tips on descending ...

BruisedKnee

i am still on the upswing part of the learning curve and i would like to hear your experiences on descending short 1-2 meters but really steep descents on xc courses. how is the best way to do this? hows the approach speed? how the brakes are best used? hows the body positioned? clipped or unclipped?

read in some articles that you should lift the handlebars and try to land rear wheel first?? wow. i do not think that i have enough mojo to do this, but i just want to clean out these short descents without losing face and skin on my knees. ive got a stumpy hardtail with a fox80RL front suspension so i know that the bicycle could take it .. i just want to be good enough to stay on top of the bike when it glides through the (semi) downhill ...

any thoughts?


Thailandtrails

G-Force101XTR

Hey,

If you know those decents are comming, they arn't too tricky. What i usually try to do is bunny-hop on the approch, then hit that downhill as if it were the landing ramp from a jump. The main key to this is to get the timing in the hop correct, because you dont want to land short or over shoot it. Once your in the air from the hop, try to angle the front end downward so you land with the back wheel first but the front isn't too far behind. I find that this technique works best for me bacause it gains momentum and it is really fun if the downhill is steep Other than that, you can just launch off it and hit it like a drop. I have the same set-up as you (fox rl on a hardtail) and as long as your fork is correctly set-up (make sure you have your rebound where you like it) this works well too, especially if your in a race because you may not have time to worry about the hopping technique.

Hope this helps,
Good Luck!

-Matt

epictrailrider.

Bunny hop? Christ, just roll down it. Crouch on the bike, putting your rear end low over the back tire. Get you speed checked before you descend, if you do need brakes feather the front brake gently and go a little more firm on the back. If you are using disk brakes you should not use enough pressure to skid the tires. Pick the best line and go for it, indecision 1/2 way down will kill you!

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graphixgeek

Landing rear wheel first is a fail safe. To really keep some speed up, you try to "downside" the descent by landing both wheels as close to as the same time as possible. Cheat on the rear wheel a bit to prevent endos. On really steep descents, get low and back on the bike, check your brakes before going over the edge as landing with your brakes on can send you out of control, and land rear wheel first. go light on the rear brake after landing and keep the front wheel spinning to maintain control. Spinning wheels have more stability than stopped wheels. don't let my road bike avatar throw you off, I raced downhill, dual slalom, and xc for four years (a knee injury forced me to quit)

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'06 Cannondale R700