# better at sharp turns?



## aLLboutLx (Aug 11, 2007)

What techniques are there to turn better. I hit a few sharp turn on the trail today and went off trail because the turns were too sharp. Any tips? Another question is why are my gears changing by themselves?


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## KevinB (Oct 5, 2004)

aLLboutLx said:


> Another question is why are my gears changing by themselves?


There are several possible causes.

Your derailleur may simply need adjustment. If the bike is new or if you've recently had new housing and cable installed, it's probable that the cable needs to be tightened slightly. (Some people say that the cable stretches. This may be true to some small degree, but it's more likely that the housing and the ferrules or end caps on the housing are actually settling in. Thus the total length of housing is actually becoming slightly shorter which has the same appearance to the deraiileur as a stretched cable.) You'll find an adjustment knob at either the shifter, the derailleur, or both. Turning it CCW (lefty-loosy) will actually cause the cable to tighten. You might try tightening it the cable by a quarter turn at a time to see if that helps.

If you have a full suspension bike, it's possible that the cable is routed in such a way to cause the bike to shift momentarily when you hit a bump. The reason that this (might) happen is that the action of the suspension can cause the frame to pull the housing slightly out of the stops. To the derailleur, this tightening of the cable looks like a shift. You may be able to reroute the cable housing to avoid this problem, or you may need a slightly longer piece of cable housing in the appropriate location.

Your derailleur hanger might be slightly bent. If you've fallen so that the drive side of the bike ends up on the ground, the derailleur hanger may be bent inward. There is a tool for checking whether it's bent. The same tool may also be used to straighten bent hangers. This tool is expensive, so it's probably best to let your LBS perform this adjustment for you.

If you've had the bike for a while, it's possible that the cable housing is gummed up on the inside and that the inner wire no longer slides through it smoothly. I've never found a way to rehabilitate gummed up cable housing. Housing is inexpensive though, so it's no problem to replace it. If you find that certain sections of your housing get gummed up rapidly, you might consider replacing two or more sections with continuous housing.

Frayed cables can also cause shifting problems.


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## laurenlex (Sep 13, 2006)

Turning technique is difficult to explain, even more so on the internet.

Rule 1: Look where you want to go, not where you don't. Your brain will go toward the bushes if you look there.

Rule 2: Look down the trail, not in front of your wheel. Many beginners are worried about little stuff right in front of the wheel. It is too late to deal with that. Look further down the trail. It will take some reminding yourself to break this habit.

Rule 3: Brake before the corner, not in the corner. This goes for Nascar, motorcycles, even the family car. Slow down to the speed you need in the corner, then coast or accelerate through. Braking in a sharp turn upsets the bike, and you end up in the sagebrush.

Rule 4: Weight distribution. I can't explain this very well. But when making a tight left hand turn, I shift my left knee to the outside, lower my right pedal, and lean. There are many variables here: speed, traction, sharpness of corner. Practice, practice, practice.

Ghost shifting is a cable tension issue, 90% of the time. Read this: http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=64


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## Sullycanpara (Jul 4, 2007)

Cornering is something that comes with practice, so just do it. Two tips that I can give to help are:

1. lower the outside pedal for the corner you are going around. That means left turn put right pedal down, right turn put left pedal down. Theory is that this helps get your weight lower, thereby weighting the wheels more, more traction, etc. Don't know if this is FACT, but it sure sounds good...also more appropriate for higher speed cornering.

2. To disagree with a poster above, in a tight corner (switchback etc) I find using a BIT of rear brake helps to get the bike around the corner. It slows/stops the rear wheel, so you turn a tighter radius corner that way.

Try practicing at home/in a field close to where you are. Put down two pylons, t-shirts, whatever you have to mark two points, and put them about fifteen or twenty feet apart, then practice turning around them. Do it in an O shape, and also a figure eight. Slowly move them together as you get better at your bike handling, and that skill will transfer to the trail.

I also agree, as posted above, look where you WANT to go, not where you DON'T want to go. For some reason your body will steer you where you are looking, so ignore the side of the trail, the huge rock/root, or the small woodland creatures, and you'll be suprised at how much more often you miss them.

Good luck!

Tim


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## aLLboutLx (Aug 11, 2007)

Thanks I will try it out. I've just been taking it really slow. NOw that I have pads, I might take the turns faster.


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## jcaino (May 26, 2007)

Sullycanpara said:


> Cornering is something that comes with practice, so just do it. Two tips that I can give to help are:
> 
> 1. lower the outside pedal for the corner you are going around. That means left turn put right pedal down, right turn put left pedal down. Theory is that this helps get your weight lower, thereby weighting the wheels more, more traction, etc. Don't know if this is FACT, but it sure sounds good...also more appropriate for higher speed cornering.


This also helps to avoid a pedal strike, which may send you flying.



> 2. To disagree with a poster above, in a tight corner (switchback etc) I find using a BIT of rear brake helps to get the bike around the corner. It slows/stops the rear wheel, so you turn a tighter radius corner that way.


Your mileage may vary with this one. Its a personal preference, but in general is frowned upon because if you're heavy on the brake (skidding, sliding) then you are going to tear up the trail. You might even be beaten with a wet noodle.



> I also agree, as posted above, look where you WANT to go, not where you DON'T want to go. For some reason your body will steer you where you are looking, so ignore the side of the trail, the huge rock/root, or the small woodland creatures, and you'll be suprised at how much more often you miss them.


No doubt. Look where you want to go. Especially if your tires leave the ground whilst riding.

And I'll add this: Don't be afraid to lean. Be carefull on the loose stuff...but getting your lean on will help you turn. Just you and the bike lean into the turn.


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## Zero Signal (Aug 17, 2007)

The following are MY newbie methods. So far they seem to work but I have a long way to go.

This is in addition to what has already been posted.

1. Gage the terrain first, you will start to learn where you can and can't get traction. You aren't going to hit a trail unseen with guns blazin anyway (at least I don't) so if you don't know what's ahead, go conservative.

2. I keep my weight as low as I can for sharp turns, I tend to squat my head down and forward to keep a low center of gravity which helps with quick transitions. This is the biggest thing that helps me since it also gives more confidence in leaning more. When I get down low, it feels more like the bike is moving around me than I'm moving around the bike. 

3. I keep my inside elbow low which helps with preventing the wheel from washing out in soft stuff. You have more leverage over that side of the bar in case the bars try to crank out of your grip which has happened to me with straight arms. It's a safer position for me but you need to try to push down on the front some to keep some grip. DH racers really push on that side.

4. The hardest part is knowing where to put your weight. I haven't mastered that yet but I have found that if you're "pushing" (i.e. going off the trail), you need to try and push more on the bars to get the front to turn OR brake slide which I don't like to do since it scrubs lots of speed when you have lots of rear traction.

5. Your tires play a huge part in this. If you're like me and turn smoothly rather than kicking the bike around, you want tires with the right transition knobs. A lot of square profile tires have a center and a side knob with nothing in between. They really don't work for me since I spend a lot of time at that angle where there's no knob.

6. Ride the banks. If a turn doesn't have a good bank to use, it's a slow turn for everyone. If it was a fast turn, there WOULD be a bank there!

7. Don't get frustrated with not being able to whip around turns with soft-on-hardpack and sand. That stuff is a death trap no matter what you do.

8. Listen to the tires. Depending on the tire you use, and the terrain, you can really here them working if you get it right!


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## Timeless (Mar 23, 2007)

For me I am still learning how to do the turns at speed. Hardest thing I am still struggling getting over is trusting my tires. It hard because I keep fearing I do not have the traction for the turn and will slide out. 
Something I am getting better on is when I do slide out is being able to handle the drifting and also getting down the ablilty to cause my bike wheel to kick out a bit. Normally having the rear swing a little will save me from going down because the front is sliding to much. 
Also like others have said advoid the using the brakes in general in the turns because you only have so much traction and you want it for turning not for braking.


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## jcbikeski (Nov 26, 2005)

1) definitely slow before the turn. For now over do this to help guarantee success then you can learn to ease up on the braking

2) Adding to the look forward suggestion, let your eyes travel the how corner and follow through before you turn.

3) for real tight turns, learn to track stand (standing still on your bike much like roadies do at traffic lights). Ideally you keep some speed as you come out of the turn, but being able to track stand lets you do little moves to avoid that stray branch or rock beside you.

4) What really helped me on tight switchbacks was advice I heard to lean your body into the turn, but NOT your bike. So you shift your whole body to the inside of the turn pushing the bike away (to left or right). This advice helped me with a common problem.... I could make left turns pretty good, but not right turns.


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## 317000 (Mar 2, 2007)

Sullycanpara said:


> 1. lower the outside pedal for the corner you are going around. That means left turn put right pedal down, right turn put left pedal down. Theory is that this helps get your weight lower, thereby weighting the wheels more, more traction, etc. Don't know if this is FACT, but it sure sounds good...also more appropriate for higher speed cornering.


It's fact. Watch a WC downhill and you'll see


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## aLLboutLx (Aug 11, 2007)

thanks for the great advice guys. yeah I do find myself gonig off the trail at times. I will try the method of slowing down before the turn and also pushing down on the handles.


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## aLLboutLx (Aug 11, 2007)

I have one more question, what happends when you go into a downhill turn and braking doesn't work as well because of high speeds?


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## Timeless (Mar 23, 2007)

aLLboutLx said:


> I have one more question, what happends when you go into a downhill turn and braking doesn't work as well because of high speeds?


On the few times that has happen to me I bleed off as much speed as I can with my brakes then I just bail and then go pick up my bike where ever it landed. But I try to avoid having to do that.
Going down hill I will drag my brakes to keep my speed in check and I will error on the side of cation and will go slower than I need to so I those unexpected surprises do not screw me over and force me to bail.


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## jcarney (Jan 1, 2005)

aLLboutLx said:


> I have one more question, what happends when you go into a downhill turn and braking doesn't work as well because of high speeds?


after picking yourself up after eating it, remember how fast you were going and go slower next you go down that particular bit of trail. Really. You were going faster than your skills allow. Everyone makes these kinds of mistake every now and then. Just got to keep riding and learn from your mistakes. In time, you'll be riding faster and what was once a scary rocky descent with sharp turns will eventually become just another trail that gets you to another trail.


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## aLLboutLx (Aug 11, 2007)

Yeah rocky descents scare the crap out of me now. I see other people roll right through them while I ride on the brakes keeping it under 8mph, haha


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