How To Improve Your Mountain Biking

There are many reasons why you may want to improve your mountain bike skill set - it may be that you want to improve your race times, getting on the podium, it may also be that you simply want to be able to ride your local trail loop/circuit without falling off the bike. Regardless of the reasons, improving MTB skills is important for many different reasons, least of all - enjoying the ride. In this post, we look at different ways you can improve your mountain bike skillset, both on and off the trails.

Maintain And Clean Your Bike

One of the best ways of improving mountain bike knowledge and skills, is to get your hands on the bike. Learning basic maintenance and keeping your bike in a good clean condition - allows you to learn how your bike works and performs, making it easier to spot any problems before they become a problem on the trails.

Find Better People To Ride With

Although we are not advising never riding with people who do not ride as well as you ride, it’s well worth challenging yourself by riding with other riders who are more capable on a mountain bike than you are. Although you need to concentrate on your riding - think about how they ride, and wherever possible - watch how they handle certain sections of the trail, especially rocky sections. Also, look at how they maintain and use their bikes on the trails, including fixing punctures.

Look Ahead And Relax

Looking ahead is the best way to succeed at mountain biking; if you focus on what is immediately at the front of the bike, you can expect to struggle in finding speed and pace. Look ahead, find your line and enjoy smoother riding. This links very well into relaxing when on the bike; remember that you have arms and legs to soak up bumps on trails - so stand up on the pedals and feel the bike moving and working underneath you.

Gently On The Brakes

One of the easiest things to do when riding a mountain bike is to act like your brakes have only two modes - fully on, and fully off. Instead, concentrate on controlling the brakes with the brake levers - practice applying the brakes gently. Also practice applying brakes before bends, allowing you to carry more pace and more control through a corner.

Ride Like A Trials Bike Rider

Although most improvements on the bike will happen when in motion, upskilling yourself when the bike is moving incredibly slow/at a standstill is massively beneficial. Try and practice hopping and balancing on the bike, to be able to come to a compete stop, and then getting going again, without having to put your foot down.

Try New Trails

Once familiar with your local mountain bike trails, try new ones! It’s very easy to get familiar with your local trails, and not to push your performance and capabilities.

More Is More

One of the best ways to get better on a mountain bike, is to do more of it simply. Ride to the shop, to your friend's house and get used to your bike across all kinds of different coniditions and terrain - time in the saddle is one of the best ways to improve your confidence on a MTB.