Mountain Biking In The Rain SUCKS Unless You Do This

Whilst the dream is dry, dusty, delightful trails, the reality is, sadly, slightly different at the moment. For a lot of us, if we didn't go out in the rain, we probably wouldn't go out at all, but it can be a hard battle to get out there. The right mindset and the right kit and prep can make a huge difference, and that is exactly what I'm going to help you with today, so sit back, relax, and let's get cracking. Wet weather changes all sorts of things, so because of that, you're going to need to alter your technique as well to get the most out of your riding and the trail. Looking ahead. This is important in all weather, but make sure you're looking nice and far ahead. This is a good habit to get into as it'll allow you to pick your lines and ride faster and smoother. In the wet, it's key as it'll help you see any possible trouble spots, like those super slippery routes and any greasy bits of trail. Braking. In the wet, you need to make sure you're braking nice and early. Your brakes and tires won't be working as well, so looking ahead, spotting your braking points, and getting slowed down before a corner is really important. As there's less grip around, you need to minimize how much you're braking in the corners as there's simply less grip available to both slow you down and get you turning. Carrying speed. In the wet, most trails will be running slower and gaining momentum takes more effort sucking up your energy. Trying to ride smoothly will help keep your flow going, your speed up, and save some energy too. Remember, slow in, fast out for the corners, and make the most out of any lumps and bumps in the trail to pump and gain free speed where you can. First up, if your waterproof clothing, your DWR coating is, what should we say, not working as well as it should anymore, then there are some great simple solutions for this. You can get certain sprays out there that you can spray onto re-waterproof stuff, or certain things that you can actually put in the wash with your clothing to, again, give it that waterproof life back into it. Grip tape works great on your controls, like your shifters or dropper, to give you that extra bit of grip so your thumbs and fingers don't slip off them, although I'd recommend wearing gloves if you are going to do this. This one's an oldie, but a goldie, and actually, funnily enough, I got it off Neil. It's putting tape over your shoes. If you've got very exposed shoes, laces or whatever, you can actually put some duct tape over the top of them to help use as a splash guard, keep the water and the elements out. If these are getting really muddy and horrible all the time, a top trick here is in a little plastic bag or something in your pocket, have a microfiber cloth or a piece of tissue. That way, you can give a bit of a spruce up mid-ride so that you can, oh, that's better, see you again. We all know you need to look after your bike after a wet ride by cleaning and drying and lubing things up like your chain, but doing the same thing with your clothing will help them last longer too. Maybe just hold off the lube. What you wear will make a huge difference to the success of your ride, and that can be down to the layers, the materials, and everything else that goes in between because being comfy on a big, long ride or a very wet, horrible ride is absolutely crucial. You want to sort out your layers first because you want to keep your core nice and warm. Cold core, and then you're really going to struggle to bring that back. Lots of layers, lots of thin little layers, good thermal base layer to start with will really help keep the heat in nicely. Just think, if you get too hot, you can obviously take off one of those layers at a time. While cotton can be nice and comfortable on dry days, it soaks up moisture easily and keeps it close to you while you're riding. This will cool you down really quickly and be uncomfortable too. Wearing more technical fabrics like the ones you'll find in most riding jerseys will prevent that from happening and keep your temperature up and comfort levels high. When it comes to leg wear, there are some people that swear by shorts, but they're either a little bit wild or they're postman. If you're going to go riding a lot in the winter, trousers are where it's at. They're going to add a little bit of extra splash protection. A lot of them these days, mountain bike specific, I should say, have got what's called a DWR repellent coating. It's like a water splash-proof coating. However, if you're going to go tackling absolute bogs, you're going to want to look at some proper winter waterproof trousers. Be warned here, if you go down that route, they're not as breathable and you can get pretty hot in them. Don't just stop at trousers. Socks make a difference as well. Merino wool socks are great at wicking away moisture again and regulating the temperature of your feet. If you're going to go take it one step further, you can look at waterproof socks. If you want to go even further than that, combine it with an overshoe as well to really keep the elements at bay. When it comes to outerwear, a jacket is, well, essential when it comes to tackling the elements. A good mountain bike coat can make all the difference. The cut and the fit is going to be a little bit different to a normal coat. You want something that's very waterproof, of course, got pockets to stash your bits and bobs in. Even things like having a proper hood that's going to go over your helmet. Well, goggles, they're going to give you more protection, they're going to wrap around your face a bit more. They're going to give you a big clear field of view. Obviously, you can get wet weather specific ones with either tear-offs or roll-offs. This one here is a little bit more, do as I say, not as I do. Now, it's gloves. I don't really wear gloves all that often, as you know, but gloves are great when it does get really wet. Grips obviously can get very slippery depending upon the grip that you've got. Gloves are going to help with that and also keep out the cold as well. That's going to wear, I'm definitely going to wear gloves when it gets really, really cold. Think of thicker gloves, winter-specific maybe, but what about shoes? Shoes just like gloves then are going to make a big difference to keeping your digits and your tootsies nice and warm and cozy when you're out and about. Now, I'll wear something like an Enduro-based shoe like this in the winter because it's got more padding, it's a bit thicker, and it keeps the heat in and the water out a little bit more. You've also got winter boots, much more specific. Now, these will be a lot higher, they'll be much more padded, a lot thicker, and they'll be a lot more waterproof as well to really keep the elements out to hopefully keep you as comfortable for as long as possible. On to setup now, and we're going to start off at the front of the bike with a mudguard, of course. You ain't going to avoid the mud, so you might as well try and protect yourself from it. You can see here, I've got this big wrap-around bolt-on mudguard that's going to give me loads of protection from all sorts of crud and crap flying up at you, but if you want something a bit more minimalist, a bit more discreet, you can get those zip-tie-on, much more discreet fenders. We sell them over on the GMBN shop, actually, if you want to go and check them out. They come more off the back and they will give you some protection, but nothing certainly as great as this one. Contact points. Now, your grips are crucial. I talked about gloves and grip earlier, obviously, in an earlier section of the video, but if your grips are really smooth and worn out, when they get wet, they are going to be lethally hard to hold onto. Having fresh grips or certainly grips that aren't worn down to the bone is really going to make a difference to actually the control you've got over the bike. This one, I think, is absolutely crucial. It's tires. Now, obviously, the only contact with the ground should be your tires. If it's not, well, I feel sorry for you, but tires are crucial in getting through wet, horrible trails. These tires here, the Vittoria Mazda that I'm running, I've got their Enduro casing, so it's also a thick casing, so I can run a lower pressure for more grip, but it's also a soft compound rubber as well, so that rubber is going to be much more malleable, much softer to form around the ground and really give you as much grip as possible. With this, you can also play with width of tire and your air pressure as well. A lower air pressure is going to make that tire softer, of course. It's going to mold to the ground, as I said, but you are going to be more susceptible to potential punctures or any damage to the wheel, so you've got to be careful there and find that sweet spot. Now, if you're riding mega sloppy, horrible conditions, a more intermediate tire like this might not cut it. There are mud-specific tires out there, spike tires. The tread pattern on those is a lot more spread out. The pronunciation of the knobs is much higher, they're much taller, and what they do is actually shed mud as well, so they're perfect for biting into the ground. When they're rolling, they're flicking the mud off so they're clear to bite back in, but I will warn you, those only work in really muddy conditions. If it's a lot of rocks, a lot of roots, then they might not grip as well. Anyway, on to suspension. With the suspension, in the wet, tracks generally are slower running. They're not as quick, obviously, due to the horrible conditions. With that, you can tweak your suspension accordingly to get the most grip. Now, what I suggest here is maybe dropping the pressures ever so slightly. With that, it's going to allow that bike to sit into the ground, to really hug the ground and give you the most grip as possible. If you're going to drop your pressures too low, you're also going to want to think about adjusting your rebound to suit as well, maybe a couple of clicks off, slowing it down. You can tweak your compression settings, of course, as well if you do have those rather than the air pressure, and things like tokens as well. A little bit of experimenting is going to be required here, though, because if you change your suspension and your tires and both make softer, well, then you risk potentially doing some damage to wheels or actually rolling a tire. You might not want to do both at the same time, so have a little play and see how it goes. Lastly, mindset. Now, I think this one is almost the most important. If you go into a ride thinking all nelly negative, it's going to be rubbish and horrible, and you're going to have a terrible time, well, chances are it's probably going to turn out that way. I can't be bothered. It's just wet. Nice rubbish, trails of poop, bikes are going to get muddy, washing machine is going to get probably broken, Amy will then shout at me. It's going to be a good day, people. I've got my mudguard, I've got my tires all set up, my pressures, I've got my suspension spot on. Riding in the rain is going to be fun. Okay. Now, there's a famous saying, the fear of suffering is worse than suffering itself. It sounds a bit deep and spiritual, a bit sort of, but essentially what it means is that being scared to go outside and get in the rain is actually not as bad as it sounds. Once you're out there, you're like, oh, well, I followed all the really good tips in this video and it's actually fine. I've got my coat, I've got my mudguard, bike set up, there's not really much to worry about. Biting the bullet is often the hardest part, but I think you can do it, but anyway, I'm out of here. It's been a gloomy old day in the woods today, but I've had fun. I hope you have too. Let me know in the comments down below, have you got any other brave tips for getting out in the wet weather? Let me know and I'll catch you next time.