CLASSIC ADVICE NO6: “LEAN THE BIKE”
Whenever riders get onto the topic of cornering fast, the idea of leaning the bike comes up. It makes sense. After all, the quicker you go the more your bike needs to lean, and once you do, the more your side knobs on the tyre can dig in and do what they were designed to do. However, the problem with trying to lean the bike more is that it can often out rank some more important parts of your cornering technique. There is a lot going on when you change direction on your mountain bike. There are different amounts of traction, support, and the conditions might even change as you progress down a trail. In short, there are lots of variables. So it’s not as simple as just leaning your bike more to get more grip.
THE FEELING
If you feel like you need more grip in a turn, then it’s most likely that you’re coming in too fast for your skill level. Maintaining control in a corner is about anticipating those variables, and creating a stance that allows for movement so that as they change you can react. Leaning your bike more might be part of it, but it’s not the whole thing. If you lean the bike without having a solid overall cornering technique then you will become disconnected with the front of your bike and it will feel like you are going over the top of the corner.
THE CORRECT TECHNIQUE
We went over where to push in a corner, and what is meant by dropping your outside foot, in the previous issue, so this time we’ll look at bike lean specifically, and how it integrates with the other parts of your technique. Eventually it comes down to whether your body is connected with the front of your bike. When you corner you need to think of your upper body as being connected to the handlebars and front end. As you steer one way or the other, it should swing your whole body in the same direction. This can often be confused as riders just swinging their hips around, but all they are really doing is staying connected with the front of their bikes. In short, your body should line up with a part of the trail that is ahead of you, meaning that as you arrive there you are already lined up with the next part of the trail. Do this, and when you lean the bike further you won’t lose the solid connection to the front of your bike. Your hips can follow the top tube into more of a lean and you’ll have a shape that still allows for movement.
THE CONCLUSION
As long as you are connected with the front of your bike, you’ll be able to lean it over a little more. You can even drop your outside foot a touch to lower the centre of gravity. But make sure, if you do either of these things, that your strong body position stays connected to the front. There’s more going on than just getting the bike leaned over more. “Lean the bike more” should actually be: “Line your whole body up with a part of the trail that is still ahead of you”.
Here Andy is thinking about leaning his bike, but all that really happens is the bike stays upright and he just leans toward the outside of the turn
Focusing on staying connected with the front of the bike has allowed him to line his whole body up with a part of the trail that is where he will drive his body weight against
Here Andy sets up for the turn by staying connected with the front of his bike. As his bars turn he turns.
This means he is always facing the right way for the exit, and will feel settled in the corner meaning that if he likes he can lean his bike a bit more
NOVEMBER 2023 mbr 55