Mountain Biking - Down hill tips needed- and quick

Hello everyone! This is my first post but have been reading posts for a while and I've learned a lot from all of you. I am a newbie to mountain biking- I began about six months ago and have since ridden every Sunday at pretty challenging hills.
I love it. It is my weekly therapy and everytime I go my ascents get better and better.
However, my descents are a whole different story- hence my name ricochet.
To put it simply, I am god awful. I mean, truly terrible. I can handle basic downhill but once it gets interestingly steep and technical, I'm tumbling down the hill instead of riding down it.
I put my seat down, but I'm not very used to it since I climb so often and I lose my balance easily. If I keep it up, It's over the handle bars for me.
It is only by Lady Luck and a foundation in Martial Arts and therefore some know how on how to fall that has saved me from breaking any bones since I am getting intimate with gravel and dirt every time I ride. But every other part of my body is pretty scraped up.
Any tips and technique of how to handle downhill/technical phases would be greatly appreciated and desperately needed.
I ride a Raleigh M50 hardtail with front suspension in case that is needed for the advice.
Thanks alot!

if you're riding cross country, leave the seat where it is for when you climb...no time to monkey with seat height! for the downhill sections with the seat up, you say you go over the bars, to fix that you need to hang your ass all the way over the back tire, so your stomach is almost on the seat of your bike. this will move your center of gravity wayyyy back so you wont be flying over the bars.
for downhill technical sections just go the speed you feel comfortable and manage to stay on the bike. the more you successfully make it down tech. sections the better you get at it, the faster you will start to go. just pace yourself and youll get better at it.....theres no secret to it, just time in the saddle!

Yep learn to position your body...and on really steep stuff, pick the line and go for it. Try to avoid breaking as your will either topple over or skid out. Learn to modulate the brakes under the scariest of situations and steep descents will become easier...

Brakes are both your enemy and your best friend! Use too much, and lose traction completely. Use too little, and go out of control!


But the biggest tip I can give you is to keep your weight over the rear tire. Get out of the saddle and lean back over that rear tire. It will give you more traction and you can lead the bike into sticky situations better without endoing.

try not to go too slow otherwise you will topple...

Practice makes perfect. :D

Now, what I wanna know is: how do you control your turns? On a high speed downhill, turning is something I can't handle ... I MUST always slow down TOO MUCH to turn, even on fire roads. Anyone got any tips on that?

Originally posted by Chi
Practice makes perfect. :D


And thats the bottom line.

I have the same problem. Even on fireroads my turns are too damn wide.
Thanks for the help everyone. I think that's my problem actually; usually the braks too much because eithe rone of my two wheels are locked up skidding before I eat it.
I heard that if your doing a really steep technical, you should actually use the front break more to keep the back wheel from sliding out. Do you guys think this is a good idea.
Thanks again for the replies.

You need to power turn. Lean into the turn and turn your wheel outwards. Look at mx for an example...and of course practice :D....

Richo, yes use the front brake to keep control when going down steep steep descents. But at speed it is a lot easier to lean the bike and 'drift' (I know some people don't like this but I only do this on fireroads and of course dh courses which are designed for it) around the turn. Never brake in the turn only before it...

The best way to learn is to ride with other people who are better than you. Try to hang RIGHT behind them and do what they do!

Braking on decents is about 65% front and 35% rear!

When cornering, drop the outside pedal down in the 6 o'clock position. IOW, if turning left, right leg almost straight. Then, when carving the turn, push down on your outside foot. This will move your center of gravity in towards the center of the bike and will weight the tires so your knobbies dig in. Keep your arms flexed (bent) and drop your shoulders a few inches down towards the bars. Some people will drag the inside foot, but I tend to keep it on the pedal and point my knee away from the bike and in the direction I want to go.

L8R

Hmm ... good pointers. I will definitely try them on the warmup for the race next week. Thanks!

Ricochet, what type of brakes do you use?