0:30 you guys have told your veiwers to "Keep your weight back when" name the situation, narly downhill "lean back" wanna send a jump "lean back" you morons have told people many times to lean back....... duh duh duh so how about you admit the truth your channel has been telling a lot of lies!
Not me... but overhearing some guys trying to encourage their friend to go off the big drop at chicksands and the advice saying. 'just lean really far back' I did not want to watch that guy buzz his arse and got otb down that hill.
"if you're not crashing, you're not riding hard enough" is true but you don't need to always be pushing your limits. I'm just out on the trail for fun, so I'm fine being slow on the downhill.
Word "crashing" is too wide. There is a difference between breaking a leg for no reason and getting a few scratches to figure out how fast can you get through the specific corner. I'd rather say "if you are not taking REASONABLE risk, you will not improve".
@@themoss7115 The risk you take from losing control increases as you go faster. I capped out my downhill speed on my local trails because I'd really rather not find out what it's like to wash out in a turn at 30km/h.
@@themoss7115 Don't get me wrong, I've got scratched up even on last ride, but in the past I almost separated my arm in a road bike accident. There are levels to it :)
When I started riding enduro, an older guy, friend of my father said something that was the most certain thing ever said. "There are only two types of riders. The ones that have crashed and the ones that will crash." That applies to motorcycles and bikes. I've crashed both 😂
68 years old and some health problems my eBike keeps me out there. I get to ride further, and the calorie burned count on my Garmin is only 20% less, with the big advantage that I am not pushing my heart rate through the roof on hard climbs, it has evened out my heart rate.
I'm with you, 65 yrs old. I rarely ride in anything harder than ECO because i do still like pushing myself, but I hate pushing/walking the bike up hills now. What bugs me are the elitists who think once you need an e-bike it's time to hang it up. As long as we enjoy mountain biking and studies in Calif. and Colorado have proven e-bikes don't actually do any more harm than regular bikes. The damage is done by how one rides the bike, either type of bike.
Me too! 67yrs, love my Trek Rail7 and my Standard GT Sensor Alloy Comp, love Bike Park Wales and Forest of Dean. Only do blue and reds, but they give me longer runs. Also have a hybrid straight bar tourer which I take to Holland a lot.
I think most of the Emtb issues on trails comes mostly from Surron yobbos who use the trails like motocross tracks, those things are causing big problems for riders of normal bikes and e-assisted mtb's!
Your front brake is your enemy, I used to believe this, then I learnt how to brake properly thanks to GMBN, now it’s my friend. I also choose flats or clips depending on what I’m riding, if it’s xc then clips it is, flats for my more aggressive bike because I feel more comfortable. Excellent vid, love riding my bikes.
Last month my rear brake decided to only work when I didn't need it, and I still made 4 or 5 dh runs. If my front brake fails, it's bike directly in the back of the van and the rest of the morning/afternoon in the bar
@@nelsonmarques1334 Yep. If one of my brakes failed, I would much rather the failure is the rear brake. With good front brake skills, you barely miss it.
The front brake thing is funny. I'm a new MTB with a background on Dirtbikes, and steep downhills on Dirtbikes, front brakes your best friend. The rear brake does about jack shit on steep hills. I use both extensively, but probably my front a little more.
I usually tune people out if they start their tips with "You have to" or "You're not a real MTB'er unless...". Over biked / Under biked is just people justifying their decisions and forcing it on you. Do what makes the ride fun, safe and more enjoyable for you and those you ride with is my favorite advise.
what's fun and safe for me is to not listen to people whine about how 'heavy' their 160-180mm travel bike is when they ride trails that most of us are doing on 100mm hardtails. my favorite is when they say they 'need carbon wheels'.
Some of the advise like sit back and watch out for the front brake comes out of the 90's when bikes had steeper angles. It was easier to go over the bars on a 90's bike than new bikes.
You are correct sir. It was also easier to turn the old bikes with steeper head angles. My new Trek marlin 7 is a longer frame and a slightly slacker head angle (not as much as the 65 degrees trending today.), and that trek corners like a school bus compared to my 1995 Ti. Nuke Proof, 26" wheel bike.
Yeah, I have an older style bike and there just isn't room to squat low enough for even moderately steep hills, so have have to get back further than I would have to if I had a more modern style MTB that I could just get lower on.
Agreed. Also, we had crappy suspension, if at all, and 26" wheels that didn't roll over the stuff like 27-29ers do today. Also, no drop posts, rim brakes, skinny tires compared to today, etc....
I’m 70 and just took up an EMTB (Turbo Levo Comp) a year ago after 55 years of Motocross and off-road motorcycling. It really helped get used to MTBs and get into a new (to me) sport. 3 months later, picked up a Stumpy Evo Expert (non e pedal assist), and now ride it more. I love the simplicity and lightweight of the 30 lb Evo (no batteries to charge), and it is easier to lift over down trees, load in the van or push up a steep feature I couldn’t make. The Levo EMTB is much heavier, but faster on the climbs, and enables me to ride a little faster and go a little farther (about 25% more). For riders with leg injuries, bad knees, or just old age, the EMTBs do get us out there. Lastly, because I’m 70, I do have to stop more frequently on the Evo (non-e-bike) on long steep climbs (over 100’ vertical), when I hit my max heart rate of 150 to allow it to come down. Controlling (old guy) heart rate on steep, long climbs is much easier on an EMTB.
0:49 I learned that the hard way recently, but it wasn't on the trails, it was on the way to work, down a flight of concrete steps! Wasn't wearing a helmet either and smacked my head against a rock. Was a bit dazed and was in 2 minds whether to turn back and go home or continue on to work. I got to work, sat down in the canteen for a quick cuppa before the shift and scratched an itch on my head, when I looked at my fingers they were bloody! I was very lucky, lesson learned..
In my humble amateur rider opinion: no matter what professional, physical sport you do you can look throughout history and see that every year the best riders in the world have similar riding/playing styles but no two have the same technique. Everyone is built different, has a different skill level, and has to navigate the sport with the body and experience they have
Not really tip or advice, but obsessing over speed and Strava times usually does more harm than good. Focus on ridig the trail well, not fast. If you are ridig well speed will be the result. Otherwise speed and crashes will be you get - you will learn o survive, not ride
That's a great tip, mountain biking is all about having fun! It can be great to time yourself but if you get hung up on it that's when mistakes get made and you loose the fun 🤙
@@plainuser48596 yup, I have been riding since the 80s and am still out there. The best rides I have had. Down the years are all about flow state and being in the moment, if with mates even better. I have mates that are always raving about their strava times, that is how they rate how good a ride was. I agree ride smooth and speed will come no need to push it.
I saw some ridiculously fast Strava downhill segments where people also hike with children and dogs, and biking is probably forbidden, which gives mountain biking a bad name. It is important to respect hikers otherwise we'll face stricter regulations and more hate.
Fully agree on "keep your weight back". That is mostly terrible advice these days but I suppose it's a "leftover" from the time when only XC bikes existed and people had the seat high in the sky and no dropper. Where are you gonna go when the front wheel is almost tucked under your belly and the seat is in the sky? Well, you go back. Nothing else was even possible to do at the time. These days when riding steep rollers etc, you can simply drop the seat, get low on the bike and stay reasonably central and you have good range of motion in the arms to deal with any sudden dips that would otherwise pitch you forward if your arms are straight.
I agree. I can't believe how much I use my dropper since I got my first bike (Rail-7) since my 98' LiteSpeed hard tail. Loved that bike but compared to today's bikes, it's a LOT less forgiving. At my age, I need forgiveness.
I’ve just bought an e-MTB. Midweek did 3 ascents, 40km and a ton of techy stuff. Was knackered at the end but got to do so many more tracks. I liked your comments about speed is your friend. I’ve actually found that momentum is your friend, particularly in rock gardens or when committing to difficult, for me anyway, drops or down rocky parts. The second I panic and come to a stop everything starts to unravel. A really informative video. I love your bit on the inside line. What I particularly liked was watching you adjust your body position to keep yourself centred. If only I could be so smooth. Cheers
"If you're not crashing you're not riding hard enough." Yeah...well I now say "If you're not crashing you may be old enough to value riding more than recovering." True sage wisdom that one.
over the past few seasons, I actually find myself keeping relatively level pedals during corners (most of the time). It helps with stability if you make a "wedge" shape with your feet (rear foot pointed slightly forward, front foot slightly back) so you aren't putting all your weight/balance on one leg.
I absolutely love the free-feet feeling of platform pedals. Ditched the clippless pedals for good around 1999 and haven't looked back. Shoes and platform pedals have improved by leaps in those 25 years since too. Worst tip is people running their saddles too low or too high.
Heavy bikes is an interesting one. My old Anthem is a light weight dual suspension bike which is fantastic for long rides and carrying speed but my Diamondback Sync'R is an absolute tank, the weight of it just feels nice under you on jumps, it feels planted, it develops momentum easily but it has a big disadvantage for me personally but it's down more to my skill than the bike, due to its weight I find it harder to wheelie and manual but I have never been good at those. I can manual my BMX and Dirt Jumper and they're heavy too but the geometry of those short wheel based bikes provide an advantage there.
I've only ever had good advice. I watch GMBN and apart from that, the few people I ride with only give tips when they're appropriate. I appreciate it coz I'm a middle aged novice riding trails well beyond my pay grade. There's not much of a MTB culture here at all, so I take all tips in to consideration.
As a MX racer and coach in the 70s & 80s then MTB in the 2000s I can agree and disagree to some of your assertions. The keep your weight back is probably due to it not being explained correctly. Your comment about the centreline does explain it better than many, but to go further - keeping the weight slightly behind centre on any down slope keeps the front end light so if you hit an unforseen hole you are less likely to be effected. However, it has to be combined with something else - If you are in control of your front wheel you are more likely to be in control of your bike. I always like to demonstrate this somewhere that I can drop my rear wheel off the side of the track or over an outside rut on an turn. The outside pedal down also has a lot of validity - but one again it needs to be explained correctly. The reason to weight the outside pedal is twofold - to change the attack profile of the tire, or simply to hold the bike at an angle to allow the tire to give the best possible traction and the second is clearance. This is a technique for traction is usually best applied in off-camber corners but can also be very effective on flat, smooth corners. The clearance is usually on narrow trails that have a distinct worn 'groove' and gives a little more clearance than with the crank arms horizontal. Once again, when being explained it neds to be reinforced that in most cases, the horizontal pedal (crank arm) gives the best weight balance with the ability to shift weight as required. Pretty much nailed the rest I think - especially about tire pressures. I always advise heavier riders to run a little higher pressure than what they are told by many - especially when running tubeless. Often what they think is bad tire performance or sketchy conditions can be attributed to not enough pressure which allows the tire to wander. Always advise that if in doubt - check the recommended pressure printed on the tire and if you are above or below it most likely will not perform in an appropriate manner.
E-Bikes are stupid expensive so I have no idea how you get more people into the hobby. It is bad enough a decent new MTB full suspension can set you back over 4+ grand let alone 7-10+ grand for an E-bike. A person just getting into the hobby walks into a LBS and goes into shock when they see the prices.
I go back and forth between the outside foot down and feet level. I kinda like the outside foot down. It keeps the inside pedal up and out of the way and it creates down force and grip. Some people say it stands the bike up. But, when you counteract that, it creates even more downforce and grip. I always wear knee pads. I had a slow fall on my knee and the rash felt like someone took a blow torch to my knee. G-Force makes some light ones that I don’t even feel. Yeah, the front brake. A pedal stick and too much front brake equaled 5 broken ribs. 🤦🏼♂️ I was gonna stick the bermed switchback too!
I have heard some of these over my 30 years of riding but really like how you presented the facts and highlighted that some of these come down to rider preference(like over biked or under biked). I love this channel
6:13 I see Neil has the same Troy Lee designs wrist brace I used, but if used for a long time eventually the Velcro wears out. But if you want a more long term solution I recommend Mobius X8, as it's easier to take off and can easily loosen it to get air flow there without taking them off, when I'm not shredding. It has a wheel to tighten and a switch to to loosen. There the brace does not need replacing, but only thing that wears is the finger loop thing. But you can buy spares. You can get pads as spares too. It's a pricier brace, I use it. I use it on both wrists, and probably is a permanent solution for me, as I have really loose wrists.
I don't get all the anti ebike comments or advertisement jabs that have been popping up lately. They create great content that applies no matter which type of mtb you ride. Sponsorship/advertisement allows them to create this content for all of us and allows them to make a living. So chill, ride whatever bike you want, in whatever discipline or whatever components and be happy for whatever gets more people into mountain biking. Thanks Neil, appreciate the video.
If I don't know the trails I recommend being over-biked over under-biked. Cus you never know what the trails offer. As Neil said it offers more safety, so when you mess up it's more forgiving. But some trails are just gnarly. Where I live in Norway I usually use 150mm travel on most rides, unless I take it easy then 120mm, 170 on gnarliest, and that's not even in the mountains. So my enduro bike is overkill for the easy trails, but when I go offroad it's awesome, even when I don't always use the full travel. I'm stuck with enduro bike anyways.
Just send it. That means possibly going way above your limit. Many MTBrs get life changing injuries that way. Push the limits but only by small increments.
Tyre pressure tips are the best, when they are exchanged between people of completely different weights. I heard so many times parents telling their kids they need at least 40 psi in their tyres... They just forget, that what works for them on a roadbike maybe doesnt work for a 35 kg kid on a mountainbike. 40 psi for a 10 year old kid probably feels like the tyres are concrete, why even use rubber at that point xd? Wheelsize also matters a lot, 25 psi in a 26 inch feels softer than in a 27.5 or 29.
As an "old dog" (76) I ride a Trek Remedy-8... I don't care that I could ride a lighter bike. I do care that if I take the wrong line the Rem-8 will help me blunder through...my bike has a "GET SOME" attitude!
In my local we're always having to cut off inside lines due to riders trying to make the trail easier or faster, maybe for better Strava runs. It's a bit of extra work, but not too much. We just want riders to enjoy themselves. The biggest problem is puddle avoidance. If there's a puddle on the trail just ride through it, nothing says badass rider more than muddy bike and kit at the end of a ride.
Had a mountain bike for 30 years most of which was used on regular rail trails due to previous injuries. 2024 = bought my first new bike in 30 years and it has hydraulic brakes. Yes: that front brake is extremely touchy and easy to lock up. I’m doing a lot of easy rides to get very used to using it!😂
It's about time we started calling them "clips" instead of "clipless". First time I've heard it. I guess I'm not the only one getting tired of explaining to newbies why we clip into "clipless".
3:55 Trail erosion is not due to E-bikes, if a trail gets damaged by riding a e bike it does by a regular bike, or the trail gets damaged by the weather, some are more prone to this than others, some get repaired by the forest it self. Most trails I ride are like that. So I don't worry about it, the rain damages the trails more than. Next year the trails are fixed. but some sections are always muddy in mud season, so I see some board walks appeared, so no more getting stuck with drivetrain inside a puddle, once I saw supper muddy and deep section. But steep open trails with dirt can get erosion. I saw one trail got gravel put on it by the land owner to prevent damage allow easier use of the trail without a mud bath plus bridges over streams. I live in Norway so I see frost heave damaging the ski track in one local area, the steep sections get frost heave, gravel slides. and that's after many years after the track being rebuilt, due to erosion issues, it was just mostly dirt then.
I found it easy to handle a Mt. bike after riding dirt bikes for decades and racing MX for 1 decade. It was just climbing hills that were our hard part. BMX racers had a better time. Road riders were great at climbing, but in the way for the down hills. That was typical in the 90's anyway.
"Hang off the back!" - That might be the case 10 or so years ago before we had the geometry we do now, but keeing your centre of mass in the box between your BB and stem perpendicular to the ground is the way to go. I've learnt that not having traction over the front as you're rolling into things or navigating steep tech because you've got your arse behind your rear tyre is just a recipe for disaster. Funnily enough, my daughter has never had to make that mistake because of the weekly coaching she gets with Wye MTB. Great to see you lads dropping into Y2K. The FoD Nightriders have done some work on that mound that lands you into Disco Fanny, so would be interesting to see you session some bikes off that.
The line drawn on the vid when he demonstrates isn't perp to the ground, it's more like a plumb line of vertical. If he was perp, he'd be pretty front weighted. So he's wrong?
@@vashon100 I guess clarification here. I'm referring to flat ground level as the reference point and not the gradient of the slope. On long and slack bikes, you can still get your weight pretty far forward. In fact, if you have a Geometron G1 or any super Enduro bike, you need to have your weight pretty far forward anyway to load the front in the steeps. I know that roll in the video particularly well.
"Dropping the outside foot", Or weighting the outside pedal for more tire foot print on flat or off camber corners (do we ride off camber corners anymore?). is not really the thing to do in a berm where the tire is about perpendicular to the sloped berm, and can tend to make the bike stand up in a berm. For a berm, it is probably better to get the outside foot ready to pedal/accelerate when coming out of the berm. My opinion from dirt bike riding/racing for decades.
my frontbrake has got some air in it, and it almost acts like an ABS, actually now thinking about it i dont like too agressive brakes, that instantly lock up.
Start on a hardtail. I’m guilty of this, asking my son to use a hardtail 1st, but think he’ll benefit more on full sus, also totally different way of riding. Boils down to cost most of the time though
The great thing about hardtails is you don't have to worry as much about crashing them! Also they can force you to pick smoother lines 🤘 But you are totally right that they are two different riding styles.
way too many people these days start on a 160/150 trail bike and let the rear suspension do all the work. and then they wonder why they are blowing out their rear shock every year or two.
@@manaknight333I started on a FS bike. Never blew out a rear shock. I do mostly ride hardtails these days though. Also it's a rear shock, it's for slamming into things. If it needs to be rebuilt so be it.
You should start on a bmx. Rigid teaches you correct weight transfer as far as braking, cornering, line choice, maintaining a line in rough sections etc. Then take that to hardtail, and then to full bounce. Seen countless folks start on a bouncy bike, and crash cos they have terrible technique and are asking the bike to do things that they shouldn't.
I’ve gotten better and faster without crashing by picking better lines and assessing risk vs reward. I’m not racing so I’m not trying to be the fastest guy out there. I just do things that make me just a little faster and better and I’m ok with that. And some riders who are fast didn’t crash all over the place to get there.
Sure, putting your "weight back" is just a matter of semantics; its just the way we describe what he is trying to explain to do. I wouldn't say putting your weight back is wrong, its just a way of explaining and attaching a word or term to a process that we do to ride down steep terrain.
Yes I noticed the emtb in the tumbnail too. I wonder how much longer there’ll be both GMBN and EMBN? They’re both mtbs. For me, emtbs are twice the fun (uphill runs become a new source - doubling the fun ). So many think it’s cheating (cheating on what I’m not sure) and they’re too heavy. I ride more than twice as much every day on my emtb and never have I thought my bike was too heavy. I put people who don’t like emtbs in the same category with people who don’t like dogs (or cats) - not to be trusted - JK 😂 - some of my favorite people are still killing themselves on climbs 😮💨
These tips apply to both categories and tbh I don’t even know why there’s a distinction at all. There’s virtually no difference other than motor and weight. All the tips and techniques apply to emtbs and regular mtbs
21~ psi front and rear with tubes and tannus insert for the rear. Running a cheap ass walfort 26x2.1 xc pattern tyre on front, schwalbe racing ralph rear 26x2.25, my weight #anorexic
If you're not crashing you're not trying, but most of the time if you crash means that your skills aren't enough and you're going too big, this is more about progressing step by step, you don't eat a cake in one bite
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. The slower you go, the more time you have to pick the smoothest line, and that means since you're not tryin to barrel over a ton of rocks or roots, you go faster overall than someone who goes the same speed through that stuff, and you suffer less fatigue. The more you learn those lines, the faster you can ultimately go. The pros are pros because they have the capability and experience to pick those smoothest lines faster than most people can blink. I'm probably exaggerating a bit but that's the difference.
@@manaknight333 I mean, I started riding the intermediate tech trails in my area on 100mm travel f/r, and those bikes were short. I upgraded to a longer bike with 140mm f/r and now I can go faster, but it's not as agile. There are certainly applications for certain bikes on certain trails. If you want agility, you want a shorter bike you can throw around. If you want stability, you want a longer bike you can stay centered on. Everything else is a balancing act between the two.
I think it's a hold over from road riding. On the road it's pretty much THE way to corner. People get confused why it's a "rule" for road and isn't for dirt.
That poxy trail erosion ehh... Trails are there to be ridden. What if you just get more people on regular bikes? Traffic is traffic. E-bikes are not dirt bikes, you can't just wind the throttle and rip the trail to shreds. And I don't ride an e-bike.
@2:04 Why do mountain bikers lean the bike more than themselves when cornering? Coming from sports motorcycle riding, this is completely the opposite method of cornering I'd use there.
@@caffeinepowered3957 you turn your bars less, your center of gravity is directly above the contact patch of your tires and your side knobs, made for cornering, are in more contact with the ground
I am curious about a proper answer on this as well. I once heard (never checked if true) that when on a motorbike, the motorbike is the heavy part, while on a bicycle the rider is, and that is why leaning is done differently.
about half of all MTB videos on youtube are about "getting faster" or "what is the fastest" and that is absolutely irrelevant for all people on bikes but the few percent who are actually competing in races. I know the percentage differs from place to place and in the UK there seems to be a bigger portion of bikers racing against others, but for the vast majority of people there is nothing positive about getting faster just to be faster.
I agree. My aim is to flow down the trail the more zen like my mind state the better. That can be fast or slow and is sometimes faster than pushing it. (Been riding since it all began on totally rigid bikes with no signposted trails, in the wonderful world class redwoods in Rotorua NZ. I do wonder if starting on a full rigid bike has made me a better rider.
I use to think more people on bikes is better now my trails are clogged up like rush hour on the interstate. You don't know what you got until it is gone.🤣
I don’t get it & I’m about to un sub. I’m 62 & can still ride hard as I keep myself in great shape & out ride riders half my age. E Bikes are a joke & I’ll never have one, I don’t understand why this guy rides one , makes no sense!
@@jimmansi1187 Most of the stuff he tried to teach riders is nothing to do with the bike you ride, but some was explaining why e bikes are beneficial for some. Maybe why he rode one in this vid. Seems like you missed the point. Riding up to do downhills. I don't care why. Maybe he was tired, maybe he was recording it for the EMTB channel in same day with one bike?
All my worst crashes happened when I was riding crap, either knackered, or not warmed up. Not on a good day, when I'm pushing it and everything's working. Oh, and the scaphoid is a bastard. There's one large artery supplying the blood to it, brake it in a wrong place, sever the artery, and you need a surgery. I was lucky, but it still hurts occasionally a couple of years later.
The "keep your weight back" advice is absolutely horrible for modern hard tails. Please clarify this in future videos. How people still don't tailor advice to the two different kinds of bikes drives me mental, sus and hardtail are rode completely different.
@@Scomelbasses I'm sick of people saying I'm cheating when I on my emtb. Even had somebody have a go at me when I had my gear pack on with shovel, pickaxe and mccleod clearly visible. I ride emtb and mtb, why should it matter to others.
@@redbomberr4594 I agree. I think telling somebody, especially a stranger, that they are cheating is stupid. For the life of me I can't figure out why some find E-bikes, E-bikes that conform to the class system, offensive. I don't care what kind of bike anybody rides as long as they're being respectful.
@@WorkLessRideMore same thing happened to me. So they went back and and shaved the bone and then did a bone graft from my hip. They pinned it together to make sure it healed since It didn’t heal all the way the first time. So I had to have a cast twice!
Ya the surgeon I had said that it was 50% chance it would heal with a bone graft and pins so he said I might as well leave it and to come see him if the pain became intolerable or I started losing more range of motion.
@@WorkLessRideMore LMAO i broke mine as well and waited 2 years to get it "fixed" and now it will NEVER heal hurts all the time sometimes for no reason.
As long as you have a decent tire sidewall, 25psi is waaaaay to much pressure for trail/enduro riding. I am 110kg dry weight (without any equipment), on a 170mm enduro bike and the max pressure that I run is 20psi front and 24psi back, with either DoubleDown or SuperGravity casing. But you do you...
Depends on tire width, sidewall construction, rider + bike weight, the type of riding you're doing, and more. Ignore anyone that just rhymes off their numbers as gospel truth for everyone.
You find that 99% of the people who moan about trail erosion never do any work on the trails themselves!!.. and never have!!.. they work in an office all week, then head to Wales on the weekend and pretend to own the place and moan about it being busy! 😉😂. Jokes aside, the lads that maintain our local trails all own ebikes (alongside mtb) 😎
I work in an office all week, ride every day and wield a shovel every chance I get. But I'm lucky, it's 5 minutes ride to my local, my wife rides and my kids are grown up.
Most guys that dig actually like digging and building. I love it, doesn't matter what bike you ride really. Having an eeb is one of the best tools for building imo.
@_Jake.From.Statefarm_ same here mate, I don't venture out without a saw and a mini shovel, the ebikes make it a lot easier to jump back 'n' foe between sections 😎
@@RC-fp1tl using your arms and upper body, pull up on the handlebars and then push them forward, pushing forward will pull your rear tire up. Ideally its probably more like a circle( pull back up and then to the front)!
Neil single handedly turning GMBN into GEEEMBN the last 5+ videos must all have his ebike in. Why can't the video be with a normal bike? Starting to annoy me to be honest when there is a separate channel I can watch...
@@redbomberr4594 it certainly could be but while they have two channels I don't really see the point... I watch both channels because at some point I'd like a mid-assist. So either combine the channel or keep separate.
I try to square the part of trail erosion from E-bikes. We've had M/T trails, that motorcycles have found and to me, ruined them. Then a hiker may have a hiking trail that M/T bikers found, then E-bikers, that to them, ruined it. Someone is not going to be happy somewhere.
the difference is also minimal- a legal 25km/h e-bike helps you pedal up the hill and you have to carry a bit more weight down the hill- that is it. Nobody would think that someone could be too well trained or having a backback with some weigt with you will ruin the trails.. That is like saying people over 6' can't ride a trail because they are as heavy as riding an E-bike
@@olik136 I'm just saying, someone will not be happy always. Like M/T bikers sharing a trail with horses, some like the dirt being stirred up and loosened, while others want to keep it packed and hard.
When I started out (and not knowing any better) I always ran sidewall max - 5 psi. A friend pointed me to the SRAM pressure calculator page and it changed my world. I run the calculations for both wet and dry, then use the closest whole number (i.e. no decimal points) in between. What a difference it made to comfort and grip!
It must be a British English as opposed to American English but it sounds like nearly every one of your worst tips are actually very good tips depending on the circumstance. I agree with your assessments, having been mtb'ing for 30+ years now but your titles seems like these should be black and white issues. Don't wear a helmet because they're too hot and can cause neck strain. That, is a worst tip example.
E-Bikes may be getting more people riding MTB, but why not just get into riding anyway? Who says it needs to be easy to take something up? For all of the well-rehearsed excuses, it really means “I wanna ride, but I’m too fucking unfit and lazy, so I bought an E-bike”. People are inherently lazy and we live in a society of people wanting everything easy and the popularity of E-bikes just legitimises that.
Ebikes are cheating only in competition where they are not allowed. When I go for a ride it's not even competition. I'm not competing with anyone who'd like to moan about what I'm riding. I'm not riding ebike either, but that doesn't change what I wrote before that.
![[FREE SPEED] Can A World Cup Mechanic Make Me Faster? ⏱](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YuCuJP-mQe8/mqdefault.jpg)
What's the worst advice you've ever received when mountain biking? Let us know in the comments below 👇
0:30 you guys have told your veiwers to "Keep your weight back when" name the situation, narly downhill "lean back" wanna send a jump "lean back" you morons have told people many times to lean back....... duh duh duh so how about you admit the truth your channel has been telling a lot of lies!
Not me... but overhearing some guys trying to encourage their friend to go off the big drop at chicksands and the advice saying. 'just lean really far back'
I did not want to watch that guy buzz his arse and got otb down that hill.
“Just send it!” Is the worst advice I’ve been given as a beginner.
Shoutout to the sticks that hold up the GMBN bikes.
A valued member of the team 🔥
"if you're not crashing, you're not riding hard enough" is true but you don't need to always be pushing your limits. I'm just out on the trail for fun, so I'm fine being slow on the downhill.
Same, I go for a ride, not to crank the best time. I'm much rather be a bit slower than to waste 3 months in a cast.
Word "crashing" is too wide. There is a difference between breaking a leg for no reason and getting a few scratches to figure out how fast can you get through the specific corner. I'd rather say "if you are not taking REASONABLE risk, you will not improve".
@@themoss7115 The risk you take from losing control increases as you go faster. I capped out my downhill speed on my local trails because I'd really rather not find out what it's like to wash out in a turn at 30km/h.
@@themoss7115
Don't get me wrong, I've got scratched up even on last ride, but in the past I almost separated my arm in a road bike accident.
There are levels to it :)
When I started riding enduro, an older guy, friend of my father said something that was the most certain thing ever said.
"There are only two types of riders. The ones that have crashed and the ones that will crash."
That applies to motorcycles and bikes. I've crashed both 😂
68 years old and some health problems my eBike keeps me out there. I get to ride further, and the calorie burned count on my Garmin is only 20% less, with the big advantage that I am not pushing my heart rate through the roof on hard climbs, it has evened out my heart rate.
Sounds like a great user case Mark! Enjoy the ride :)
I'm with you, 65 yrs old. I rarely ride in anything harder than ECO because i do still like pushing myself, but I hate pushing/walking the bike up hills now.
What bugs me are the elitists who think once you need an e-bike it's time to hang it up. As long as we enjoy mountain biking and studies in Calif. and Colorado have proven e-bikes don't actually do any more harm than regular bikes. The damage is done by how one rides the bike, either type of bike.
Me too! 67yrs, love my Trek Rail7 and my Standard GT Sensor Alloy Comp, love Bike Park Wales and Forest of Dean. Only do blue and reds, but they give me longer runs. Also have a hybrid straight bar tourer which I take to Holland a lot.
I think most of the Emtb issues on trails comes mostly from Surron yobbos who use the trails like motocross tracks, those things are causing big problems for riders of normal bikes and e-assisted mtb's!
How do you use a trail like a MX track?
@@EarthSurferUSA By riding a motocross bike around it......
Your front brake is your enemy, I used to believe this, then I learnt how to brake properly thanks to GMBN, now it’s my friend.
I also choose flats or clips depending on what I’m riding, if it’s xc then clips it is, flats for my more aggressive bike because I feel more comfortable. Excellent vid, love riding my bikes.
Glad we could help with your braking! Keep on shredding 🔥
Last month my rear brake decided to only work when I didn't need it, and I still made 4 or 5 dh runs. If my front brake fails, it's bike directly in the back of the van and the rest of the morning/afternoon in the bar
@@nelsonmarques1334 Yep. If one of my brakes failed, I would much rather the failure is the rear brake. With good front brake skills, you barely miss it.
The front brake thing is funny. I'm a new MTB with a background on Dirtbikes, and steep downhills on Dirtbikes, front brakes your best friend. The rear brake does about jack shit on steep hills. I use both extensively, but probably my front a little more.
I usually tune people out if they start their tips with "You have to" or "You're not a real MTB'er unless...". Over biked / Under biked is just people justifying their decisions and forcing it on you. Do what makes the ride fun, safe and more enjoyable for you and those you ride with is my favorite advise.
Well said
what's fun and safe for me is to not listen to people whine about how 'heavy' their 160-180mm travel bike is when they ride trails that most of us are doing on 100mm hardtails. my favorite is when they say they 'need carbon wheels'.
Some of the advise like sit back and watch out for the front brake comes out of the 90's when bikes had steeper angles. It was easier to go over the bars on a 90's bike than new bikes.
You are correct sir. It was also easier to turn the old bikes with steeper head angles. My new Trek marlin 7 is a longer frame and a slightly slacker head angle (not as much as the 65 degrees trending today.), and that trek corners like a school bus compared to my 1995 Ti. Nuke Proof, 26" wheel bike.
Yeah, I have an older style bike and there just isn't room to squat low enough for even moderately steep hills, so have have to get back further than I would have to if I had a more modern style MTB that I could just get lower on.
Yup, Geometry has changed
Agreed. Also, we had crappy suspension, if at all, and 26" wheels that didn't roll over the stuff like 27-29ers do today. Also, no drop posts, rim brakes, skinny tires compared to today, etc....
Something about Neil giving teaching sessions....just the best. Keep it up my man!
The best advice I’ve ever got, is don’t look where you don’t want to go
Am I the only person who has been going out solo for decades haha I dont hear anything apart from what you guys say
I’ve been riding mtb for 35 years. At 70 years old the e-bike is what keeps me riding mtb, after 65 the climbing gets very hard.
I got my first real mountain bike in 92, after 32 years and many bikes later I bought an emtb and I love it 👍🏻
Almost mirror image ditto.
I’m 70 and just took up an EMTB (Turbo Levo Comp) a year ago after 55 years of Motocross and off-road motorcycling. It really helped get used to MTBs and get into a new (to me) sport. 3 months later, picked up a Stumpy Evo Expert (non e pedal assist), and now ride it more. I love the simplicity and lightweight of the 30 lb Evo (no batteries to charge), and it is easier to lift over down trees, load in the van or push up a steep feature I couldn’t make.
The Levo EMTB is much heavier, but faster on the climbs, and enables me to ride a little faster and go a little farther (about 25% more). For riders with leg injuries, bad knees, or just old age, the EMTBs do get us out there.
Lastly, because I’m 70, I do have to stop more frequently on the Evo (non-e-bike) on long steep climbs (over 100’ vertical), when I hit my max heart rate of 150 to allow it to come down. Controlling (old guy) heart rate on steep, long climbs is much easier on an EMTB.
@@billmcmillan7735 yup without my eBike at 68 I would not be out there.
0:49 I learned that the hard way recently, but it wasn't on the trails, it was on the way to work, down a flight of concrete steps! Wasn't wearing a helmet either and smacked my head against a rock. Was a bit dazed and was in 2 minds whether to turn back and go home or continue on to work. I got to work, sat down in the canteen for a quick cuppa before the shift and scratched an itch on my head, when I looked at my fingers they were bloody! I was very lucky, lesson learned..
In my humble amateur rider opinion: no matter what professional, physical sport you do you can look throughout history and see that every year the best riders in the world have similar riding/playing styles but no two have the same technique. Everyone is built different, has a different skill level, and has to navigate the sport with the body and experience they have
Not really tip or advice, but obsessing over speed and Strava times usually does more harm than good. Focus on ridig the trail well, not fast. If you are ridig well speed will be the result. Otherwise speed and crashes will be you get - you will learn o survive, not ride
That's a great tip, mountain biking is all about having fun! It can be great to time yourself but if you get hung up on it that's when mistakes get made and you loose the fun 🤙
@@plainuser48596 yup, I have been riding since the 80s and am still out there. The best rides I have had. Down the years are all about flow state and being in the moment, if with mates even better. I have mates that are always raving about their strava times, that is how they rate how good a ride was. I agree ride smooth and speed will come no need to push it.
I saw some ridiculously fast Strava downhill segments where people also hike with children and dogs, and biking is probably forbidden, which gives mountain biking a bad name. It is important to respect hikers otherwise we'll face stricter regulations and more hate.
Fully agree on "keep your weight back". That is mostly terrible advice these days but I suppose it's a "leftover" from the time when only XC bikes existed and people had the seat high in the sky and no dropper. Where are you gonna go when the front wheel is almost tucked under your belly and the seat is in the sky? Well, you go back. Nothing else was even possible to do at the time.
These days when riding steep rollers etc, you can simply drop the seat, get low on the bike and stay reasonably central and you have good range of motion in the arms to deal with any sudden dips that would otherwise pitch you forward if your arms are straight.
I agree. I can't believe how much I use my dropper since I got my first bike (Rail-7) since my 98' LiteSpeed hard tail. Loved that bike but compared to today's bikes, it's a LOT less forgiving. At my age, I need forgiveness.
I’ve just bought an e-MTB. Midweek did 3 ascents, 40km and a ton of techy stuff. Was knackered at the end but got to do so many more tracks. I liked your comments about speed is your friend. I’ve actually found that momentum is your friend, particularly in rock gardens or when committing to difficult, for me anyway, drops or down rocky parts. The second I panic and come to a stop everything starts to unravel. A really informative video. I love your bit on the inside line. What I particularly liked was watching you adjust your body position to keep yourself centred. If only I could be so smooth. Cheers
"If you're not crashing you're not riding hard enough." Yeah...well I now say "If you're not crashing you may be old enough to value riding more than recovering." True sage wisdom that one.
just pull up on jumps is a classic and one I hear a lot
Followed closely with "go faster to clear it!"
over the past few seasons, I actually find myself keeping relatively level pedals during corners (most of the time). It helps with stability if you make a "wedge" shape with your feet (rear foot pointed slightly forward, front foot slightly back) so you aren't putting all your weight/balance on one leg.
I absolutely love the free-feet feeling of platform pedals. Ditched the clippless pedals for good around 1999 and haven't looked back. Shoes and platform pedals have improved by leaps in those 25 years since too. Worst tip is people running their saddles too low or too high.
Heavy bikes is an interesting one. My old Anthem is a light weight dual suspension bike which is fantastic for long rides and carrying speed but my Diamondback Sync'R is an absolute tank, the weight of it just feels nice under you on jumps, it feels planted, it develops momentum easily but it has a big disadvantage for me personally but it's down more to my skill than the bike, due to its weight I find it harder to wheelie and manual but I have never been good at those. I can manual my BMX and Dirt Jumper and they're heavy too but the geometry of those short wheel based bikes provide an advantage there.
I've only ever had good advice. I watch GMBN and apart from that, the few people I ride with only give tips when they're appropriate. I appreciate it coz I'm a middle aged novice riding trails well beyond my pay grade. There's not much of a MTB culture here at all, so I take all tips in to consideration.
As a MX racer and coach in the 70s & 80s then MTB in the 2000s I can agree and disagree to some of your assertions.
The keep your weight back is probably due to it not being explained correctly. Your comment about the centreline does explain it better than many, but to go further - keeping the weight slightly behind centre on any down slope keeps the front end light so if you hit an unforseen hole you are less likely to be effected. However, it has to be combined with something else - If you are in control of your front wheel you are more likely to be in control of your bike. I always like to demonstrate this somewhere that I can drop my rear wheel off the side of the track or over an outside rut on an turn.
The outside pedal down also has a lot of validity - but one again it needs to be explained correctly. The reason to weight the outside pedal is twofold - to change the attack profile of the tire, or simply to hold the bike at an angle to allow the tire to give the best possible traction and the second is clearance. This is a technique for traction is usually best applied in off-camber corners but can also be very effective on flat, smooth corners. The clearance is usually on narrow trails that have a distinct worn 'groove' and gives a little more clearance than with the crank arms horizontal. Once again, when being explained it neds to be reinforced that in most cases, the horizontal pedal (crank arm) gives the best weight balance with the ability to shift weight as required.
Pretty much nailed the rest I think - especially about tire pressures. I always advise heavier riders to run a little higher pressure than what they are told by many - especially when running tubeless. Often what they think is bad tire performance or sketchy conditions can be attributed to not enough pressure which allows the tire to wander. Always advise that if in doubt - check the recommended pressure printed on the tire and if you are above or below it most likely will not perform in an appropriate manner.
E-Bikes are stupid expensive so I have no idea how you get more people into the hobby. It is bad enough a decent new MTB full suspension can set you back over 4+ grand let alone 7-10+ grand for an E-bike. A person just getting into the hobby walks into a LBS and goes into shock when they see the prices.
I go back and forth between the outside foot down and feet level. I kinda like the outside foot down. It keeps the inside pedal up and out of the way and it creates down force and grip. Some people say it stands the bike up. But, when you counteract that, it creates even more downforce and grip.
I always wear knee pads. I had a slow fall on my knee and the rash felt like someone took a blow torch to my knee. G-Force makes some light ones that I don’t even feel.
Yeah, the front brake. A pedal stick and too much front brake equaled 5 broken ribs. 🤦🏼♂️ I was gonna stick the bermed switchback too!
Balance on “both” feet. The bike moves around and the pedals go where they need to go.
I have heard some of these over my 30 years of riding but really like how you presented the facts and highlighted that some of these come down to rider preference(like over biked or under biked). I love this channel
6:13 I see Neil has the same Troy Lee designs wrist brace I used, but if used for a long time eventually the Velcro wears out. But if you want a more long term solution I recommend Mobius X8, as it's easier to take off and can easily loosen it to get air flow there without taking them off, when I'm not shredding. It has a wheel to tighten and a switch to to loosen. There the brace does not need replacing, but only thing that wears is the finger loop thing. But you can buy spares. You can get pads as spares too. It's a pricier brace, I use it. I use it on both wrists, and probably is a permanent solution for me, as I have really loose wrists.
I don't get all the anti ebike comments or advertisement jabs that have been popping up lately. They create great content that applies no matter which type of mtb you ride. Sponsorship/advertisement allows them to create this content for all of us and allows them to make a living. So chill, ride whatever bike you want, in whatever discipline or whatever components and be happy for whatever gets more people into mountain biking. Thanks Neil, appreciate the video.
Truth.
If I don't know the trails I recommend being over-biked over under-biked. Cus you never know what the trails offer. As Neil said it offers more safety, so when you mess up it's more forgiving. But some trails are just gnarly.
Where I live in Norway I usually use 150mm travel on most rides, unless I take it easy then 120mm, 170 on gnarliest, and that's not even in the mountains. So my enduro bike is overkill for the easy trails, but when I go offroad it's awesome, even when I don't always use the full travel. I'm stuck with enduro bike anyways.
As a fellow acl tearer, I never considered changing my riding style, would appreciate a vid on this.
Just send it. That means possibly going way above your limit. Many MTBrs get life changing injuries that way. Push the limits but only by small increments.
Great video. Really well explained. Thanks.........love your channel😊
You're welcome! Thanks for watching
Tyre pressure tips are the best, when they are exchanged between people of completely different weights. I heard so many times parents telling their kids they need at least 40 psi in their tyres... They just forget, that what works for them on a roadbike maybe doesnt work for a 35 kg kid on a mountainbike. 40 psi for a 10 year old kid probably feels like the tyres are concrete, why even use rubber at that point xd? Wheelsize also matters a lot, 25 psi in a 26 inch feels softer than in a 27.5 or 29.
As an "old dog" (76) I ride a Trek Remedy-8... I don't care that I could ride a lighter bike. I do care that if I take the wrong line the Rem-8 will help me blunder through...my bike has a "GET SOME" attitude!
In my local we're always having to cut off inside lines due to riders trying to make the trail easier or faster, maybe for better Strava runs. It's a bit of extra work, but not too much. We just want riders to enjoy themselves. The biggest problem is puddle avoidance. If there's a puddle on the trail just ride through it, nothing says badass rider more than muddy bike and kit at the end of a ride.
Had a mountain bike for 30 years most of which was used on regular rail trails due to previous injuries. 2024 = bought my first new bike in 30 years and it has hydraulic brakes. Yes: that front brake is extremely touchy and easy to lock up. I’m doing a lot of easy rides to get very used to using it!😂
Good video! What kind of wrist brace do you have? I have injured my wrist and have a hard time riding my bike.
It's about time we started calling them "clips" instead of "clipless". First time I've heard it. I guess I'm not the only one getting tired of explaining to newbies why we clip into "clipless".
When someone is learning to jump and someone says "just pull up"
🤦
Haha
3:55 Trail erosion is not due to E-bikes, if a trail gets damaged by riding a e bike it does by a regular bike, or the trail gets damaged by the weather, some are more prone to this than others, some get repaired by the forest it self. Most trails I ride are like that. So I don't worry about it, the rain damages the trails more than. Next year the trails are fixed. but some sections are always muddy in mud season, so I see some board walks appeared, so no more getting stuck with drivetrain inside a puddle, once I saw supper muddy and deep section.
But steep open trails with dirt can get erosion. I saw one trail got gravel put on it by the land owner to prevent damage allow easier use of the trail without a mud bath plus bridges over streams.
I live in Norway so I see frost heave damaging the ski track in one local area, the steep sections get frost heave, gravel slides. and that's after many years after the track being rebuilt, due to erosion issues, it was just mostly dirt then.
I found it easy to handle a Mt. bike after riding dirt bikes for decades and racing MX for 1 decade. It was just climbing hills that were our hard part.
BMX racers had a better time. Road riders were great at climbing, but in the way for the down hills. That was typical in the 90's anyway.
"Hang off the back!" - That might be the case 10 or so years ago before we had the geometry we do now, but keeing your centre of mass in the box between your BB and stem perpendicular to the ground is the way to go. I've learnt that not having traction over the front as you're rolling into things or navigating steep tech because you've got your arse behind your rear tyre is just a recipe for disaster. Funnily enough, my daughter has never had to make that mistake because of the weekly coaching she gets with Wye MTB.
Great to see you lads dropping into Y2K. The FoD Nightriders have done some work on that mound that lands you into Disco Fanny, so would be interesting to see you session some bikes off that.
The line drawn on the vid when he demonstrates isn't perp to the ground, it's more like a plumb line of vertical. If he was perp, he'd be pretty front weighted. So he's wrong?
@@vashon100 I guess clarification here. I'm referring to flat ground level as the reference point and not the gradient of the slope. On long and slack bikes, you can still get your weight pretty far forward. In fact, if you have a Geometron G1 or any super Enduro bike, you need to have your weight pretty far forward anyway to load the front in the steeps. I know that roll in the video particularly well.
I'm from the dirt bike side. The front brake is over 80% of my use.
I was told to lean forwards on my first dirt jump and I went over the handlebars and landed head first.
"Dropping the outside foot", Or weighting the outside pedal for more tire foot print on flat or off camber corners (do we ride off camber corners anymore?). is not really the thing to do in a berm where the tire is about perpendicular to the sloped berm, and can tend to make the bike stand up in a berm. For a berm, it is probably better to get the outside foot ready to pedal/accelerate when coming out of the berm. My opinion from dirt bike riding/racing for decades.
my frontbrake has got some air in it, and it almost acts like an ABS, actually now thinking about it i dont like too agressive brakes, that instantly lock up.
Start on a hardtail. I’m guilty of this, asking my son to use a hardtail 1st, but think he’ll benefit more on full sus, also totally different way of riding. Boils down to cost most of the time though
The great thing about hardtails is you don't have to worry as much about crashing them! Also they can force you to pick smoother lines 🤘 But you are totally right that they are two different riding styles.
way too many people these days start on a 160/150 trail bike and let the rear suspension do all the work. and then they wonder why they are blowing out their rear shock every year or two.
@@manaknight333I started on a FS bike. Never blew out a rear shock. I do mostly ride hardtails these days though. Also it's a rear shock, it's for slamming into things. If it needs to be rebuilt so be it.
You should start on a bmx. Rigid teaches you correct weight transfer as far as braking, cornering, line choice, maintaining a line in rough sections etc. Then take that to hardtail, and then to full bounce. Seen countless folks start on a bouncy bike, and crash cos they have terrible technique and are asking the bike to do things that they shouldn't.
@@g.w.customcreations3534yep fair comment. I'm the worst side of 40, suspension wasn't a thing when I learnt to ride 😉
All updates in an area with tech with have people who will be a bit snobby. Vinyl to digital DJ's for example
I’ve gotten better and faster without crashing by picking better lines and assessing risk vs reward. I’m not racing so I’m not trying to be the fastest guy out there. I just do things that make me just a little faster and better and I’m ok with that. And some riders who are fast didn’t crash all over the place to get there.
Sure, putting your "weight back" is just a matter of semantics; its just the way we describe what he is trying to explain to do. I wouldn't say putting your weight back is wrong, its just a way of explaining and attaching a word or term to a process that we do to ride down steep terrain.
This is GMBN you have EMBN. Let's keep it that way.
no
Yes I noticed the emtb in the tumbnail too. I wonder how much longer there’ll be both GMBN and EMBN? They’re both mtbs. For me, emtbs are twice the fun (uphill runs become a new source - doubling the fun ). So many think it’s cheating (cheating on what I’m not sure) and they’re too heavy. I ride more than twice as much every day on my emtb and never have I thought my bike was too heavy. I put people who don’t like emtbs in the same category with people who don’t like dogs (or cats) - not to be trusted - JK 😂 - some of my favorite people are still killing themselves on climbs 😮💨
These tips apply to both categories and tbh I don’t even know why there’s a distinction at all. There’s virtually no difference other than motor and weight. All the tips and techniques apply to emtbs and regular mtbs
get real
21~ psi front and rear with tubes and tannus insert for the rear. Running a cheap ass walfort 26x2.1 xc pattern tyre on front, schwalbe racing ralph rear 26x2.25, my weight #anorexic
If you're not crashing you're not trying, but most of the time if you crash means that your skills aren't enough and you're going too big, this is more about progressing step by step, you don't eat a cake in one bite
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. The slower you go, the more time you have to pick the smoothest line, and that means since you're not tryin to barrel over a ton of rocks or roots, you go faster overall than someone who goes the same speed through that stuff, and you suffer less fatigue. The more you learn those lines, the faster you can ultimately go. The pros are pros because they have the capability and experience to pick those smoothest lines faster than most people can blink. I'm probably exaggerating a bit but that's the difference.
Thats a good tip not a bad one😅
most people just get a bigger travel bike with DH tires and smash through stuff.
@@JC-km5xw i know, I was explaining why "speed is your friend" is a bad tip.
@@manaknight333 I mean, I started riding the intermediate tech trails in my area on 100mm travel f/r, and those bikes were short. I upgraded to a longer bike with 140mm f/r and now I can go faster, but it's not as agile. There are certainly applications for certain bikes on certain trails. If you want agility, you want a shorter bike you can throw around. If you want stability, you want a longer bike you can stay centered on. Everything else is a balancing act between the two.
I remember the days when the outside foot down on a FS bike as the thing EVERYONE said to do, like as in the early 2000s.
I think it's a hold over from road riding. On the road it's pretty much THE way to corner. People get confused why it's a "rule" for road and isn't for dirt.
Wow I don't normally catch fresh videos. Nice, keep the tips coming!
Thanks for watching! 🤙
What kind of wrist brace are you wearing (6:11)?
Troy Lee Designs WS5205 wrist brace. Used one for moto when I'd sprained it and has great support/comfort
That poxy trail erosion ehh... Trails are there to be ridden. What if you just get more people on regular bikes? Traffic is traffic. E-bikes are not dirt bikes, you can't just wind the throttle and rip the trail to shreds. And I don't ride an e-bike.
@2:04 Why do mountain bikers lean the bike more than themselves when cornering? Coming from sports motorcycle riding, this is completely the opposite method of cornering I'd use there.
@@caffeinepowered3957 you turn your bars less, your center of gravity is directly above the contact patch of your tires and your side knobs, made for cornering, are in more contact with the ground
I am curious about a proper answer on this as well. I once heard (never checked if true) that when on a motorbike, the motorbike is the heavy part, while on a bicycle the rider is, and that is why leaning is done differently.
"Just send it!"
about half of all MTB videos on youtube are about "getting faster" or "what is the fastest" and that is absolutely irrelevant for all people on bikes but the few percent who are actually competing in races. I know the percentage differs from place to place and in the UK there seems to be a bigger portion of bikers racing against others, but for the vast majority of people there is nothing positive about getting faster just to be faster.
I agree. My aim is to flow down the trail the more zen like my mind state the better. That can be fast or slow and is sometimes faster than pushing it. (Been riding since it all began on totally rigid bikes with no signposted trails, in the wonderful world class redwoods in Rotorua NZ. I do wonder if starting on a full rigid bike has made me a better rider.
I use to think more people on bikes is better now my trails are clogged up like rush hour on the interstate. You don't know what you got until it is gone.🤣
Oh! New commercial for ebikes!
Yeah I mean GMBN are selling ebikes and will directly profit from this Ad, because that's how Ads work eh.
Is this the E-bike channel now? Seems like most videos are now. Huh.
I don’t get it & I’m about to un sub. I’m 62 & can still ride hard as I keep myself in great shape & out ride riders half my age. E Bikes are a joke & I’ll never have one, I don’t understand why this guy rides one , makes no sense!
@@jimmansi1187 Most of the stuff he tried to teach riders is nothing to do with the bike you ride, but some was explaining why e bikes are beneficial for some. Maybe why he rode one in this vid. Seems like you missed the point. Riding up to do downhills. I don't care why. Maybe he was tired, maybe he was recording it for the EMTB channel in same day with one bike?
3:17 The rationalizations just keep coming....
So do statements like this. Who cares, just ride.
Why have an e-bike on the mtb channel when there’s the emtb channel 🤷♂️
Because the advice applies to all MTBs which includes eMTBs.
All my worst crashes happened when I was riding crap, either knackered, or not warmed up. Not on a good day, when I'm pushing it and everything's working. Oh, and the scaphoid is a bastard. There's one large artery supplying the blood to it, brake it in a wrong place, sever the artery, and you need a surgery. I was lucky, but it still hurts occasionally a couple of years later.
The "keep your weight back" advice is absolutely horrible for modern hard tails. Please clarify this in future videos. How people still don't tailor advice to the two different kinds of bikes drives me mental, sus and hardtail are rode completely different.
I feel e bikes are cheating...mostly because most trails "say no motorized bikes"
Electric motors ARE MOTORS.
Cheating who or what?
@@Scomelbasses I'm sick of people saying I'm cheating when I on my emtb. Even had somebody have a go at me when I had my gear pack on with shovel, pickaxe and mccleod clearly visible. I ride emtb and mtb, why should it matter to others.
@@redbomberr4594 I agree. I think telling somebody, especially a stranger, that they are cheating is stupid. For the life of me I can't figure out why some find E-bikes, E-bikes that conform to the class system, offensive. I don't care what kind of bike anybody rides as long as they're being respectful.
@@redbomberr4594 People like to bitch about stupid shit. That's why lol.
Are e-bikes cheating...on Strava segments?
I already hit a tree 🌲 😂😂😂
I broke my scaphoid too! Sucks it takes so long to heal.
Same. Mine is technically gonna stay broke. Because I didn't know it had broke for 2 years.
@@WorkLessRideMore same thing happened to me. So they went back and and shaved the bone and then did a bone graft from my hip. They pinned it together to make sure it healed since It didn’t heal all the way the first time. So I had to have a cast twice!
Ya the surgeon I had said that it was 50% chance it would heal with a bone graft and pins so he said I might as well leave it and to come see him if the pain became intolerable or I started losing more range of motion.
@@WorkLessRideMore LMAO i broke mine as well and waited 2 years to get it "fixed" and now it will NEVER heal hurts all the time sometimes for no reason.
when to stop when walk and when to roll - - (needs more lyrics)
Over biked? Whos she? I run my 180mm ebike or 200mm downhill everywhere 😂
As long as you have a decent tire sidewall, 25psi is waaaaay to much pressure for trail/enduro riding. I am 110kg dry weight (without any equipment), on a 170mm enduro bike and the max pressure that I run is 20psi front and 24psi back, with either DoubleDown or SuperGravity casing. But you do you...
You don't get pinch flats? Every time I try to dip below 26ish I'll burp a tire right off the rim.
Yea, who is this guy anyway and what does he know about mountain biking .... right?
You do you, have fun with it.
@@playgroundchooser Try a stronger tire, there is a massive difference between different sidewalls.
Dude you're crazy I don't go below 26 in rear and 23 in front. I don't like squirmy tires.
Depends on tire width, sidewall construction, rider + bike weight, the type of riding you're doing, and more. Ignore anyone that just rhymes off their numbers as gospel truth for everyone.
You find that 99% of the people who moan about trail erosion never do any work on the trails themselves!!.. and never have!!.. they work in an office all week, then head to Wales on the weekend and pretend to own the place and moan about it being busy! 😉😂. Jokes aside, the lads that maintain our local trails all own ebikes (alongside mtb) 😎
I work in an office all week, ride every day and wield a shovel every chance I get. But I'm lucky, it's 5 minutes ride to my local, my wife rides and my kids are grown up.
Most guys that dig actually like digging and building. I love it, doesn't matter what bike you ride really. Having an eeb is one of the best tools for building imo.
@_Jake.From.Statefarm_ same here mate, I don't venture out without a saw and a mini shovel, the ebikes make it a lot easier to jump back 'n' foe between sections 😎
where i live they are the ones cutting b-lines onto green level a-line features because they 'don't like rocks or roots'
@manaknight333 sounds like one or two guys to me lmao... that was happening way before bikes were ever a thing.
Seit Propain Sponsor ist sehen wir "sehr" viele E-Bikes bei GMBN. Ich weiss nicht ob ich das mag ?😮
I've crashed lots of times without trying.
The most common but wrong mountain biking tip has to be "use you feet to scoop up the back when doing bunnyhops"
Very true, when I rode BMX I could barely bunny hop a foot then I learned the proper method and could clear a meter in no time.
@@trekkie1701ebriefly, but what is the correct method?
I've even heard that on this channel.
Nah, it's correct on a hardtail/rigid, and still applies on a full bouncer, just less so due to the effects of pre-load.
@@RC-fp1tl using your arms and upper body, pull up on the handlebars and then push them forward, pushing forward will pull your rear tire up. Ideally its probably more like a circle( pull back up and then to the front)!
Neil single handedly turning GMBN into GEEEMBN the last 5+ videos must all have his ebike in. Why can't the video be with a normal bike? Starting to annoy me to be honest when there is a separate channel I can watch...
I agree 100%, it makes you wonder if the e-bike channel is floundering and they’re just gonna slowly combine the two.
@@rustychain9518 Could be the other way around. However, to clarify I ride both.
Why the fk does it bother you. If they had a cover over the stupid thing like dh bikes you wouldn't even know.... cry some more.
@@redbomberr4594 it certainly could be but while they have two channels I don't really see the point... I watch both channels because at some point I'd like a mid-assist. So either combine the channel or keep separate.
@@michaelandrew6394 Makes sense. I watch both and would like both to continue.
Neils bike is sick dude
I try to square the part of trail erosion from E-bikes. We've had M/T trails, that motorcycles have found and to me, ruined them. Then a hiker may have a hiking trail that M/T bikers found, then E-bikers, that to them, ruined it. Someone is not going to be happy somewhere.
the difference is also minimal- a legal 25km/h e-bike helps you pedal up the hill and you have to carry a bit more weight down the hill- that is it. Nobody would think that someone could be too well trained or having a backback with some weigt with you will ruin the trails.. That is like saying people over 6' can't ride a trail because they are as heavy as riding an E-bike
@@olik136 I'm just saying, someone will not be happy always. Like M/T bikers sharing a trail with horses, some like the dirt being stirred up and loosened, while others want to keep it packed and hard.
all e...thing .not mtb but mx
Cadence sensors for assistance is cheating...
He called 24 “harder”, like I run 30 and I thought that was normal😂
That is on the "harder" side, unless your running tubes? 🤙
When I started out (and not knowing any better) I always ran sidewall max - 5 psi. A friend pointed me to the SRAM pressure calculator page and it changed my world. I run the calculations for both wet and dry, then use the closest whole number (i.e. no decimal points) in between. What a difference it made to comfort and grip!
who are you cheating with an e-bike? your fitness level.
Neil, why are you using ebike in this video? 😂 There is already EMBN to showcase e-mountain bikes. Wish GMBN would stick to using manual MTBs. 😂
Why not?
"Weight back" used to be the way to ride...steep head tubes, no dropper posts, etc. it's bad advice now!
I just got yelled out of the park by some Karen, when practicing my wheelies on the green. Thankfully my shwalping skills finally came in handy
I've had similar and I'm a 52 year old man, she was at least half my age. I just told her I couldn't hear her because I left my hearing aids at home.
@@redbomberr4594 just too many Karen’s in the world, there lives are so boring they need a bike, chu even a road bike is better than nothing
@@Justkeepshredding True words mate
No credibility due to the picture of a moped. What a sad image. That’s not a mountain bike.
Steering is with the feet. It’s a mistake to stand entirely on one foot.
Idk if this is the channel or YT is just losing the entire plot, but I'm on the 5th set of ads at 10m into the video...
SOS SOUTH BRAZIL RS. CATASTROPHE
I never take any advice at face value.
There’s no such thing as cheating, but e-bikers are lazy
Its true to say if you arent ever crahsing you arent trying to progress
It must be a British English as opposed to American English but it sounds like nearly every one of your worst tips are actually very good tips depending on the circumstance. I agree with your assessments, having been mtb'ing for 30+ years now but your titles seems like these should be black and white issues.
Don't wear a helmet because they're too hot and can cause neck strain. That, is a worst tip example.
E-Bikes may be getting more people riding MTB, but why not just get into riding anyway? Who says it needs to be easy to take something up? For all of the well-rehearsed excuses, it really means “I wanna ride, but I’m too fucking unfit and lazy, so I bought an E-bike”. People are inherently lazy and we live in a society of people wanting everything easy and the popularity of E-bikes just legitimises that.
Ebikes are cheating only in competition where they are not allowed. When I go for a ride it's not even competition. I'm not competing with anyone who'd like to moan about what I'm riding. I'm not riding ebike either, but that doesn't change what I wrote before that.