The Scandinavian flick and ensuing drift is for things that can power through corners. The fastest line on a bike requires minimal sliding.

Most front end washouts while descending is due to overloading the front. Enter the turn balanced on the bike and transition your weight back as you go through it. Do that and the other basics of looking where you want to go and leaning the bike not your body and you'll be able to rail corners surprising fast.

Watch the Barel cornering video on YouTube, he lays it all out.

 

I wont get into initiating the turn with your arms and finishing it with your hips part but here is a helpful tip to start getting there:

When looking into and setting up for a corner, spot a section of trail that you want to execute the turn on...this may be a rut, the sides of a group of rocks or roots, part of a berm...really any high side that you can push the bike into that acts like a berm. In reality, this only needs to be as wide as your tire to fit on and does not need to be the entire turn available to you.

Have you ever seen a video where people look like they slam into a corner, and come out of it at the same speed but in a totally different direction? Well they are finding a section of trail to throw the bike into. Once your vision gets good at spotting these "mini features" you can work on the concept mentioned above of initiating a turn with your arms (i am not saying steering your handle bars) and finishing with your hips.

Not sure if I conveyed this idea properly but I can fine tune if you have questions. Cornering is a very dynamic movement to execute at speed and only starts with proper elbow/hip/bike position.

 

I wont get into initiating the turn with your arms and finishing it with your hips part but here is a helpful tip to start getting there:

When looking into and setting up for a corner, spot a section of trail that you want to execute the turn on...this may be a rut, the sides of a group of rocks or roots, part of a berm...really any high side that you can push the bike into that acts like a berm. In reality, this only needs to be as wide as your tire to fit on and does not need to be the entire turn available to you.

Have you ever seen a video where people look like they slam into a corner, and come out of it at the same speed but in a totally different direction? Well they are finding a section of trail to throw the bike into. Once your vision gets good at spotting these "mini features" you can work on the concept mentioned above of initiating a turn with your arms (i am not saying steering your handle bars) and finishing with your hips.

Not sure if I conveyed this idea properly but I can fine tune if you have questions. Cornering is a very dynamic movement to execute at speed and only starts with proper elbow/hip/bike position.

I really like this idea. Its something that I haven't even thought of.

Feel free to expound on the initiating with your arms and finishing with your hips.

 

Just my $.02 but see if there is a clinic near where you live. I learned so much during a one day clinic I attended, and it's helped me a lot, Having coaches/pros watch you ride, then critique you is a great way to learn. Good luck.

 

If you're afraid of washing out the front I would bet your weight is too far back.

How's your 'attack' position?
It all starts there...

 

If you're afraid of washing out the front I would bet your weight is too far back.

How's your 'attack' position?
It all starts there...

I really make an effort to get my weight over the bars. I think its more mental than anything.

 

Try some full arm and leg coverage. Makes me invincible. Or when not, less beat up from my mistakes.

 

Having nearly all my weight on the outside pedal (which naturally means it will be in the "down"/6 o'clock position), really boosts my confidence in corners. Think snow skiing or rollerblading. It gets your weight low and nearly centered (fore/aft), and lets you move your body and/or bike around much easier. It's a basic dirtbike technique.

Another motorcycle cornering trick is feathering the front brake. It slightly "loads" the front tire which improves traction. It slightly compresses the fork which drops the front end and steepens the rake for quicker steering. And you can get all these benefits while still having your hiney 'way back over the rear tire.
Proper use of a front brake in any two-wheeled sport is a tremendous advantage that few riders take the time to develop.

 

Having nearly all my weight on the outside pedal (which naturally means it will be in the "down"/6 o'clock position), really boosts my confidence in corners. Think snow skiing or rollerblading. It gets your weight low and nearly centered (fore/aft), and lets you move your body and/or bike around much easier.

Depending on bike and trail, you are sometimes better off with pedals near level. Then you need to bend both knees to stay low which also gives both legs a good range of movement for moving around the bike and absorbing bumps.

 

I've been working on cornering for a long time and I know there's always room for improvement. The only thing I'd like to convey is to think of the last time you had a great recovery. I'll bet you felt like you violated some rule of physics. Your bike changed direction so hard and so fast you wondered how you stayed on. That is the potential.

-F

 

Once you get an eye for the edges to ride into, try and be particular about location factoring in the entrance, radius, and exit of the corner...find ones that get you through the entrance and into the exit in one swift movement.

To ride these: get your speed appropriate for the corner, come into it light on your bike like you just pumped a feature or counter steered even. Still light, pull the front of your bike across the edge you have chose to rail, it's kind of swoop across the chest using proper elbow corner position. This is a body-bike separation movement. This gets the front of the bike through the entrance and you can pick your vision up to guide it towards your exit
So the bike is halfway through the corner, start to weight your bike more heavily through your foot and pump the edge you have chosen. You can help this pump by (counter) rotating your inside keg towards the 4-5oclock position. This motion also helps you counter balance to the outside with your hips to keep your weight centered on the bike.
Now the turn is basically finished, Finish the corner by your pushing your arms through in the direction you want to head. From here you are pretty well weighted on your pedals and can choose to pedal, coast, manual, pump into the next feature etc.

 

Weight on the front wheel in the first part of the turn until the front passes the apex, then shift weight to the rear wheel. Simply standing out of the saddle on the pedals, with a light touch on the bars is often enough weight on the front for sweepers, but for a more violent direction change, a bit of upper body and timing with unweighing the rear is needed (ex. those cutties that the ozzies do)

Adjust your vision to look behind or around to the far side of the apex. In general, don't just try to look ahead, look behind things in order to plan lines far in advance. A lot of needless braking happens due to not having a line planned in advance.

Aim to have your front wheel follow a line that passes right behind the apex. Do not hit the apex early and do not hug the outside radius of the turn.

On unbermed corners, ensure your ass is out of the saddle, in order to lean the bike (without leaning yourself), and push your hip to the outside to counter balance the bike lean. Fine tune where the front wheel is pointing at the apex with your inside hand, pushing forward and down harder if you need to corner harder, leaving the outside arm to support in case of deflection from trail bumps. On bermed corners, it's better to lean with the bike.

If your rear hits the apex too soon due to how it follows the front wheel, give it a little gas while throwing your hips back. Your front will likely lift and your bike might stall a little from pushing into the ground, but the gas will push it towards the exit with speed again if you were properly looking behind the apex.

Don't ride tight like the terminator trying to keep control of everything. Loosen up, let the bike do what it wants, and input what you know works to guide the bike. You might notice if you ride loose enough, sometimes the bike falls into the corner and leans itself and all you got to do is apply the weight to balance it, and get it upright again.

Focus on the first 3 underlined bits if you don't already have them mastered.

 

One thing that I think has helped me speed up on corners and had not been mentioned yet is to start the turn by leaning the bike over. I push the handlebars sideways to start the turn, then I turn the wheel. Next I try to hold my arc around, I may need to lean a bit more or turn a bit more but it seems like I can hold a lot more speed than I would have thought. So my two cents is, Lean then Turn.

 

Lean the bike further over than you do your body-float above the bike and fine tune it's lean to correct or adjust your line. This allows quicker recovery from the lean/turn if you need to quickly turn again or put power down, and keeps your body weight centered above the bike pushing straight down through the tire contact patch rather than pushing the patch outward as you do when you are leaned at the same angle as the bike. Also, side knobs. Nothing makes trail riding more fun or a rider more confident than a front tire that you can depend on to hook up and stick in corners.

 

There is some really good advice in this thread. Thanks for those that have contributed and will add comments in the future. I know I will be trying a few of the techniques this evening on my post-work ride.

 

The two things that will help you the most are using you hips, point your belly button into the corner and counter steering. Practice on the street, where there is good traction. You can counter steer quickly back and forth, putting pressure on the inside hand down on the bars. Let the bike pop out of the corner, apply pressure on the other hand and turn the other way. You'll feel how the bike wants to quickly pop out of the corner and transition into the opposite direction. Just remember when you **** it up on the dirt, you're going to go down pretty fast.

 

beyond all the normal stuff mentioned above, I found it helpful to

1) use platform pedals
2) intentionally find the limit of the tire which means washing out.

You wont know how far you can push it until you cross the line. Once you cross the line you will also realize it isnt so bad so some of the fear will go away.

 

...
1) use platform pedals
...

While I do not want to open the age old battle of clipless vs platforms, in this specific instance, I would say clipless might be better.

If the OP is talking about riding, and trying to improve cornering, I would assume they already know how to ride and most likely at an experienced/advanced level, but not expert.

One of the problems in most people with cornering, is not fully committing to the turn. They think they have their line, right before hand, they hit the brakes, "chicken out" per say, and take the turn slow. Very powerful cornering relies on holding your line, committing to the turn, and executing.

Platform pedals allow you to bail mid turn or put your foot down dirtbike style.

To be honest, I think putting on long sleeves/pants, kneepads, and elbow pads (assuming you already wear a helmet) and putting on your clipless and going for it. Might wash out and crash and burn a couple of times, but your form and your overall ability will benefit from it.

Now me personally, I still ride platforms, but that is because I primarily ride a lot of technical single track that doesn't allow me to carry much speed into turns. A lot of climbing, rock gardens, etc. If I ever switched to places that benefit from clipless, I will go that route.

 

Heavy feet, light hands. Weight the outside foot. Eyes where you wanna go (ie: exit of corner)

I find the more I push it (leaning the bike and weighting the edges of the tire) the more similar it is to skiing:

Relaxed, quiet upper body
Bend at the hips
Weight the downhill side and be smooth

 

Drop your seat and stand on your pedals. Put all your weight driving through your bottom bracket (like a mini squat). Wiggle your fingers. Look far ahead through the corner, spotting where you want to be when you exit the corner. Lean your bike in the direction you want to go, outside foot down, and steer with your hips (not your handlebars) pointing your entire core where you want to be. Now do it faster. Repeat.

 

drop your seat and stand on your pedals. Put all your weight driving through your bottom bracket (like a mini squat). Wiggle your fingers. Look far ahead through the corner, spotting where you want to be when you exit the corner. Lean your bike in the direction you want to go, outside foot down, and steer with your hips (not your handlebars) pointing your entire core where you want to be. Now do it faster. Repeat.

sir yes sir!

 

Good thread. This video was helpful for me.

 

Where is the video?

 

many good suggestions here, but I didn't see this one:

go to a local BMX track. practicing cornering on smooth surfaces is way easier than on a MTB trail. (I've heard rumors of groomed flow trails, but none exist in my area. If it's a MTB trail here, there will be some roots, rocks, and ruts.)

I also agree that you should have elbow & knee pads, preferably very light ones that you don't spend any time thinking about.

 

many good suggestions here, but I didn't see this one:

... practicing cornering on smooth surfaces is way easier than on a MTB trail. ....

Go to a baseball diamond. Ride the bases. The dirt is perfect. You can push it and push it until you just start breaking loose. You can really feel the tires gripping because there is nothing else to worry about. You can really focus, play with weight distribution, and turn from wide sweepers all the way into sharp digs. And if you fall down, you're SAFE!

-F

 

Do any of these strategies change for loose conditions like sand?

 

Sand you just hold on lightly and ride it out. You can't steer, brake or pedal!
I'm surprised no one has mentioned getting a foot off. I cannot remember who told me, but a good drill for getting your body in the right position is to take off your inside foot, and place it level with your front axle. It really gets you forward, you can dab if you need to. And with practice you won't need to move it from the pedal anymore.

 

You shouldn't be "staying off the front brake". You should use it in conjunction with the rear brake and use trail braking techniques. Don't be afraid to have the front tire slide a little but embrace it and control it. Tricky to do it well but worth the effort (and bumps and bruises)

 

Over the weeekend, I used some of the suggestions mentioned and had good results, but have a couple of things to add. These may be obvious or debatable, but here goes.

I thought that lower handlebars were better, provided you're comfortable and capable on downhill riding. However, this is not the case when it comes to better turns. I found that my arms were nearly locked on turns with the stem all the way down, despite being comfortable. This kept me from really driving my hands into the turn. Lesson learned, make sure your arms are bent when judging your handlebar height and stem length. I'm sure handlebar width comes into play here as well. Otherwise, you may not be able to lean your hands and bike into the turn while keeping your weight centered.

Secondly, after reading some articles on how your bike should fit, I found that I was unbalanced on my seat when leaning forward. In other words, I had too much weight on my hands. My solution was debatable, but it worked for me. I purchased an offset seatpost to move my seat back relative to my BB which balanced my body better. This isn't for everyone. I have a long torsou, which makes sense why this helped me.

Both of these strategies helped me balance my weight on both the rear and front tires and lean my hands into turns while keeping my weighted centered - improving my turns through sandy sections. The resulsts - my rear tire would wash out before my front, which encouraged me to take my turns faster with lest risk of losing front wheel traction.

 

OP, bike set up? Size wheels, tires, pressure and your weight? I find riders often have too much air in the tires? Riding tubeless?

 

leeboh: full suspension 29er with 20 psi front and 24 psi rear tubeless. I'm about 185 geared up.

 

This is how you should look when you corner.