Off road mountain biking advice: The basic techniques

“Mountain biking can be straightforward, but there are certain basic techniques that will make your riding quicker, safer and more fun,” says national coach Phil Dixon …

Adjust your set-up

• On a mountain bike, compared with a road or track bike, you will have the front end a little higher, to increase stability on descents and make it easier to look ahead and plan your riding line.

• You may also want to drop your saddle a few millimetres, so it’s easier to push your weight backwards on steep descents and get brake levers at 45 degrees so there is a notional straight line down the arms through the hands.

• Olympic team member Oli Beckingsale recommends lower tyre pressure: “People whack them up high, but 30 or 40psi should be the maximum unless the terrain is rocky. You should be able to get your thumb into the tyre.”

• Nearly all mountain bikes now have front suspension forks, and if you can adjust the pressure, increase it a little, especially for steep descents. Less compression at the front equals more weight at the back as you drop.

• Wear a helmet, gloves and glasses to help keep the dust out.

Break it down

Dixon points out that most obstacles – such as hairpin bends on a descent, a short tough climb or a twisting path over roots and stones – can be broken down into three areas: entrance area, the section itself, and exit. “You have to look at the exit or think about it if you can’t see it. Think about where you want to be – not the obstacle, but where you want to go.”

Technical riding, he says, is all about maintaining momentum. “You are looking for a good exit speed from the section, so braking has to be done before the obstacle,” says Dixon. For example, you should brake before a corner and go round without heavy braking, or you will have no exit speed. The key is to let the bike run and stay relaxed. Generally, once you’ve entered the section, the bike will go where it wants and you follow.”

Working the gears

Gear choice is a good example of the entrance-section-exit phasing: “Get your gear sorted before the section. Change down beforehand. If you are going down, then up, think about where you will change gear – if you hit the rise in the big gear you use on the descent you will just stop. If you change with the gear under load you will crunch the chain so allow the chain to shift smoothly.”

Mud is a frequent problem on British trails: Oli recommends a low gear, to avoid bogging down. “If the gear is too high you will just stop: rev your way out if you have to.”

When climbing, Phil says you should “look quite a way up the climb – you are often out of breath and the temptation is to keep your head down. Bend your elbows to keep the front wheel down, don’t let your arms flop, and when you reach more challenging sections – a step on a climbing path for example – prepare to commit, then once over, ease back.”

Relaxing is key, as tensed-up arms will make the bike weave as you hit obstacles at slow speed – “if you hit a bump, don’t fight back. The important thing is that you are still going forwards.”

Mastering the bike

On corners or hairpins Phil recommends looking for a berm (a banked mud ridge on the outside of a corner) to sling the bike round. If there is an obvious mark where other bikes have travelled round the outside of the bend, use that rather than cutting across the apex as you might on a tarmac road.

The more you ride, the better you will be at moving your weight around to maintain traction and control. “On steep drops or technical sections keep the elbows wide, spread the knees a bit, and stand up,” says Dixon. “Jelly the arms so they act as shock absorbers on bumps, and keep cranks level (at quarter to three).

There are also exercises you can do away from the trail to improve your technique. A fun exercise for several riders is “last man standing.” Phil suggests: “get up to eight of you in a marked off area and ride around, keeping your hands and feet on the bars whilst trying to make the other riders put their feet down.” The bike handling skills you learn on bouncy forks and fat tyres will prove handy for other cycling disciplines.

• Phil Dixon has represented Great Britain at 12 mountain bike world championships. Oli Beckingsale has represented Great Britain at the last three Olympic games

Ride every mountain … off-road tracks throughout the UK

The only restrictions on mountain bike use are your legs and access permission – otherwise the opportunities are virtually limitless.

Try well-established trail centres such as Glentress in Scotland (thehubintheforest.co.uk), Cannock Chase in the Midlands (chasetrails.co.uk) or Coed-y-Brenin in Wales (tinyurl.com/67w9s8). There are centres across the UK and they vary from a set of forestry tracks with marked trails and a map, to fully staffed centres with cafes and bike hire.

On the web, there are plenty of rides listed through sites such as everydaycycling.co.uk, bikeradar.com and mbr.co.uk. These are great if you’re planning to discover somewhere new and want to know what lies in wait.

Finally, there are dozens of well-established, informal off-road challenges – mainly non-competitive “enduros” such as the Rough Ride in the Welsh Marches (roughride.co.uk) and the Chiltern Classic – which enable you to ride over a pre-set route, aiming to finish within a certain time. They cater for virtually all abilities and provide a handy target to aim for.

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