Beginner Mountain Biking Tips Online
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Beginner Mountain Biking Tips
Beginner Mountain Biking is an exciting sport that can be enjoyed by anyone who knows how to ride a bike. Compared to the average beginner mountain bike ride, it does present some danger. Therefore, you should master these basic skills before you hit the trails or the dirt.
You can practice these beginning skills at a local park, school, bike path, or simply around your house. If you can, try to find a location with a steep hill.
Get a feel for your pedals.
Practice moving your foot away from the pedal, first while sitting on your bike with one foot on the ground. Next, move on to releasing and replacing your foot while pedaling around for a bit. Those with toe clip and clipless type foot pedals will want to spend a bit more time
practicing.
Sit and spin for position
Simply sit on your beginner mountain bike and pedal around. You should keep your arms slightly bent. You should also adjust your seat height so your leg is 70 to 90 percent extended at the bottom of every stroke on the pedal. Keep your body relaxed, as there will never be a position where you should have either your knees or your elbows locked.
Shifting gears
Get a feel for shifting gears with your beginner mountain bike. The higher gears are harder to pedal and will go faster while the lower gears are easier to pedal and will help you ascend hills. As you get to steeper hills, its best to shift before you get to the hill rather than while your on it.
Coasting
You should spend a bit of time coasting while standing on your pedals, without actually sitting on the seat. Keep your arms bent but don't lock your knees. Now, try experimenting with shifting your body towards the rear end of the bike.
Pedal while standing
You should get as comfortable as you can with pedaling while standing on your bike. Try lifting yourself off the seat while standing on the pedals, then crank them around. You should try this in higher gears on flat ground then again in lower gears while on a hill.
Dropping down a curb
Try finding a curb where you can easily get to the upper portion of it. Practice at a moderate speed, standing and coasting right off the curb from the upper level to the lower level. Try this at different speeds until it becomes second nature.
Once you practice these techniques and get the hang of them, you'll be able to hit the trails feeling comfortable on your beginner mountain bike. Even though it may take some getting used to, it'll become second nature before you know it.
You can practice these beginning skills at a local park, school, bike path, or simply around your house. If you can, try to find a location with a steep hill.
Get a feel for your pedals.
Practice moving your foot away from the pedal, first while sitting on your bike with one foot on the ground. Next, move on to releasing and replacing your foot while pedaling around for a bit. Those with toe clip and clipless type foot pedals will want to spend a bit more time
practicing.
Sit and spin for position
Simply sit on your beginner mountain bike and pedal around. You should keep your arms slightly bent. You should also adjust your seat height so your leg is 70 to 90 percent extended at the bottom of every stroke on the pedal. Keep your body relaxed, as there will never be a position where you should have either your knees or your elbows locked.
Shifting gears
Get a feel for shifting gears with your beginner mountain bike. The higher gears are harder to pedal and will go faster while the lower gears are easier to pedal and will help you ascend hills. As you get to steeper hills, its best to shift before you get to the hill rather than while your on it.
Coasting
You should spend a bit of time coasting while standing on your pedals, without actually sitting on the seat. Keep your arms bent but don't lock your knees. Now, try experimenting with shifting your body towards the rear end of the bike.
Pedal while standing
You should get as comfortable as you can with pedaling while standing on your bike. Try lifting yourself off the seat while standing on the pedals, then crank them around. You should try this in higher gears on flat ground then again in lower gears while on a hill.
Dropping down a curb
Try finding a curb where you can easily get to the upper portion of it. Practice at a moderate speed, standing and coasting right off the curb from the upper level to the lower level. Try this at different speeds until it becomes second nature.
Once you practice these techniques and get the hang of them, you'll be able to hit the trails feeling comfortable on your beginner mountain bike. Even though it may take some getting used to, it'll become second nature before you know it.
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Mountain Bike Gears and How They Work
The gears in mountain bikes just keep getting more and more intricate. The bikes of today have as many as 27 gear ratios. A mountain bike will use a combination of three different sized sprockets in front and nine in the back to produce gear ratios.The idea behind all these gears is to allow the rider to crank the pedals at a constant pace no matter what kind of slope the bike is on. You can understand this better by picturing a bike with just a single gear. Each time you rotate the pedals one turn, the rear wheel would rotate one turn as well (1:1 gear ratio).
If the rear wheel is 26 inches in diameter, then with 1:1 gearing, one full twist on the pedals would result in the wheel covering 81.6 inches of ground. If you are pedaling at a speed of 50 RPM, this means that the bike can cover over 340 feet of
ground per minute. This is only 3.8 MPH, which is the equivalence of walking speed. This is ideal for climbing a steep hill, although bad for ground or going downhill.
To go faster you'll need a different ratio. To ride downhill at 25 MPH with a 50 RPM cadence at the pedals, you'll need a 5.6:1 gear ratio. A bike with a lot of gears will give you a large number of increments between a 1:1 gear ratio and a 6.5:1 gear ratio so that you can always pedal at 50 RPM,no matter how fast you are actually going.
On a normal 27 speed mountain bike, six of the gear ratios are so close to each other that you can't notice any difference between them.
With actual use, bike riders tend to choose a front sprocket suitable for the slope they are riding on and stick with it, although the front sprocket can be difficult to shift under heavy load. It's much easier to shit between the gears on the rear.
If you are cranking up a hill, it's best to choose the smallest sprocket on the front then shift between the nine gears available on the rear. The more speeds you have on the back sprocket, the bigger advantage you'll have.
All in all, gears are very important to mountain bikes as they dictate your overall speed. Without gears you wouldn't be able to build speed nor would you be able to pound pedals. The gears will move the pedals and help you build up speed.
There are all types of gears available in mountain bikes, all of which will help you build up a lot of momentum if you use them the right way.
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Safety Tips for Beginner Mountain Bike Riders
There are numerous ways that you can improve your mountain bike safety. Many riders will tell you that wearing a helmet is the most important step to staying safe. The second most important step is that you should always ride in control of your mountain bike.By riding in control you'll not only prevent crashes, but keep others on the trail safe as well. When riding out of control you loose the ability to adjust to the terrain as you ride mountain bike over it. This can and usually does result in serious injury to yourself and others.
Follow these helpful guidelines and you'll remain safe when riding your mountain bike.
Gear
Always make sure that you wear a helmet and other necessary safety gear for the conditions that you plan your ride mountain bike in.
Never ride beyond your control
There is never any shame in walking the areas of the trail that you don't feel comfortable in riding your mountain bike and you should never let anyone else tell you that there is.
Keep your speed under control
Always make sure you keep your speed at a level where you can quickly adjust to any obstacles or change in the mountain bike trail.
Knowing your mountain bike trail.
You should never push the limits on trails that you aren't familiar with. You should take trails you aren't familiar with at slow speeds until you learn them better.
Slow down around blind corners
If you can't see past a corner you should always slow down, as you never know who or what is around it.
Start small then go big
Work your way up to stunts or obstacles. Practice in less difficult or dangerous situations before you move up to something more dangerous.
Playing it smart
If you start to question what your doing, you probably shouldn't be doing. Always think about what you are doing and go with your instincts.
History Of Mountain Biking
There is a lot of history and information out there in regards to the history and origins of mountain biking, with some being recognized and some that depends on who has the best firm of public relations.Some say that mountain biking began with the Buffalo Soldiers, which was a turn of the century infantry who customized bikes to carry gear over the rough and tough terrain. They began in August of 1896, over the course of 800 miles. Their mission was simple to test bikes for military use in the toughest of terrain.
Others say it was the Velo Cross Club of France that started mountain biking. The club was comprised of 20 young bikers from Paris, who between 1951 and 1956 developed a sport that resembles present day mountain biking.
It could have also been John Finley Scott, who was the first mountain biker in the U.S. In 1953 he constructed what he called a "Woodsie Bike", using a diamond frame, balloon tires, flat handle bars, and cantilever brakes. He was more than 20 years ahead of his time. Even though he remained an off road enthusiast, there were many at that time who didn't share that same passion.
Today, we believe that the history of the mountain bike is most apparent in Northern California. There are a few areas that claim to be the first community
for mountain biking, although each and every history book will tell you Marin County.
The sport of mountain biking has taken many twists and turns over the last several hundred years. Even though there are many that say different things about the history and the beginning, we know one thing for sure - one thing has led to another and the sport of mountain biking was born.
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