Over the past year, we have been compiling detailed mountain bike skills guidance content, presented by Bontrager’s Wave Cell technology. We tapped into the experience of our editor, Sean Badenhorst, who began teaching mountain bike skills in 2010 and has helped thousands of South African mountain bikers improve their confidence and speed. Here’s a summary of that campaign, which focuses on the three laws of mountain bike wisdom and how they are applied to climbing, descending and cornering.
Paid partnership with Wavecel
LAW 1: INTENDED DIRECTION
One of the most common mistakes mountain bikers make is not looking up/ahead enough. By looking up/ahead, you get to see what’s approaching and are able to be reactive or proactive with sufficient time. If you don’t look up/ahead, you will have less visual information as to what is approaching and will reactively ride slower. This will also leave you with less momentum. Momentum is essential to rolling over or down small and large obstacles. This doesn’t mean don’t look closer, because you still need to scan the trail, but your default should be to look up/ahead with quick glances closer from time to time.
LAW 2: CONTROLLED MOMENTUM
If you don’t have momentum on a mountain bike you’re highly vulnerable to falling over. Even some momentum gives you stability and allows you to stay upright. The gyroscopic effect on your wheels when you gain momentum allows them to stay upright and gives you the ability to control your bike. During a mountain bike ride you are constantly controlling your momentum – either pedalling to get up a slope or braking occasionally to manage the momentum that gravity gives you for free on a descent.
LAW 3: MANAGED CENTRE OF GRAVITY
When you’re standing next to your mountain bike, there are two stationary objects. The heavy one (you) and the light one (your bike). When you get on your bike, you are placing the heavy object on top of the light object. If you weigh 84kg and your bike weighs 12kg, you are placing an object seven times heavier on top of your bike. Sit on our saddle, grab your handlebars and clip into your pedals and you have one object that’s now very, very top heavy.
TAKE CONTROL OF CORNERS
If it wasn’t for corners, mountain biking wouldn’t be nearly as challenging or fun. There are a few different types of corners such as flat turns, berms and switchback turns. Cornering smoothness comes with experience, but you need to understand how to tackle each type of turn to get the technique right first. Here’s a summarised guide.
TAKE CONTROL OF CLIMBS
There’s always so much focus on descents and corners when it comes to improving mountain bike skills. But few realise just how important it is to climb with control. And by climbs, we’re talking from uncomplicated, predictable gravel to loose, rocky singletrack. Here’s how to climb with control.
TAKE CONTROL OF DESCENTS
Descending is meant to be fun, right? Right! And it is. Mostly. Unfortunately, descending is one of the more difficult things to master on a mountain bike. The main reason for this is that many mountain bikers are afraid of falling, so roll down descents defensively, with incorrect body position and too much braking. Of course you don’t want to avoid your brakes altogether because that’s silly.
Wavecel is collapsible cellular structure that lines the inside of the helmet and is exclusive to Bontrager. Wavecel reduces rotational acceleration on impact and has been shown to be more effective than traditional foam helmets at protecting your head from certain types of bicycle falls. More details and video here.
