3 Common Mistakes Mountain Bikers Make | MTB Skills
Having helped hundreds of riders improve their technique so they can ride better, ride safer and ride faster — I’ve noticed three common mistakes many riders are making. By learning from these three common mistakes, there’s potentially three easy wins you can make to your riding.
1. Failing to prioritize technique
First on the list is what I call the “Just Send It” mentality. Translated literally it might imply when you see a new obstacle you just hit it and hope for the best. In reality, you should only “just send it” once you’ve assessed things and have calculated what technique is required, the approach speed, line choice and more. You should never just ‘send’ something with blind faith, hoping for the best. The right approach is to put technique first. Applying the right technique, correctly, should be the basis or foundation of everything you do on the trail.
2. Never using flat pedals
Number two is thinking flat pedals are slower, for kids and so not for you. Well that’s just plain wrong! The truth is, for any rider, of any skill level, riding any kind of bike, flat pedals force you to weight the bike correctly on the trails and that corrected technique translates across when you are riding clips again. Flat pedals are also a safer way to work on things like increasing speed through turns, jumping, wheelies, manuals and more. The bottom line is switching between clips and flat pedals a few times per year is going to make you a better rider.
3. Seeking immediate perfection
Finally, the third most common mistake when learning new skills is seeking immediate perfection. Learning anything new can be frustrating. A healthy approach and something I repeat often when coaching is to “seek constant progress, not immediate perfection”. The best way to cope with that frustration is to adopt a mindset of learning. Try to be open to learn new things and understand that once a new technique is understood, it takes time to reinforce it and even more time to perfect it. //
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