SETTING UP A MOUNTAIN BIKE

The rider should always feel natural when riding their mountain bike. The whole body and trunk must be relaxed and the bike needs to provide room for the rider to move around freely in any terrain. It needs to be able to ride smoothly over stones, gravel, roots, or roads.

The rider’s position should reflect the character of the terrain. The steeper the hill you want to climb, the more forward you should shift your centre of gravity. When riding in the saddle, the body stays still, but when we ride out of the saddle, we should engage the whole body and synchronize the work done by our arms and legs.

THE MOST COMMON PROBLEM? OVERINFLATED TIRES

Hard tires do not provide good surface adhesion. On the other hand, if the tires are underinflated, the bike becomes hard to control and a puncture is more likely. The optimal off-road tire pressure is 1.5 to 2.2 bars, while for on-road riding you can inflate your tires up to 3 bars. However, the crucial factor for MTB tire pressure is the rider’s weight.

PEDALLING AND SHIFTING

The pedalling technique is basically a continuous set of round movements with your legs. While one leg is going up, the rider should engage their calf and hamstrings and continue the fluent round motion. The trunk stays still and all the work through the pedal should only be done by the leg. When riding on flat ground, the optimal cadence is from 90 to 120 rpm. When climbing, you should go for a lower gear and keep the cadence between 60 and 80 rpm.

GEAR-SHIFTING TECHNIQUE

Shifting gears should be done fluently and slightly before you need them. This means you should watch the trail ahead and be ready to react, especially when a steep climb comes up. You should never change gears at full gas. It is also very important the keep the optimal chain line. When the chain lies crossways across the gears, component wear is significantly increased, as is the risk of the chain coming off.

Pedalling with a higher cadence using the right gears puts less strain on our muscles and enables us to ride faster and longer.