Tips on riding downhill

Notes swap

I think you should do a back to back run down a familiar but slightly intimidating downhill - one with the seatpost at your usual height and one an inch lower - then report back! Remember - you're a tall guy, your c-o-g is substantially higher than most folk and you'll feel something they cannot. Factor that in otherwise you'll get an inferiority complex!

I'm too precious to risk falling off - especially in the Peaks in what were, let's face it, pretty 'technical' conditions, so I'm definitely in the cautious rider cat. I'm happy to say I didn't fall off on Saturday although the price I paid was to be one of the slowest on the descents. The Guvnor nearly put paid to that achievement mind, but that's another story...

I take great heart from not only seeing good riders whizz by, but also the bikes - they are capable of amazing feats! I do believe that momentum counters wobbles - and I always try to speed up a little when other riders pass me on a descent by keeping my fingers off the front brake as much as I dare, telling myself to relax, be more 'body fluid' (I imagine skiers!) and look for the enjoyment in the moment.

Mr K

I just point and shoot.

One trick is just to keep the front wheel in the air for as much as possible (depending if its a fast straight descent).

If its super bumpy you will pretty much clear it all - well thats what I found this weekend.

Not much use for turning mind.

ride somewhere stupidly technical, morzine, mt saint anne, all in the chucking rain, when you come home all your local trails feel 10x easier

ededwards":1mqd3oc6 said:

Anthony":1mqd3oc6 said:

May I ask you whether you enjoy horror films?

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Umm, no not really

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I think the fastest downhillers are people who enjoy horror films.

The question is do you ride primarily to go fast or do you ride primarily to enjoy yourself? And if the two come into conflict, which is the more important to you?

Drop the seat right down unfashionably low untill your confidence comes back. The thing you probably fear most is going over the bars, so drop your c. of g. to avoid that.
Do the same run over and over until your body starts to relax and you'll begin to work like one big damper and it feels great.
Run flat pedals for a while, that is a big help when trying to gain confidence.
Look well ahead and keep off the front brake and learn to "go light" its invaluable over rough stuff.
Hit the deck a few times, maybe on mud or soft leaves just slide it out under you, as stated above you're programmed to fear falling off so fall off in a controlled manner to overcome it. The pro downhillers use this technique to find their limits when practicing fast cornering.
I only started to downhill properly once I learned to relax, it is the most importand thing I'd say. I've gone from 8" full sus to fully rigid now and it is much more of a leap of faith hitting a dowhill section you haven't ridden before. Still getting used to my feet being attached to the bike but it's just about practice. Also the body can take a hell of a lot of abuse before it breaks so nine out of ten falls you'll get up laughing.
Lastly , Use the force!! it never fails Good luck

Ed - what you lack in downhill confidence you more than make up for in uphill prowess.

I also lack confidence decending. All due to an accident and subsequent helicopter ride I'm sure, but my gang say ride a more capable geometry/ stem/ fork/ bar combo somewhere new and tecnical and go back to your old ways and bike afterwards duely refreshed and radiating confidence...


I just got thinner tyres and got into climbs instead

drop the seat a little, and don't worry about going fast.

Concentrate on lining the corners up and getting the flow right. do that and you will feel comfortable. Feel comfortable and the speed will come along on it's own!

I try to avoid using the brakes at all and tend to pump, weave and slide my way round things.

the better you get at picking a line the faster you can ride!

Try to keep your weight back, you maybe a little front heavy and worried about the front wheel washing out.

Always try to 'stay high' - if the downhill has a camber it is always easier to correct your line by dropping with the slope than trying to ride against it.

It really helps to develop an instinctive reaction to locking the wheels and having them start to slide. (Obviously with the exception of a controlled use of locking the rear wheel to bring it round typically on a very sharp turn.)
When you are turning and braking you are asking the tyres to grip more as they have to work in 2 directions (sideways to corner and front to back to slow down). Sometimes you need to focus all the grip on turning rather than braking. It's a strange instinct but if at any point after starting to turn into a corner whilst you are still reducing your speed the wheels start to slide (especially the front wheel) the best way to make the turn is to back off the brakes allowing the full grip of the tyre in one direction only - to turn.

Finally, to practice your downhill technique, and progressively build your speed find a good stretch of track that contains plenty of tricky bits, preferably of various nature (Off camber, roots, rocks, sharp corners, little gullies that catch your wheels, etc....

Start off slow and in your comfort zone, ride the downhill in sections if it helps, even stop every 30 yards as you ride up it to look back at it from a downhill perspective. Work out the best lines, maybe not the fastest lines but the ones you feel comfortable with. Sometimes the line though one bit may not be the fastest or easiest but it might be necessary to get you a better line for the next bit? Once you've got your prefered line ride it at a speed that you feel comfortable. Then try to get quicker and quicker, and your speed should start build. You should also look for new lines as your speed increases.

Do you know anyone that's a good rider and super fast down a hill ? Get them to follow you and they should be able to tell what your doing wrong, i.e. not braking smoothly enough, weight distribution wrong, on the wrong lines.

(hopefully this advice is useful - these techniques got me some good results as a junior in the national downhill series - 3rd Scotland, 6th Middlesborough, 5th National Championships. 56th '94 Worlds in Vail)

Are you still riding the Yo hardtail with the rigid BOI or Yo fork? I think you're going to find it alot easier to 'learn' how to ride DH with a suspension fork. It just provides a significant amount of confidence whereas you need to be pretty technically adept to keep up a good speed with a rigid fork IMO

Thanks guys, this is really useful stuff and very supportive.

If I'm understanding it correctly I need to take the following into account (possibly not all at once!):

- relax
- think positively and believe I can do it
- go faster (counter intuitive but I understand exactly waht this means)
- brake less
- get centre of gravity lower (perhaps by dropping the seatpost)
- use suspension forks
- be confident
- practice


I went out to practice tonight, perhaps not on the best bike taking the above into account (fully rigid, arse in air but to be fair that is pretty much all my bikes!) but one I'm familiar with and on trails I know well and have ridden fine when confident. I deliberately didn't brake as much as normal and apart from a couple of tricky moments it worked pretty well. More practice required of course, it'll be a slow process and I need to take small steps but I'm feeling more positive hich is, after all, a key component.

Ride on!