Cornering - how?

[Dee Dub]

I reckon this thread has covered most of the key issues on cornering,
but the best one I have heard yet was from Phil Anderson many years ago
in a Bicycling Aust mag. Every mag seems to have an article on cornering
every year or so, but this was the best for me.

In summary - find a balance on each corner between inside hand pushing
down and opposite foot. All the leg weight should be on the outside
foot, not the seat or inside foot. Test this by lifting your bum
slightly out of the seat.

Individually pushing the inside hand down and putting weight on the
outside foot move the bike in either direcition. Use the force of both
of these in balance to corner quickly. I am not the quickest, but have
gained confidence since trying this.

Also, this will minimise the need for braking, which should be avoided
as much as possible. I'd be interested in feed back. The above does not
answer the question about leaning, but try this. The leaning will become
irrelevant.

Good luck.



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[Nick Payne]

Like everything else, there's no substitute for practice. Find someone who's
a good descender and follow them down a winding descent, watching what they
do. But basically, as one well-known gravity-surfer said: "you've just got
to switch your brain off and let it roll". And if you get into a position
where you don't think you're going to make it round the bend, just lean the
bike more and hope. Odds are you'll make it round. And if you don't, you're
probably only going to lose some bark, which is a lot better than running
wide and hitting a car or a tree or a fence or whatever...

My favourite descents for practising cornering skills are Mt Buffalo and the
Ovens Valley side of Tawonga Gap.

Nick

"hippy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:%[email protected]...
> How do you guys corner on fast descents?
>
> Is your body on the same vertical axis as the
> bike while leaning in or do you lean the bike
> into the corner and keep you body more upright?
> Or maybe even lean your body and keep the
> bike upright (strange?).
>
> I seem to constantly understeer and run wide
> on fast, downhill corners and I'm wondering
> if my technique needs some work...

 

[hippy]

"Nick Payne" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Like everything else, there's no substitute for practice. Find someone
who's
> a good descender and follow them down a winding descent, watching what
they
> do.

Well, I did the same climb and descent last night and it felt
infinately better. The climb was faster - which is always
good, but I was most happy with the descent.
I went from being the last rider down to being the rider
who was out-sprinted at the bottom for 2nd place
Basically, instead of hanging back and freaking out at
each corner, braking too much, I simply followed the
other guys down and stayed off the brakes as much as
my chicken mentality would let me
Twas most cool! Next week, now I know where the
sprint finish is, I'm going for the win

> where you don't think you're going to make it round the bend, just
lean the
> bike more and hope. Odds are you'll make it round. And if you don't,
you're
> probably only going to lose some bark, which is a lot better than
running
> wide and hitting a car or a tree or a fence or whatever...

I'm still trying to get over the fear of leaning. My first race I
crashed due to not leaning to get around a corner - braked,
felt I was going too fast, panicked and ran straight into the
mountain, knocking myself out...
I grew up on flat ground - adjusting to mountains will take a
loooong time.

Thanks for the input everyone!

hippy

 

[till]

Duncan <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> On the road (motorbike and pushie) I lean my body to the inside of the
> corner. This is because it reduces the amount the bike has to lean
> and keeps the steering geometry and suspension (active or passive) in
> it's best position.
> It's much easier to do this if you can guarantee good surface and
> don't have to worry about line changes.

Im surprised your (motor)bike doesnt fall over during low speed turns,
usually you lean out for low speed, and in for high speed turns.

On a bike, you really dont have the weight of a motor, so into the
corner is better.

> Off road I have a tendancy to keep my body upright and lean the bike.
> This is mainly so I can repsond quicker to bumps or line changes, the
> bike shifts quicker than I can.

I cant believe we have gotten so far without someone saing ``go read
sheldon brown''? Go read sheldon brown.

till

 

[Duncan]

"till" <***@invalid.com.au> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Duncan <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > On the road (motorbike and pushie) I lean my body to the inside of the
> > corner. This is because it reduces the amount the bike has to lean
> > and keeps the steering geometry and suspension (active or passive) in
> > it's best position.
> > It's much easier to do this if you can guarantee good surface and
> > don't have to worry about line changes.
>
> Im surprised your (motor)bike doesnt fall over during low speed turns,
> usually you lean out for low speed, and in for high speed turns.

The lean out turns are usualy only the very tight and slow full lock ones
you might do for a u-turn. Even then it's not always needed. Forcing the
bike to lean a bit more gives it a tighter turn at full lock, my bike is
designed for turning at 200+ kph it's pretty awkward at 20 kph.

There's always room to experiment, when I get a new set of tires I do a few
rides leaning out as far as I can to scrub the tires. The bike handles like
**** but it's better to scrub at lower speeds.

 

[Brizza]

Damm what a topic!

I dream about cornering!!

I've got a MTB background and cornering in the dirt is very different as
tire traction is different.

Fro those that need confidence I recomend finding a quiet corner at
the bottom of a hill, preferably where you can use all the road
without trafic, and practive the corner again and again. Try not to
use your brakes (its only skin, it grows back) and vary your line and
body position.

I once heard of pushing your inside knee toward the head tube, I don't
do it but it's an interesting idea.

Practice accelerating out of the corner after you have the line and
position correct. I bottomed my pedal a few weeks ago so I recomend
building your confidence before you pedal through fast corners.

Corners come naturally now and I use them in races to break from
the bunch.

They are the highlight of my road rides.

Brian

The chick got a great exit and made everyone hurt each corner.



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