Mountain Biking UK

Mountain Biking UK has got all the latest news, kit and exclusive info on the newest and best bikes. The MBUK Wrecking Crew testing team are out there right now, riding new bikes and products to destruction, to give you expert reviews you can count on to be brutally honest. We live to ride - and that's what makes MBUK Britain’s best-selling bike magazine.

Mountain Biking Skills

WELCOME

CUSTOMISE YOUR BIKE • It’s important to customise your bike and components to suit your riding style – this will ultimately improve your control. Extra braking power, smoother suspension and more grip could be just a few minutes’ fettling and a couple of clicks away…

IMPROVE YOUR BALANCE • Balancing on smooth terrain is almost as easy as sitting in an armchair. But how do you balance when the trail turns left, right, up and over like a bucking bronco? The key is to stay loose and get yourself into a position where your natural balance can do its thing, so you can concentrate on making decisions.

TWEAK A BIKE TO SUIT A FEMALE RIDER • Many so-called ‘women’s bikes’ are just ‘unisex’ models (which is in itself a bit of a misnomer, because the frames tend to be designed around typical male proportions) with some flowery colours and a wider saddle. They may be available in smaller sizes, but generally have the same geometry (Canyon and Liv are the main brands who offer femalespecific MTB frames). And choice is often distinctly limited, in terms of the different models and specs available. All of this means that buying a unisex bike and fine-tuning it to suit can usually the best route to go down, especially for more serious, aggressive, taller or heavier female riders. Here are some key set-up pointers…

BIKE PARK READY • These days you don’t need a downhill bike to hit the bike park, but if you’re riding a do-it-all trail bike, it’s a good idea to tweak your base set-up before hitting more extreme terrain. Uplift-accessed riding can be a lot gnarlier than your regular trail centre fare, with rougher, faster tracks and bigger hits. So we’ve come up with a list of set-up tips to help you get the most out of your gravity-fed day out, and not feel out of your depth on a single-crowner

GET THE MOST FROM A DAY AT THE BIKE PARK • Bike parks offer numerous trails that are well-maintained and great for progressing your riding. We asked the coaches from BikePark Wales to give you their pro tips for making sure you get the most out of your day at a bike park, whether you’re a gravity-riding newbie or have been a few times before. That way, you can have a ton of fun, ride until you’re exhausted and enjoy everything a bike park has to offer.

FIND YOUR FLOW • The elusive ‘flow’ is the holy grail of mountain biking, where you float down the trail almost effortlessly, every feature or corner increases your speed and fun, and you know what it must feel like to be Danny Hart (two-time downhill world champ) on a race-winning run. This feeling is rarer than hen’s teeth, but we asked the coaches at BikePark Wales to dish out advice on tackling jump lines (though much of this wisdom applies to other sections too) so you can find the flow more often.

BLUE TRAIL SKILLS • Everything you need to know to tackle blue trails with confidence

EASY HACKS TO IMPROVE YOUR RIDING • Passion and drive are important behaviours in sport – they motivate us to give it our all. But this passion and enthusiasm to go fast can sometimes get in the way of proper technique, especially when you’re new to something. At the opposite end of the scale is the fear of a potential crash – and fear is another behaviour that really affects our riding. It doesn’t matter which trail centre we go to, most of the beginner mistakes come from either one or both of these things. Thinking about your technique and riding smart can help you to manage these trails, and...