Mountain Bike Guru

Downhill:

A few simple rules may apply when riding downhill. You will want to keep your weight back on the bike, and maybe even off the end of the saddle. Keep a firm grip on the handlebars, and your elbows low. Get a solid stance on your pedals, and a good grip on them with your shoes. Keep your pedals and crank arms even and parallel to the ground (attack position). Get off the saddle and crouch down for low centre of gravity. Scan the terrain well ahead, and be prepared for difficult areas in advance. Don't ride faster than you can handle, and slow down periodically by using the brakes a bit - control your speed by feathering your brakes ABS style.

Some challenging areas are best handled with some speed. Be careful of applying the front brake too much and either locking it up or skidding the front wheel if you get into a bind. Use your rear brake mainly, but do not allow the rear wheel to skid - incorporate the front brake as needed but do NOT allow the front wheel to skid!! If you must go down, go off the back or side of the bike, and not the front!! Protective gear (gloves, full helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, shin guards, etc..) are a good idea for the serious downhill rider, as well as a bike specifically set-up for down hilling.

Going over rocks on a steep down-hill:

The key to technical down-hilling is to relax your upper body. The steeper and rockier the down-hill, the more tightly the rider grips the bar. A rider will slow down as they approach an obstacle; say a rock, applying both brakes as they go. However the rock will try to stop your wheel. If you have your brakes on, the brakes will try to stop your wheel, guess what? You're gonna stop and mostly, unexpectedly, more than likely go over the handlebars! Ouch!!

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Hi Guys and Girls

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Learning to ride a bike with multiple gears is a big step. Not only do you have to learn how to shift the gears, you also have to learn what gears to use, and figure out when to shift into which gear! I was reminded of this over the holidays while out coaching some newbies.

"I have so many gears and knowing when to shift, and what gear to shift to is driving me nuts! I need an idiots’ guide to gear changing! Help!!!"

So here it is, a “Complete Idiot’s Guide to Bicycle Gears & Shifting” to explain everything to those who need to know about their gears and how to shift them ;-)

Introduction to Gears and Terminology

Ever since bicycles came with more than one sprocket on the front and back, they were usually referred to as the number of gear combinations that were offered. For example, a road bike with two chainrings up front and a five-speed freewheel on the back was a “10 speed,” since the five rear sprockets could be matched with either of the two front chainrings. (2×5=10, it’s just simple mathematics.) But once you learn more about gearing, you’ll see that that is actually a confusing way to describe things. So to start things off, let’s get the terminology straightened out.

Description: Chainrings

The front sprockets that are attached to the crankarm are called chainrings. If you have two chainrings (a big ring and a little ring,) that setup is called a “double.” If you have three chainrings (big, middle, and little,) you have a “triple” chainring setup.
Description: Cassette

The gear cluster on the rear wheel is either a freewheel or a cassette. If your bike has five gears on the back, it probably has a freewheel. If your bike has eight to ten gears on the back, it has a cassette. Each ring on the cassette is referred to as a cog. (The difference between a freewheel and a cassette makes no difference in this guide, so don’t worry about that.)

For this guide, our example bicycle will be a modern mountain bike with three chainrings and an 9-speed cassette. Some people would call this a “27 speed,” but most avid cyclists and bike mechanics refer to this simply as an “9 speed.”

Discover How the Shifters and Derailleurs Work
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Hi Guys and Girls

As the New Year approaches, this is a great time for us to sit down and think about how to avoid some basic and all too common training mistakes and make sure we get the most out our training.

#8: Training with old target zones
Training is an ever-changing process. You should stay on top of your training zones and make changes with your fitness levels. Neglecting to update your training zones can lead to over- and under- training. Try to revise your zones once every three months; this will keep you training in the correct zones for your fitness.

#7: Not resting on your rest day
I hear this all the time: “I felt good on my rest day, so I just skipped it!” This type of training approach can lead to burnout and non-productive training sessions.  Rest days are important and should be considered an integral part of any athlete’s training schedule. Not allowing for enough rest will affect your performance on intense training days. As your fitness increases, your rest days will become less frequent, which is all the more reason to take advantage of them when you can.

#6: Training largely off of miles
The general idea is not to get too involved with the idea of training mostly “distance” because it can lead to a decrease in training quality. One's concentration should be on quality and not mainly quantity. This will also make your training time more effective, which is a huge plus for those with busy schedules.

#5: Training off of others
Training off of others is an easy mistake to fall into. I like to think of this as sheep training. What can happen with sheep training is that you slowly start to change your personal training plan to fit with those of the flock, Click here to read on...