Mountain Bike Racing - XC Racers: Can you do freeride techniques?

For all the XC racers out there, can you do free riding techniques such as wheelies, bunny hops and things of that nature? Just wondering.

Thanks

I wouldn't say those are freeriding techniques, they are general MTB skills you need to ride and or race anywhere that is remotely technical. So yes, you should know how to do that, plus take jumps, steep drops etc.

I concur with climbo. Once you master those general skills amplify the jumps, drops, the wheels and hops and do them over seriously extream terrain and you will have modern freeriding.

:beer:

Yep, they're not freeriding skills but yes I work on them and they are pretty important if you want to be competetive.

Yup, can do all of those but don't consider them to be freeriding. They are just basic riding techniques.

I'm not that good at advanced techniques like hopping, manuals, etc. I can do a clipped in hop of about 8 inches, can pop the front up easily, just can't keep it there very long. I don't find that it holds me back in races. Some local racers can hop completely over foot high, foot wide log crossings where I have to ride over them, giving them an advantage. However, in an XC race I find the race is often won or lost in the less technical areas where big legs and lungs make up for lack of uber slick bike handling.

KrisA - I agree with ya, in my opinion most races are actually won and lost on the climbs. Don't get me wrong though, you still have to be able to ride the technical stuff but if you are a little slow thru it I don't think it will affect you as much as losing 10 - 15 minutes climbing.

Freeride bikes jump, hop, and manual much easier than XC bikes. On my race bike my weight is too far forward to do much other than crank the pedals and crudely hop small obstacles. Even on platform pedals I can hop my heaver freeride bike a lot higher than the XC bike, mostly because the handlebars aren't out over the front hub.

Also, learning to do this kind of maneuver on a lightweight bike tends to break and bend things. Big DH bikes are much more tolerant of bad form.

I'm not that good at advanced techniques like hopping, manuals, etc. I can do a clipped in hop of about 8 inches, can pop the front up easily, just can't keep it there very long. I don't find that it holds me back in races. Some local racers can hop completely over foot high, foot wide log crossings where I have to ride over them, giving them an advantage. However, in an XC race I find the race is often won or lost in the less technical areas where big legs and lungs make up for lack of uber slick bike handling.

This was exactly what I was wondering. I was wondering if not being able to do things such as manual, bunny hop or things like that if it mattered that much in XC racing.

Well bunny hops are pretty beneficial at times but I doubt that you will ever need to do a manual in a cross country race. I have been racing xc for three years now and I have never done one. The most you will need to do is just pop the front wheel up to go over a rock or root.

This was exactly what I was wondering. I was wondering if not being able to do things such as manual, bunny hop or things like that if it mattered that much in XC racing.
Well if your able to hop over a rock or something like that it does help. I ride a hardtail, and if I hit a rock or root, I slow down and have to pedal harder to get back to speed. But if you ride a full suspension, I don't think those skills would matter a whole lot.

I watch MTB races - don't ride - but, if you check out race schedules around you, you might just find some Pro riders giving clinics the day before a smaller NORBA or AMBC race. They'll show you how to bunny hop and all that stuff if you don't know anyone who can show you.

Useful for jumping small logs & rocks, finding your way through rock gardens, etc. Especially useful for a non-XC racing scenario where you just want to show off.