grolby

Yeah. I really think it wraps back around to familiarity and frequency. I was reluctant to go down the road of discussing technique, because in road races you are so seldom actually trying to go through the corners as fast as possible. It's just not safe to push the limits on turns you don't know, which makes road races more forgiving for riders who are strong but have weaker technique. And is why I think the technical details of trail braking and entry speed and all that are kind of moot.

I think, to thechemist's point, if one really is having trouble with consistently losing position in the field through corners, that a) better bike fit, and b) some elementary study of cornering lines will yield big boosts in confidence. When I see riders on descents in road races who I desperately want to get in front of, their issue seems to be more a matter of confidence than anything else - it's not that they're slow through switchbacks, it's that they're hesitant and all over the place on every part of the downhill. It seriously does not help that the current trendy fit is to have the handlebars a meter below the saddle but horizontally quite close to the saddle. It's terrible for control, but people think they are faster this way. Getting the saddle in the right place and the handlebars appropriately positioned would probably make a big difference for some riders.