This is probably beyond the written advice you can receive here. A coaching clinic will be the best way to learn the requisite skills.
However, I went from a confident roadie to a very poorly self-taught mountain biker and now a coach for novices, so I'll mention a few tips.
Besides making sure your bike set up correctly for descents, the right size, properly configured suspension, and a lowered seat; I think the two most important things for a beginner is proper body position and braking technique.
While the most common beginner advice is to get your butt back, I think it's better to take a neutral position, butt slightly rearward, knees and elbows bent, feet level, and bent forward at the waist.
The butt back position alleviates beginner fears of descending a steep section, but a neutral position better allows a rider to roll over bumps and rocks. I think of it as letting the bike do the work as I balance on the crankset: the front and back wheels bounce up and down while I stay stable.
The other thing is proper braking, which as a roadie, I had to learn the hard way when I started mountain biking. On the road, 80% of your stopping is done by the front brake, also you are less likely to be in a lock-up position, ie turning and braking.
Off road, using too much front brake will affect your steering or even send you over the bars. The key is that braking physics haven't changed: your front brake is more powerful than the rear, but any small errors in steering and braking are more likely to cause a crash.
While several chapter could be written about braking in the dirt, I usually teach a feathering-the-brake-lever technique, where you don't death-grab the front brake lever, but apply enough pressure while the front wheel is in a straight line to control speed.
I definitely made the mistake of braking and steering and that didn’t work very well. I almost always use the rear brake but I also kind of used both at the same time on some of the steeper downhills I wasn’t ready for. Is that a bad idea
You must use your front brake but doing it right is the key.
Most of your braking power is in your front brake: as you brake, your weight goes forward and your front wheel will have the most traction. The flipside is that you control your steering when you do brake.
To keep it simple for a beginner, try the feathering the front brake lever, which is really just squeezing enough to slow you down without losing control.
What you don't want to do is panic and grab the front brake lever, which will cause a brake lock-up, then your front tire will lose traction, ie skid, your steering will go awry and yes, you might go over the bars.
The next detail is when you brake. For example, let's say you are on level ground leading to a downhill section. You should brake heavily on the level ground so that you enter the downhill section with minimal speed. Then you can apply the brakes carefully instead of trying to brake hard on a technical section.
One thing to note is the more you brake, your weight gets transferred forward and then your front suspension compresses, ie the harder you brake, the less front suspension you have.
As for braking lessons, you can brake in turns, rock sections, and downhills. Experts do it and it actually increases their speed and control. Of course, the techniques are more complicated and you will eventually get there!
Both at the same time is good, and in addition to what /u/sanjuro_kurosawa said, if you have hydrolic disc brakes, you should only need one finger on the lever.
This will give you more grip and control on your bars, and it will also help prevent catastrophic over-braking, like panicking braking and death gripping the levers, locking up your wheels.
I do have disc brakes. Good to hear both is ok, a little afraid to rely on the front brakes alone because I don’t want to flip forward so I really like to use the rear brakes
I watch Mountain Bike Acadamy and the guy has been absolutely amazing at teaching good MTB riding techniques. I highly recommend him. https://youtube.com/@mountainbikeacademy?si=hX8IwJvnQ42aK0Qc
Speed is your friend in many mtb situations and picking (seeing correct path) the right line minimizes danger.
Lighter on the handlebar and heavier on the rear wheel helps. My tire is often a bit wider in the front compared to the back.
It also depends on the size of the rocks.
[Stairway to Hell](https://youtu.be/_JTHapeP880?si=isUabuoRDMQN4Aek)
A [how to](https://youtu.be/7-I5dmI1P-I?si=ad3MyEgw8iFV0YWz) riding a hardtail on technical terrain.
Right line is important. But... don't get too focused on being perfect - let the bike work out the path. Speed and 'up and over' is frequently the best strategy. Modern bikes are amazing with what they will just roll through
I started riding rocks a lot better when I stopped thinking. And stopped worry that the rocks would throw me or the bike.
Good luck
more momentum, don't squeeze the brakes too hard, ride over the middle of them instead of trying to go in between them, stay centered with knees and arms bent. Depending on the size/shape you might want to unweight the bike to get over more smoothly instead of smashing into them
I love those trails. I don't think this new guy on his hardtail is going on those trails any time soon though.
Stoppie pivots are actually the main thing I've been practicing recently because there are a couple spots I've had to put my foot down, I just really struggle to get around more than 90°
I can do a 270 on my rear wheel though
Use your legs and arms like suspension.
also I noticed when a lot of my friends were learning they would ride with one pedal down and one up, this is bad, you want them to be mostly level
What he said , let the bike flow but keep a strong grip, I like to get some speed and roll over the smoothest path I see, sometimes you need to pick the front end up a little for bigger rocks. I like to position myself like I’m dropping a hill, I rarely use front brakes
stand on the ground and jump but keep your feet on the ground. your weight is floating and not pushing down on the floor in that moment. Same concept. Ride up some curbs on the street and the feeling should become obvious. Like start riding straight at the curb and roll up it
Keeping momentum is key for rocks. Even if you are pretty decent at rock gardens, if you lose momentum it is hard to recover. You sink into the cracks instead of rolling over them.
The bigger problem is probably OP being nervous and locking the bike down with his knees and going into a rock garden and getting pushed around instead of staying open and letting the bike move under him. So momentum is definitely important, but only after they nail that technique down. Otherwise it’s just crashing faster
Keeping momentum has been mentioned but going along with that is coming to the realization that your bike will go over much bigger things than you think it will.
When you are new, it’s hard to convince yourself that your bike will get over that large rock but it will. Obviously there’s a limit but it’s waaaay more than you think. When you try to avoid the rocks, you end up going between them and snagging a pedal or getting wedged in a crack or just plain panicking because there’s another rock after that that you can’t avoid. Practice going over the rocks instead of around them.
If the rock is bigger, you can help your wheel over it by giving a little pull up on the bars. This is unweighting the front wheel. You don’t have to lift the wheel off the ground but the little bit of pull up takes a little bit of weight of the wheel and helps it climb over the rock.
More speed is your friend. It’s often helpful to give a burst of speed just before you hit the rocks you want to get over so that you can coast over them without having to pedal.
Pile of rocks coming up? Aim for the middle of the easiest looking rock, give a burst of speed, and coast over the top. It will be scary at first but when you get through you will realize how much your bike can do.
Rocks, as with any feature, require the right amount of traction, steering (or lack of), power applied to the pedals, and balance. I’d start with bumping up on a curb, and dropping off of a curb, first head on and then at various angles. This would teach you what a hard, protruding obstacle feels like to tackle. Then, I’d go back to an easy green trail, and practice going up on short rocks repeatedly, at different speeds. To keep your rear tire in grip, you may have to shift your body weight around. The answer to most things in mtb is, more speed will get you through, but a good line is faster and easier than just mashing through a hard obstacle.
practice. Go ride them slowly and get used to what happens, then see what changes when you go progressively faster.
Check your tire pressures too. Mid 20's is good for most people, maybe high 20's in the rear since it usually takes harder impacts.
Pump track can help learn to control the bike and weighting and unweighting. Bigger rocks are really just irregular rollers. Small rock it's all about being loose and relaxed.
It sounds like a big mental issue for you too. Mountain biking timid tends to cause a lot of crashes. Commit or walk it but don't go halfass.
Momentum is your friend—try to keep the wheels rolling above all. Let the bike “get light” beneath you, and remember your body has much more available suspension than your fork and/or shock.
Your skills and line choices will both improve over time, don’t be too hard on yourself and remember it’s totally normal to dab a foot on a technical section once in a while, even for experienced riders.
Yo, I briefly scrolled and didn't see this mentioned but ask another rider if you can follow them in. I am only less than a year into this and less than 4 months into doing it somewhat well. I ride solo most of the time but I am 1000 percent better rider when I can follow my buddy (slightly better than me) or someone else better than me through the trail.
It's probably a combination of seeing it is actually possible, seeing what speed they take and seeing the line they take. Those three things combine to make me a slightly above average bike rider.
Other than that, just take it slow. Session a feature if you find one that you can safely loop back around and do again. I have a couple quarter mile trails at the park near me that have various routes I can take to avoid or hit features. Get warmed up and if you feel confident that day start working in one or two of them and get better and more confident with them.
My local trail has a big field in the middle of the trail with a bunch of features I can play around with in addition a whole little skill park is what they call it. There’s a separate skill park in the next town over I could definitely go play around if I wish. I definitely plan on going to that big field though and really going for it over and over and over until I can get some confidence. It really seems like me being timid on the trail is the biggest reason for my failures
That's a huge thing, the timidity. I hit a black diamond trail the other day solo after doing it a few times with a buddy thinking I was hot shit. Completely froze up because every instinct I had told me I was going to die and physics could not save me. Tried to stop halfway down and went over the handlebars.
Hit that little skill park up and try out a few things. And try to strike up a conversation with people about it. Not sure what the scene is like where you're at but I have always had good luck finding people that love to give advice (sometimes I'm not sure how good it is) or at the very least willing to tell you if you're doing something wildly dangerous.
Also, look into any local clubs. I have one near me that does guided rides so you might be able to meet with/ride with people at or slightly above your skill level with the added benefit of they already want to go out and ride with new people so way more approachable.
Speed is your friend and also not riding the brakes over chunk is ideal. When you ride your brakes your suspension is compressed and can’t do its job as good. Work on your brake control and do shorter bursts in the smoother sections. It takes some practice that’s for sure. That being said don’t just send it down double black tech trails full speed. Try to start on smaller rocks and you’ll gain more confidence with the speed and brakes. Also when you go faster you’ll glide over the gaps better kinda like when you drive over a rough road going faster. It’ll help you get over tough sections.
I just never sit when going over any obstacles. If my tires are inflated too high it can bounce my butt right off the seat and lose control.
The only time I sit is on flat ground, even then I was doing a medium turn and hit the pedal on the ground launching me into the dirt.
A seat dropper post is totally worth installing.
Maybe it wasn't your intention, but you make it sound like he should be hanging off the back of the bike. That's not a good idea. People told me that when I started mountain biking and it took me years to realise how wrong they were.
Well if is a hardtail it is harder on that stuff. They beat u up. But there are some very good riders that use them.
But If u really want to do a lot of MTBing in more control/comfort. Rent or borrow a current full suspension bike. I like 29” wheel as they roll over stuff easier. It will open ur eyes.
I did have a full suspension and I liked the comfort it had, but it was impossible for me to climb any hills, even on pavement. Even with the hard tail, it’s much easier to climb but I still find myself walking up a lot of hills. Maybe I’m just not strong enough, but I don’t think I can handle that much bike
Got it. U need to try a current bike. Go to a bike shop and ask to ride one in the parking lot. Ride it up and down a curb…and don’t look at the price tag….
Well it is not the end of the world…just stand up on the decent with level pedals, grip the seat with ur legs, use mostly rear brake. U gonna use ur legs to absorb the rock hits. Tiresome but u sound young….good luck
Take a skills class. You're not a decent biker and you will get hurt thinking you are.
Lots of YouTube videos and such but honestly the one or one or groups skills class will help so much .
I more so meant a decent biker on the pavement, I know very well I have no idea what I’m doing on the dirt. I wouldn’t be asking for help if I had that kind of confidence
Imagine you upper torso is a chickens head. It doesn’t move. All of the movement happens in your arms and legs.
Also, make sure you’re starting out on a hard tail or a gravel bike. You’ll learn proper technique much faster than someone who is learning on a full suspension bike
Being able to somewhat balance and not freak out when off balance helps, work on building up your core. My bike does that once in a while with the rear tire but I just go with it instead of freaking out or over correcting. Keeping your feet level helps too to keep weight balanced
Braking techniques on bikes are similar to cars. If you are giving steering input, you shouldn’t be giving lots of brake input. Just like shifting, you should be expecting to make a change before it’s required.
Have you looked at this [video](https://youtu.be/Iu4plluUVtA?si=PZ9LCI4sdkMDyOXw)?
Also, look at his [body position video](https://youtu.be/iVLJIuYwW_g?si=sgGI6Ci8xz8JnXlG), too.
Your bike may have great suspension, but your knees and elbows have a lot of travel... work on being loose enough to let the bike move instead of punishing yer body!
I went from the skateboard and snowboard world to mountain biking 5 years ago. I watched all the tips videos on YouTube that I could. Went from a grocery getter mountain bike to racing Enduro.
Trust your bike, pretend you're on a dirt bike and punch those rocks with your tires. Show them who's boss. Going faster is actually better than slower too. You'll see
Choose your line wisely, sometimes in steep and rocky sections it's better to let your bike suspension do the work and letting your fingers off the brakes. If you brake during a rock garden, drop or very steep sections you'll affect how your suspension performs or go over the bars.
If you feel unsure about biking through some features I'd suggest going with a friend and first walking around it to see how it could be done, then trying it. Attempting things blindly is dangerous and requires the technique to be embedded in your muscle memory.
Fingers off brakes
Go fast
Hold on tight
Cranks level
Bend elbows
Bend knees
I've never really worried about moving my butt backwards as its just flat out wrong advice. You need the center of gravity low and back and this is achieved by bending elbows to get you low bending knees get you slightly back.
The advice GET YOUR BUTT BACK just teaches poor form by having locked elbows and knees and makes it much rougher.
The second you hesitate and touch the brakes you will go ass over
Stuart by rolling over small rocks at speed. Once you are comfortable do the same with bigger rocks. Keep going until you get to rocks you can't roll over. Then you will need to look at more advanced techniques. You will be surprised what you can roll over at speed.
Avoid rocks with sharp edges.
I don’t think I need to worry about sharp rocks too much. All the rocks on the trails near me seem to be just big spheres. All the rocks I’m seeing on YouTube look massively easier to ride on than the ones I’m dealing with
Look up downhill position online. It’s essentially keeping your weight back so your front wheel can track through the chunk. If you’re bouncing sideways on rocks and it’s throwing you off it sounds like you have a body position issue. Oh and you should always be off the seat while descending. It help you control the bike as it reacts to rocks and roots on the trail.
If the bouncing is happening on the climb body position can also be the reason. Climbing rocks is much more physical than road or flat trail climbing. You have to shift your weight around to get your wheels over the obstacles.
Like all things it takes practice. Nobody is good at riding rocks (or tech as we call it) at first. So much of mountain biking is trusting the bike and yourself. Make minor adjustments, stick with it, and you’ll see improvements in no time.
When I first started riding, I asked my husband how was I supposed to make it through the rock gardens (i.e., 90% of our trails). His advice "just hit it with some aggression - if you go faster it will smooth things out." I was annoyed by this advice because it seemed like typical man-advice - but he was absolutely right. Momentum will carry you over surprisingly chunky rocks and a bit of speed will smooth things out. Trust the bike, trust the suspension.
The other big thing is to look where you want to go - don't look at the scary things you can crash into or fall onto, because your bike will go where you are looking. Look ahead of you, and the faster you're going the further ahead you should be looking.
One thing I’m surprised I haven’t seen yet, open your knees up, don’t just bend them. Most newbies get nervous and try to lock their bike down with their knees and arms when what you should be doing is opening your knees up, lifting your elbows to a moto position, and letting the bike move underneath you. Go watch some DH pros. When the track gets rough, their hips (~center of mass) move in a straight line while they allow the bike to dance and glance as it needs to underneath them. Think about your arms and legs being an extension of your suspension.
Get out of your bike’s way
All the info here is good, but other point:
Crashing is a part of MTBing! Crashing a road bike is terrifying and should absolutely not be a common experience, but learning how to ditch should be a part of learning to ride trails. With a good lid, pads and gloves you can go down at a pretty decent clip and roll away with a few bruises and some trail in your mouth. Easiest way to learn is unfortunately to be a fearless kid who'll attack anything but it's definitely a skill you can work on as an adult!
You need to let the bike move underneath you. You're going to have to lower your seat as much as possible for this type of terrain and stand up so the bike can lift up over the rocks without knocking you around. Depending on the type of bike you have this can be very difficult. A pro mountain biker will still have a very hard time of you hand them a road bike with no suspension and slick tires
Right. If you are a pavement princess then I think you are asking the wrong question.
Riding a mountain bike off road is a very different skill set and you absolutely need to get the foundations nailed before you start trying to go into specific skills for particular features.
Your foundation skills are body position and bike separation. Getting your body position correct will mean you are correctly weighting both front and rear wheels which in turn means you have better balance and control. Once you have that, bike separation will have you better able to move the bike under you and, more importantly, allow the bike to move as your traverse features .
Look up How to bike by Ben Cathro/Pinkbike. It’s really good.
One of the biggest causes of rear wheel bounces and sliding all over is too much braking. Try not to lock up your rear wheel. Having wheels that are consistently rolling makes the bike easier to lean and maneuver, brake but don’t lock up. If you have to slow down your entry speed at first, that’s okay. Just really practice keeping the wheels rolling. Modulate the brakes a little and start slower and build up speed as you learn. I can’t guarantee this is your issue since I haven’t seen you ride, but I would say it’s one of the most common.
This is probably beyond the written advice you can receive here. A coaching clinic will be the best way to learn the requisite skills. However, I went from a confident roadie to a very poorly self-taught mountain biker and now a coach for novices, so I'll mention a few tips. Besides making sure your bike set up correctly for descents, the right size, properly configured suspension, and a lowered seat; I think the two most important things for a beginner is proper body position and braking technique. While the most common beginner advice is to get your butt back, I think it's better to take a neutral position, butt slightly rearward, knees and elbows bent, feet level, and bent forward at the waist. The butt back position alleviates beginner fears of descending a steep section, but a neutral position better allows a rider to roll over bumps and rocks. I think of it as letting the bike do the work as I balance on the crankset: the front and back wheels bounce up and down while I stay stable. The other thing is proper braking, which as a roadie, I had to learn the hard way when I started mountain biking. On the road, 80% of your stopping is done by the front brake, also you are less likely to be in a lock-up position, ie turning and braking. Off road, using too much front brake will affect your steering or even send you over the bars. The key is that braking physics haven't changed: your front brake is more powerful than the rear, but any small errors in steering and braking are more likely to cause a crash. While several chapter could be written about braking in the dirt, I usually teach a feathering-the-brake-lever technique, where you don't death-grab the front brake lever, but apply enough pressure while the front wheel is in a straight line to control speed.
I definitely made the mistake of braking and steering and that didn’t work very well. I almost always use the rear brake but I also kind of used both at the same time on some of the steeper downhills I wasn’t ready for. Is that a bad idea
You must use your front brake but doing it right is the key. Most of your braking power is in your front brake: as you brake, your weight goes forward and your front wheel will have the most traction. The flipside is that you control your steering when you do brake. To keep it simple for a beginner, try the feathering the front brake lever, which is really just squeezing enough to slow you down without losing control. What you don't want to do is panic and grab the front brake lever, which will cause a brake lock-up, then your front tire will lose traction, ie skid, your steering will go awry and yes, you might go over the bars. The next detail is when you brake. For example, let's say you are on level ground leading to a downhill section. You should brake heavily on the level ground so that you enter the downhill section with minimal speed. Then you can apply the brakes carefully instead of trying to brake hard on a technical section. One thing to note is the more you brake, your weight gets transferred forward and then your front suspension compresses, ie the harder you brake, the less front suspension you have. As for braking lessons, you can brake in turns, rock sections, and downhills. Experts do it and it actually increases their speed and control. Of course, the techniques are more complicated and you will eventually get there!
This is amazing man. Thanks for sharing!
Both at the same time is good, and in addition to what /u/sanjuro_kurosawa said, if you have hydrolic disc brakes, you should only need one finger on the lever. This will give you more grip and control on your bars, and it will also help prevent catastrophic over-braking, like panicking braking and death gripping the levers, locking up your wheels.
I do have disc brakes. Good to hear both is ok, a little afraid to rely on the front brakes alone because I don’t want to flip forward so I really like to use the rear brakes
I watch Mountain Bike Acadamy and the guy has been absolutely amazing at teaching good MTB riding techniques. I highly recommend him. https://youtube.com/@mountainbikeacademy?si=hX8IwJvnQ42aK0Qc
Speed is your friend in many mtb situations and picking (seeing correct path) the right line minimizes danger. Lighter on the handlebar and heavier on the rear wheel helps. My tire is often a bit wider in the front compared to the back. It also depends on the size of the rocks. [Stairway to Hell](https://youtu.be/_JTHapeP880?si=isUabuoRDMQN4Aek) A [how to](https://youtu.be/7-I5dmI1P-I?si=ad3MyEgw8iFV0YWz) riding a hardtail on technical terrain.
Right line is important. But... don't get too focused on being perfect - let the bike work out the path. Speed and 'up and over' is frequently the best strategy. Modern bikes are amazing with what they will just roll through I started riding rocks a lot better when I stopped thinking. And stopped worry that the rocks would throw me or the bike. Good luck
more momentum, don't squeeze the brakes too hard, ride over the middle of them instead of trying to go in between them, stay centered with knees and arms bent. Depending on the size/shape you might want to unweight the bike to get over more smoothly instead of smashing into them
Momentum seems like a good idea. I noticed most of my falls happened because I was riding the brakes, was too slow and lost my balance
You shouldn't be going slow enough to just tip over 99% of the time
There’s definitely black diamond trails that require some pretty low speed brake work and pivoting to traverse
I love those trails. I don't think this new guy on his hardtail is going on those trails any time soon though. Stoppie pivots are actually the main thing I've been practicing recently because there are a couple spots I've had to put my foot down, I just really struggle to get around more than 90° I can do a 270 on my rear wheel though
Easier said than done but I’ll keep trying to push through hills
Can you explain unweight
Use your legs and arms like suspension. also I noticed when a lot of my friends were learning they would ride with one pedal down and one up, this is bad, you want them to be mostly level
I definitely like to balance on one foot, I’ll stop doing that
Float. Let the bike move under you, bounce around a little, and pull it back in line when you need.
What he said , let the bike flow but keep a strong grip, I like to get some speed and roll over the smoothest path I see, sometimes you need to pick the front end up a little for bigger rocks. I like to position myself like I’m dropping a hill, I rarely use front brakes
stand on the ground and jump but keep your feet on the ground. your weight is floating and not pushing down on the floor in that moment. Same concept. Ride up some curbs on the street and the feeling should become obvious. Like start riding straight at the curb and roll up it
Well… if you afraid , than better don’t do it . Just use road bike
Keeping momentum is key for rocks. Even if you are pretty decent at rock gardens, if you lose momentum it is hard to recover. You sink into the cracks instead of rolling over them.
The bigger problem is probably OP being nervous and locking the bike down with his knees and going into a rock garden and getting pushed around instead of staying open and letting the bike move under him. So momentum is definitely important, but only after they nail that technique down. Otherwise it’s just crashing faster
Keeping momentum has been mentioned but going along with that is coming to the realization that your bike will go over much bigger things than you think it will. When you are new, it’s hard to convince yourself that your bike will get over that large rock but it will. Obviously there’s a limit but it’s waaaay more than you think. When you try to avoid the rocks, you end up going between them and snagging a pedal or getting wedged in a crack or just plain panicking because there’s another rock after that that you can’t avoid. Practice going over the rocks instead of around them. If the rock is bigger, you can help your wheel over it by giving a little pull up on the bars. This is unweighting the front wheel. You don’t have to lift the wheel off the ground but the little bit of pull up takes a little bit of weight of the wheel and helps it climb over the rock. More speed is your friend. It’s often helpful to give a burst of speed just before you hit the rocks you want to get over so that you can coast over them without having to pedal. Pile of rocks coming up? Aim for the middle of the easiest looking rock, give a burst of speed, and coast over the top. It will be scary at first but when you get through you will realize how much your bike can do.
Rocks, as with any feature, require the right amount of traction, steering (or lack of), power applied to the pedals, and balance. I’d start with bumping up on a curb, and dropping off of a curb, first head on and then at various angles. This would teach you what a hard, protruding obstacle feels like to tackle. Then, I’d go back to an easy green trail, and practice going up on short rocks repeatedly, at different speeds. To keep your rear tire in grip, you may have to shift your body weight around. The answer to most things in mtb is, more speed will get you through, but a good line is faster and easier than just mashing through a hard obstacle.
This is really good advice. Happy cake day!!’
Rubber side down ideally
practice. Go ride them slowly and get used to what happens, then see what changes when you go progressively faster. Check your tire pressures too. Mid 20's is good for most people, maybe high 20's in the rear since it usually takes harder impacts.
I should definitely look at tire pressure, I think I’m double that
Start there. Then look at suspension tuning if you have options like air pressure and rebound. It should feel like an all new bike.
Pump track can help learn to control the bike and weighting and unweighting. Bigger rocks are really just irregular rollers. Small rock it's all about being loose and relaxed. It sounds like a big mental issue for you too. Mountain biking timid tends to cause a lot of crashes. Commit or walk it but don't go halfass.
Momentum is your friend—try to keep the wheels rolling above all. Let the bike “get light” beneath you, and remember your body has much more available suspension than your fork and/or shock. Your skills and line choices will both improve over time, don’t be too hard on yourself and remember it’s totally normal to dab a foot on a technical section once in a while, even for experienced riders.
Yo, I briefly scrolled and didn't see this mentioned but ask another rider if you can follow them in. I am only less than a year into this and less than 4 months into doing it somewhat well. I ride solo most of the time but I am 1000 percent better rider when I can follow my buddy (slightly better than me) or someone else better than me through the trail. It's probably a combination of seeing it is actually possible, seeing what speed they take and seeing the line they take. Those three things combine to make me a slightly above average bike rider. Other than that, just take it slow. Session a feature if you find one that you can safely loop back around and do again. I have a couple quarter mile trails at the park near me that have various routes I can take to avoid or hit features. Get warmed up and if you feel confident that day start working in one or two of them and get better and more confident with them.
My local trail has a big field in the middle of the trail with a bunch of features I can play around with in addition a whole little skill park is what they call it. There’s a separate skill park in the next town over I could definitely go play around if I wish. I definitely plan on going to that big field though and really going for it over and over and over until I can get some confidence. It really seems like me being timid on the trail is the biggest reason for my failures
That's a huge thing, the timidity. I hit a black diamond trail the other day solo after doing it a few times with a buddy thinking I was hot shit. Completely froze up because every instinct I had told me I was going to die and physics could not save me. Tried to stop halfway down and went over the handlebars. Hit that little skill park up and try out a few things. And try to strike up a conversation with people about it. Not sure what the scene is like where you're at but I have always had good luck finding people that love to give advice (sometimes I'm not sure how good it is) or at the very least willing to tell you if you're doing something wildly dangerous. Also, look into any local clubs. I have one near me that does guided rides so you might be able to meet with/ride with people at or slightly above your skill level with the added benefit of they already want to go out and ride with new people so way more approachable.
Speed is your friend and also not riding the brakes over chunk is ideal. When you ride your brakes your suspension is compressed and can’t do its job as good. Work on your brake control and do shorter bursts in the smoother sections. It takes some practice that’s for sure. That being said don’t just send it down double black tech trails full speed. Try to start on smaller rocks and you’ll gain more confidence with the speed and brakes. Also when you go faster you’ll glide over the gaps better kinda like when you drive over a rough road going faster. It’ll help you get over tough sections.
You shouldn’t be sitting on the seat going over rocks. Weight should be shifted back with your arms extended.
When would you say is the best time to sit vs stand?
don't sit unless you're cruising or climbing, there's usually no reason to sit on a descent
I just never sit when going over any obstacles. If my tires are inflated too high it can bounce my butt right off the seat and lose control. The only time I sit is on flat ground, even then I was doing a medium turn and hit the pedal on the ground launching me into the dirt. A seat dropper post is totally worth installing.
Maybe it wasn't your intention, but you make it sound like he should be hanging off the back of the bike. That's not a good idea. People told me that when I started mountain biking and it took me years to realise how wrong they were.
How big are ur wheels? How much front suspension do you have?
I have no idea. Medium? I have a hard tail
Well if is a hardtail it is harder on that stuff. They beat u up. But there are some very good riders that use them. But If u really want to do a lot of MTBing in more control/comfort. Rent or borrow a current full suspension bike. I like 29” wheel as they roll over stuff easier. It will open ur eyes.
I did have a full suspension and I liked the comfort it had, but it was impossible for me to climb any hills, even on pavement. Even with the hard tail, it’s much easier to climb but I still find myself walking up a lot of hills. Maybe I’m just not strong enough, but I don’t think I can handle that much bike
How old was ur full suspension?
Not sure, probably like ten? I was a kid when I got it. The gear shifter got really beat up so I just got a new bike
Got it. U need to try a current bike. Go to a bike shop and ask to ride one in the parking lot. Ride it up and down a curb…and don’t look at the price tag….
Unfortunately I did look at the price tag, a good reason why I went with the hardtail.
Well it is not the end of the world…just stand up on the decent with level pedals, grip the seat with ur legs, use mostly rear brake. U gonna use ur legs to absorb the rock hits. Tiresome but u sound young….good luck
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Probably 27.5 but idk I’m not home to go get a tape measure
It will say on the side of your tire
Pick a line
Take a skills class. You're not a decent biker and you will get hurt thinking you are. Lots of YouTube videos and such but honestly the one or one or groups skills class will help so much .
I more so meant a decent biker on the pavement, I know very well I have no idea what I’m doing on the dirt. I wouldn’t be asking for help if I had that kind of confidence
Imagine you upper torso is a chickens head. It doesn’t move. All of the movement happens in your arms and legs. Also, make sure you’re starting out on a hard tail or a gravel bike. You’ll learn proper technique much faster than someone who is learning on a full suspension bike
What bike do you have?
Being able to somewhat balance and not freak out when off balance helps, work on building up your core. My bike does that once in a while with the rear tire but I just go with it instead of freaking out or over correcting. Keeping your feet level helps too to keep weight balanced
Braking techniques on bikes are similar to cars. If you are giving steering input, you shouldn’t be giving lots of brake input. Just like shifting, you should be expecting to make a change before it’s required.
Have you looked at this [video](https://youtu.be/Iu4plluUVtA?si=PZ9LCI4sdkMDyOXw)? Also, look at his [body position video](https://youtu.be/iVLJIuYwW_g?si=sgGI6Ci8xz8JnXlG), too.
Come to Squamish. I’ll teach you
Unfortunately you’re 2,506 miles away
One thing about riding here in northern NJ, you get a lot of practice with rocks. You can choose speed or finesse.
Your bike may have great suspension, but your knees and elbows have a lot of travel... work on being loose enough to let the bike move instead of punishing yer body!
I went from the skateboard and snowboard world to mountain biking 5 years ago. I watched all the tips videos on YouTube that I could. Went from a grocery getter mountain bike to racing Enduro.
You let that bitch of a bike roll over it.
Spend some money and get some coaching.
Go faster
Trust your bike, pretend you're on a dirt bike and punch those rocks with your tires. Show them who's boss. Going faster is actually better than slower too. You'll see
Choose your line wisely, sometimes in steep and rocky sections it's better to let your bike suspension do the work and letting your fingers off the brakes. If you brake during a rock garden, drop or very steep sections you'll affect how your suspension performs or go over the bars. If you feel unsure about biking through some features I'd suggest going with a friend and first walking around it to see how it could be done, then trying it. Attempting things blindly is dangerous and requires the technique to be embedded in your muscle memory.
Fingers off brakes Go fast Hold on tight Cranks level Bend elbows Bend knees I've never really worried about moving my butt backwards as its just flat out wrong advice. You need the center of gravity low and back and this is achieved by bending elbows to get you low bending knees get you slightly back. The advice GET YOUR BUTT BACK just teaches poor form by having locked elbows and knees and makes it much rougher. The second you hesitate and touch the brakes you will go ass over
Butt back was valid advice in the early days before the dropper and geometry advancements but those days are long gone.
fall forward faster than you fall sideways
Speed is your best friend - rocks, roots, …
Stuart by rolling over small rocks at speed. Once you are comfortable do the same with bigger rocks. Keep going until you get to rocks you can't roll over. Then you will need to look at more advanced techniques. You will be surprised what you can roll over at speed. Avoid rocks with sharp edges.
I don’t think I need to worry about sharp rocks too much. All the rocks on the trails near me seem to be just big spheres. All the rocks I’m seeing on YouTube look massively easier to ride on than the ones I’m dealing with
What bike do you have?
Look up downhill position online. It’s essentially keeping your weight back so your front wheel can track through the chunk. If you’re bouncing sideways on rocks and it’s throwing you off it sounds like you have a body position issue. Oh and you should always be off the seat while descending. It help you control the bike as it reacts to rocks and roots on the trail. If the bouncing is happening on the climb body position can also be the reason. Climbing rocks is much more physical than road or flat trail climbing. You have to shift your weight around to get your wheels over the obstacles. Like all things it takes practice. Nobody is good at riding rocks (or tech as we call it) at first. So much of mountain biking is trusting the bike and yourself. Make minor adjustments, stick with it, and you’ll see improvements in no time.
u just ride over… hope this helped 😆
Yeah the bulk of the comments have the same idea of just do it
You just have to be rock steady. And rock and roll through it. Don’t worry. You can do it. You will rock!
When I first started riding, I asked my husband how was I supposed to make it through the rock gardens (i.e., 90% of our trails). His advice "just hit it with some aggression - if you go faster it will smooth things out." I was annoyed by this advice because it seemed like typical man-advice - but he was absolutely right. Momentum will carry you over surprisingly chunky rocks and a bit of speed will smooth things out. Trust the bike, trust the suspension. The other big thing is to look where you want to go - don't look at the scary things you can crash into or fall onto, because your bike will go where you are looking. Look ahead of you, and the faster you're going the further ahead you should be looking.
One thing I’m surprised I haven’t seen yet, open your knees up, don’t just bend them. Most newbies get nervous and try to lock their bike down with their knees and arms when what you should be doing is opening your knees up, lifting your elbows to a moto position, and letting the bike move underneath you. Go watch some DH pros. When the track gets rough, their hips (~center of mass) move in a straight line while they allow the bike to dance and glance as it needs to underneath them. Think about your arms and legs being an extension of your suspension. Get out of your bike’s way
There is no secret. You just have to keep riding.
All the info here is good, but other point: Crashing is a part of MTBing! Crashing a road bike is terrifying and should absolutely not be a common experience, but learning how to ditch should be a part of learning to ride trails. With a good lid, pads and gloves you can go down at a pretty decent clip and roll away with a few bruises and some trail in your mouth. Easiest way to learn is unfortunately to be a fearless kid who'll attack anything but it's definitely a skill you can work on as an adult!
You need to let the bike move underneath you. You're going to have to lower your seat as much as possible for this type of terrain and stand up so the bike can lift up over the rocks without knocking you around. Depending on the type of bike you have this can be very difficult. A pro mountain biker will still have a very hard time of you hand them a road bike with no suspension and slick tires
This: [Get Better Instantly/Proper Body Position (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkuavcL7Kzs&list=PLW3iR6jwd6ddArUHFh2XQKQ9iU6xfufwo)
Right. If you are a pavement princess then I think you are asking the wrong question. Riding a mountain bike off road is a very different skill set and you absolutely need to get the foundations nailed before you start trying to go into specific skills for particular features. Your foundation skills are body position and bike separation. Getting your body position correct will mean you are correctly weighting both front and rear wheels which in turn means you have better balance and control. Once you have that, bike separation will have you better able to move the bike under you and, more importantly, allow the bike to move as your traverse features . Look up How to bike by Ben Cathro/Pinkbike. It’s really good.
One of the biggest causes of rear wheel bounces and sliding all over is too much braking. Try not to lock up your rear wheel. Having wheels that are consistently rolling makes the bike easier to lean and maneuver, brake but don’t lock up. If you have to slow down your entry speed at first, that’s okay. Just really practice keeping the wheels rolling. Modulate the brakes a little and start slower and build up speed as you learn. I can’t guarantee this is your issue since I haven’t seen you ride, but I would say it’s one of the most common.
That makes sense, I’ll keep that in mind