Getting better at slowing down will make you faster at riding MTB downhill

Braking technique is an essential part of mountain bike descending skill. To descend faster you must master the balance of grip & momentum. Which requires braking hard at the right times.

When we brake in an inefficient way on steep trails we can lock our bodies in one position, and loose grip resulting in loss of control. This can make us unstable and unable to carry momentum through features.

In this video I work on ‘maximal braking technique’ to help mountain bike riders to build flow on steep technical trails.

Grip is the limit not brake power

Brakes specified on downhill & enduro mountain bikes are powerful. They maximise leverage & minimise heat build up (for long descents). But for most riders, braking power is limited by grip rather than brake power. Particuarly on steep or slippery surfaces.

Once you improve your braking technique you will be able to make the most of your powerful mountain bike brake. One of the key outcomes of braking technique is to maximise the grip under braking, from both tyres.

Brake modulation: Maintenance Braking

When people first start learn to use MTB brakes more effectively, they learn to modulate the brakes. This is where we use the range of braking power available to slow down but without loosing grip or acutely affecting weight shift.

We can modulate the brakes to maintain speed on gentle descents without affecting other techniques. I call this ‘maintenance braking’. However when we get onto steep descents theres a limit to the effectiveness of this technique.

This is why:

1. The steeper the descent the more braking power is required to maintain a constant speed & avoid accelerating.
2. Once we are using a lot more braking power we are using a lot more of the available grip to slow us down….
3. …more braking power also requires stiffening our body to resist the braking forces.
4. This affects our ability to negotiate features such as drops, corners, slippery and rough features. All which require fluid body movement & control of grip.

To ride some steep features effectively you cannot brake: you have to let the wheels roll.

As soon as you let the wheels roll, you will accelerate to a pace, where maintenance braking will no longer provide enough power without affecting weight shift or grip. This results in two technical faults:

1. Loss of grip & control – locking up the back wheel. sliding around!
2. Riders shift their weight back, and stay back! Arms straight ahead, hips over the back wheel, legs bent. This is passenger mode!

In passenger mode, you are unable to manipulate the bike to negotiate features. When you roll through rough features you will see-saw on the bike, pivoting around the front wheel. rather than allowing the wheels to flow through obstacles.

Both of these faults will hinder progression in other techniques.

Maximal Braking Technique

So what you need is the ability to slow rapidly in very short distances. I call this maximal braking.

The centre of gravity on a MTB is relatively high, (roughly at riders hip height). When we brake the stopping force is at the tyres, so our bike and body wants to rotate forward. This means more weight & grip comes from the front tyre.

To get the most grip out of both tyres we need to shift our weight back. But unlike fault 2. above. In maximal braking we do this only for short periods.

We can also use our body to apply more pressure to the tyres by ‘pumping’ into the bike. Which means more grip & more braking power.

Putting it into practice.

When we put the weight shift back, & pumping movements together. It looks just like the ‘L’ shaped manual movement.

Start off by practicing the technique on a flat gravelly surface. If you get the technique right you will be able to significantly increase your braking power for short distances.

Progressing onto steeper trails

Once you’ve got the basic technique you need to practice it on steeper gradients where it is harder to maintain control.

This technique works well when we time braking with sections of trail with more grip than anywhere else. And when we can easily coordinate the weight back, pumping movement.

In this video. The riders are braking on a smooth, relatively flat section of trail which is traversing the hill.

Summary

Using maximal braking technique can make you faster, by giving you the ability to slow down rapidly in short distances. If you want to learn how to put this into practice, get in touch to book a lesson.