Mountain Bike Skills tips Articles

MTB, Bermed Corners vs. Flat Corners: Another question I get all the time is some version of, “how is my technique different in a bermed (banked) corner than in a flat corner?”

As I explain in my camps a bermed corner (banked) is still a corner. That means everything depends on traction, speed and your goal. If I feel I’m going slower than the max speed that berm will allow and I want to gain speed, I’m going to keep my feet level and pump that berm to gain speed.

Depending on the steepness and traction I might even …

Life takes work, lots of work! I used to train so I could race well, then I stopped racing and stopped training, mostly due to nagging back problems.When your body hurts, it hurts to train and a downward spiral happens. You stop training which feels better but you get...

Often when mountain biking we set ourselves up for failure and/or unhappiness from the beginning of the ride. We are so focused on one or two goals for that ride that it takes away our enjoyment.

Have you ever thought, I’ll be happy if…? If I clean that climb, if I hit that jump, if I make it through that rock garden, etc. Ever been so focused on making a section of trail that is miles ahead that you messed up on an easier section of trail?

Sometimes it is the last move on the trail that you want to nail

As I mentioned in my last post, I love what 30 years of practice and modern mountain bikes allow me to do!

So what exactly do modern bikes allow us to do? Well, one of my readers summed it up well,

“Hi Gene!

Enjoyed your musing on old vs. new mountain bikes. I’m 47 and my first bike was a 1991 Bridgestone MB-Zip which I raced in the 90’s NORBA Expert Class.

I tend to not be overly nostalgic about those old bikes, particularly about the reliability, maintenance, and number of crashes. My steel Bridgestone frame literally snapped in half …

Modern mountain bike geometry is so much safer too! The long, low and slack geometry I have been preaching about since 1999 or finally available for mtbs designed for all purposes of bikes. There are now cross country race bikes with slack head angles now, making descending much more fun and less scary while having no affect on most climbs (especially when combined with steep seat tube angles).