# What the heck is "unweighting" the bike???



## SWriverstone (Sep 3, 2009)

*[NOTE: the following question is NOT asked in the context of jumping or hopping...but refers to riding through rock gardens.]*

I'd love some clarification on the terms (used interchangeably) "*unweighting*" the bike or "*getting light*" on the bike.

I'm asking because MTBers routinely say things like *"I get light when going through rock gardens." 
*
Does this mean *shifting/springing your body upward* to _*momentarily *_reduce weight on the bike? If so, then this makes sense...except you won't _momentarily _reduce weight on the bike without an _*equal and opposite re-weighting of the bike*_ when you come back down. (Unless you're filled with helium.)

Or does "getting light" simply mean *getting out of the saddle and using your "natural shock absorbers" more (arms and legs)?* If so, then "getting light" should be changed to "soak up the impacts more."

And finally, if "getting light" or "unweighting" the bike is a *temporary technique* used in rough stuff...then what is the opposite of this? Keeping your butt solidly on the saddle and not trying to absorb any shocks at all?

Scott


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## JayDial (Jul 8, 2008)

I dont have any experience to answer this question, but i found the explanation on this site very helpful.

http://www.mtbtechniques.co.uk/FundamentalsUnweighting.html

J


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## Uncle Six Pack (Aug 29, 2004)

SWriverstone said:


> *[NOTE: the following question is NOT asked in the context of jumping or hopping...but refers to riding through rock gardens.]*
> 
> I'd love some clarification on the terms (used interchangeably) "*unweighting*" the bike or "*getting light*" on the bike.
> 
> ...


Yes to all of the above... what goes up must come back down... so you want to control the weighting/unweighting so you are "light" at strategic moments and heavy when there is nice stuff under your tires. When you get the body language and timing down, you can actually gain speed through the rough rather than losing momentum. Watch a DHer in a rock garden-gap over the nasty spot, set the bike back down in a good place to turn a little or whatever and then immediately sail over the next rough spot. The opposite of being light is "forcing the bike back down", preferably on the backside of a bump to pump for speed.

It is hard to explain, but when you feel it happening it will suddenly all make sense.


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## Calusari (Feb 3, 2006)

Weighting and Unweighting is all part of pressure control. They are used in many advanced techniques. Learning to use vertical body movement and viewing the trail in 3d is one of the major learning stages of riding..

Pressure Control

Weight up for extra braking or corner traction.


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## SWriverstone (Sep 3, 2009)

Thanks for the link---good site! One of the better sources for technique info on the web---at least of those I've found so far.

Scott


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## Fix the Spade (Aug 4, 2008)

SWriverstone said:


> *
> 
> And finally, if "getting light" or "unweighting" the bike is a temporary technique used in rough stuff...then what is the opposite of this? Keeping your butt solidly on the saddle and not trying to absorb any shocks at all?
> 
> Scott*


*
I would say the opposite is 'pumping', which involves pushing the bike down away from you on the down slope of a hump or even rocks and roots. Used in combination with unweighting on the up part and you generate speed with half the effort of pedalling.*


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## GEARHEAD_ENG (Jul 22, 2009)

Sometimes you will also hear the term "unweighting the front end" where a rider will simply lean towards the rear of the bike to let the front clear an obstacle such as a small log or rock structure. If the rider was to keep weight on the front end he/she would likely perform an "OTB" maneuver or "Endo".


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## Brodino (Sep 15, 2008)

I cannot seem to get this technique right. I try and "unweight" but find that for the momentum coming down just slows me down. I guess more practice is needed...


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## Surestick Malone (Jan 24, 2004)

Calusari said:


> Weighting and Unweighting is all part of pressure control. They are used in many advanced techniques. Learning to use vertical body movement and viewing the trail in 3d is one of the major learning stages of riding..
> 
> Pressure Control
> 
> Weight up for extra braking or corner traction.


Not really an answer to the initial question, more of a link to help illustrate what Calusari is talking about - Watch a pro downhiller and you can actually see how light they look on the bike. It's like they are floating over the bike and it's hanging from them just riding over the trail with minimal pressure until they hit a corner or something where they need weight on the tires for traction and then the bike just _digs_ in. 
Check out this vid of Cedric Gracia from NWD 8 



 to get an idea.


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## thaphillips (Sep 1, 2007)

SWriverstone said:


> *[NOTE: the following question is NOT asked in the context of jumping or hopping...but refers to riding through rock gardens.]*
> 
> I'd love some clarification on the terms (used interchangeably) "*unweighting*" the bike or "*getting light*" on the bike.
> 
> ...


In the context of riding through rock gardens I would say it means getting you butt off the saddle and using you arms and legs as shock absorbers to let your bike travel up and down very easily thus in turn allowing the bike to roll over the rocks easier and loose less momentum.

There are many diffrent way to weight and unweight a bike, but I answered your question in the context u\you asked it in.


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## Calusari (Feb 3, 2006)

I always like watching CG ride. It just looks so effortless. His NWD 5 segment shows near perfect weighting/unweighting and pumping.


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## Walt Dizzy (Aug 18, 2003)

SWriverstone said:


> *[NOTE: the following question is NOT asked in the context of jumping or hopping...but refers to riding through rock gardens.]*
> 
> I'd love some clarification on the terms (used interchangeably) "*unweighting*" the bike or "*getting light*" on the bike.
> 
> ...


A simpler example: crossing a log, you might be content to merely lift your front wheel over the log and allow your rear wheel to slam into the log. As you become more proficient, leaning your body forward onto the bars as the front wheel clears unweights the rear, allowing a smoother, faster roll.

Walt


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## SWriverstone (Sep 3, 2009)

Thanks for the replies all.

I can see this is a big deal in mountain biking...a more important skill than learning to jump/hop obstacles.

Good stuff to work on!
Scott


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## traffic002 (Dec 16, 2008)

thaphillips said:


> In the context of riding through rock gardens I would say it means getting you butt off the saddle and using you arms and legs as shock absorbers to let your bike travel up and down very easily thus in turn allowing the bike to roll over the rocks easier and loose less momentum.
> 
> There are many diffrent way to weight and unweight a bike, but I answered your question in the context u\you asked it in.


:thumbsup:

The key to rock gardens or root sections is momentum. Momentum will carry you through the section.

If you are a lump of a bean bag on your bike, each time you hit something with your tires, your slamming it with 30# plus 180# rider's force. Each bump will slow you down more.

If you "go light" by staying loose with your arms and legs and allowing them to absorb the bumps as they come, the 180# force is lessened allowing the bike to bump, glide, roll pass the object/section.

The flip side holds true. If you can pump your arms and legs to force the bike into the ground on the back side, then you actually gain a bit of momentum. (think vectors)


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## SWriverstone (Sep 3, 2009)

Thanks traffic02---good explanation!

In my experience so far, the real challenge to noobs like me is not so much getting up/over the isolated tall root or rock...I'm good at that! When it becomes a much more advanced challenge is when you have basketball-sized rocks evenly spaced all over the trail about 1-2 feet apart...that's when any semblance of technique I have completely breaks down, LOL.

In other words, how to get through situations where one or both tires is ALWAYS trying to get over a rock---the kind of situations where the pros just manual over everything, LOL (but we noobs still have to slog through it).

It's almost easier in a rock garden where the rocks are completely packed together close...because then it basically just becomes a "rough surface" to ride over. But when they're spaced just far enough apart for your tires to slip back down to the ground between them (but still all over the place) it becomes a "Noob Nightmare!"  

Scott


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## Ken in KC (Jan 12, 2004)

*Traffic02 Nailed It...*



SWriverstone said:


> Thanks traffic02---good explanation!
> 
> In my experience so far, the real challenge to noobs like me is not so much getting up/over the isolated tall root or rock...I'm good at that! When it becomes a much more advanced challenge is when you have basketball-sized rocks evenly spaced all over the trail about 1-2 feet apart...that's when any semblance of technique I have completely breaks down, LOL.
> 
> ...


The more momentum you can carry and maintain going through the spaced rock garden you've described, the easier it will be to make it through. And as Traffic said, the more your bike is moving as an independent center of gravity, the more you're weighting and unweighting the bike.

I wouldn't normal offer this advice/opinion to a new rider but based on what you've shared with us, I think you'll get it. You may want to consider adding a singlespeed bike to your education. A singlespeed teaches you to carry momentum, maintaining your speeds and ultimately reinforces proper upshifting and downshifting techniques (because most people shift to an easier gear too soon and wind up scrubbing too much momentum).

Another bike you should consider riding at some point is a big hit (Free Ride/Downhill) bike. These bikes will allow you to jump bigger obstactales and hit bigger drops than you normally would on other bikes. It allows you to progress but limits the risk. If your technique or balance is off, you'll ride out the jump without casing it but you'll know that your form was off. Once you've learn how to go bigger, you'll have a lot more confidence hitting bigger drops on your primary bike. My personal example: I rarely hit drops on my local trails that are greater than 2'. Mostly because I know the trails and choose not to hit anything bigger. But I also like to take mountain biking trips to actual mountains and ride trails that I'm not familiar with. And occasionally, a big drop will catch me by surprise. If I hadn't practiced hitting 4-6' drops on a big hit bike, my confidence in hitting these drops would drop and I'd have likely hurt myself rather than riding out the drop.


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## b-kul (Sep 20, 2009)

to me its just like being on the balls of your feet all losoey goosey.


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## MegaMustang (Sep 12, 2009)

OMG!!! This video is like giving crack to a crack-head!!!! Awesome!


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