanna see an emergency stop.
So come down at a good pace,
and try to stop as fast as you can.
I'll take a look at your technique.
- All right.
- Stop!
- Whew. Not bad.
- Well, I was hoping to see a bit worse,
but obviously, you're a very experienced mountain biker.
What I say is, the big thing I see with people
I'm coaching is their feet stay really flat,
so all the weight,
the back wheel starts skipping.
It's all about dropping your heels,
and that brings the weight, obviously, back on the bike.
But also behind the pedals,
so weight goes into the pedal
rather than rolling up and over the top
and going towards the bars.
It's trying to keep the back tyre on the ground
to help you stop.
- So I was kinda doing something right?
- That's pretty good.
- Fist bump.
- 'Kay, Si, you may not believe this,
but some cross-country pros actually run
dropper seat posts on their bikes.
(Si clears throat)
- Sorry, excuse me, I hadn't seen that yet.
- But actually, some of the top pros actually run
their fixed seat post just that little bit lower.
The courses now are really technical,
so it just gives that ability to move off of the bike.
Really helpful on steep descents like this.
- I'll have you know, Neil,
the courses back in the day were pretty technical as well.
But, fair enough, I didn't know that.
I will give it a nudge.
Asking a roadie to change their saddle height
is a little bit like asking somebody to change religion.
But, since it's you...
How much are we talking now?
- Probably less than an inch.
But, it's definitely gonna need a little bit more space.
- All right.
If I get a chronic knee injury after this...
- I'm not gonna lie, Neil.
That does actually feel quite good.
That actually, it has to be said,
does feel a lot better, doesn't it?
- There's definitely some compromise
in pedal efficiency and being able to move around the bike.
- Yeah, and actually, you can train yourself
to use different saddle heights,
as long as you don't get injuries.
From a roadie's perspective, you can't get efficient
running energy so low.
So, possibly, I'd do that.
- Obviously, dropping a post gives you a lot more options,
but they do weigh about 300 grammes more.
Let's say, if you're not racing,
you're riding cross-country,
it's worth stopping and putting your saddle right down
for the descent.
So a skill that I think is often overlooked
in cross-country riding is pumping.
You can make speed from all these transitions on the trail.
So slopes like this,
if you squash your bike in forward at the right time,
you can actually make some speed.
- How do I do that?
- Well, this is all about your hips rather than arms.
So think about standing on the bathroom scales.
How do you make yourself heavier?
You have to sort of swing your hips down
and push through your feet.
If you do that at the right time here,
you'll really feel that speed.
- And what is the right time?
- Where the transition goes from down to flat.
- So, towards the bottom of the transition?
- Besides, you know, you'd already squashed into there
if you didn't do anything.
So you're just trying to exaggerate that squash.
- Exaggerate the squash.
Exaggerate the squash.
Exaggerate the squash...
(smooth music)
- Right, that kinda felt like I did it,
but did I do it?
- Yeah, that actually looked really good.
- Yeah?
- The crazy amount of pumping is
you can get better at it really quickly,
and you'll get more efficient.
I think by practising this, a BMX track, a pump track,
and think about how many transitions there are
like this on the trail.
- Yeah.
- In fact, I can see another one just up here.
- Yeah?
- So this one actually looks a bit more technical.
It's quite rooty,
but if you just adjust your line a little bit
to the outside of the trails,
a really smooth bit there.
You can make some more speed just there.
- Can you pump technical stuff as well presumably?
- You can, but it's gonna be rough.
I think it's gonna be much less tiring
and smoother to do it on the smooth bit of trail.
- All right.
I can see transitions everywhere, Neil.
I'm gonna go pump the (beep) out of this.
(Neil laughing)
Neil, thank you very much.
That was seriously cool.
And I'll tell you what,
I forgive you for calling me an old dog
'cause you have actually taught me some new tricks.
I think maybe it's time for a comeback.
- Yeah, well don't slide.
Good cross country skills.
- Cheers! Now, I subscribe to GMBN already.
If you don't, then make sure you click
on the globe right now.
'Cause that will subscribe you straight away.
- I've got another good video for you, Si.
Click down here for a in-depth how-to on how to pump.
- That's all right. I will check that out.
- And if anyone out there is interested in road,
you might be,
then just click down there
'cause we've got how to perfect your descending
on a road bike.
Go and have a look.
You know you want to.
- Give us a thumbs up if you like this cross country video.