Mountain Bike Psychological Technique

Mountain Bike Technique - A More Professional Approach
Mountain Bike Technique - A More Professional Approach
A More Professional Approach

Many of us dream of riding like a pro... or at least gaining just a small portion of the skills they posses! As riders, we are all happy to benefit from the technical developments that help the top guys and girls in the pursuit of ever advancing standards when it comes to our bikes and equipment. The filter down effect...

Psychological
Mountain Bike Technique - Control Freaks
Mountain Bike Technique - Control Freaks
Control Freaks

If you are a regular reader of IMB then its pretty safe to assume that you love to ride. Through this love of mountain biking you will, no doubt, have experienced some thrills and spills, faced and overcome challenges, visited stunning locations and met some great people. It is the rich variety of experience that helps keep our love of...

Psychological
Mountain Bike Technique - Dare - Double Dare - The Psychological Challenge
Mountain Bike Technique - Dare - Double Dare - The Psychological Challenge
Dare - Double Dare - The Psychological Challenge

In part 2 of our session instalment, we take a glimpse into rider psychology and our mental approach to practising sections of trail. Working on our mental game is a fast track way to improve what happens on the bike. Neglect the mental training, and all that hard work on the bike is as good as worthless. I have mentioned...

Psychological
Mountain Bike Technique - Just get over it
Mountain Bike Technique - Just get over it
Just get over it

Be bold and live life beyond the crest There is a famous saying in the climbing world, there are old climbers and bold climbers, but there are no old bold climbers. On one hand, this doesn’t apply to mountain biking but on the other, it may apply to some. if you arrived late into the sports or reached a point...

Psychological
Mountain Bike Technique - Looks Like a Session
Mountain Bike Technique - Looks Like a Session
Looks Like a Session

Practice makes permanent Skills on demand and the ability to make the bike dance down the trail are not so much about perfecting things, it's more a matter of embedding subconscious memory (connections in the brain) and muscle memory within ourselves, making a permanent connection so that we can make the correct shapes at the correct times. With the core...

Psychological
Mountain Bike Technique - The Art of Fast
Mountain Bike Technique - The Art of Fast
The Art of Fast

You're fit (or fit-ish), your bike is the same calibre as your buddy's, but you just can’t seem to carry the same speed that they do. How is it that some riders seem to accelerate away from you with comparative ease, all with seemingly less effort? This issue we look at some key pointers as to how to carry more...

Psychological
Mountain Bike Technique - The Art of Going Slow to Go Fast
Mountain Bike Technique - The Art of Going Slow to Go Fast
The Art of Going Slow to Go Fast

IMB would like to give a warm welcome to our new Skills and Technique guru Mr Clive Forth. We’d also like to say a huge thanks to Richard Kelly who has been in that role since Issue 2! Richard is now really busy with his B1KE business, which is growing very quickly, sadly for us he’s not going to be...

Psychological
Mountain Bike Technique - The Learning Curve
Mountain Bike Technique - The Learning Curve
The Learning Curve

Discover Victory in Failure We've all done it and in all walks of life, yup… we have gone and fudged up! This is just a fact of life and one of the hardest learning curves to conquer, the process of not making mistakes and the art of recovering from them. Whether you are bouncing back from broken bones or merely...

Psychological
Mountain Bike Technique - The Need For Speed
Mountain Bike Technique - The Need For Speed
The Need For Speed

Do you have that need? That need for speed? This time we delve into the topic of riding trails for the first time and how you can do it much faster. From carving up corners to hauling over humps we are going to give you an insight into how you can carry speed with confidence on the most demanding of...

Psychological
Mountain Bike Technique - The Need For Speed Part 2
Mountain Bike Technique - The Need For Speed Part 2
The Need For Speed Part 2

Welcome back, last issue we looked at riding trails for the first time and how you can hit them with more confidence and more speed, this time round we delve into one of the common features on a trail and a feature where speed is not the only thing that can be wiped out. For some riders the fear of...

Psychological
Mountain Bike Technique - The Trade off
Mountain Bike Technique - The Trade off
The Trade off

Having just witnessed many disciplines at the 2023 World Cycling Championships I thought it fitting to delve into that classic British idiomatic phrase that is thrown around at such times and hopefully inspire some of you to take a moment to review your approach to your riding regime, the equipment you use and the cycling endeavours you choose. I hope...

Psychological
Mountain Bike Technique - The Weighting Game
Mountain Bike Technique - The Weighting Game
The Weighting Game

Pump up your riding This issue it’s about time we delve deeper into the subject of pumping, pressure, and unweighting the bike. When it comes to putting words into action then this is a topic fraught with controversy and confusion. Thanks to the various lingo used to describe a sensation and a technique, the outcome on the trail can be...

Psychological

Featured

Mountain Bike Technique - Re Vision
Mountain Bike Technique - Re Vision
Re Vision

In every article we have written, covering all manner of riding scenarios and areas of skills development, we’ve referred to the core physical skill of looking. Again and again we have highlighted its importance in achieving improved riding performance. The art of 'looking' is one of the easiest for riders to identify and know how to address, but mastering it...

Mountain Bike Technique - Switchbacks
Mountain Bike Technique - Switchbacks
Switchbacks

Switchbacks are a trail feature that has been long forgotten in the new world order of trail centres and cultured MTB parks. Old school riders and those who enjoy getting out into the back country will know them all too well, but the new breed of riders born and bred at the trail centre will find them to be a...

Mountain Bike Technique - Speed Control Part 3 - To Haul Or To Stall
Mountain Bike Technique - Speed Control Part 3 - To Haul Or To Stall
Speed Control Part 3 - To Haul Or To Stall

From shifting to slowing we now continue to roll through our trail craft technique and delve into the world of all that will stall. Welcome folks to another in’stall’ment of finding your flow, we’ve been getting down with some basics in the previous editions, and we continue the theme of maintaining speed by looking at trail elements that want to...

Mountain Bike Technique - Seasonal Adjustments
Mountain Bike Technique - Seasonal Adjustments
Seasonal Adjustments

For Northern Hemisphere riders, another Summer is fading into memory. On the plus side, the soft light of Autumn makes for some fantastic vistas and epic riding - the days may be shortening, but there is plenty of riding still to be had. The light isn't the only thing to soften up and a change in trail conditions may well...

Mountain Bike Technique - Back Behind Bars
Mountain Bike Technique - Back Behind Bars
Back Behind Bars

Although we would all like to think that we will always ride, come hell or high water (and if you are in the UK this winter you will have faced plenty of the latter), the truth is many riders will take a longer than normal break from their time in the saddle from time to time. Health, circumstance, workload, injury,...

Mountain Bike Technique - Winter Skills - Part 1
Mountain Bike Technique - Winter Skills - Part 1
Winter Skills - Part 1

Fancy a line? The works Christmas do is on the horizon (or a distant fuzzy memory for some) and the New Year beckons. The winter solstice sees us heading back to the light in this part of the world but winters firm grip means we will have to endure mud, slop, snow, ice and varying combinations of all the above....