Mountain Bike Seasonal Riding Technique
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,…
New Years Resolutions
Traditionally the New Year is a time to reflect but also look forward. Resolutions are made, and probably by now broken, so what better time to have a second crack at committing to some changes. These resolutions are not ones that only involve abstinence and depriving yourself, but ones you might just keep! This issue we have a bakers dozen…
Night Riding
With the days in the Northern hemisphere shortening faster than the odds of a turkey seeing in the New Year, this issues technique feature looks at Night riding. Some of the article will look at which skills are required to get more out of riding at night, but equally, if not more important, is taking a look at how riding…
Roll on Summer
With the clocks having sprung forward and the mercury rising (albeit not steadily), longer drier days herald the start of another summer season on the trails. After two seasons of decline in both weather and trail conditions you may find that your own riding is also a bit weather beaten and in need of a little TLC. Firmer trails will…
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…
Slip N Slide
“You know the nearer your destination. The more you're slip-slidin' away.” Well so say Simon & Garfunkel, but here at IMB, we see the slip-slidin' as a sign of life and vitality and not the end of days as the song may suggest. Winter riding is all about letting it hang out as we desperately try and get some grip,…
Travel Adjustments
MTB tourism has boomed in the last 10 years and more and more riders are using annual leave to take their passion to new heights and explore the world from behind a riser bar. Whether travelling to a well established, well ridden, holiday hotspot or trailblazing in regions less well known, you will want to get the most from your…
Winter Riding
Ask any rider about their favourite mountain biking memory of that year and very few will recall a ride though sloppy conditions in driving rain with a cold wind biting, quads burning, crotch sodden and trails livelier than a bucket full of eels. Despite this the vast majority of us have experienced a ride like that and still we go…
Winter Skills - Part 2
Stop the press, break out the balloons and grab a slice of cake as we celebrate one year with IMB. What a year we’ve had, and what a year ahead. Creating features is a fascinating process when the guys at IMB approached me my brain went into overdrive with ideas for the technique section. I’ve been humbled over the years…
Featured
Rock Stars
Rocks come in all shapes and sizes from solitary lumps and outcrops to collectives forming gardens of granite. Although for some of us 'home' might mean 'loam,' no matter where you live your journeys on two wheels will eventually ensure that you encounter trails that are made of sterner stuff. Whether the trail ahead is impregnated with igneous, scattered with…
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…
The Golden Thread
Much has been written about ‘line choice’ as an important aspect of taming the trail that lies ahead. This issue we put our usual spin on the subject with the ultimate goal of making you a better, faster rider. Line choice is indeed an important skill to develop, but from experience we know that when you are out on the…
Pumping
Intoduction If you find you are being left behind while others are pulling away from you on the trail, you seem to be pedalling way more than others that are seemingly carrying speed with little effort, or find that you are bobbling around at the mercy of the trail surface, the chances are you have forgotten your pump... or never…
Slip N Slide
“You know the nearer your destination. The more you're slip-slidin' away.” Well so say Simon & Garfunkel, but here at IMB, we see the slip-slidin' as a sign of life and vitality and not the end of days as the song may suggest. Winter riding is all about letting it hang out as we desperately try and get some grip,…
Strava Be In The Pub
When the cycling press describes something as the 'technical innovation of the year,' you might expect them to be referring to electronic shifting, belt drive, 11 speed, clutch derailleur or perhaps another life-changing adaptation to wheel size. In this case however, the focus of such high praise was something as simple as an App. Strava itself is not vastly different…