Easy Skills To Get You Used To Your Mountain BIke

Riding a mountain bike is slightlly different than you would go about riding a bike. For this there are many different skills that it might be worth practising before you go on your first trial. These basic skills should be easy to master but will be highly essential when it comes down to mountain biking.

You can do this anywhere you can get space with a bike but you may want to try implementing the skills at places such as downhill when you are more ready.

Get a feel for your pedals
Practice moving your foot away from the pedal, first while sitting on your bike with one foot on
the ground.  Next, move on to releasing and replacing your foot while pedaling around for a
bit.  Those with toe clip and clip-less type footpedals will want to spend a bit more time
practicing.

Sit and spin for position
Simply sit on your bike and pedal around.  You should keep your arms slightly bent.  You should
also adjust your seat height so your leg is 70 to 90 percent extended at the bottom of every stroke
on the pedal.  Keep your body relaxed, as there will never be a position where you should have
either your knees or your elbows locked.

Shifting gears
Get a feel for shifting gears with your bike.  The higher gears are harder to pedal and will go
faster while the lower gears are easier to pedal and will help you ascend hills.  As you get to
steeper hills, its best to shift before you get to the hill rather than while your on it.

Coasting
You should spend a bit of time coasting while standing on your pedals, without actually sitting
on the seat.  Keep your arms bent but don't lock your knees.  Now, try experimenting with shifting
your body towards the rear end of the bike.

Pedal while standing
You should get as comfortable as you can with pedaling while standing on your bike.  Try lifting
yourself off the seat while standing on the pedals, then crank them around.  You should try this in
higher gears on flat ground then again in lower gears while on a hill.

Dropping down a curb
Try finding a curb where you can easily get to the upper portion of it.  Practice at a moderate speed,
standing and coasting right off the curb from the upper level to the lower level.  Try this at
different speeds until it becomes second nature.

When you've mastered these skills you will find that going on trails and different courses will in fact be easier for you so make sure that you do.