it depends. Mountain biking is dynamic and there is no one sizes fits all answer. On off camber, excessively loose conditions and/or corners that have no support, many times outside foot down is the answer. However, outside foot down too early in the cornering process will stand the bike up.

Really, the advantage you get from outside foot down is that it makes it more intuitive to rotate your hips/upper body to point to the inside of the corner. You want as much weight as possible to be in your feet, so whatever helps you achieve that is the mechanic you should use.

Outside foot down 100% of the time is really a relic of early mountain biking techniques and early mtb geometry. Now that bikes are longer, with better f/r weight distribution, the prevailing thought/teaching is to keep your feet level(ish) and weight the pedals purposefully at the right time. If you are just outside foot down immediately, you are not timing your weighting of the pedals and you are fighting the bike standing itself up on corner entry. IE, keeping your feet level is a more generally applicable cornering technique to teach.

 

I rail corners with level feet because my coach taught me that way. I don't drop my foot much (if at all). He may have told me why. But it was years ago.

However, I noticed when my feet are level, I can put more pressure on both pedals to keep my weight down so I can turn my hip and shift my weight.

 

Just do what works for you, experiment, and don't listen to those who talk in absolutes or envision only scenarios that support their theory.

The internet has told me that various aspects of my techique are old school, wrong etc... by people who have no idea of my terrain/skill level/speed.

 

this again huh...

🍿🍿🍿

 

Fluidride has done good vids on this topic on YT - and how hip placement/body positioning play in to snapping corners as well

Pretty sure Ben Cathro’s How to Bike series on YT also has one episode that deep dives into this

Both of those guys have professionally raced and break down how/why/when dropping your outside foot is beneficial vs when to stay level

 

I don't usually drop a foot whilst cornering.
Although I occasionally do when I don't trust the tires-terrain interface, and I feel like I'm gonna wash out and interface my face with the ground.
Safety 3rd!

 

Fluidride is good: I took a half day class with Simon a few years ago. I'm convinced that one should partially drop the outside foot like he suggests. I think the fully dropped outside foot is a leftover from road bike racing, and fully extends/locks the knee too much.

 

He’s a great coach and the classes are fantastic. I’ve taken quite a few - but even after riding for many years, taking his basics/essentials…which is mostly on cornering and foot placement in berms was a huge unlock.

For anyone in the greater Seattle area - he does the courses at Duthie. There is a lot of repetition done on Bootcamp - flowy berms - and I’ll share that (for me) consistently pressuring with the outside foot enabled me to go faster and carry speed on that trail at a higher rate than I thought possible. Heading into the class, I was a mostly level pedals in the corners rider.

 

Depends on the corner - smooth, flat corners, drop the outside. Obstacles - keep them level. I also tend to keep mine level through berms - there's no need to drop for those, lean the bike and push in with equal weighting.

 

This is the way.

 

horizontal cranks (what most think of when you say level pedals) is what we teach beginners and even intermediates because they need to keep track of their pedal placement more. they often have issues with pedal strikes and timing and balance and on and on. "level pedals" is a sound base from which to build many skills upon.

if you look at the image above, you see a few things. firstly, the depth of that lean tells me this rider is fairly advanced. second, the rider's pedals are still level with the ground. the beginner's "level pedals" is taught with the bike upright. with a slight lean, it still works fine. but get into a really deep, aggressive lean, and you need to make some adjustments for clearance, pressure control, and so on.

 

I drop outside foot more to create ground clearance for the inner pedal. Doesn't need to be all the way at 6 o'clock. I feel more comfy with inside foot forward, as my inner knee naturally bends and creates a cubbie/space for the saddle to sort of lean into.

I don't really think too much about cornering technique. I just sort of push the wheel forward in the direction I want it to go in, and sort of try to get my midsection low and behind the front wheel. This means getting my butt/hip swung out to the outside. I also kinda keep my shoulders connected with the lean/angle/twist of the handlebar, to keep things simple and for that playful feel that mimics banking an airplane.

I don't know how to explain it to a 6th grader, nor believe the "Street Fighter" technique steps would work in transferring my default style to others. It's probably not optimal, but it works for me in fair conditions. I keep other techniques ready, in my "bag of tricks" to pull out for when special situations call for a different technique. I'll try, I guess:

Stand up.
Raise both arms up and hold a make-believe handlebar.
Crouch a little lower in a comfy enough level to still walk forward.
Now, initiate a left turn by jutting your butt to the right and leaning the left shoulder to the left (this shoulder drop should fall-into and intensify the butt jut-out)
Lower the left hand and kinda have the right arm punch out in a right hook.
- Note: left elbow should be close to being braced against left hip/leg for this, but doesn't happen on the bike, unless you downsized frame size too much
Now make a WW2 air plane engine sound as you complete the turn.
Keep this visualization in mind when you try it on a bike, and add in the "footwork". (replace air plane sound with tire "braap" sound)
--Inside foot forward, saddle falling into the cubbie behind inside knee with it bent forward in crouch.
Try to maintain balance with feet (perpendicular to the pull of gravity, and/or to the feeling of centrifugal/centripetal force, whichever's stronger)

The important parts are the crouch (get weight low), the butt-jut (get core of body to follow behind front wheel, and be optimally aligned for upcoming section), the forward extension of arms (literally pushing/rolling front wheel forward, in intended line/direction), and balancing on feet. The lean just sort of happens if you give it space to happen (usually countered by saddle hitting something and outboard foot pressure). If you are high-posting, swap the crouch for a hip hinge, or get a dropper with max seat slammage ability and use it.

Again, I just use this for fairweather carving. I tend to rely on "cuttie" style turning, where I need a "twitch-gaming" sense with timing, finding lateral support wherever possible, rapidly compacting my technique to be done near-instantly combined with some well-timed pumping, and returning to straight lining over lower traction spots, for lines I'm not familiar with (more braking involved, and the highly probably need to recover from braking too late). Neither are really good for racing--you generally have to learn tracks and customize techniques for racing. Shouldn't be hard to imagine what happens if you do a sharp striking butt-jut move while holding onto rear brake, finding something on the trail to "catch" the inevitable slide.

Final thing to add: I notice that I like to have my body more on the inside of the turn, when I'm going faster, disconnecting myself from the bike and swinging it wide around the turn (counter-steer motion included at beginning of swing motion), but that's a more advanced style thing to corner faster.

Disclaimer: I'm a shorty and my bikes tend to have a lot of forward weight bias, due to the shorter front-center. This technique likely doesn't work for someone tall on a slacked out enduro bike, since they are more sensitive to a lack of weight the front (unless they got super long chainstays).

 

After more than 3 decades of motocross, I’m always weighting the outside peg so I ride that same technique on the MTB bike. Right or wrong that’s how I ride.

 

I keep pedaling through the corner, come what may. 😵

 

this man knows how to go fast!

 

don't get me wrong... I think it's pretty rad that we have coaches, clinics, endless "how to" videos, etc. Those things didn't exist when I was learning how to ride.

but I also think that some forget the value of just getting out there and doing it and trying stuff. I'm guilty of it too sometimes. Push yourself, chase the fast guys, put in the time. No amount of youtube or even coaching will actually make you a better rider without practice. </rant>

my 0.02, I think "feet level" gets perpetuated because as other have pointed out 1) it's easy to teach and 2) more corners have berms now than back in the "early days"

 

In the 80s racing MX as a kid and just getting into mountain bikes, I weighted the outside pedal and stuck out my inside leg, Jeff Ward style. Then I just started airing our turns.

 

I'm and outside foot dropper if the Conditions allow.

 

I was a roadie same time as I took up mt biking, we learned to put outside foot down and shift weight to that foot when cornering. Was supposed to help keep that slick tire planted on the asphalt. I do that naturally when cornering on a mt bike. No idea if it helps.

 

Also a roadie racer here. There's a photo of Davis Phinney

It is not MotoGP where the heavy bike squishes tires to ground, it is doing all we can to keep the skinny light bike pushing down. Road or MTB.

A recent Mountain Bike Academy YT bugged me with insisting pedals level because of knee lockout with foot down. For someone with legs and a dropper, getting low keeps the knee flexed, the tires weighted, and the inside pedal up and out of the way. I will also weight the outside handlebar to stay atop the bike. Level is for banked corners.

The pedals level only crowd need to suit up and try it over off camber marbles!

 

but I also think that some forget the value of just getting out there and doing it and trying stuff. I'm guilty of it too sometimes. Push yourself, chase the fast guys, put in the time. No amount of youtube or even coaching will actually make you a better rider without practice. </rant>

I'm not aware of anyone who says that instruction absent practice will help that much. I'm an actual coach (I teach VERY beginner riders 99% of the time), and I tell anyone I'm working with that I'm giving them tools to help them practice at home.

my 0.02, I think "feet level" gets perpetuated because as other have pointed out 1) it's easy to teach and 2) more corners have berms now than back in the "early days"

it's not because "it's easy to teach" and it's got nothing to do with berms. it's because of a concept called "scaffolding" or "progression" or however you want to call it. you start with small pieces before you move on and build on those pieces. "level pedals" is important for a great deal more than just cornering, so it's something that riders often need emphasized. when a rider is BRAND NEW, they can only absorb so much. everybody's a little different, but everyone reaches a wall where throwing more at them gets them no farther. trust me, it takes a lot of reminding to keep beginners thinking about it.

as I've been instructed (a combo of clinics I've taken myself as well as coaching training), talking about dropping a pedal is a component of pressure control, which is a subject that is more of an upper-intermediate to advanced topic.

 

I'm not aware of anyone who says that instruction absent practice will help that much. I'm an actual coach (I teach VERY beginner riders 99% of the time), and I tell anyone I'm working with that I'm giving them tools to help them practice at home.



it's not because "it's easy to teach" and it's got nothing to do with berms. it's because of a concept called "scaffolding" or "progression" or however you want to call it. you start with small pieces before you move on and build on those pieces. "level pedals" is important for a great deal more than just cornering, so it's something that riders often need emphasized. when a rider is BRAND NEW, they can only absorb so much. everybody's a little different, but everyone reaches a wall where throwing more at them gets them no farther. trust me, it takes a lot of reminding to keep beginners thinking about it.

as I've been instructed (a combo of clinics I've taken myself as well as coaching training), talking about dropping a pedal is a component of pressure control, which is a subject that is more of an upper-intermediate to advanced topic.

Makes sense.

I'm not trying to attack coaches or coaching. Every video I've seen and I assume any coach worth hiring basically starts and ends with "it takes practice". In the process of practicing you discover things beyond the basic skill, and that's my point. This type of discussion seems to roll around every few months when someone discovers that maybe the rule they were taught isn't the end of the story.

That said, I do think that "level feet" is more beneficial on bermed turns, and I doubt it's coincidence that it's a commonly taught core skill when a lot of beginning riders are hitting pump tracks, flow trails, and bike parks. But maybe cornering fast on flat turns is an advanced skill now?

 

I can't pump the corner with my outside foot dropped so I only do that on low traction corners where I might want to dab.

 

The pictures don't show their riders' speed, to get an idea of the lateral forces. With more lateral forces, from carrying more speed, I would adjust quite a few parts of my technique. One thing that remains constant is that getting weight lower simply makes cornering easier. Can't think of any case where that is not true.

You get severely limited options to manipulate weight and positioning when high-posting (not dropping saddle)...

 

It depends is the best answer. In some cases, you can keep em relatively level. Even then, they usually aren't level relative to the slope IME and you usually have one foot that you favor forward, which makes it somewhat asymmetrical turning L and R compared to a foot down. Then, with the foot down, you get more edging capability, so if you have the traction, this can still work better, but not all of the time, really depends on the turn. Last night, in the snow race, I got third overall. There were a few turns where I unclipped the inside and lowered/drug that foot on the inside, whilst the outside was the only place possible with one foot on the pedal, down.

And then there's pedaling while you are turning.

 

And then there's pedaling while you are turning.

Yep. The track car driver in me wants to start pedaling pretty much at apex, or as soon as I feel the bike take a "set" into the corner. Obviously that can't be done if the turn is flat and the bike is laid over, but if there's a berm, I try to start high, drift down towards the middle, start pedaling, and drift back out again. When I do that, i'm usually pedals level. Body position between the bermed and flat corners is also totally different.

FWIW, NICA is pretty adamant than its coaches teach pedals level.

 

There is plenty to learn about cornering techniques and the coaches that do it should be applauded. With that being said, no two corners are the same especially in the hard packed desert where many corners are like riding over marbles. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s a buzz kill because you have no choice but to tippy toe through the turn. I always see the giant slide marks that end at the jumping cactus in mid turn and say to myself…I wonder what happened to that guy?

 

There's no hard fast rule.

You move your feet and cranks in combination with weight shift via hips and chest placement, to either keep the bike balanced for max grip, or to intentionally load one wheel more than the other such as to drift or schralp.

When you ride clipless versus flat pedals there is further consideration of keeping enough pressure on each pedal (and within each section of each pedal such as by tilting the foot). This needs to be done to control the bike and in the case of flats, to maintain grip on the pedal. This is why being able to ride flats (or better, to ride them interchangeably with clipless pedals) since you learn the best of both worlds.

Sometimes it's good just to get a couching session or two so they can observe what you're doing.

 

Straight line everything. Problem solved.

 

Maybe it’s off topic, but I feel it’s a pedal-drop adjacent question: do you only lean the bike or do you lean with the bike?

Many of the tutorials out there state how you must only lean the bike and you have to be in a vetical position to transfer weigth down to the tires, rotating only the hips towards the corner. But if you look at most pros they actually lean with the bike. There’s a decent comparison in this video:

 

Maybe it’s off topic, but I feel it’s a pedal-drop adjacent question: do you only lean the bike or do you lean with the bike?

Many of the tutorials out there state how you must only lean the bike and you have to be in a vetical position to transfer weigth down to the tires, rotating only the hips towards the corner. But if you look at most pros they actually lean with the bike. There’s a decent comparison in this video:

I was going to mention this earlier, but yeah, it comes down to bike/body separation. You want more of that for flat corners and that's typically when dropping an outside pedal will help. Even when you do separation, you still lean a little bit. You become susceptible to high siding if you remain completely vertical and just lean the bike.

If you watch UCI races at a place like Les Gets you'll see a lot of dropped outside feet and bike/body separation on the fast, flat corners on the smooth, grassy slopes. OTOH, most other courses, I tend to notice most DHers keep their pedals level, most likely to avoid pedal strikes.

 

Another vote for "it depends".