Switchbacks for Beginners, N00bs, and Newbies — XC MTB Mountain Bikes

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Buying your first Mountain Bike for Beginners, N00bs, and Newbies — Switchbacks

So you have purchased your first mountain bike and want to know, what’s the big deal with switchbacks?

A switchback is a section of a trail the can otherwise be classified as a U turn.

However, many switchbacks are at an incline or decline.

Other than jumps, switchbacks are a very common spot on the trail where inexperienced riders will fall off their bike, or come to a stop and have to put out your feet.

There is a very simple technique for riding through a switchback without losing pace or falling off.

The basic idea is, ride the first half on the outside edge.
Do not be tempted to ride the center like you are doing now.

On a downhill switchback, this causes the distance to travel to be longer.

With a longer distance, your front wheel turning angle is less.
With less angle, there is less resistance to slow you down, and less angle means less likely to jackknife.

On an uphill switchback, again ride the outside edge.
This is more difficult because you will have to fight the natural urge to ride the inside edge or center.

As with the downhill, you are increasing the distance traveled, but accomplishing the same height gain as the center or inside edge.
Longer distance traveled to achieve the same height gain.
This means your climbing angle is reduced and thus it will be much easier to pedal through the turn without losing momentum.

When you’re not stopping or putting out your feet, you moving on to the next trail section.

Don’t forget to check out our other videos for beginners and have fun out there.

Created By ThreeDigitIQ