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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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  • September 3, 2013 at 3:20 pm #754737
    0
    cidermart

    Mr Jono (edit sorry I forgot
    Mr Jono (edit sorry I forgot the Mr #o ) is right in saying to try it off road first as you will get used to transferring your weight around on the bike in relative safety.

    Look at where you want to go not ten feet in front of your wheel.

    Push down on the outside pedal of the bend rather than moving your body over the top and you will corner sharper, this also keeps the weight lower down over the BB so you are not top heavy.

    Most importantly RELAX!! if you are tense you stand a far greater chance of crashing you will also tire out a lot quicker and possibly even get arm pump on a long descent and nobody wants arm pump.

    September 3, 2013 at 12:17 pm #754735
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    SlowSPDRider

    Great thread.
    I also have
    Great thread.

    I also have this issue though been riding a lot less time.

    September 3, 2013 at 10:19 am #754733
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    Mr Jono

    It might sound unrelated, but
    It might sound unrelated, but a nice soft muddy field and a MTB could be a good place to gain cornering confidence. Find a tight bend somewhere and keep taking it at higher and higher speeds and embrace falling off. You’ll learn to recognise the point at which the bike starts to go, and probably be surprised at how fast you can get round.

    Transferring those skills to the road might not be particularly easy but it’ll give you confidence which is half the battle.

    And the guys saying lean the bike not the body are spot on. Your body will take on some of the lean of the bike which is good for traction but by keeping your head upright you’ll maintain your centre of gravity above the BB and also, crucially, feel like you’re not leaning too much which will keep your mind on where you’re going.

    Take a look at this image:

    http://www.roadcycling.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/peloton_cornering_0.jpg?itok=j8BJEY8x

    All of the riders’ bikes are leaned right over, their bodies less so and their heads are almost all upright (or thereabouts).

    Good luck!

    September 2, 2013 at 11:31 pm #754731
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    FMOAB

    Put on a few stone in weight,
    Put on a few stone in weight, works for me.

    September 2, 2013 at 11:01 pm #754729
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    Cycle_Jim

    I felt pretty confident
    I felt pretty confident myself till a recent fall, now I really am slow on the descents. Went out with someone this weekend and every descent I got dropped, picked him up on every ascent.

    Just don’t have the confidence/feel for it at the min. Hopefully will improve.

    Been out with some real dare devils before and it shits me up

    September 2, 2013 at 9:05 pm #754727
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    sea_biscuit

    just read daniel friebes
    just read daniel friebes biography of merckx. You’re in good company, he also had same problem early in career! im no expert but have hit ~80kph down Galibier, and also had scary wheel wobble. tips: relax (will come with confidence). lean bike not body, keeping centre of balance over centre of BB then body will follow bike naturally. get hands on drops. only feather the brakes. are wheels trued OK? spoke tension good?

    September 2, 2013 at 8:48 pm #754725
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    sm

    Lower the tire pressure on
    Lower the tire pressure on the front?
    Best tip I heard recently was “lean the bike not the body”. Seems to be helping me after a recent spill.

    Have you actually fallen off yet? This could actually be your saving grace! Takes time to get confidence back but you lose that ‘fear’.

    My favourite line is something along the lines of: “The only way to know how low you can go into a a corner is to go lower and lower until you eventually fall off. And then just take it back a notch!”

    September 2, 2013 at 8:14 pm #754723
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    MattT53

    Can you borrow someone else’s
    Can you borrow someone else’s bike or wheels and see if that helps? If your getting speed wobbles etc it could be bike related. Possible it’s too long/big or something too, maybe a shorter stem?

    September 2, 2013 at 6:57 pm #754721
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    pinecooler

    http://www.velominati.com/the
    http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/#64

    September 2, 2013 at 6:19 pm #754719
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    Gkam84

    You can improve, but if you
    You can improve, but if you don’t have the confidence, that’s harder to solve.

    Look at some of the pro’s. Can go up hill like there is no climb, but come down hill like they are scared of every movement.

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