Descending Technique

MountainMonster
MountainMonster Posts: 7,423
edited May 2011 in Road beginners
Just moved over from MTBs, to getting my first road bike about a few weeks ago.

Very very very comfortable on descents on the MTB, but am having extreme trouble getting comfortable and relaxed enough on the roadie to be able to descend at any speed.

What is the proper position for descending on a road bike? Should you have your hands in the drops and cover the brakes that way, or how does it work?

Any enlightenment would be of great use!
My London Road

Comments

  • chadders81
    chadders81 Posts: 744
    On the drops. I tend to keep my weight neutral. Cover the brakes but keep off them. You don't want to be locking up at 40mph.

    I regularly get frightened at anything above 35mph btw.
  • John.T
    John.T Posts: 3,698
    http://www.flammerouge.je/content/3_factsheets/constant/descend.htm
    Read this and you will not go far wrong.
    My Fleet.
  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    I descend using a loose grip in the drops, slightly out of the saddle, with my weight back a little and my chin just above the stem. Don't forget to put your outside foot down on the bends, helps avoid pedal strike.
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • mattshrops
    mattshrops Posts: 1,134
    head down, @rse up, on drops, no brakes, grin fixed :D
    Death or Glory- Just another Story
  • MountainMonster
    MountainMonster Posts: 7,423
    Many thanks for the tips guys. It seems like I'm generally doing the right things. May just be needing time to get used to a road bike, been riding a full sus with 740mm bars for a while, and just need to get comfortable with the different geometry I reckon.
    My London Road
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    MountainMonster wrote:
    Many thanks for the tips guys. It seems like I'm generally doing the right things. May just be needing time to get used to a road bike, been riding a full sus with 740mm bars for a while, and just need to get comfortable with the different geometry I reckon.

    Get your chin to the same height as your balls on the drops.
    _
  • Fenred
    Fenred Posts: 428
    John.T wrote:
    http://www.flammerouge.je/content/3_factsheets/constant/descend.htm
    Read this and you will not go far wrong.

    This is a great link!

    MountainMonster, I bought my first road bike just over a year ago after 20 odd years of mtbing. Thought I knew all about descending, braking, weight distribution etc...then got royally slapped down on the road bike! :shock: Stick with it, it'll come and when you get back on a mtb you'll be 10X the rider you were before! Scary as fook to start with then you realise you get the same buzz but in a different, purer way....Practice and enjoy!!! :D
  • Secteur
    Secteur Posts: 1,971
    Also, depends on condition of the road - around my way there's a beautifully newly tarmaced dip - abouot 200m in length but 19% decline & incline either side - makes for fantastic descending.

    On the other hand, 90% other descents in my very hilly neck-of-the-woods is on horrible, pot-holed road surface, and for that reason I have to take them at a max 15-20mph.
  • Alibran
    Alibran Posts: 370
    Secteur wrote:
    On the other hand, 90% other descents in my very hilly neck-of-the-woods is on horrible, pot-holed road surface, and for that reason I have to take them at a max 15-20mph.

    We've got a lot like that here. I've learnt to pick my line very carefully!

    But the other type - the smooth tarmac - those are worth riding over the bumps for.
  • oldwelshman
    oldwelshman Posts: 4,733
    Unless you plan on racing I would not really worry about it, better to be safe than fast, especially on uk roads with so much loose gravel.
    http://s290.photobucket.com/albums/ll245/oldwelshman/
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK5Bfqj5fxY
  • John.T
    John.T Posts: 3,698
    Good technique makes you safer as well as faster. If you know what you are doing and read the road properly you ride to the conditions. Read the article. It has a lot of good sense in it. It is the rider who does not get his line and braking right and has not read the road correctly that gets into trouble regardless of speed.
    Speed never hurt anyone. It is the stopping that does that. :lol:
    My Fleet.
  • MountainMonster
    MountainMonster Posts: 7,423
    Luckily i'm in Austria, and most of the country lanes around my town are either freshly paved black tarmac, or recently redone and still in good condition.

    Just got out on the bike earlier today, did a nice quick 35kmer ride, and came across a nice descent I never knew about. Thought long and hard about how to ride the descent properly from the top, taking into consideration what I have learned from the site. It went well. Felt very confident and was able to carry speed well without braking or even fear of crashing. Was a good day.

    Only way to go now is up, or down, depending on how you look at it!
    My London Road

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