The Seesaw

back to all videos

 

Absorbing Impacts

“Light hands” is one of the most common pieces of advice in mountain biking.

But when should your hands actually be light — and why?

When the bike travels across rocks, roots, holes and steps, the front and rear wheels are constantly rising and falling at different times.

The bike is effectively seesawing underneath you.

And this creates a completely different problem from braking.

Instead of resisting a force, we now need to allow the bike to move without taking our body with it.

In this episode, we look at how to stay organised around the bike’s centre while the wheels rise and fall independently — and why trying to control every obstacle, crouching defensively, or moving too far backwards can actually make the bike buck and feel more violent.

You may even discover that the moment you thought you were “too far forward” was created by exactly the opposite problem.

Because sometimes control comes from resisting the bike.

And sometimes...

the best thing you can do is get out of its way.

 

If you've purchased this video, you'll need to log in, to view it.

DURATION: 00:09:14

buy access to this video