This could have benefitted from some on-screen graphics in post to help illustrate Rich's points - the "imaginary line down the middle" or the "dark patch of dirt" braking zone need some extra highlighting for me to see them.
Please don't ask me to like a video at the beginning before I have seen it. I'm hopeful this will be useful or at least interesting, but am in no position to make such a judgement a few seconds into it.
As a motorcyclist I am taught to enter a turn as far out as possible and only come in once I see the exit. Wondering if this is something you need to do on an MTB as well. Of course, we usually don't have berms on the road 🙂
Hey Daniel! This is so dependent on the type of corner you're riding. In MTB, this doesn't matter too much. Berms carry you around a corner, so as long as you're on the correct line and following the clean path, you should be good. What you've said is good advice for cycling on the road. You could apply that on flat turns, but it really depends on how loose the ground is. Hope this helps! 👍
Just wanted to pop in and say thank you! Been riding bicycles for my whole life but I’m going downhilling for the first time tomorrow and I’ve been brushing up to make sure I’m prepared. Your content is high quality, enjoyable, and informative. I appreciate all that you guys/girls do! Cheers from Denver Colorado USA
@@tastyapplesauce1617 Actually it went pretty well! I was the only hardtail on the mountain at Keystone. I stuck to greens the first run down, then met up with two friends on dual suspension bikes and they pushed me to try some blues. The blues certainly bounced my feet off the pedals a few times, but I had a ton of fun and will definitely be going back!
Yeah, gravel is always sketchy when you're trying to rail a berm. Make sure to follow the clean line around a berm. This will always be the grippiest line. 👍
I joined my highschools mtb team and was terrified of berms. Turns out, you just have to lay off the brakes and send it. After I figured that out, I haven't been scared of them since. Except switchbacks. I hate switchbacks
Yeah, braking is a hard one to master when cornering. It's important not to brake mid-corner. It's just about building experience to know how much speed you need for certain corners. Thanks for watching! 🙌
@@heidihoo33 Last year I started applying light brakes while pedaling through the turn. That's blasphemy, I know, but gradually I used less and less brakes and soon had confidence to trust the berm to hold. The key is to keep pedaling so that the brakes don't spoil your momentum. It's just a mental trick that worked for me.
@@stephenhill6003 yikes-your inside pedal didn’t hit the ground? I’m leaning my bike and my seat is dropped so I want my outside foot down. R u pedaling while leaning your bike into the turn?
Think 'Brake like a dinosaur' (the brontosaurus shape, not the T-Rex!); so little lever application smoothly becomes more becomes little again (littleMORElittle). This way a rider won't upset the suspension by grabbing handfuls and then pinging the lever off like his girlfriend's bra strap. Smooth is fast and fast is smooth.
There's no need to slam on the brakes just before a berm. If you have too much speed, scrub a sensible amount off by feathering your brakes on the approach. This will keep your suspension from compressing and affecting your cornering stability.
This is slightly unrelated, but does anyone know where to find that exact Ergon saddle with the white lettering on the sides at 4:27 ? I've searched for it recently, and I can't seem to find that style. Great video too! I always lose a ton of speed on berms, so I'm going to try to practice some of these techniques.
Cheers Rich! Slightly off topic but what wrist brace is that? Happy with it? My son just fractured his scaphoid so looking for brace options for when he gets back on the bike...
I bought some Jerseys from this company. I’ve given up on seeing them or my money ever again. If you were thinking of buying anything from them I’d strongly suggest you don’t
How about a video showing the results of TOO MUCH speed? Maybe find a berm at the bottom of a hill that will provide too much speed, remove the brakes and start higher and higher on the hill until you are going too fast for the berm. Many of us can go kinda fast on a berm but have no idea what to expect from going TOO fast and consequently never approach that level of speed.
These types of videos suck compared to the adventure ones, same topic just repeated hundreds of times with a different slant to it and most of it is common sense anyway
