1. Wear gloves. 2. Hands in drops. On the hoods one good bump can jolt your hands off with an unhappy outcome. Besides, you can brake properly. 3. Bum slightly off the seat. Ride don't sit. If your bum is firmly on the seat then one good bump can jolt you into the air and cause loss of control. 4. Don't descend like a pro, unless you are. 5. If you want to be fast then brake into the corner and pedal out. 6. Commit. Half hearted cornering means only cornering half. Then crashing. 7. Practice, and learn by following someone faster. 8. Enjoy.
Not wearing gloves on training rides seems to be a racer culture thing in the UK. Once they get Cat 3 they get their mitts taken off them or something. I've never understood it myself. I know a great racer who also happens to be a professional musician. Never wears gloves except in the depths of winter - one fall and she would be out of work for weeks or months but it doesn't seem to worry her.
One of the hardest aspects of descending is knowing the grade as approaching it. If you have not ridden the descent a few times before, the change in grades can be treacherous. It is visually hard to discern if a road is changing from 3% to 5% to 7 % etc. That variable causes the gravity effect to shift dramatically. Speed and inertia can ratchet up quickly and braking distances must be adjusted immediately. There is no prize for crashing ever.
Exactly I learned how to properly to descend and turn on hills it took me 6 months of getting things correct I nearly crashed 4k mtb I just got a 80 bonotto road bike I'm starting to get the feel of the bike it's very smooth for it's age
New to biking and was only on my 4th ride this morning with a used 2014 Fuji Sportif 2.3. Pedaled up on a small hill area and I was holding my dear life in the descent. The brakes were a joke and I felt like I was sitting on a broom stick and flying like in the Harry Potter movie. I found myself descending at 39 mph, thanks to my motorcycle experience, I managed to go through the corner, slammed the brakes again to slow down. The next two times, I held the brakes, slowed down before descending and rode at the speed I could feel comfortable and was in control. But the first one was scary. I thought I was going to crash. I admire you Pros, the video is a delight to watch. I'm already 50 and I don't know if I would ever be able to do descents like a pro, but I am not going to stop; nor am I going to try race down. I will just enjoy my ride at whatever speed I could go down the hill. Thank you.
Another thing that really helped me with descending that might not be as obvious: use your maps on your head unit to help you anticipate the radius of the turn coming up. Obviously use your discretion in looking down at the screen but, on an unfamiliar climb, being able to "see" turns before they come up really helps me figure how much braking/turning I'll need to do.
@@MrBJPitt A few weeks ago I had a bug in my ear!!! I killed it by pouring water from my bidon, but I had to go to the doctor to remove it, because it was too deep. It is not a fun.
I'm sure they do usually, but wearing sunglasses is not generally a good idea when trying to communicate with an audience. I'm a cycling coach and one of the first things you learn is to never wear sunglasses as it is a big impediment to communication, especially with younger riders who have shorter attention spans in any case.
Tip: keep your shoulders, arms and hands relaxed. Stiff arms and a death grip on the bars won’t let the bike work. I sometimes “flap” my elbows to remind myself to keep my arms relaxed.
Flapping my elbows also reminds me to keep neck/shoulders relaxed. Seems if you tighten up your neck/shoulders/trapezoids, everything else tightens up too...
this is so important. When you learn to relax your hands and arms it's when you start descending fast. But this comes with lots of practice and confidence. Hold the bars as loose as you can and let your body drive the bike
I think it's important to note that there are absolutely times where dragging brakes mid corner is okay and necessary. Conditions rarely occur where a tiny touch of the rear brake can result in disaster, and if it does your speed through the corner was far too great for the given conditions in the first place. I myself and many others I know suffered bad accidents from sticking hard to the rule of absolutely no brakes mid corner, which can kill you in a fast blind S- Turn. Also just one more reason why disc brakes are a great thing to consider, because you rarely have to be afraid to drag away! If i've said anything that anybody wants to dispute with some good science or experience, I'd absolutely love to hear it! Never want to lead my fellow riders astray like I've been in the past.
I agree, but would also say that if you find yourself dragging brakes often, you are doing the fast in - slow out method of cornering. Dragging brakes needs to be finished by the time you have established your lean, if you are still dragging brakes at this point, you can lean further without brakes and corner faster. But gcn is providing advice for the average cyclist who to be honest, can't corner properly. Any sudden feeling that they are going too fast will lead to more brakes applied, and either it stands the bike up and they go straight ahead, or they wash out. The golden rule of cornering, if you think you have entered a corner too fast, relax and corner harder. Too many riders simply freeze up on the corner and run wide (catastrophic results of traffic is oncoming).
To be more explicit: dragging brakes through corners is excusable if the turn is a long, steep, sweeper. For some turns, even if you were to enter very slowly, you would crash if you didn’t drag any brake.
Agree. I've had to drag the brakes a bit (front wheel mostly, almost never use rear wheel) when a corner I entered ended up getting sharper than anticipated.
Agree, sometimes using a bit of rear brake in the corner is required, a local descent of mine is the Col de Portet d'Aspet and I definitely use some rear braking in the corner on this, even the pros get this descent wrong including Phillipe Gilbert and sadly Fabio Casartelli so advising amateurs to not break in the corner on some occasions can be dangerous although admittedly rare.
Totally agree. If you overuse the front brake the front wheel can wash out, with only one result. If the rear slides the situation is redeemable. You can even slide the rear deliberately in an emergency. Saved my bacon recently.
They say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. Sure some people spend 1200 hours a year riding, but how much of that is actually descending mountain roads? Lucky to be even 50 I'd guess? Cyclists who ride motor bikes have a huge advantage here if they do mountain riding, as you spend much more time having to plan corners - going up or down. That 90% is so important for survival on a motor bike. Many cyclists pick racing lines when descending, which may be the fastest line in theory, but late apexing (only choosing an apex after corner exit is visible) is the safest way to descend, and fastest as you can get the line correct for the following turn.
I must agree with couple of guys bellow. You really benefit from riding a motorcycle. There are a lot of great techniques you can apply on a bicycle and make your ride faster and safer - not only on the descent. 1. use your body weight to your advantage. Do not push the bike underneath you like you did most of the time on the video since lean angle of the bike itself will be higher than your overall lean angle. Go with the bike and lean your upper body into the turn. 2. Previous point makes means difference of your viewing range. To see more, leaning your upper body (head) into the turn is a no go if there are obstructions along the road. Yet, it can be reduced by the next point. 3. Choose your riding line wisely. There are two basic types depending on your aim. 3a. Racing line. You want to use your maximum speed, whole width of the road to reach the fastest time. It means to carry as much speed throughout the turn as possible. 3b. Safe street line. You must take into account upcoming traffic and give yourself some margin for error, yours or anybody else's. That means not going into the turn half blind (like you would/could do with racing line) but turn AFTER you are sure you can turn. That means to turn WHEN you see the end of the turn. This safe line (and I teach my students this way) is to enter the turn widely and exit it narrowly. IOW from the outside to the inside. Example: in left hand turn, I keep to the right of my lane until I can see the end of the turn, then, I turn and preferably exit the turn in the left parts of my lane. 4. Single turn vs. series of turns. You can use 3a style in any single turn if you can see where the road leads to after the turn. But what if there is the next turn with other direction too close you won't be able to get into the perfect entry line for the second turn? It is great to look at series of turn backwards. Split turns and series of turns with straights and look at it from the exiting line of the last turn backwards up to the entry line of the first turn. Yes, it is difficult since you usually can't see all those turns right form the start. There comes the point 3b. It is a bit slower than 3a but gives much more confidence. Of course, there are endless options between both options I wrote. It always is a combination of so many factors you can write a book about. But my points 3a and 3b are two reasonable borders to keep myself between. Maximum speed and maximum risk on one side, really safe but slower approach on the other. 5. Trailbraking or dragging your brakes into the corner. It is possible if you won't exceed your grip level. Even after that you may slide a bit but keep going. It is better on a motorcycle, on a bicycle there is much finer line. But it is possible. 6. Braking with your rear brake while leaned over. This technique scrubs off a bit of speed while making the bike lean a bit more into the turn. Be aware to do it with your front brake. Slight touch may do the same but increases the risk more than the rear brake. Braking hard with your front brake stands up your bike. 7. One of the most important techniques is to turn faster. I mean how fast you put your bike into your desired lean angle, not the riding speed itself. Speed of turning influences your line. In basics, slow turn in means really wide arc while fast turn in creates much sharper arc thus allowing you to reach less lean angle for your speed or more speed for the same lean angle. 8. Look ahead, scan your road. I guess it is implemented in going fast but it never hurts to repeat it one more time. 9. It is good to reach level around 75% to learn something new. If I will go on my maximum, I put too much risk and I am not able to learn anything. Otherwise, bellow 75% I do not put much effort and some goes in vain. In other words, train on lower level than your maximum, it will give you some margin for error and ability to learn. Save maximum efforts for the decisive parts of racing (and from time to time during training in really controlled conditions).
Another tip I'd add, handy when riding a hire bike, is to try your brakes and try to assess tyres grip before the descent. There is no worse feeling than being unsure of brakes on an epic descent.
It's not just what's coming the other way, but also what's just sitting there, such as the huge cow sitting middle of the road with no inclination to move I found when descending from Lagos de Covadonga!
Great Vid guys!! More stuff like that! Quick point: Always look ahead to the exit of the curve if you can see it as you enter the curve....bike will tend to go where you look...if you look straight thru an apex you might be heading out off road tangentially...youtube some of the videos where they show where F1 drivers look when entering a curve...
I ride my mtb dual suspension just like my 80 benotto road bike I just got my benotto today and I found it easy going down hills it's a nice Italian low budget road bike I can commute with
You should add more stuff on descending in a bunch, especially at race pace where riders can carry dramatically different levels of momentum based on their body weight.
On roads I don't know if have the 3d map on my garmin showing so I get an idea of the layout of the road before I get to it just a glance here and there. With weight distribution it's good to unweight the saddle and drive your weight into the outside pedal, it drives the weight directly down on the tyre it gives loads more traction it's really quite hard to describe without diagrams and videos but if you look at the stance of a Downhill racer on a tight wet corner as they feed the bike into a corner. Also look at the arm position- outside elbow bent outwards and straight inside elbow driving downwards. Lower tyre pressures ie not rock 'ard and use quality rubber, cheap tyres tend to favour longevity over traction. The best cornering tyres i've used to date are vittoria corsa graphene g+, the sidewalls aren't that tough but you can hoon it round corners. I'm currently testing out the pirelli p zero and they've pretty damn good in the bends too both are noticeably better than the gp4000 2 tyres but the vittoria lifespan is a good 30% lower so I'd happily use it for racing but training nah save em for events.
This was excellent, Hank and Chris, the video and the comments. And with so many of us riding smaller frames with long stems and long seat posts, I do think it is time to revisit your dropper post suggestion and investigation. Perhaps the tech has progressed to the point where it is even faster and safer to, shall we say, slam the saddle in the corners.
Stay safe people! After cycling in Switzerland (amazing open descents where you can see miles ahead) and coming back to the uk made me reassess what safe descending means. If you can't see what's around the corner, forget going fast, just take it easy on the entrance with smooth braking and good balance and step on the gas when you can see ahead.
@@mitchellsteindler i agree i have masive hands but i have problems reaching the breaks properly from the drops also i have as good if not better control on the hoods but that might also be thanks to my wide hands
Great vid guys. Not only do you offer great cycling advice, but you also feature Sarah the illstrumentalist. So I get a nice suprise watching these vids.
Thanks for another good video. I’m not sure why leaning to the side like on a motorbike isn’t recommended? Theoretically, the further into the turn you can get your body’s center of gravity the more upright you can keep the bike with better grip from the tires around the turn, therefore faster cornering.
Guys next time you’re in California come descend Tuna Canyon with us - it’s been in a Rebull competition, would love to see you smash it!! I’d say it’s one of the worlds most challenging, beautiful, technical ones!
Jeffrey Williams I live in a valley. Hard to find truly flat around here. If I really wanted to do some climbing and descending, the Cascade mountains are not far from here.
Great tips, and in the comments too. Now if there were just some hills here so I could try some of this. But its flat as a pancake in Houston TX. Our suffering come from heat, also known as poor man's altitude.
@@simedinson984 Ha! I've been to Skane. Never on a bike though. Yep, those are some intimidating winds without doubt. A substitute hill I suppose. I prefer heat actually. You can adapt to that (eventually) plus I ride outdoors year-round. In the summer here the air is still, hot and humid. And summer is May to October.
@@stuartdryer1352 yea when the headwinds is consistent for 20 miles at about 10-20 miles an hour you are not happy and I can't stand heat at all when it hits over 25°C I just die
Cheddar gorge should be made a toll road also the amount of people who use it as a race track makes it somewhere I’ll avoid in the summer unless it’s early morning,also beware early morning Gorge descents due to damp corners 😀👍🏻
If you're coming down fast to a steep hairpin bend and you're on the inner lane, DO NOT leave braking as late as possible like a formula 1 driver unless you know the roads very well and have utmost confidence in you brakes and tires. Pump the brakes to reduce speed early on and be careful of going too wide into to the oncoming lane. If there's a blind corner, you might as well be riding straight off a cliff, slow down beforehand if you don't know exactly what the corner radius is like.
I had a cracking descent on cheddar, but always tend to chill near the bottom, as that hairpin turn is super sketchy. Know a guy who crashed down there. Luckily he was completely fine, but had to write off his bike 3:
This is key. I wish that they had started with body position. “Weight between the tires” means sitting towards the back of the saddle on descents. Leaning the bike while keeping the body more upright (push down on the inside hand and outside foot) provides margin for error, in fact, when the road surface gets sketchy or the turn is very sharp, one can unclip the inner foot to provide a “third wheel” in case the tires slide out. They should have also mentioned hand position. They were low, on the drops and fingers on the brakes, which is good. On the tops doesn’t work, because there are no levers there. On the hoods with elbows low can be more aero than the drops, but the grip isn’t as secure and you don’t have as much leverage on the brakes. Riding down steep gravel is a good way to cement these skills without the risk of high speeds and traffic.
I almost died once when the whole road ahead was occupied by a truck and a motorcycle. My brakes were not great at that time. But thanks to God, I survived.
"Descend like a pro." Haha--they've gotten better but most motorcyclists giggle when watching protour racers descend. If you want to descend ~better~ than a pro, get a motorcycle and attend a few track-day sessions. Going 60 (100kph) downhill becomes pretty pedestrian after going 80 (130kph) all day long on mountain roads.
@@Bungle2010 I have and I do. I've passed hundreds of cars on mountain descents on my bicycle, and I'm up to 15 passed motorcycles (admittedly more Goldwings and Harleys than sportbikes) so far.
I just got a new bike with deep section wheels (62mm) and I’m finding it much more difficult to descend. Cross winds are difficult to navigate in general but fast descents are worse since you have the wind from increased speed and then if you’re taking a curve, you’re not sure how the wind is going to impact them. And tips or suggestions?
Been on very Windy and fast Ride Today and been asking myself: how to give correct Hand signs at high speed, very heavy Wind or even both? Even worse when you ride Deep Section wheels... any advice in regards to Safety?
In such situations or for example if I encounter bad road surface conditions before a corner I don't give hand sings but just concentrate on the safe handling of the bike.
To me the biggest difference was made by learning to distribute weight only between outer pedal and inner handle bar. Steering with the inner hand (even pushing down with it) makes fantastic difference compared to “steering” with both hands. Poor explanation, but when tried - all becomes clear...
Any thoughts on cornering with the inside knee against the top tube and extra lean angle? I use this technique on roads with good grip and adjust the tension against the top tube to correct my lean angle. I still use “inside knee out” on bad surfaces or rain/snow.
It is very usefull in a bicycle as well. Main reason is that it gives you the ability to twist and lower your upper body towards the inside of the turn in a relaxed manner.
Guys I suggest you go and get yourselves registered for California Superbike School Lessons. It is for motorcycles but everything applies on bicycles. As an ex superbike school instructor I can tell you that even the guys on the video, who are pretty good, make some very obvious mistakes..
@Click Bait For me, the standout mistake (often seen on motorbikes too) was the upper body positioning. It feels safer to keep your upper body central, but your bodyweight on a bicycle has a huge impact on the dynamics. Hanging your body over into the corner means you can reduce your lean angle and give the tyres an easier time.
@@jamesf8864 yesssss, thank you! Finally someone with some credentials saying what I was cringing at while watching this. You don't have to go crazy and hang completely off the inside and try to drag your helmet on the ground, but at least get your chin over your inside hand. Any amount you can stand the bike up mid-corner is more margin for surprises down the road.
@@ch_chone Precisely. Another huge bonus on a bicycle is that, by using your upper body to reduce the angle of lean by a few degrees, you can open up the option to keep pedalling through corners that beforehand would've seen you digging the inside pedal into the road. All marginal gains, but working in harmony with your bike makes you smoother; the speed is just an enjoyable by-product 😎
@Click Bait Was thinking long before posting this.. It is a bit complex but here goes: There is a comment @ 3:59: "don't hang off the side of the bike, moto style as we don't have 200Kg beneath us to do this so this isn't really necessary". That is not entirely correct. On a motorbike you move you arse on the "inside" before leaning the bike in and preferably before starting to break when the bike is upright and most stable. There is specific drill on the school to help you learn how to "switch" your butt chicks on the saddle without putting pressure on the bars called "hip flick". Now on the bicycle indeed it does not make sense to move your arse on the saddle. But the other half of the drill is the weight transfer of your upper body. After switching butt chicks you effectivelly need to "hang your body the inside". You need to do this as much as you can because this will allow the bike to be more upright and have maximum traction. Mark Marquez is the king of this and his style difference is obvious when compared with "old" schoolers like Valentino. On a bicycle you need to do this as well. And the right way to do this is by rotating your shoulders so that they "face" the turn i.e. your whole upper body-shoulders follow your eyes and your head to the inside of the turn and must be as low as possible. When you see riders whose upper body & head does not rotate towards the corner but rather seem like the are avoiding and looking "away" we call them "crossed". This it is a clear sign of a tensed rider fearing the turn! You can clearly see, again, in many places in the video such as at 1:29 or 3:23. I am not saying that the guys in the video are scared. They have simply adopted some bad habits. This has lots of concequences such as tensed arms that transfer front wheel vibrations to the back, amplification of feelings and stress and not being eble to keep the bike as upright as possible ie. maximise traction.
You mentioned about moto-style and said because you don't have the weight it's not necessary. However hanging off moto style has a lot to do with keeping the bike as upright as possible to maintain a larger contact patch. Wouldn't the same thing apply for road riding where leaning off and keeping the bike as upright as possible means you can enter faster because you still have a large contact patch? By comparison, it is better to lean a mountain bike instead of the body to get the side lugs into the ground which provide grip for them....but I've always been told this does not work well for road as you'll just wash out #askgcn
compliments for explaining this very well. One more issue however I guess would be helpful: do you need to put extra pressure on the outer pedal while cornering as this would put more pressure of the tyres on the road surface?
Guy Parmella braking: use your front for hard stops. The rear does nothing but skid under hard braking. Use the rear for gently bleeding speed (especially if you end up braking while turning. It’s much easier to correct a rear slide than a front slide.) Brake hard before the corner always. If it’s a long, sweeping turn that points steeply downhill, you’ll find yourself gaining an uncomfortable amount of speed during the turn. Use the rear brake here to keep your speed from running away. Relax your arms because half of traction is keeping your tire on the ground. Road bikes have very little suspension, so relaxed arms need to stand in. They can only be effective at shock absorption if relaxed. You should ideally be somewhere between your front and rear tire. Most bikes bias rear in a neutral position, so you should get low and forward (in the drops) to put as much weight on the front wheel as you can without getting out of the saddle. Again, a front wheel slide is catastrophic but a rear wheel slide is manageable, so it’s in your interest to bias yourself forwards.
Firstly, where is that road? Looks a bit like the Northern Lakes, but I don't remember the tarmac being that good on the road I'm thinking of. Secondly, since a crash on the flat a couple of months ago, my descending has got so much worse. I try to go slower, and the brakes make the bike stand up, which makes me brake more, then the bike won't go round the corner etc. Miserable. Just hoping that some confidence comes back.
playandteach Take a motorcycle safety course. Two techniques they will teach you that will improve your riding on anything with two wheels. Push steering and looking where you want to go. Push steering will allow you to steer quickly and as much as you want. Leaning won't do that near as well. Looking where you want to go takes a bit of practice. If it looks like you are going off the road or going to hit something, the normal reaction is to look at the hazard. Look at it and you will hit it. Look where you want to be, not where you don't. This takes a bit of practice as it is non intuitive. Learning these techniques will improve your riding substantially.
@@ardvarkkkkk1 Thanks for taking the time to reply. I actually did advanced rider training many years ago and understand what you mean. Easy to forget when the nerves take over. One thing about the motorbike was that cornering using the techniques you describe (on the flat) felt great but you could always choose the speed to suit your confidence. Descending on a cycle may achieve the speeds needed for the same cornering techniques but I just don't feel in control of the speed. I'll try to remember to look where I want to go.
As a motorcyclist I don't have any issues with the speed of descending, letting gravity take over, and making the tires work for me. I do however, have a huge uneasy feeling about the consequences of crashing without a full face helmet, boots, armored leather gloves, and an armored jacket and pants with abrasion resistant fabric, etc. You would have a good chance of walking away from a fall at speed with only minor injuries wearing all that as long as you don't hit anything. With cycling clothes though, good luck. It's gonna hurt.
A few words on brake biasing would have been appreciated. Great video. Too bad I do most of my riding on the flattest of flat roads. That course looked amazing. #ROCKON
Why is Chris leaning his bike but he is stopping upright? So he is going round a left corner and the bike is lent to the left but Chris is over the right hand side of the bike?
I am always scared about descending I am always thinking about the worst possible things... Can you give me any helpful tips? When you are scared on the bike you cant enjoy Nothing
I grew up in a flat place and was a terrible descender. I was scared also. I moved to a place with big hills and bad roads. To overcome nerves and prevent myself from stiffening up my arms and shoulder in fear I concentrated on keeping that tension in my feet instead to help stabilize the bike. I found the fastest hill in my new area that had a big crosswind at the bottom where it flattened out. I practiced on that for a while but it wasn't enough even after I developed skill descending. Then one day I approached the top of that same hill, ready to descend and told myself 'nothing can possibly go wrong'. I suspended disbelief and hit 90k+. Develop some skill, be patient with yourself and when your ready to hang it all out there tell yourself 'nothing can possibly go wrong'. Your mind can be a powerful tool used for and against yourself.
Jonathan Nuss hey man thank you so much for your Message! Where i live we have many Mountains (Not the highest, but atleast some where you can descend very good) I will ride on this weekend at i will try to use your tips Thank you very much mate :)
My biggest problem is a lack of confidence in how far I can lean the bike so I am always scrubbing off a lot of speed before the corner. I guess I need more practice until I am eventually at 90 degrees on the ground :-D
Paul Ferguson I have the same problem. Obviously, no bike tire exists that allows an 89.99999 degree lean angle. However, some tires are stickier than others. P Zeros, vittoria corsas, GP5000s etc. are some tires that come to mind. The combination of that and slightly lower pressure than you’d normally run can give you the confidence to say “I have at least as much grip as anyone here” - which is usually all you need to hang with faster friends/rivals.
LaughingSaint I think the fastest is to brake hard before a corner and then “trail brake” - slowly fade the brakes away as you lean the bike in. At peak lean, you want no brakes.
Saurabh Kulkarni then you should keep doing it the way u feel is best I raced super bikes so I corner very well and I know what wins races 🤙🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼🚴🏽♂️happy riding
This is the one of the BEST if not the ABSOLUTE BEST video GCN has produced in quite a long time. Suggestion - For all of us who usually ride in country which are right hand v English left hand , the visual feel of reading the road and staying in safe lines is distorted for us in this excellent video. Suggest , seriously, you make a similar production with a right handed aspect.
i was in a group ride once going about 65kph and i was in front. a wasp somehow managed to land and stick to my lens and then crawl around the corner to the inside of my glasses , for shelter from the wind, i guess ! I looked up at the little fella and i am pretty sure he looked back at me. i slowly removed my glasses and the wind took him and we continued as if nothing had happened ! another time at a cafe stop i was attacked by a wren who tried to take the croissant out of my mouth. i seem to attract things like this. i have been followed by circling birds of prey too, on long hot rides. always wear your shades . also i learned to keep my mouth shut on rides. we got a lot of bugs out here too.
I’m enjoying the bike so far ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA My only real complaints are the brakes and the pedals. I feel like a bike designed for bigger people should have much larger pedals and more heavy duty brakes. I’ve only gotten two really good rides out of it, minimal downhill action, and the brakes feel like they’re already going out. A larger person has more momentum, so I think this wasn’t thought through very well. Also, I wear size 13-14 wide shoes. My feet cramp up on these pedals that are clearly made for smaller feet. Since I’m not a pro rider (and I don’t think many are who purchase this bike) I don’t think that the straps on the pedal are necessary at all. None of this takes away from the enjoyment I get from riding, however. I’ll just head to a bike shop to improve on a few things.
God dammit. I never really rode a bike. I bought one when I was a kid just to play around in my yard. Never used it since then. Now, unfortunately, me, a novice biker is forced to take on the roads just to go places I must go because I have no other means of transport. Scared to death every time I have to get on the road.
Sometimes its just better to go slow if you can't see, as in many parts of the world, impatient drivers will try to overtake other drivers and be on the wrong sie of the road even in blind bends. There also might rocks or tree falling.
1. Wear gloves.
2. Hands in drops. On the hoods one good bump can jolt your hands off with an unhappy outcome. Besides, you can brake properly.
3. Bum slightly off the seat. Ride don't sit. If your bum is firmly on the seat then one good bump can jolt you into the air and cause loss of control.
4. Don't descend like a pro, unless you are.
5. If you want to be fast then brake into the corner and pedal out.
6. Commit. Half hearted cornering means only cornering half. Then crashing.
7. Practice, and learn by following someone faster.
8. Enjoy.
Not wearing gloves on training rides seems to be a racer culture thing in the UK. Once they get Cat 3 they get their mitts taken off them or something. I've never understood it myself. I know a great racer who also happens to be a professional musician. Never wears gloves except in the depths of winter - one fall and she would be out of work for weeks or months but it doesn't seem to worry her.
Also, as a ex-motorbiker - remember that sometimes going round a corner puts your head on the wrong side of the road, just at wing mirror height.
One of the hardest aspects of descending is knowing the grade as approaching it. If you have not ridden the descent a few times before, the change in grades can be treacherous. It is visually hard to discern if a road is changing from 3% to 5% to 7 % etc. That variable causes the gravity effect to shift dramatically. Speed and inertia can ratchet up quickly and braking distances must be adjusted immediately. There is no prize for crashing ever.
Exactly I learned how to properly to descend and turn on hills it took me 6 months of getting things correct I nearly crashed 4k mtb I just got a 80 bonotto road bike I'm starting to get the feel of the bike it's very smooth for it's age
New to biking and was only on my 4th ride this morning with a used 2014 Fuji Sportif 2.3. Pedaled up on a small hill area and I was holding my dear life in the descent. The brakes were a joke and I felt like I was sitting on a broom stick and flying like in the Harry Potter movie. I found myself descending at 39 mph, thanks to my motorcycle experience, I managed to go through the corner, slammed the brakes again to slow down. The next two times, I held the brakes, slowed down before descending and rode at the speed I could feel comfortable and was in control. But the first one was scary. I thought I was going to crash. I admire you Pros, the video is a delight to watch. I'm already 50 and I don't know if I would ever be able to do descents like a pro, but I am not going to stop; nor am I going to try race down. I will just enjoy my ride at whatever speed I could go down the hill. Thank you.
Descending is a serious business. It's important to appreciate the gravity of the situation.
bAdum---tisssss
Another thing that really helped me with descending that might not be as obvious: use your maps on your head unit to help you anticipate the radius of the turn coming up. Obviously use your discretion in looking down at the screen but, on an unfamiliar climb, being able to "see" turns before they come up really helps me figure how much braking/turning I'll need to do.
always use glasses to protect your eyes. You won't like getting something in your eyes at high speed and crash
Good point, a large bug in an eye at 90kmh would not be fun.
@@MrBJPitt A few weeks ago I had a bug in my ear!!! I killed it by pouring water from my bidon, but I had to go to the doctor to remove it, because it was too deep. It is not a fun.
Also, keep your mouth closed! Had a guy nearly hit me coming up a hill. I passed I'm on the way down with him nearly choking in somebody's yard.
I'm sure they do usually, but wearing sunglasses is not generally a good idea when trying to communicate with an audience. I'm a cycling coach and one of the first things you learn is to never wear sunglasses as it is a big impediment to communication, especially with younger riders who have shorter attention spans in any case.
@@nstrug You can use transparent glasses. I wrote "glasses" intentionally.
Tip: keep your shoulders, arms and hands relaxed. Stiff arms and a death grip on the bars won’t let the bike work. I sometimes “flap” my elbows to remind myself to keep my arms relaxed.
Lol true i also fo that
Flapping my elbows also reminds me to keep neck/shoulders relaxed. Seems if you tighten up your neck/shoulders/trapezoids, everything else tightens up too...
this is so important. When you learn to relax your hands and arms it's when you start descending fast. But this comes with lots of practice and confidence. Hold the bars as loose as you can and let your body drive the bike
Yep look to the exit and relax your shoulders and hips whilst turning them into the corner, where the head goes the body follows.
While in descent and in the drop bar possistion are you holding up your body weight with your hands or tucking and supporting body with core muscles
I think it's important to note that there are absolutely times where dragging brakes mid corner is okay and necessary. Conditions rarely occur where a tiny touch of the rear brake can result in disaster, and if it does your speed through the corner was far too great for the given conditions in the first place. I myself and many others I know suffered bad accidents from sticking hard to the rule of absolutely no brakes mid corner, which can kill you in a fast blind S- Turn. Also just one more reason why disc brakes are a great thing to consider, because you rarely have to be afraid to drag away! If i've said anything that anybody wants to dispute with some good science or experience, I'd absolutely love to hear it! Never want to lead my fellow riders astray like I've been in the past.
I agree, but would also say that if you find yourself dragging brakes often, you are doing the fast in - slow out method of cornering.
Dragging brakes needs to be finished by the time you have established your lean, if you are still dragging brakes at this point, you can lean further without brakes and corner faster.
But gcn is providing advice for the average cyclist who to be honest, can't corner properly. Any sudden feeling that they are going too fast will lead to more brakes applied, and either it stands the bike up and they go straight ahead, or they wash out. The golden rule of cornering, if you think you have entered a corner too fast, relax and corner harder. Too many riders simply freeze up on the corner and run wide (catastrophic results of traffic is oncoming).
To be more explicit: dragging brakes through corners is excusable if the turn is a long, steep, sweeper. For some turns, even if you were to enter very slowly, you would crash if you didn’t drag any brake.
Agree. I've had to drag the brakes a bit (front wheel mostly, almost never use rear wheel) when a corner I entered ended up getting sharper than anticipated.
Agree, sometimes using a bit of rear brake in the corner is required, a local descent of mine is the Col de Portet d'Aspet and I definitely use some rear braking in the corner on this, even the pros get this descent wrong including Phillipe Gilbert and sadly Fabio Casartelli so advising amateurs to not break in the corner on some occasions can be dangerous although admittedly rare.
Totally agree. If you overuse the front brake the front wheel can wash out, with only one result. If the rear slides the situation is redeemable. You can even slide the rear deliberately in an emergency. Saved my bacon recently.
Great to see Cheddar Gorge featuring. Fabulous climb - something I miss after moving away from the area.
They say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. Sure some people spend 1200 hours a year riding, but how much of that is actually descending mountain roads? Lucky to be even 50 I'd guess?
Cyclists who ride motor bikes have a huge advantage here if they do mountain riding, as you spend much more time having to plan corners - going up or down. That 90% is so important for survival on a motor bike.
Many cyclists pick racing lines when descending, which may be the fastest line in theory, but late apexing (only choosing an apex after corner exit is visible) is the safest way to descend, and fastest as you can get the line correct for the following turn.
I must agree with couple of guys bellow. You really benefit from riding a motorcycle. There are a lot of great techniques you can apply on a bicycle and make your ride faster and safer - not only on the descent.
1. use your body weight to your advantage. Do not push the bike underneath you like you did most of the time on the video since lean angle of the bike itself will be higher than your overall lean angle. Go with the bike and lean your upper body into the turn.
2. Previous point makes means difference of your viewing range. To see more, leaning your upper body (head) into the turn is a no go if there are obstructions along the road. Yet, it can be reduced by the next point.
3. Choose your riding line wisely. There are two basic types depending on your aim.
3a. Racing line. You want to use your maximum speed, whole width of the road to reach the fastest time. It means to carry as much speed throughout the turn as possible.
3b. Safe street line. You must take into account upcoming traffic and give yourself some margin for error, yours or anybody else's. That means not going into the turn half blind (like you would/could do with racing line) but turn AFTER you are sure you can turn. That means to turn WHEN you see the end of the turn. This safe line (and I teach my students this way) is to enter the turn widely and exit it narrowly. IOW from the outside to the inside. Example: in left hand turn, I keep to the right of my lane until I can see the end of the turn, then, I turn and preferably exit the turn in the left parts of my lane.
4. Single turn vs. series of turns. You can use 3a style in any single turn if you can see where the road leads to after the turn. But what if there is the next turn with other direction too close you won't be able to get into the perfect entry line for the second turn?
It is great to look at series of turn backwards. Split turns and series of turns with straights and look at it from the exiting line of the last turn backwards up to the entry line of the first turn.
Yes, it is difficult since you usually can't see all those turns right form the start. There comes the point 3b. It is a bit slower than 3a but gives much more confidence.
Of course, there are endless options between both options I wrote. It always is a combination of so many factors you can write a book about. But my points 3a and 3b are two reasonable borders to keep myself between. Maximum speed and maximum risk on one side, really safe but slower approach on the other.
5. Trailbraking or dragging your brakes into the corner. It is possible if you won't exceed your grip level. Even after that you may slide a bit but keep going. It is better on a motorcycle, on a bicycle there is much finer line. But it is possible.
6. Braking with your rear brake while leaned over. This technique scrubs off a bit of speed while making the bike lean a bit more into the turn. Be aware to do it with your front brake. Slight touch may do the same but increases the risk more than the rear brake. Braking hard with your front brake stands up your bike.
7. One of the most important techniques is to turn faster. I mean how fast you put your bike into your desired lean angle, not the riding speed itself. Speed of turning influences your line. In basics, slow turn in means really wide arc while fast turn in creates much sharper arc thus allowing you to reach less lean angle for your speed or more speed for the same lean angle.
8. Look ahead, scan your road. I guess it is implemented in going fast but it never hurts to repeat it one more time.
9. It is good to reach level around 75% to learn something new. If I will go on my maximum, I put too much risk and I am not able to learn anything. Otherwise, bellow 75% I do not put much effort and some goes in vain.
In other words, train on lower level than your maximum, it will give you some margin for error and ability to learn. Save maximum efforts for the decisive parts of racing (and from time to time during training in really controlled conditions).
Another tip I'd add, handy when riding a hire bike, is to try your brakes and try to assess tyres grip before the descent. There is no worse feeling than being unsure of brakes on an epic descent.
Excellent tip. Once hired a bike that had the front and rear levers switched from what I was used to. Had to constantly remind myself which was which.
Compétence ( handling, vision and road knowledge ) lends to confidence. Reasoned confidence leads to proper competence.
What's up with the accent?
loving the mountains of Cheddar
It's not just what's coming the other way, but also what's just sitting there, such as the huge cow sitting middle of the road with no inclination to move I found when descending from Lagos de Covadonga!
The old saying, descending and cornering confidence increases steadily until it suddenly drops!
Great Vid guys!! More stuff like that! Quick point: Always look ahead to the exit of the curve if you can see it as you enter the curve....bike will tend to go where you look...if you look straight thru an apex you might be heading out off road tangentially...youtube some of the videos where they show where F1 drivers look when entering a curve...
I ride my mtb dual suspension just like my 80 benotto road bike I just got my benotto today and I found it easy going down hills it's a nice Italian low budget road bike I can commute with
You should add more stuff on descending in a bunch, especially at race pace where riders can carry dramatically different levels of momentum based on their body weight.
On roads I don't know if have the 3d map on my garmin showing so I get an idea of the layout of the road before I get to it just a glance here and there. With weight distribution it's good to unweight the saddle and drive your weight into the outside pedal, it drives the weight directly down on the tyre it gives loads more traction it's really quite hard to describe without diagrams and videos but if you look at the stance of a Downhill racer on a tight wet corner as they feed the bike into a corner. Also look at the arm position- outside elbow bent outwards and straight inside elbow driving downwards. Lower tyre pressures ie not rock 'ard and use quality rubber, cheap tyres tend to favour longevity over traction. The best cornering tyres i've used to date are vittoria corsa graphene g+, the sidewalls aren't that tough but you can hoon it round corners. I'm currently testing out the pirelli p zero and they've pretty damn good in the bends too both are noticeably better than the gp4000 2 tyres but the vittoria lifespan is a good 30% lower so I'd happily use it for racing but training nah save em for events.
Great training video! Not a confident descended, so all advice useful. Thanks!
This was excellent, Hank and Chris, the video and the comments. And with so many of us riding smaller frames with long stems and long seat posts, I do think it is time to revisit your dropper post suggestion and investigation. Perhaps the tech has progressed to the point where it is even faster and safer to, shall we say, slam the saddle in the corners.
Stay safe people! After cycling in Switzerland (amazing open descents where you can see miles ahead) and coming back to the uk made me reassess what safe descending means. If you can't see what's around the corner, forget going fast, just take it easy on the entrance with smooth braking and good balance and step on the gas when you can see ahead.
I was taught to position my hands on the drops when descending so you can throttle the brakes
with greater accuracy.
Sure except I can barely touch my breaks from the drops
@@mitchellsteindler i agree i have masive hands but i have problems reaching the breaks properly from the drops also i have as good if not better control on the hoods but that might also be thanks to my wide hands
Great vid guys. Not only do you offer great cycling advice, but you also feature Sarah the illstrumentalist. So I get a nice suprise watching these vids.
Awesome as always!
Thank you for sharing these useful tips, GCN!
that's some high end production value!
Thanks for another good video. I’m not sure why leaning to the side like on a motorbike isn’t recommended? Theoretically, the further into the turn you can get your body’s center of gravity the more upright you can keep the bike with better grip from the tires around the turn, therefore faster cornering.
Great slo mo editing
Great location, I am afraid of going downhill but I would like to bike there.
Guys next time you’re in California come descend Tuna Canyon with us - it’s been in a Rebull competition, would love to see you smash it!! I’d say it’s one of the worlds most challenging, beautiful, technical ones!
Great video. I get to do very little descending (Winnipeg defines flat), so the rare time I get to do so, it scares me silly.
You and me both. Probably for good reason.
Jeffrey Williams
I live in a valley. Hard to find truly flat around here. If I really wanted to do some climbing and descending, the Cascade mountains are not far from here.
5:11 famous last words before a puncture.
Great tips, and in the comments too. Now if there were just some hills here so I could try some of this. But its flat as a pancake in Houston TX. Our suffering come from heat, also known as poor man's altitude.
Well i feel you on the flat part here in skåne sweden we have about 300 feet every 20 miles but we have head winds from hell thou
@@simedinson984
Ha! I've been to Skane. Never on a bike though. Yep, those are some intimidating winds without doubt. A substitute hill I suppose. I prefer heat actually. You can adapt to that (eventually) plus I ride outdoors year-round. In the summer here the air is still, hot and humid. And summer is May to October.
@@stuartdryer1352 yea when the headwinds is consistent for 20 miles at about 10-20 miles an hour you are not happy and I can't stand heat at all when it hits over 25°C I just die
Cheddar gorge should be made a toll road also the amount of people who use it as a race track makes it somewhere I’ll avoid in the summer unless it’s early morning,also beware early morning Gorge descents due to damp corners 😀👍🏻
The fundamental body-separation is not mentioned! Thanks for all the tips anyway!
If you're coming down fast to a steep hairpin bend and you're on the inner lane, DO NOT leave braking as late as possible like a formula 1 driver unless you know the roads very well and have utmost confidence in you brakes and tires. Pump the brakes to reduce speed early on and be careful of going too wide into to the oncoming lane. If there's a blind corner, you might as well be riding straight off a cliff, slow down beforehand if you don't know exactly what the corner radius is like.
I had a cracking descent on cheddar, but always tend to chill near the bottom, as that hairpin turn is super sketchy. Know a guy who crashed down there. Luckily he was completely fine, but had to write off his bike 3:
How about counter weighing against the curve? And changing your body's center of gravity (moving torso and hips backwards?)
I've learned to keep weight on "outside/down" foot and inside hand. It lets the bike turn itself.
This is key. I wish that they had started with body position. “Weight between the tires” means sitting towards the back of the saddle on descents. Leaning the bike while keeping the body more upright (push down on the inside hand and outside foot) provides margin for error, in fact, when the road surface gets sketchy or the turn is very sharp, one can unclip the inner foot to provide a “third wheel” in case the tires slide out.
They should have also mentioned hand position. They were low, on the drops and fingers on the brakes, which is good. On the tops doesn’t work, because there are no levers there. On the hoods with elbows low can be more aero than the drops, but the grip isn’t as secure and you don’t have as much leverage on the brakes.
Riding down steep gravel is a good way to cement these skills without the risk of high speeds and traffic.
I almost died once when the whole road ahead was occupied by a truck and a motorcycle. My brakes were not great at that time. But thanks to God, I survived.
If you're not supposed to practice descending during training, how should u expect to do it well during a race?🤔
Very happy with item.
So as a total amateur and noob my question is this. You need Disc brakes to descend without max danger? Or you can do this safely with Rim brakes too?
Cheddar Gorge. I’ll be there on Sunday morning
I was asking myself that question since those rock walls are amazing. Thanks.
"Descend like a pro." Haha--they've gotten better but most motorcyclists giggle when watching protour racers descend. If you want to descend ~better~ than a pro, get a motorcycle and attend a few track-day sessions. Going 60 (100kph) downhill becomes pretty pedestrian after going 80 (130kph) all day long on mountain roads.
@@Bungle2010 I have and I do. I've passed hundreds of cars on mountain descents on my bicycle, and I'm up to 15 passed motorcycles (admittedly more Goldwings and Harleys than sportbikes) so far.
How many downhill takes were there? Did you have to pedal uphill to retake each shot?
I just got a new bike with deep section wheels (62mm) and I’m finding it much more difficult to descend. Cross winds are difficult to navigate in general but fast descents are worse since you have the wind from increased speed and then if you’re taking a curve, you’re not sure how the wind is going to impact them. And tips or suggestions?
Been on very Windy and fast Ride Today and been asking myself: how to give correct Hand signs at high speed, very heavy Wind or even both? Even worse when you ride Deep Section wheels... any advice in regards to Safety?
In such situations or for example if I encounter bad road surface conditions before a corner I don't give hand sings but just concentrate on the safe handling of the bike.
@@christian_traxler ok. But not giving any signs causes dangerous Situations. Hence my question.
To me the biggest difference was made by learning to distribute weight only between outer pedal and inner handle bar. Steering with the inner hand (even pushing down with it) makes fantastic difference compared to “steering” with both hands. Poor explanation, but when tried - all becomes clear...
Pavel Volichenko
Look up counter steering.
Any thoughts on cornering with the inside knee against the top tube and extra lean angle?
I use this technique on roads with good grip and adjust the tension against the top tube to correct my lean angle.
I still use “inside knee out” on bad surfaces or rain/snow.
It is very usefull in a bicycle as well. Main reason is that it gives you the ability to twist and lower your upper body towards the inside of the turn in a relaxed manner.
Guys I suggest you go and get yourselves registered for California Superbike School Lessons. It is for motorcycles but everything applies on bicycles. As an ex superbike school instructor I can tell you that even the guys on the video, who are pretty good, make some very obvious mistakes..
I was thinking the very same 🙂 Riding motorbikes fast definitely helps you to ride a bicycle fast.
@Click Bait For me, the standout mistake (often seen on motorbikes too) was the upper body positioning. It feels safer to keep your upper body central, but your bodyweight on a bicycle has a huge impact on the dynamics. Hanging your body over into the corner means you can reduce your lean angle and give the tyres an easier time.
@@jamesf8864 yesssss, thank you! Finally someone with some credentials saying what I was cringing at while watching this. You don't have to go crazy and hang completely off the inside and try to drag your helmet on the ground, but at least get your chin over your inside hand. Any amount you can stand the bike up mid-corner is more margin for surprises down the road.
@@ch_chone Precisely. Another huge bonus on a bicycle is that, by using your upper body to reduce the angle of lean by a few degrees, you can open up the option to keep pedalling through corners that beforehand would've seen you digging the inside pedal into the road. All marginal gains, but working in harmony with your bike makes you smoother; the speed is just an enjoyable by-product 😎
@Click Bait Was thinking long before posting this.. It is a bit complex but here goes: There is a comment @ 3:59: "don't hang off the side of the bike, moto style as we don't have 200Kg beneath us to do this so this isn't really necessary". That is not entirely correct. On a motorbike you move you arse on the "inside" before leaning the bike in and preferably before starting to break when the bike is upright and most stable. There is specific drill on the school to help you learn how to "switch" your butt chicks on the saddle without putting pressure on the bars called "hip flick". Now on the bicycle indeed it does not make sense to move your arse on the saddle. But the other half of the drill is the weight transfer of your upper body. After switching butt chicks you effectivelly need to "hang your body the inside". You need to do this as much as you can because this will allow the bike to be more upright and have maximum traction. Mark Marquez is the king of this and his style difference is obvious when compared with "old" schoolers like Valentino. On a bicycle you need to do this as well. And the right way to do this is by rotating your shoulders so that they "face" the turn i.e. your whole upper body-shoulders follow your eyes and your head to the inside of the turn and must be as low as possible. When you see riders whose upper body & head does not rotate towards the corner but rather seem like the are avoiding and looking "away" we call them "crossed". This it is a clear sign of a tensed rider fearing the turn! You can clearly see, again, in many places in the video such as at 1:29 or 3:23. I am not saying that the guys in the video are scared. They have simply adopted some bad habits. This has lots of concequences such as tensed arms that transfer front wheel vibrations to the back, amplification of feelings and stress and not being eble to keep the bike as upright as possible ie. maximise traction.
WHERE S YOUR GLOVES AND GLASSES?? ALSO what tires are best for size and type/brand ??
You mentioned about moto-style and said because you don't have the weight it's not necessary. However hanging off moto style has a lot to do with keeping the bike as upright as possible to maintain a larger contact patch. Wouldn't the same thing apply for road riding where leaning off and keeping the bike as upright as possible means you can enter faster because you still have a large contact patch? By comparison, it is better to lean a mountain bike instead of the body to get the side lugs into the ground which provide grip for them....but I've always been told this does not work well for road as you'll just wash out #askgcn
How do we take sharp S corners downhill ride
Hi great video. Can you tell me what a size medium frame is please?? Thank you
compliments for explaining this very well.
One more issue however I guess would be helpful: do you need to put extra pressure on the outer pedal while cornering
as this would put more pressure of the tyres on the road surface?
No
Watch my descent with narrative to recover snd avoid disasters.
Braking? Front or back first? Just before corner or ok during? Relaxed arms? Weight forward or back tyre?
Guy Parmella braking: use your front for hard stops. The rear does nothing but skid under hard braking. Use the rear for gently bleeding speed (especially if you end up braking while turning. It’s much easier to correct a rear slide than a front slide.) Brake hard before the corner always. If it’s a long, sweeping turn that points steeply downhill, you’ll find yourself gaining an uncomfortable amount of speed during the turn. Use the rear brake here to keep your speed from running away.
Relax your arms because half of traction is keeping your tire on the ground. Road bikes have very little suspension, so relaxed arms need to stand in. They can only be effective at shock absorption if relaxed.
You should ideally be somewhere between your front and rear tire. Most bikes bias rear in a neutral position, so you should get low and forward (in the drops) to put as much weight on the front wheel as you can without getting out of the saddle. Again, a front wheel slide is catastrophic but a rear wheel slide is manageable, so it’s in your interest to bias yourself forwards.
Saurabh Kulkarni Thanks for thé info Saurabh. I really appreciate it and will give it a go!
Where you guys riding there? I believe I've seen that decent in other videos before like Si and Dan's descending with different stem lengths
Cheddar Gorge
@@nstrug thanks for the info looks awsome
Firstly, where is that road? Looks a bit like the Northern Lakes, but I don't remember the tarmac being that good on the road I'm thinking of. Secondly, since a crash on the flat a couple of months ago, my descending has got so much worse. I try to go slower, and the brakes make the bike stand up, which makes me brake more, then the bike won't go round the corner etc. Miserable. Just hoping that some confidence comes back.
It's Cheddar Gorge
playandteach
Take a motorcycle safety course. Two techniques they will teach you that will improve your riding on anything with two wheels. Push steering and looking where you want to go. Push steering will allow you to steer quickly and as much as you want. Leaning won't do that near as well. Looking where you want to go takes a bit of practice. If it looks like you are going off the road or going to hit something, the normal reaction is to look at the hazard. Look at it and you will hit it. Look where you want to be, not where you don't. This takes a bit of practice as it is non intuitive. Learning these techniques will improve your riding substantially.
@@ardvarkkkkk1 Thanks for taking the time to reply. I actually did advanced rider training many years ago and understand what you mean. Easy to forget when the nerves take over. One thing about the motorbike was that cornering using the techniques you describe (on the flat) felt great but you could always choose the speed to suit your confidence. Descending on a cycle may achieve the speeds needed for the same cornering techniques but I just don't feel in control of the speed. I'll try to remember to look where I want to go.
As a motorcyclist I don't have any issues with the speed of descending, letting gravity take over, and making the tires work for me. I do however, have a huge uneasy feeling about the consequences of crashing without a full face helmet, boots, armored leather gloves, and an armored jacket and pants with abrasion resistant fabric, etc. You would have a good chance of walking away from a fall at speed with only minor injuries wearing all that as long as you don't hit anything. With cycling clothes though, good luck. It's gonna hurt.
FIRST VIEWER AND SECOND i think Liker Of The Video, i LOVE YOUR VIDEOS, i Learn Many Things about roadbiking.🤘🚴🏻
Thanks for all the support John,
great tips thanks ! things that makes you go "i should know better before the crush" . wich is realy happed to most of us , right guys ?
This video will fit in with the other 8 videos you have about descending then?
Check your breaks... Especialy before a race...
The last tip was the best. Don't go balls to the wall on a descent you have never traveled. There is no telling what might surprise you.
So glad that you used. ..." ....as a cyclist " in the title 😂😉
it has suspension forks
this is the descent where you tested the different stem lengths, no?
A few words on brake biasing would have been appreciated. Great video. Too bad I do most of my riding on the flattest of flat roads. That course looked amazing. #ROCKON
Why is Chris leaning his bike but he is stopping upright? So he is going round a left corner and the bike is lent to the left but Chris is over the right hand side of the bike?
I want to say center of gravity
I am always scared about descending
I am always thinking about the worst possible things...
Can you give me any helpful tips?
When you are scared on the bike you cant enjoy Nothing
I grew up in a flat place and was a terrible descender. I was scared also. I moved to a place with big hills and bad roads. To overcome nerves and prevent myself from stiffening up my arms and shoulder in fear I concentrated on keeping that tension in my feet instead to help stabilize the bike. I found the fastest hill in my new area that had a big crosswind at the bottom where it flattened out. I practiced on that for a while but it wasn't enough even after I developed skill descending. Then one day I approached the top of that same hill, ready to descend and told myself 'nothing can possibly go wrong'. I suspended disbelief and hit 90k+. Develop some skill, be patient with yourself and when your ready to hang it all out there tell yourself 'nothing can possibly go wrong'. Your mind can be a powerful tool used for and against yourself.
Jonathan Nuss hey man thank you so much for your Message!
Where i live we have many Mountains (Not the highest, but atleast some where you can descend very good)
I will ride on this weekend at i will try to use your tips
Thank you very much mate :)
upperclassracket.bandcamp.com/track/let-if-roll
My biggest problem is a lack of confidence in how far I can lean the bike so I am always scrubbing off a lot of speed before the corner. I guess I need more practice until I am eventually at 90 degrees on the ground :-D
Paul Ferguson I have the same problem. Obviously, no bike tire exists that allows an 89.99999 degree lean angle. However, some tires are stickier than others. P Zeros, vittoria corsas, GP5000s etc. are some tires that come to mind. The combination of that and slightly lower pressure than you’d normally run can give you the confidence to say “I have at least as much grip as anyone here” - which is usually all you need to hang with faster friends/rivals.
I feel like it’s harder to maintain control on descents.
This was really more about cornering than descending.
Excellent tips all solid except dragging rear brake saves more time in speed scrubbing than braking hard before a corner
LaughingSaint I think the fastest is to brake hard before a corner and then “trail brake” - slowly fade the brakes away as you lean the bike in. At peak lean, you want no brakes.
Saurabh Kulkarni then you should keep doing it the way u feel is best I raced super bikes so I corner very well and I know what wins races 🤙🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼🚴🏽♂️happy riding
This is the one of the BEST if not the ABSOLUTE BEST video GCN has produced in quite a long time. Suggestion - For all of us who usually ride in country which are right hand v English left hand , the visual feel of reading the road and staying in safe lines is distorted for us in this excellent video. Suggest , seriously, you make a similar production with a right handed aspect.
i was in a group ride once going about 65kph and i was in front. a wasp somehow managed to land and stick to my lens and then crawl around the corner to the inside of my glasses , for shelter from the wind, i guess ! I looked up at the little fella and i am pretty sure he looked back at me. i slowly removed my glasses and the wind took him and we continued as if nothing had happened !
another time at a cafe stop i was attacked by a wren who tried to take the croissant out of my mouth. i seem to attract things like this. i have been followed by circling birds of prey too, on long hot rides.
always wear your shades . also i learned to keep my mouth shut on rides. we got a lot of bugs out here too.
But how about a steep descent
Good tips.
Where is Hanks Madone these days?
I’m enjoying the bike so far ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA My only real complaints are the brakes and the pedals. I feel like a bike designed for bigger people should have much larger pedals and more heavy duty brakes. I’ve only gotten two really good rides out of it, minimal downhill action, and the brakes feel like they’re already going out. A larger person has more momentum, so I think this wasn’t thought through very well. Also, I wear size 13-14 wide shoes. My feet cramp up on these pedals that are clearly made for smaller feet. Since I’m not a pro rider (and I don’t think many are who purchase this bike) I don’t think that the straps on the pedal are necessary at all. None of this takes away from the enjoyment I get from riding, however. I’ll just head to a bike shop to improve on a few things.
Wish I'd watched this 2 weeks ago off camber + to fast = broken ribs and wrist
i when a downhill an my face was bloody because i dont have a race bike
Get in the drops please, these guys don't mention it, no idea why. Some shots they are on the hoods and others in the drops, random.
God dammit. I never really rode a bike. I bought one when I was a kid just to play around in my yard. Never used it since then. Now, unfortunately, me, a novice biker is forced to take on the roads just to go places I must go because I have no other means of transport. Scared to death every time I have to get on the road.
I almost crashed into a tree once because I looked back for 1 sec to see where my partner was.
I may be leaning too much. 🤔
Full downhill attack full gas..its the only way:-)
Cheddar?
Well observed, lovely sweeping curves there
Was just going to ask if it was Cheddar gorge! Great eye.
Ah, thought so. Hoping to visit there this summer.
Sometimes its just better to go slow if you can't see, as in many parts of the world, impatient drivers will try to overtake other drivers and be on the wrong sie of the road even in blind bends. There also might rocks or tree falling.
Good video, but why is he descending without sunglasses/goggles? What happens if he is hit with a stone? That's not a safe example.
Good film but sorry folks, you missed a lot of key things about reading the terrain and how vanishing points work.
Don't over take buses, coaches and Lorries etc on the descend's either especially on bends you can't see around.
run off? what's that lol
Why they ride without gloves? Arms suffer first in case of fall....
2nd!
🥈
Thanks guys! Cheers!
1st