Help going down hills

[DEATH_INC.]

Well. The single WORST bit of advice has been mentioned many time through this thread. DO NOT slide your ass back on the seat. This causes the seat to hit you in the ass every time you go over a bump (especially if yer a shortass), which then pitches you forwards and upsets your balance. Stand up and center yourself on the bike like any other situation head forwards and up, arms up legs bent. And just RIDE down the damn thing like any other piece of real estate. Only time there will ever be an issue is if you have to stop for some reason.
It's mostly in your head, there isn't much a bike won't roll down without flipping. Ever seen a good balance point stoppie (endo)? That's how steep the bike can go safely.
I used to practice on short steep bits (too steep to stand on) so I felt comfortable with it. It didn't take long before I could fly down big steep hills without a worry.

[noobi]

Well. The single WORST bit of advice has been mentioned many time through this thread. DO NOT slide your ass back on the seat. This causes the seat to hit you in the ass every time you go over a bump (especially if yer a shortass), which then pitches you forwards and upsets your balance. Stand up and center yourself on the bike like any other situation head forwards and up, arms up legs bent. And just RIDE down the damn thing like any other piece of real estate. Only time there will ever be an issue is if you have to stop for some reason.
It's mostly in your head, there isn't much a bike won't roll down without flipping. Ever seen a good balance point stoppie (endo)? That's how steep the bike can go safely.
I used to practice on short steep bits (too steep to stand on) so I felt comfortable with it. It didn't take long before I could fly down big steep hills without a worry.

That would be sensible, if you were sitting down.
Which you shouldn't be doing on steep descents.

Watch this video and note the body position of these pros. ~7min. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxf6tBRu8zM

None of them are sitting. All of them are standing and have their weight way back, with nearly straight arms.

[takitimu]

That would be sensible, if you were sitting down.
Which you shouldn't be doing on steep descents.

Watch this video and note the body position of these pros. ~7min. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxf6tBRu8zM

None of them are sitting. All of them are standing and have their weight way back, with nearly straight arms.

Yeah if all goes well you don't need to have your weight back, but things don't always go well and if your front digs in or hits a angled root, then sitting back helps ( for different reasons ).

Just to clarify though, I don't think anyone has suggested sitting down, it's true even standing you do have to be aware of the back kicking up, but that's true generally.

I'm not convinced a death grip is a good thing on the handlebars either, try and stay loose, I suspect it helps your suspension work better by avoiding your body turning into a leveraged weight attached to the bars.

Way I figure pros tend to do things for a reason.

[Ocean1]

Well. The single WORST bit of advice has been mentioned many time through this thread. DO NOT slide your ass back on the seat. This causes the seat to hit you in the ass every time you go over a bump (especially if yer a shortass), which then pitches you forwards and upsets your balance. Stand up and center yourself on the bike like any other situation head forwards and up, arms up legs bent. And just RIDE down the damn thing like any other piece of real estate. Only time there will ever be an issue is if you have to stop for some reason.

Yeah. But if you're standing then getting your body weight centred on the bike going downhill means straightening your arms and getting your arse back. Don't know any other way you could do that and still have your hands on the bars and your feet on the pegs. And in that position your bike can make best use of whatever traction there is, meaning your'e better placed to stop if you need to.

There's quite a range of styles that work for most situations. One of the largest variations in technique is across the speed range, with slow work tending to favour keeping your weight laterally over your tyre contact patches and fwd/aft depending on which tyre needs the traction. Going down weight on the front is a good idea, improved grip on the front, but a level ground body position, (with regard to the bike) is too much, besides which I doubt your arms could hold you. Mine couldn't anyway.

[Jay GTI]

Well. The single WORST bit of advice has been mentioned many time through this thread. DO NOT slide your ass back on the seat. This causes the seat to hit you in the ass every time you go over a bump (especially if yer a shortass), which then pitches you forwards and upsets your balance. Stand up and center yourself on the bike like any other situation head forwards and up, arms up legs bent. And just RIDE down the damn thing like any other piece of real estate. Only time there will ever be an issue is if you have to stop for some reason.
It's mostly in your head, there isn't much a bike won't roll down without flipping. Ever seen a good balance point stoppie (endo)? That's how steep the bike can go safely.
I used to practice on short steep bits (too steep to stand on) so I felt comfortable with it. It didn't take long before I could fly down big steep hills without a worry.

...and the clear winner for the worst advice yet...

Here's some advice from someone who actually does know what they're talking about, says you need to move your weight back towards the bike, which is done by... hmmm, let me think...

http://www.dirtrider.com/features/pr...ght_downhills/

[flyingcr250]

ive found the easiest way to get down steep hills is sliding down on my face with the bike doing cartwheels behind me.

[BoristheBiter]

ive found the easiest way to get down steep hills is sliding down on my face with the bike doing cartwheels behind me.

Amen brother, works every time for me.

[Ocean1]

ive found the easiest way to get down steep hills is sliding down on my face with the bike doing cartwheels behind me.

Iv'e found that works quite well for going up steep hills too.

[Night Falcon]

Iv'e found that works quite well for going up steep hills too.

up or down makes no difference to my skill set.....hang on, hope know one sees ya fall off, if they do then hope they don't have a camera

[rocketman1]

ive found the easiest way to get down steep hills is sliding down on my face with the bike doing cartwheels behind me.

Yeah know how this feels, I seem to do this quite easily.
Only thing sometimes it hurts more than staying on the bike.

[oldskool]

ive found the easiest way to get down steep hills is sliding down on my face with the bike doing cartwheels behind me.

I think I may have a video of you explaining that to me

[takitimu]

One thing that doesn't work is headbutting a tree to slow down, I'd recommend avoiding that.

[nzspokes]

I came to the conclusion I go up hills far worse than I go down. Think I need to pin it to win it.

[jt119]

QUOTE=flyingcr250;1130543288]ive found the easiest way to get down steep hills is sliding down on my face with the bike doing cartwheels behind me.:headbang

[flyingcr250]

QUOTE=flyingcr250;1130543288]ive found the easiest way to get down steep hills is sliding down on my face with the bike doing cartwheels behind me.:headbang

just wait till i get my camera