✅ OUR MTB COURSES - 365school
A bit like losing weight in 10 days. Impossible? No, if you have the carrion inside and you are as motivated as a 15 year old in bike Park. But be careful: 15-year-olds arrive long. Space for video.
I am of the idea that it takes a lot of practice to go well in mtb, and in any other sport: so the solutions are 2. Either you put yourself on leave for a year and take home in the Italian-French Alps, or follow my tutorial…. But then you have to shut down your PC and exit.
Off to the first online MTB course that goes straight to the point without mincing words: in this video, focus on the basic position. It all starts here: you have to find a neutral position worthy of the best poser! Warning: if you don't have the basics you won't go anywhere: it's like building a house without reinforced concrete, so this video is perhaps the most important even if it will seem the easiest to you.
THE MANTRA - CENTRALITY
This must be your mantra: centrality! We need to find that position where all balance is on the legs. Ah, of course, when going downhill you are always standing with even pedals, not one up and one down. The centrality could also be in the off-saddle position, if the slope of the path is steep.
How long are you standing with friends you don't rely on your arms do you? So forget it on your bike too, don't think you have a handlebar that supports you: you have to feel heavy feet and light hands, as Piero Ruffino of Scuola MTB said in ancient times!
Think about the squat position? All weight must be on the legs. Or, for the less bourgeois, think about the toilet: yes, you got it right, think about the position that most satisfies you during the day (at least I think). But now remove the palette: this must be your position on the bike! Legs "in shooting" and torso parallel to the ground.
When you learn to be central in every moment on the path, through large or small movements, you are one of our bro! It remains central even after 4 beers in the bar, I recommend!
Whether you use the SPDs or the flats it is irrelevant, the basic technique is always the same, the only difference is that with the flats it is like having a bike without traction controls: you learn well the dynamics and the optimization of the gesture, while if we always go with the SPDs, it is easy for us to "embrace" ourselves in driving.
But now, in this position, you will tell me: but I don't have the front exhaust? Oh no boy, now you have your destiny in your hands: you will decide when to load the front and when instead it is appropriate to leave it unloaded.
To load the front wide elbows: you have to feel that you are dominating the handlebars, that the chest is majestic, that you could break the handlebars at any moment, if only you would like to.
The wide elbows, in addition to indirectly giving you softness, will also give you the advantage of lowering the center of gravity, which does not hurt, and takes away that position of a Portuguese sailor to discover new land.
In general, the tires should always be well loaded to the ground but there are situations where it is better not to load too much. Extreme examples: a counter-slope passage or a stretch on wet rocks, or a fast passage on stony ground (perhaps steep), where it is better to float than to stay planted in front (unless you have Josh Bender's 300mm Marzocchi Super Monster).
How many fingers on the brake? 1!
COMMON ERRORS
Now let's see 2 common mistakes of the basic position, that is, the loading too much in front of the face of everything and everyone. And not charging it at all. Always mistake that they move away from the mantra of CENTRALITY.
video showing the 2 wrong positions.
The first mistake is having a lot of balance on the arms and not on the legs: it is not good because you tire a lot more but, more importantly, you are not central on the bike but, in fact, unbalanced forward: not having the possibility to "unload" the front as soon as you find an unexpected obstacle will lead you to become a botanist expert in trees in no time.
Contrary position, on the other hand, you will never have control when cornering and a lizard crossing the road will be enough to make you fall.
Are you 100% sure you are in the right position but feel too loaded forward or too loaded back? Know that there is a probability, estimated at 4%, that you have positioned the handlebar incorrectly: either too high or too low. This position can be easily modified using the spacers (or spacers for English speakers) placed under the handlebar. And here I stop because I can't help you via Youtube: the height of the handlebar depends on your riding style and on the anthropometric measurements of your body, as well as on the characteristics of the bike.
And here comes the final advice, which I will give at the end of each of my video tutorials: OK the tutorials but then let yourself be seen by a good one, no sorry, I didn't want to offend you, I meant by a good MTB teacher, who in a morning is able to correct you from wrong positions, give you advice on the setup of the bike and give you that confidence that you will surely never have by watching a video on YouTube, and leaving self-taught. I leave you in description some mtb schools active in the area so as to immediately make the leap in quality.
If you want to make sure you don't miss a thing, watch the video about ours 10 mistakes not to be made in MTB. See you at the next video lesson and I recommend: keep yourself central.
👩🏫 SOME ITALIAN MTB SCHOOLS
➡ https://lugo.testedimarmo.info
➡ https://www.scuolamtb.it
➡ https://epic-trail.com/mtb-school
➡ https://www.gravityschool.it
➡ https://scuolaciclismocanguri.com
➡ https://www.raidacomemangi.com
