How often do you fall?

[MaXiMuM]

I have 3 cents to throw in the hat.

 

Drop the clips for a while, decent flats will teach you how to stay connected to the bike without being connected. And give you more confidence on the sections where you feel like you just can't make it.

 

Try find some long flatter trails where you can practice shifting your weight. Load the front on the way into a corner, move it backwards to increase grip on the front, and then alow the bike to pivot round the rear as you start to exit the corner.

 

1 finger on the breaks to scrub a little speed when needed.

Don't break hard while turning, let the bike flow. Use the open trail with run off areas to learn.

 

No need to keep up with your mates, just keep the cat keys... They will have to wait for you, hopefully.

 

Google, mountain biking tips, go watch some of those videos, then put them into practice.

 

Hold a comfortable speed on the roots and rock gardens, to slow means your fighting up and over, to fast, and you bike will want to buck out from under you. Speed up and scrub speed, rather than trying to balance and steer. The bike will ride the bumps, you just need to stay connected.

 

Lastly, as we get older, we splat more and bounce less, learn how to bounce, or tuck and roll...

[DJ84]

I started to fall less often so I got a rigid,

now I fall a lot more often.

 

Eldron made a good point of using your body to absorb the bumps instead of the bike/fork.

light hands makes a big difference in the technical stuff for me.

[American Flyers]

Check your tyre pressure!! Too hard can cause wheels to slip off.. Try lower the pressure to 1.5- 2bar...

[NicoBoshoff]

Recently having started doing some decent trails, I am loving mountainbiking.

 

I will often ride, among others, Tokai and do fairy garden, bluegums, boulders the 4 snakes, whatever because it is good fun and great exercise.

 

Problem is I am falling on almost every ride, most falls are at low speed going over something technical like a series of roots/rocks. I often don't get my foot out in time and land on a knee, the other mostly is loosing the front on the downhills?

I often lose traction on the 2nd root/rock and that's when it all comes loose, excuse the pun.

 

I have loosened up on my pedals and occasionally my foot slips out but could possibly go a little more.

 

How often do you fall and what have you done to prevent it?

 

I think a lot of the slow falls are because you freeze and start focusing on how to prevent a fall instead of just focusing on beating the obstacle. That's why commitment and confidence and good momentum are so important because it draws your focus towards the right things.

 

The front washing out often may be because again you're too slow and you're fork starts going divey, coupled with weight being too far forward, resulting in OTB's.

 

Also, perhaps look at some shorter stem / wider bar combo's to get as much leverage on the steering possible.

 

It's important to be aggresive and confident. Know that you can ride over obstacles and then hit it (within limits of course).

 

But to answer your question. A lot. I fall a lot. A very very lot.

[MoreTrails]

eelvio - happy to meet up and give you a couple pointers. Hit me up with a PM if you keen

[clyde79]

I find some days that my balance is just not there and inevitably there are a few falls.

 

The last one of those resulted in my falling in the spruit. I am still alive though.

[Stretch]

how often do I fall? I am such a hero that even when I try fall I don't...Greg Minnaar looks like a rank amateur compared to me... in fact I had some Minnaar crunch for breakfast this morning

[blondeonabike]

Im sporting a lekker chainring "tatoo" on my calf with a nice big avo bruise, from last weekend, rode some descents I was too chicken to do before...didn't quite get it right the first time. Worst prang? new years day this year OTB in the singletrack and landed flat on my face. How I didn't break my nose I don't know bled quite a bit. My nose was swollen for two days and I had a strip of roasties from my forehead to my chin.

[Flowta]

I fall enough to keep me humble

[jules1976]

Im sporting a lekker chainring "tatoo" on my calf with a nice big avo bruise, from last weekend, rode some descents I was too chicken to do before...didn't quite get it right the first time. Worst prang? new years day this year OTB in the singletrack and landed flat on my face. How I didn't break my nose I don't know bled quite a bit. My nose was swollen for two days and I had a strip of roasties from my forehead to my chin.

 

Ouch !!!

 

also sporting a chainring tattoo and agree with most hubbers here too slow will result in you falling.

I also had issues with riding with cleats but gained confidence and conquered those rocky climbs and downhills.

dont go down the too brakgat cos u will see your A$$.

[Flowta]

Don't underestimate the value of a skills clinic, regardless of your current skill level, but particularly as a beginner.

[PJP2013]

Used to be every ride but am getting better

 

Check you shock pressure is correct

Go tubeless and run lower tire pressure

Ride as fast as possible within your limits

Read as much as you can, have picked up a lot of good advice from magazines and books

Practice

[Flowta]

eelvio - happy to meet up and give you a couple pointers. Hit me up with a PM if you keen

Don't underestimate the value of a skills clinic, regardless of your current skill level, but particularly as a beginner.

 

Take him up on the offer!

[Musketeer]

How often do you fall? Well my enthusiasm constantly overshadows my technique.

 

My biggest culprit, when hitting technicals is fatigue. When you are tired you lose concentration and as a result I've "moered neer" on a lot of sections that I used to ride with ease. I know try and gauge myself, as soon as I see I'm getting lazy or start miss timing on a lift or a hop or what ever. I ease down a bit and take it a bit slower, focusing on technique rather than flat out speed. It helped me quite a bit. Get the basics right... look where you want to go not where you don't want to go.

[Vangar]

Used to be every ride but am getting better

 

Check you shock pressure is correct

Go tubeless and run lower tire pressure

Ride as fast as possible within your limits

Read as much as you can, have picked up a lot of good advice from magazines and books

Practice

 

So much that. Struggled to get my front shock pressure right, everytime i touched a brake it felt like I was going OTB. Played around swapped the 100mm stem for a 60mm, fitted 710mm bars. Now the bike just feels so much better, more in control and stable.

 

Tubeless is a must. Fitted some Racing Ralphs to my bike, front didn't seal properly so I ran it tubed. I washed out the front 6 times before I stopped my laziness and sorted it, with final straw being taking a dive into some "knapse kerels", blackjacks in english me thinks....so much scratching!!! Tubeless it just grips and grips and then grips some more. Have picked up a lot of good advice from here as well

[MrJacques]

I fall less than I used to, you'll get better with experience.

 

Something you can practice to improve balance and slow speed stability is track stands. http://www.bicycling...lls/track-stand (both sitting and standing) and practicing riding at very slow speeds.