Cornering tips

[DomDom]

Can anyone offer me some helpful cornering tips or direct me to online help? It's those tight twisty wooded singletrack sections that are testing me. Had a great blast this weekend and confidence building again, phew! But I think I need to look further down the trail and also apply less brake! Anymore tips would be much appreciated. Cheers

[cg172]

Lead with your head and shoulders. Look well ahead and start to turn your body in the direction you want to go.

Also learn how your tyres grip. There's probably a lot more there than you'd first think but learning to trust them in different conditions is the key. One of my best riding memories is following Rob_A down the Glentress red with nowt in the tank, but my front tyre gripping like Mrs CG to her favorite sandwitch. Carried some awesome corner speed that I've never really managed to replicate since!

There was a good mini skills vid on the Singletrack site with Ed Oxley a little while ago. Gave a good visual version of the above advice.
Me, Mrs CG had a day with him and it was money well spent. We'll be going again in the spring.

[Trekdale]

not sure if you do it, but one of the main problems i had was keeping my feet totaly level on tighter corners in can help to keep your outside foot down and apply weight it can keep, it keeps your center of gravity lower and able to lean the bike into the corner more. also dont brake into the corner and look ahead at you stated. ONe thing that really help me... altho it took alot of nagging from two people for me to do it but it really does help is practice going around in circles and figure of eights getting smaller and smaller.

[gorehound]

And don't lean with the bike.

[cg172]

not sure if you do it, but one of the main problems i had was keeping my feet totaly level on tighter corners in can help to keep your outside foot down and apply weight it can keep, it keeps your center of gravity lower and able to lean the bike into the corner more.

This was one of my big issues, I was always trying to have my outside pedal at the bottom of the stroke, which just doesn't need to be the case, just dropping you outside pedal a couple of inches can be all you need, and it keeps the bike more settled, for example, in a series of berms.

Gore, don't lean with the bike? Why not? Maybe not in an off camber corner where you need the edges of the tyre to bite, but in a berm I always try to get lent right over, you're using the centrifugal force generated to use the central ridge for grip rather than the edges surely?

[gorehound]

Less chance of washing out if you keep your weight on the tyres If you lean with the bike you unweight it.

[cg172]

Less chance of washing out if you keep your weight on the tyres If you lean with the bike you unweight it.

That statement is true to a point, but it's completely context dependent to the camber of the trail... If my basic A-level mechanics is right(which is questionable, as I failed it...) you'd generate the highest centrifugal force by being at a right angle to the trail (obviously doesn't apply to an off camber section), so a in a flat turn, yeah, lean the bike but don't lean with it, but a bermed corner requires you to lean with the bike. I think. That's what I do anyway.

[DomDom]

Brilliant advice! Thanks so much. Definitely not doing the outside foot down enough; do try now and again. I do lean in berms. I think my braking is not progressive enough and my weight is being thrown with harsh braking and I must look further down the trail, I was defo smoother when I did. Oh well practising is hardly a hardship!!

[cg172]

There's no substitute for pro advice though mate. £100 spent on a skills day will be far more productive than the same spent on shiney bits for your steed.

[Sir_Queuesalot]

As someone once said, the more you practice the luckier you get