Mountain biking provides you with appropriate exercise. It also allows you to get some much needed fresh air. Mountain bike riders can also show their skills off during mountain biking. If you still don’t have a mountain bike, you could go through our list of best single speed mountain bike to choose the right one for yourself.
Most mountain bike trails provide them with a set of obstacles to go through. But you cannot go through these obstacles without any proper tips and techniques. This article is here just to provide you with that.
Here are some tip and techniques that will enhance your mountain biking experience and also help you tackle some hard to cover obstacles. So without any further delay, let’s move on with our article.
Manual riding: Going manual is a very versatile and easy mountain bike trick. It is especially easy on sloped surfaces. But nonetheless, this trick can be done on any type of surface.
The two steps for manual riding are:
- Try to pinpoint the center of gravity of your mountain bike.
- Keep your knees straight and upright to keep balance and the bike in control.
Weighting and unweighting: You have to make your riding more fluid and dynamic. You can simply do this by compressing and releasing the weight of your mountain bike. This will obviously happen simultaneously sometimes. Weighting and unweighting help you dash through a tough trail, or fly off and land on a ledge. This technique will simply help you slide through any kind of obstacle in a jiffy.
A wheelie drop: This is a technique that comes in handy when you come across continual drops during mountain biking. You will have to use your rear wheel and shift the balance to perform a wheelie drop. Always keep the front wheel off the ground till you reach the end of your obstacle at hand.
Bunny hop: Bunny hoping is a lot like weighting and unweighting. But during this technique, you will have to continuously jump up and down with the bike. This has to be done by using the rear wheel. Try to lean a bit away from the front wheel and compress your body. Always use the knees to lift the bike up and get some air. Level your bike out in mid air and use the rear wheel to land on the ground. This technique helps you to jump over small obstacles and logs.
The stoppie: A stoppie allows you to stop your bike as quickly as possible so that you don’t lose control of it. It is a must learn technique for any mountain biker. First, try to pump your front breaks very lightly. This helps you stay in balance. Keep the center of gravity on your front wheel and lift the rear wheel off the ground. Your bike will stop smoothly, rather than abruptly. This is a technique that can be used for any kind of surface or trail.
Conclusion
Things will not be perfect at first. Some tricks will not be that easy to grasp at first. But with a little bit of patience and dedication, they will soon become a piece of cake for you.
You will have to practice each o the techniques above with heart. They will enhance your experience as a bike rider and also improve your mountain biking skills. Happy mountain biking!!