6 Mistakes Beginner Mountain Bikers ALWAYS Make (And What To Do Instead)

Welcome back, you beautiful people. Listen up, you future shredders. Whether you've just started mountain biking or you've had a graceful encounter with the dirt, welcome. Today, we're going to dive into the top most common mistakes that newbies do, but more importantly, how to fix them to make you ride faster, smoother, safer, and have fewer crashes. Death gripping the bars is a beginner's mistake. Most beginners instinctively just grab the bars as tightly as possible. Both my little boys and my wife do this. They think the harder they hold, the more bike control they're going to get. In reality, having a tense grip on you eliminates you from absorbing all of the impact. By having a death grip, that means when it comes to braking, you're instantly going to grab a whole handful of brake because you're nervous, because you're going a little bit too quick and you're not modulating your braking. By having one finger on the brake, it's going to help you slow down, keep you more relaxed on the bike. A little pro tip is to reduce the amount of grip you have on the bars. You want to have enough grip to keep your bike in control when you're riding down the trail. Just think of it as holding a tiny little bird in your hand. You don't want to hold it too tight because, obviously, things will happen to the little birdie, but you want to have it so it won't fly away. You want to get your elbows bent slightly, a little bit loose, a bit flexible. This will help reduce the trail chatter into your body. That meaning you will become more of a suspension as well as your bike. Incorrect body position on the bike on the trail. New riders seem to stand or sit bolt upright, making them way unstable when it comes to rough terrain. They're leaning way over the back, reducing front wheel traction and control. By doing this, you're making a very unpredictable bike ride on the trail, especially when it comes to descents, corners, or technical trail like this section right here. Also, the rider will rely more on their arms instead of on their legs to absorb all of that impact. Pro tip, you want to adopt the attack position. Keep your chest low, elbows bent, your weight should be centered over the bike, not too far forward or back. This position helps absorb impacts, keep your wheels planted, and gives you more control over technical features. Oh, wow. What's going on? Stump. Oh, no. Stump. Oh, my goodness me. That's a perfect example of a beginner not looking ahead. They're pretty much focused at their front wheel, seeing what's literally a meter ahead of them. Now, this can cause you to go off trail, slow reactions when it comes to maneuver around obstacles. Also, you tend to fixate on the obstacle and go to it instead of navigating yourself around it. Now, pro tip is all about scanning ahead, making sure what's coming up on the trail. Is it a little obstacle like a little root or a rock, or if there's a corner coming? By scanning ahead, your reactions are going to be way quicker because you know what's coming. You can adjust your body position to suit that obstacle when it's coming towards you. What you want to do is look three to four bike lengths ahead or even further so you know what's coming up, especially when you're going a little bit quicker than normal. You don't want to be looking at the obstacle at the wrong time. You want to know it's there before getting to it. Ignoring tire pressure is one of the beginning mistakes. When it comes to running your tires too hard, this is where the bike will feel a lot bouncier out there on the trail and you'll lose traction because it's not going to be finding it because your tires are too hard. Especially when it comes to riding corners or loose terrain, you're not going to have much traction with harder tires. On the other hand, running your tires too soft can make the bike feel a lot squishy. There'll be a lot more drag out there. Also, you're more prone to punctures bottoming out your tire to your rim, especially if you run in an inner tube in there, you're way more prone to punctures. When it comes to rough stuff, this is where you will do some damage to your rims. Many beginners don't realize how much tire pressure is important when it comes to riding. It's down to comfort, grip, and control of the bike. A pro tip is good practice to check your tire pressures before heading out for a ride. If you're 50 to 80 kilos, a good starting PSI would be 25. If you're 80 to 120, another good starting point is 30 PSI. This is a good benchmark to start on. You can up the pressures from there if you feel like they're a bit soft or lower them if you feel like it's a little bit too hard. Lower tire pressures give you more grip and added a little bit more of a shock resistance to the bike. When it comes to higher tire pressures, it adds to rolling resistance but reduces the traction. It's all about experimenting with the tire pressures to find the perfect one that suits you. We've done a great video on tire pressure explained. I've linked that in the description down below for you. Breaking too hard or incorrectly is a beginner's mistake. Most beginners grab a handful of front brake, shifting their body weight forward and over the bars, causing you to crash, aka an OTB. Most of them rely on the rear brake, causing you to slide and lose control, actually speeding you up instead of stopping you or slowing you down. Most of these things are more intimidating when it comes to riding steeper sections like corners or steep descents and stuff like that. Pro tip is make sure you have one finger on each brake, front and rear. You can use this by squeezing them. Don't jerk on them because that will end in tears. The front brake offers you the most stopping power, the slowing down power, whereas the rear is all about gauging your speed. Don't forget grabbing a handful of front is definitely going to end in tears and throw you over the bars. It's all about modulating your brakes. Rookie mistakes you can now stop doing. You can eliminate them. Hopefully, this video has helped you fix these ones. If you're still doing some mistakes, don't be intimidated. We all still make mistakes. Every day is a school day. Hopefully, this video has helped you out. Give us a thumbs up, like, and I'll see you in the next one. See you.