- E-bikes, as great as they are,
rammin' in as much time as possible
out on the trials in
a short space of time.
Always gonna time to
brush up on those skills.
Be it 10 minutes at the top of a climb,
waiting for your non-eMTB
mates to get there,
or half hour you've got just
before your Sunday dinner.
If you get out, hit the
streets, learn these techniques,
you're gonna be amazin' next
time you hit the trials.
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So drops, something you'll find loads of
when you're out riding on the streets.
Anythin' from curb height
up to whichever size,
if there's a landin' it's all good to go.
Somethin' like this is ideal,
it's tapered all the way,
so as you go along it's
gettin' bigger and bigger.
If you can just go halfway and pull off,
or drop off the end,
you're gonna be expandin' on your skills,
gettin' bigger drops.
A really good ledge to learn on, this.
Let's have a look at some
of the techniques now.
So for the drop off technique,
all we're doin' is coastin' in
to this drop with good speed.
Get your pedals nice and level.
You don't want to be pedalin' along
as you're coming along here.
Get set up.
Since we're nearin' that drop
what we're doin' is doin'
a big weight shift forward,
compressin' that suspension,
and then as the front wheel
comes to the edge of the drop
we're liftin' up hard,
liftin' that front wheel high,
whilst transferrin' our
weight backwards on the bike
to continue almost like a
mini manual off the wall.
If we're landin' on flat, we
try and land back wheel first,
absorbin' that shock of landin'
with be bike's suspension
and your body, your knees, elbows,
tryin' to absorb as much shock a possible.
If we're landin' into a down slope,
which I mean down like
a bank to land into,
what we do is the same technique
but as the bike dips into the landin'
we kind of do a weight
shift towards the front
to let that bike dip into the landin'.
It's the smoothest thing you can do.
If you can match whatever
transition you're landin' into,
you're gonna land the smoothest
and there'd be less shock
to you and your bike.
So the track stand's a really good skill
to have on your e-bike.
It's really good for settin' up sections,
maybe like a hill climb
where you come to a crest,
you've got a flat bit
and a mega technical bit in front of you.
Just gives you a chance
for your mind to adjust,
think about what you're gonna do
and how you're gonna attack
that next bit of trial.
So the track stand on your e-bike
is actually sightly different
than your regular trial bike.
What happens is
when your puttin' those
little correction stabs
in on your e-bike,
the motor's kickin' in,
your torque sensor's
are noticin' the cranks are movin'
and wantin' to activate that
motor, pushin' you forward.
The way were gonna combat
that is using more brakes
and just being more
gentle on those cranks.
Not puttin' a lot of weight
through those cranks,
more using your body to
counteract that balance.
So for the track stand
we're comin' into it,
pedals level, just give a little crank,
get that front wheel up the bank.
Pick a focus point.
Sometimes people like to look ahead,
some people like to look down.
Just find which works for you.
Basically we're just rockin' that bike
slightly on the cranks.
You don't actually need
your brakes, as you can see.
You've got that uphill
which is basically doin'
the breaking for you.
You just rock that bike.
Just try and match your pelvis.
If the bike's fallin' one way
you match it back the other way.
It's basically turning your
pelvis and your upper body.
Just tryin' to keep that
bike as still as possible.
And as I say if there's
a rooty section up above,
you'd be ready.
You can just load it up,
get on that power and go.
So when you're out on the streets
you're gonna find a ton
of corners on your ride,
maybe to work or out
in your street session.
Makin' the most of those
turns with good technique,
it's gonna transfer across
to the trails as well.
So here is a nice 180 flat turn.
So as I'm coming down into this 180 corner
I'm scrubbin' my speed off on entry,
I'm having a quick look
at the corner and the exit
to work out how tight that corner is.
Comin' in, it's comin' to the corner,
I'm out nice and wide,
liftin' that inside pedal up,
lookin' down, tiltin' that bike in,
lookin' on my exit and
gettin' on the power
as I exit the turn.
It's a good cornerin' technique.
It's always good to remember,
slow in and fast out.
Just make sure you're in a good gear
to get the most out of that turn.
If you're in too high a
gear, you're gonna bog down.
If you're in too easy gear,
you're gonna be spinnin'.
So just get that gear right,
you'll be flyin' out those turns.
So ledges, you're gonna find lots of those
around on the street too.
Really good way of learnin'
that front and rear wheel lift.
What it does when you're on the trail
is gonna get you over those fallen logs,
any debris that you're
gonna find on the trial
where you need to lift that front wheel
and the back wheel up.
This is a really good way of
dialin' those techniques in.
So ideally when you're
learnin' to get up ledges
you want to find a nice low ledge.
Somethin' that isn't gonna
actually hit your chain ring
or your motor casin'.
Somethin' about as high as this is ideal.
When we do go to lift up,
just ensure that that motor or chain ring
isn't gonna hit that ledge,
'cause if it does, you're
gonna bend your chain ring,
possibly bash your motor,
and that's not good when
you're out on your e-bike.
So for this technique I'm
actually in a lower power settin'.
Why I've done that
is because if you're in a
turbo or a boost settin',
as you approach that ledge
and you go to put the last final crank in
that bike's gonna lurch forward,
it's gonna really mess with your timin'.
So actually dial that power down,
it's gonna make this a lot easier.
So as I approach the ledge
I'm comin' in with my bad foot forward
focusin' on where I'm
gonna put my front wheel
on that ledge.
As I focus on that point I
transfer to my good foot,
big weight shift forward,
liftin' and helpin' that
back wheel up onto the ledge.
Doin' that by scooping my
feet down, back and up,
and liftin' that back
wheel up onto the ledge.
The more help you can give it,
the smoother it's gonna be.
So next were gonna be steppin' it up,
goin' to that next size ledge.
If you've had no problems on learnin' this
I'd just take it up just
a few inches by inches.
Don't go huge 'cause you're
gonna risk damaging your motor
or bashing your frame.
As you can see on this
ledge, it's that bit bigger.
It's actually gonna hit my motor casin',
really close to my chain ring,
so I'm gonna need good technique for this.
So for gettin' up these bigger ledges
is actually the same technique,
you just amplify each movement.
Give more rear wheel lift,
give more front wheel lift.
Make that front wheel, when
it taps, more explosive.
Just everythin' is amplified more.
So another really good
technique to get dialed
is the side hop.
How the side hop works out on the trial
is imagine him flyin' down the track,
you get in a big tractor rut
and you need to get out of it fast.
If you get this technique dialed
it's gonna get you out of trouble easily.
So for the side hop
what we do is we come alongside the wall,
rollin' speed, good foot forward,
focusin' on a spot on that wall
where we wanna make the hop.
So we approach that spot,
we compress the bike down
similar to a bunny hop,
squashin' that bike's suspension.
Focusin' on that wall, we hop up,
whilst givin' the bars
and your hips a flick
to whichever direction you
wanna make that bike move.
Placin' the front and the rear wheel
upon that wall, nice, smoothly, focusin',
ride along that ledge and drop off.
So grass banks,
you're gonna find them
everywhere on the streets.
They're a really good way
of practicin' your climbing technique.
Tryin' different power modes,
tryin' different cadence,
just delivery, power, grip.
Lots of different ways to
challenge you on these banks.
Let's take a look at
some of those ways now.
So somethings you can
do to challenge yourself
on these grass banks.
You try them in different power modes.
Start from eco working your way
up to standard or trail mode
then try and boost,
just see the different ways
you can attack that hill.
You can always just challenge
yourself by short run ups.
You can challenge yourself by
turnin' sideways on that hill
and tryin' to still climb that climb.
Make a 180 on that hill,
up and down and switchback.
These grass banks are a really good way
of dialing in that climbing technique.
So the first thing I'm gonna
do, this bank, limited run up.
It's gonna be really hard.
It's gonna be a fast start.
Probably gonna wanna wheel spin,
so I'm gonna have to harness
that power, get my grip right,
and hopefully make it
to the top of the bank.
So next challenge is gonna
start sideways on this hill,
same climb, but I'm
comin' into it sideways.
So I'm gonna need to work on my footwork,
gettin' that power down
again, gettin' the grip,
focusin' on top of that climb.
Let's see how this one goes.
So my next challenge for myself
is gonna be this 180 hill climb.
Similar sort of thing as you're gonna find
at your trial center, actually.
Lot goin' on here.
We're gonna be talking
about pedal strikes,
grip loss, traction, lines.
So let's just give it a go,
see how we get on with this one.
So just nice power
delivery, keepin' in on,
lookin' up the bank, and away.
A few things to note on flat
after those switch backs,
first is line choice.
Don't be over concerned with line choice.
Focus more on the flow around the corner,
a nice smooth arc to get
you around and up the hill.
Secondly is be careful
of your inside pedal
because a lot of the time
there might be some stumps
or some roots or rocks on the inside
or simply the track is worn and grooved
so it's quite easy for
you to catch your pedal
as you're pedalin' around the corner.
So I really hope you've
enjoyed this video today.
Don't forget if you wanna
watch more content check out
How to Get the Most out of
Your E-Bike at the Bike Park,
one of my recent vids.
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