Fast low cornering

LjStronge

Hi All

Hope you can help. I have been riding for about a year and feel I am getting better and better every time I go out. I am quite confident and love trying new things. I read up a lot on techniques and the like but feel that just getting out there riding helps me make better use of the bike. Also, I ride with people sometimes that are more experienced that I and they give me tips here and there.

There will always be room for improvement and I know there is still mountains for me to learn.

I have noticed that one of my main weeknesses is cornering at speed. Not necceserily around berms or longer corners but tight corners that involved a lot of lean on the bike.

I am always worried that if I lean the bike down to get round a corner it is going to be to steep and wash out, it just doesn't feel comfortable to me.

I have read two seperate points of view on this.

1 states that you should push your body and therefore your weight away from the corner (as in push the bike down to your right and put your body left to counteract the weight)

but 2 states to do the opposite and actually get low with the bike and really lean low into the corner (almost like you see a motorcyclist do)

What are your opinions on this and how do you guys take tight corners at speed?

Thanks in advance

Anonymous

choice between 1 and 2 depend on speed.
Quite often you simply aren't going fast enough to lean the bike AND rider right over, or you'f just fall.
But, if you need to get round a really tight bend at those speeds, you can tily the bike underneath you and hover your bodyweight over the right spot to get the tyre to dig in.
Unfortunately, this is more of an acquired skill and there's no hard-and-fast rules as to where exactly you should place your bodyweight.

Fun way to play with this is, find a grassy field, stick on some kneepads and helmet. Elbow guards if you have/want them.
Then, just mark out a really tight corner and try it at various speeds. You shouldn't hurt yourself too badly on the grass, and it's usually a giggle when you fall off.
It should give you a good idea of how the bike behaves in a turn.

We used to do this as kids, for a laugh, but it does end up teaching you a lot, oddly enough!

LjStronge

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Fun way to play with this is, find a grassy field, stick on some kneepads and helmet. Elbow guards if you have/want them.
Then, just mark out a really tight corner and try it at various speeds. You shouldn't hurt yourself too badly on the grass, and it's usually a giggle when you fall off.
It should give you a good idea of how the bike behaves in a turn.

We used to do this as kids, for a laugh, but it does end up teaching you a lot, oddly enough!

Thanks for the tip, I thought it might be a bit of a "feel it and you will know" type of thing, as is with a lot of Technique on a bike.

I'll take up that Grassy field option, sounds like a plan.Not really thought of that before. I thought that over time I would just get it without having to practice. Looks like I will have to put some work in!

Thanks very much!

Anonymous

Well, you don't have to put the work in, of course. You could always pick it up over time.
It's just that the greassy field option is a lot of fun as well!

paul.skibum

try finding an area you can ride a largish figure of eight and do it over and over again - start trying to ride the turns in attack position and as you get better start shifting weight more and more to outside peg. few pedals on the straight then dive into the next turn and away you go again - find a spot you can do it on over and over and come back to and you have a perfect training ground.

saracen fan

I find a good technique is to push down on the pedal opposite to the corner,
eg when turning left push your right foot down on the right pedal.
this works pretty well!

LjStronge

Thanks guys, I'll let you know how I get on!

Anonymous

saracen fan wrote:

I find a good technique is to push down on the pedal opposite to the corner,
eg when turning left push your right foot down on the right pedal.
this works pretty well!

Very true, but this is necessary whether you lean with the bike, or tilt the bike underneath you.