Book learnin'...Mountain bike techniques?

[Lewis Moon]

So...I took my first MTB ride in 20 years yesterday, and I purposely picked a trail that had some (slightly) technical sections to get out of my fire road comfort zone. I crashed probably 8 times. All of them on uphill technical sections. I was an idiot (and persisted in being so) and tried to bull my way up climbs like I would a short jumper hill on the road. Yeah..didn't work. I finally realized I had to twiddle tiny gears and pick lines carefully in order to stay upright and the rest of the ride went better.
I want to get better before I break something...I know the best thing is to ride more and with better riders, but more than once a week isn't going to happen until November (this is Arizona...) so I was wondering if anyone has written a book on mountain bike riding/handling techniques. Not so much an introduction as a more technical treatment.

[jtakeda]

Are you riding clipped in?
Also are you riding a FS?

I’d start with switching to flat pedals while you’re learning. It will help a lot

Think of it like driving on slippery roads, you want constant even traction, not powerful bursts sporadically. It will help greatly.

[prototoast]

I own two books on the subject, Mountain Bike Like a Champion by Ned Overend, and Mastering Mountain Bike Skills by Brian Lopes and Lee McCormack. I would personally recommend the latter as a first book. It has lots of pictures, and presents information in an easy-to-digest format. The Overend book is fine, but you have to get into it more to get the most out of it.

[Idris Icabod]

Brian Lopes book is really good if you can get past the surfer dude manner of writing:

https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Mountain-Skills-Brian-Lopes/dp/1492544493/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2MIKT393XCBQM&keywords=mountain+bike+skills&qid=1568649106&s=books&sprefix=mountain+bike+ski%2Caps%2C185&sr=1-1

He is rather dogmatic about some things.

[Jaybee]

Are you riding clipped in?
Also are you riding a FS?

I’d start with switching to flat pedals while you’re learning. It will help a lot

Think of it like driving on slippery roads, you want constant even traction, not powerful bursts sporadically. It will help greatly.

Flats are nice, especially on techy climbs. Makes it much easier to dab, even if you're really good at clipping in/out.

Ditto on the spinning tiny gears, which you seem to have already figured out.

Youtube may be better than a book here - easier to learn, IMO, with visual aids. Leelikesbikes is a good place to start, GMBN, Skills with Phil, MTBtips, etc.

Also, take time to ride and re-ride the features you have trouble clearing before moving down the trail. It's by far the fastest way to learn.

[PaMtbRider]

I also have the two books Prototoast mentioned. P.M. me your address and I will drop them in the mail for you.

[chiasticon]

I'm somewhat new to MTB-ing as well. I found the skills described here to be quite useful. (https://www.singletracks.com/blog/beginners/mountain-bike-skills-the-master-list-to-learning-how-to-do-everything/) pointed out a few obvious things that I was doing wrong. nice to see some video demonstrations and such as well.

I would also look/ask around to see if there are local clinics (your shop would likely know). these could be very useful in picking up basics, since they'd be hands-on and you'd actually be riding and using the skills. not just reading them or watching videos.

[sfscott]

Let’s Mountain Bike by Paul Molenberg

[Lewis Moon]

You folks rock.

If it looks like I can't really progress well w/o flats, I may switch out for a bit, but as I have said elsewhere, flats feel freaking weird to me. I've ridden clips for so long that it really feels like I'm giving up points of control when I ride flats. I've been riding clips exclusively since the Campy Record era (the first one). I tried having flats on a train/commuter bike a while back and switched back to clips within two weeks.

[Jaybee]

You folks rock.

If it looks like I can't really progress well w/o flats, I may switch out for a bit, but as I have said elsewhere, flats feel freaking weird to me. I've ridden clips for so long that it really feels like I'm giving up points of control when I ride flats. I've been riding clips exclusively since the Campy Record era (the first one). I tried having flats on a train/commuter bike a while back and switched back to clips within two weeks.


This is certainly a reasonable position to take. Even though I recommended flats above, I almost exclusively ride clipped in for everything in between townie grocery getting and lift-served downhill. I just prefer it, both the security of being firmly attached through the chunder and the way the pedal stroke feels. Plus my knees seem to benefit from having restricted float. If you really want the benefit of flats, get good ones with removable pins and get some legit flat pedal shoes like 5.10s. There is a night and day difference between that setup and your trail runners and track pedals.

[fmradio516]

I have a pair of 510 pro flat shoes. Saved my toes a couple of times times where roots and rocks sticking up that I didnt see clipped the tops of my toe box as I was pedaling. The Pro shoes are so stiff on top, i just breezed through. if I had the regular 510s, I may have had a broken toe or two.

I was riding flats last year when i first started riding mtn bikes, but I had some trouble gettings up technical climbs and whatnot. My feet would come off the pedals too easily. So I went to clipless and it made a world of a difference. I was flying through rough sections that i wasnt able to do before.

but now I am back to flats haha. just because I havent gone tubeless yet, so my tires are pretty firm and when I hit rocks+roots at slow speeds, I come to a complete dead stop. I fell over so many times due to this and not being able to clip out quick enough. When I go tubeless next season, Ill try clips again.

[peanutgallery]

Buy a motocross bike and ride it a lot...apply what you learn to the mtb:)

Consider a class or clinic. Harlan Price does a great job

[crownjewelwl]

i got the lopes book when i first got back into mtb a decade ago...

but it is like anything else...reading a book doesn't necessarily translate to skills (at least for me)

i'm pretty decent now, but not without many bumps, bruises, and breaks (my wrist)

if i could do it all over again, i would've opted for a clinic of some sort

i forget the name, but there is a group that travels around doing skills clinics...price seemed pretty reasonable

also i would stick to spd if that's what you're comfortable with...and really depends on what you're trying to accomplish...for me tech climbing gives me the most satisfaction and no chance flats would help me

edit: peanutgallery referenced the clinic to which i was referring

[benb]

I've got a whole bunch of MTB books.

But I'd suggest you go search for mountain bike technique videos on Youtube.

It's free, and the videos have gotten REALLY good. I've learned a fair amount from some of them. There are people who make really good instructional content instead of just trying to show off to get sponsored.

I started back when no one really thought flat pedals were cool. When I try flats they just don't do anything for me. They make it easier to put a foot down but they make other stuff harder/more annoying.

If you've got years of road clipless experience I would just stick it out. Set up the MTB clipless pedals to be relatively loose & easy to get out of and take it slowly. As time goes on you start to have a much better idea of what you can get through and what you can't get through.

Also a huge thing with MTB is just gaining awareness of when you can and can't put big power down. Roadies always have lots of power available.. but MTB is much more about dosing stuff out carefully so you don't end up at something technical while you're gassed. If you're gasping for breath you can't concentrate on technical stuff. If you put too much power down in an unwise spot you're going to end up with too much speed and start "falling behind the bike".

"Buy a dirtbike or a motorcycle" is expensive & somewhat ridiculous advice but there is some truth to that. You could go take the motorcycle safety foundation beginner course.. no need to buy a motorcycle for that. They teach how to ride a bike better than anything to do with actual bicycles and there are really good lessons to be learned by riding bikes that are heavy and more powerful than human legs. (They teach great material for surviving on the road with the cars & trucks which is 100% transferrable to bicycles too.)

[vqdriver]

flats are great for quick dabs. and yes, you'll get accustomed to a good set right quick.

another point is the saddle height with dropper posts. dunno where you set yours but i like mine high when climbing for the added leverage. but when you're spinning a steep section even a small rock can bring you to a halt and when you're that high you're also very tippy. flats come in very handy then, as does a quick remote lever finger

there's a slew of youtube videos out there on technique. find a 'toober that you like and check out their series of uploads.

[Jaybee]

flats are great for quick dabs. and yes, you'll get accustomed to a good set right quick.

another point is the saddle height with dropper posts. dunno where you set yours but i like mine high when climbing for the added leverage. but when you're spinning a steep section even a small rock can bring you to a halt and when you're that high you're also very tippy. flats come in very handy then, as does a quick remote lever finger

there's a slew of youtube videos out there on technique. find a 'toober that you like and check out their series of uploads.

One of the things I like most about the dropper post is getting the seat just a tiny bit lower over techy climby stuff where you might be in and out of the saddle and maybe want to add some body english to get the power and traction in the right spots. That and dropping it all the way to get restarted in a techy area. Dropper posts - not just for descents.

[Spaghetti Legs]

Practice track standing. If you can stay upright for 2-3 seconds while stopped or at very low speed, you will be able to unclip and avoid a lot of falls. I used to think if I didn’t crash on a MTB ride I wasn’t riding hard enough but that was a long long time ago.

[Gummee]

So...I took my first MTB ride in 20 years yesterday, and I purposely picked a trail that had some (slightly) technical sections to get out of my fire road comfort zone. I crashed probably 8 times. All of them on uphill technical sections. I was an idiot (and persisted in being so) and tried to bull my way up climbs like I would a short jumper hill on the road. Yeah..didn't work. I finally realized I had to twiddle tiny gears and pick lines carefully in order to stay upright and the rest of the ride went better.
I want to get better before I break something...I know the best thing is to ride more and with better riders, but more than once a week isn't going to happen until November (this is Arizona...) so I was wondering if anyone has written a book on mountain bike riding/handling techniques. Not so much an introduction as a more technical treatment.
I'm going to bet that your rear wheel spun out and you fell over.

If that's the case, you aren't using your body weight to your advantage.

It's hard to explain 'rowing your bike' to get up a hill, but that's part of what you need to do. The short version is: when you're in the power phase of the pedal stroke, pull the bars back and down to drive the rear wheel into the ground.

If it's steep enough, you need to get up on the nose of the saddle to keep the weight right.

M