How to Ride a Mountain Bike Faster

Mountain biking is a great hobby for those trying to stay healthy and also looking for a thrill. As easy as it is to get started, mountain biking has a very large learning curve when it comes to riding quickly. Mountain Biking is one of those sports that is always more fun when you’re going fast. Below are the best ways to improve your skills and your speed.

What Increases Speed on Mountain Bike Trails

Although some of the best riders may be able to ride any trail quickly. Some trails are built and designed to be ridden quickly. The trail has much to do with the speed as the rider does. Different types of trails include sections that help riders maintain speed, while others are designed to be more technical. Make sure that you are riding trails that have long flowing sections, berms and downhill areas. These types of trails naturally help riders carry speed.

Finding The Correct Bike for You

Making sure that you are riding the correct type of mountain bike is critical to improving your speed and performance on the trail. Although there may seem to be too many options. There is always an optimal bike for your riding style and more importantly, where you are riding. If you live in a area that has lots of downhill trails, it may be best for you to opt for a downhill or enduro style bike. Where as if you live in a flatter area, it may be best to get a trail bike.

Size and Fit

Having the wrong size bike is a mistake that many new riders make. For those who are new to riding it may be difficult to know what your size is exactly. Especially if you are riding a friend’s bike, or just picked one up 2nd hand. Riding the wrong size bike is both dangerous and inefficient. If your bike fits you, you should be able to control it, pick it up, and pedal on it effectively. If your bike is too heavy, you won’t be able to ride it quickly and safely. You can see how to find the right size bike here.

Developing Important Skills

Mountain biking is an extremely technical sport that combines skill, endurance, and strength into one. All of these together will help you become a better rider and more importantly, be safer and have more fun on the trail.

Important skills to learn to ride faster

1. Body position
2. Bike control
3. Stopping/braking
4. Gearing and pedal timing

What is Body Position and How can it help You Ride Faster?

Body position refers to the placement of your body weight on the bike. For instance leaning back on the bike places your body weight further back, thus moving the center of mass back towards the rear tire. This helps the front tire absorb more impact and can help increase your speed when going downhill. Lowering your center of mass is incredibly important for riding fast because at you are able to absorb more impacts from obstacles and turn and sharper angles.

Athletic position

I like to remind myself to stay in an athletic position. Similar to the stance a baseball player may take before the pitch is thrown, low, bent knees, hands ready. This position allows the athlete to quickly change direction and react. This can translate to your position on the bike, allowing you to react to the trail quicker.

How to Practice Bike Control on your Mountain Bike

Bike control takes many different forms on a mountain bike and requires various different skills and strengths. Some aspects of bike control include your ability to place your tires, pedals and handlebars in optimal positions to avoid obstacles. It also refers to your ability to lift your bike or front and rear tires.

Being able to lift your bike is a skill that some people may not even think of. Although it may be first instinct to make sure that both tires remain in contact with the ground, being able to lift tires off the ground while riding is critical to ride faster and safer. A great way to practice this is by using curbs and sidewalks

How to Practice Bike Control with a Curb

1. Find a location with a curb or sidewalk that is in a safe location. This curb should only be a few inches high; the lower the better to start
2. Start by riding your bike off the curb, allow your front tire to fall off the curb followed by your back tire.
3. Once this becomes easy, attempt to ride off the curb while holding your front tire up in the air for longer. (rather then letting it fall off the curb immediately)
4. After some practice, you should be able to hold your front tire in the air long enough so that both your front and back tires touch the ground together after riding off the curb.
5. Once this becomes familiar, you can attempt to ride up the curb. Start by practicing lifting your front tire off the ground on flat ground, as if you were trying to pop a wheelie.
6. Once you are able to lift your front tire high enough, practice with the back.
7. Positioning your pedals in the right position is critical to be able to lift your rear tires.
8. Lifting your rear tire requires you to push against the pedals with your legs bringing the rear tire up.
9. Once you are able to do this, attempt to ride up the curb by lifting the front tire onto the curb then raising the rear tire up.

Lifting your bike requires upper and lower body strength that may only be acquired through practice and repetition. If your bike is just to heavy for this, it may be time to find a bike more suitable for you.

Braking and Stopping on a Mountain Bike

One of the first things that I had to learn when trying to ride my bike fast is, how to stop. Although it sounds strange, if you want to ride fast, you have to learn how to stop fast. There is a reason why some of the fastest cars in the world can also stop on a dime. Riding quickly requires much faster reaction times and requires you to stop much more quickly to avoid obstacles.

The last thing anyone wants is to panic when they need to brake quickly. Some of the worst crashes I’ve seen while mountain biking happened when people were trying to slow down, not speed up. Braking quickly requires you to learn to balance your body against the force. Many people pull the front brake hard and don’t adjust their body weight, resulting in the famous OTB (over the bars).

Gearing and Pedal Timing

When learning to ride fast, we also need to learn how to pedal fast. Gears on a mountain bike are very difficult to learn; each bike might be a little different, and each trail may require you to be in different gears at different times. Planning ahead is very important when it comes to riding quickly.

One thing I try to remember is that gearing is constantly changing; if you are going faster, change gear, slower, change gear. Although in some downhill sections, we might not be pedaling for a while. I always try to be in the gear that I would need at that speed, in case I do need to pedal. This way, if I come around a corner and see a massive climb, I can pedal at the gear and speed im currently in, and quickly change gears while maintaining speed and pedal timing. Gearing is something that riders pick up over time. If you are looking to improve, pay more attention to your gearing on your next ride, and eventually it will become second nature.

Conclusion

Riding faster is a combination of skill, strength and endurance. Through practice and repetition, all riders can increase their speed and skill at the sport. Some important things to focus on are bike control, body position, braking and gears. These combined will help you carry more speed through the trail while also being safer. Remember, don’t be afraid to push the limits, as long as you are doing it safely. Enjoy!