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Cornering on descents

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  • September 2, 2013 at 5:59 pm #19760
    spiltmilk

    I’ve been riding seriously for two years now. By serious I mean 4
    times a week and I go out on my club’s bun run at the weekend.
    I love riding but I am really struggling to improve my descending.
    Finding it frustrating as I’m quite a strong rider but I always end up on the back
    of the group on descents.

    – I’ve never been a dare devil descender it’s fair to say but I’m happy to let it fly on a straight.
    – That said it’s something I practice quite often as I do hill repeats.
    – In a straight line I’m regularly hit 45mph quite happily so it’s not like I’m crawling down squeezing the brakes.

    My problem comes when I start to get into cornering.
    I find that I really don’t have confidence in the front end of the bike. Even on the straight once I get over 40 it feels light and a bit squirelley. I recently had a speed wobble too when going over some rough ground on a descent – saved it by clamping my legs to the top tube.

    – I’ve read almost every forum post, read every article on the subject and experimented with my position on the bike but still don’t seem to be connecting the dots and hooking it up.

    I’m starting to wonder if I should be looking at my bike set-up / getting a proper fit done.

    As anyone had a similar experience???

    Might just need a good strong cup of harden the f up 😉

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  • October 1, 2013 at 4:29 pm #754767
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    didds

    wrt to the lean the bike not
    wrt to the lean the bike not the body, outside foot and inside hand, head vertical etc…

    would I be right then in saying its like riding the end banking in a velodrome?

    didds

    September 26, 2013 at 1:14 pm #754765
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    spiltmilk

    I was pretty bowled over by
    I was pretty bowled over by all the great tips that came back from this thread and have incorporated all into my riding.

    Two tips that have particularly helped me:

    – lowering my type pressures to 90/100 from 110/120. I feel more grip now and consequently more confident.
    – focusing on leaning the bike. even when I’m cornering on the flat I’m concentrating on this. Feel lighter and more agile on the bike all round.

    I’ve already felt an improvement and am now going faster on some of my regular descents. There’s practice to be done but this thread has definitely helped. Just wish the evenings were getting longer not shorter in the UK 😉

    Thanks all!

    September 12, 2013 at 2:33 pm #754763
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    crazy-legs

    About the best way to improve
    About the best way to improve is to go abroad – somewhere like Majorca, Sardinia, Spain, The Alps etc.

    Descents over here are either on terrifyingly busy roads or tiny narrow back roads, surfaces are crap, you can’t see far enough in front so it’s rare that you can really let it go. There are exceptions obviously but the ideal place to learn is somewhere with decent road surfaces and long descents where you can really get into a flow. Over here, no sooner have you started descending than you’re at the bottom!

    I learnt more in one week in Spain than in 6 months over here (and I live in the Peak District – no shortage of hills round here!).

    Get yourself to the Alps (other venues are available) where you can easily have a 20+ minute descent and work on what you’ve learned from the training manuals etc.

    September 9, 2013 at 4:01 pm #754761
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    DrJDog

    That flammerouge page has
    That flammerouge page has some real nonsense on it, but the practical advice it gives sounds perfectly reasonable.

    September 6, 2013 at 8:08 pm #754759
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    Al'76

    I’m not the best at this
    I’m not the best at this myself, so understand the frustration….you work like a bast*%d on the climbs and then get dropped on the descents :”(
    Still, few things that I found have helped:
    Look as far ahead as possible.
    Relax.
    By the time you’re into the bend, you should be looking “through” the corner at the next stretch of road.
    Outside leg down and hands in the drops; this will get your weight in the right place.
    Relax.
    If you have a Garmin (other GPS units are available 😀 ) set the display to the route page so you know what’s coming next.
    Relax.
    Follow a mate that descends well and watch his lines.
    Enjoy…you worked your balls off getting to the top of the climb…the descent is the free bit <:P
    Once you get into it, you’ll be amazed how far you can lean in and what a decent set of tyres will do on a dry, clean road.

    September 6, 2013 at 7:48 pm #754757
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    hampstead_bandit

    @spiltmilk
    my own experience
    @spiltmilk

    my own experience with racing BMX, then riding mountain bikes starting in 1986 (including a good number of years racing DH, and later as a sponsored professional “Freerider”)

    http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb5383931/p4pb5383931.jpg

    and then only getting into road bikes last year; is that road bikes have a very surprising amount of grip when running good quality tires and using proper technique even in rougher, wetter corners

    Its all about confidence, which is something many mountain bikers had to learn the hard way.

    Something I could recommend is either getting a mountain bike and pushing the limits on different terrain conditions to learn cornering techniques

    or taking your road bike, finding a quiet corner and pushing it faster and faster on repeated runs to find the limits of your tire grip

    many riders do not load the front wheel with enough weight to balance the bike and allow the tire to do its job properly, and therefore suffer from over steer, with the bike trying to cut across the corner than through the corner

    look at aspects like loading your outside pedal with your body weight, leaning into the corner and paying attention to the apex of the corner (similar to motor racing drivers)

    I would more concerned about going fast around a tarmac corner on a mountain bike than a road bike…

    September 6, 2013 at 12:02 pm #754755
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    Old Cranky

    Ride the descent on the drops
    Ride the descent on the drops – it lowers your centre of gravity and pushes your weight a bit further forward.

    September 5, 2013 at 5:34 am #754753
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    Bedfordshire Clanger

    Have you had your bike
    Have you had your bike checked over at a good workshop recently? A loose or worn headset makes steering imprecise. Is there any play if you stand off the bike, apply the front brake and rock the bike forward over the front wheel? It should rock over straightaway, if it doesn’t, take it to a shop you trust and have the mechanic check it over.

    September 4, 2013 at 8:50 pm #754751
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    daddyELVIS

    Keep eyes fixed on the exit,
    Keep eyes fixed on the exit, hands on drops, outside foot down and press weight through your outside pedal, relax and enjoy 😀

    September 4, 2013 at 8:05 pm #754749
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    SideBurn

    Do you know what the ‘limit
    Do you know what the ‘limit point’ is? Google -limit point driving- it is not easy to explain but basically you look into the bend… not at your front wheel. If you ‘get it’ you will realise you are still braking when you should be accelerating. I am thinking that the speed wobble is to do with nerves; surely it is better to be a live coward? Build up your confidence slowly. That said I have some great scars!
    Most important when descending do not lean into oncoming traffic! Remember if your wheel is on the central white and you are leaning, your body is over the line! Many a motorcyclist has found this out seconds before they died! Sorry to be a killjoy but good cornering/descending is an art to be learnt

    September 4, 2013 at 1:54 pm #754747
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    Crispycross

    Your bike is designed to go
    Your bike is designed to go round corners. All you have to do is put yourself in a position to let it do the work itself. I think it’s all about getting the weight distribution right and for different people, that means finding the ‘thing’ to concentrate on that gives you that sweet balance. Here are some things to think about:
    1) ‘Lean the body not the bike’ (lots of that said already)
    2) ‘Steer with your hips/arse'(bit obscure but might help)
    3) ‘Weight the inside handlebar, feel as if you could take the other hand right off the bars round the corner’ (this one really works for me)
    4) ‘Weight the outside leg’ (if you do this together with the previous handlebar trick, you’ll be leaning the bike over while you remain more upright, see point 1!)
    That flammerouge page is great too. Get out there and have some fun!

    September 4, 2013 at 1:16 pm #754745
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    Bedfordshire Clanger

    Have a look at this, there’s
    Have a look at this, there’s good advice here and on the rest of the site too: http://www.flammerouge.je/factsheets/descend.htm

    September 4, 2013 at 10:02 am #754743
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    farrell

    egb wrote:Look where you’re

    egb wrote:
    Look where you’re going. It may sound simple/stating the obvious but it’s by far the most important thing. If your head and eyes are pointing in the right direction then your body and bike will follow.

    Or to make it clearer, if you start looking at that hedge at the side of the road and start thinking “Am I going to hit that”? chances are, you are going to hit that.

    September 4, 2013 at 9:44 am #754741
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    egb

    Look where you’re going. It
    Look where you’re going. It may sound simple/stating the obvious but it’s by far the most important thing. If your head and eyes are pointing in the right direction then your body and bike will follow.

    Also, the fit of the bike and the front end stiffness makes a huge difference. It’s hugely noticeable between my two bikes (Trek 1.9 and Giant TCR Advanced). The TCR corners like it’s on rails because the front end doesn’t flex at all. I’ve topped 80kmph without even noticing or feeling any wobble.

    September 3, 2013 at 7:31 pm #754739
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    spiltmilk

    Wow. Thanks for the tips.
    I
    Wow. Thanks for the tips.

    I went out tonight and really focused on leaning the bike more and it felt much better.

    Also took my tyre pressures down to 90/100.

    Still need to practice but think I might be able connect the dots.

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