Originally Posted by Dave Kirk

Thanks - You know it's always seemed odd to me. There are countless places to go and talk about how to make your bike lighter/stiffer/faster/more aero/cooler but few to none where you can talk about the proper use of these things. In my 30 years in the bike biz I can count on one hand the number of times I've heard anyone talk about how to properly corner or descend - there will be countless conversations about 'what bike corners the fastest?' but almost nothing about how to take the bike you've got and make it rail around corners. There are plenty of online conversations about increasing fitness and that is of course valuable but having a strong motor only to fall behind when you get to the turn would seem to be reason enough to learn how to ride well. It takes great skill to corner or descend or even just pedal well and if the rider is low on skill it won't matter how light the carbon bottle cages are.

I haven't spent much time on this forum and feel pretty new here so I have to ask - do people ever talk about how to use the bikes properly? Any threads on countersteering or picking the proper line on a curvy descent? Anything on proper threshold braking techniques or how to spin the pedals most efficiently?

I know it's much more fun and maybe even easier to talk about the equipment than it is how to use it but if you take a skilled rider and put him on a heavy and crappy bike he will shuck the unskilled guy on the new wonder bike. If you then put the skilled rider on the top shelf bike you have a real contender. Think of how LeMond or Sean Kelly look descending and then compare that to Thomas Voelkler or Eric Rassmussen and you will get my point.

Would anyone like to talk about this stuff? I've found over the years that one of the true pleasures of riding is getting better at all aspects of it - it's really fun to be able to shuck your buddies on that twisty downhill or sharp corner.

Thanks again,

Dave