Straight ARMS FOR LEVERAGE

KEEPING ARMS STRAIGHT FOR LEVERAGE

BRAKING & CORNERING

This subject comes up very frequently, but I don’t always include it in the main lesson unless it is relevant to the client and their level of progression.

Within much of the global MTB Skills coaching culture, there is a common idea that getting low on the bike adds weight to the front wheel.

I don't believe this is correct, and I'll explain why.

Adding weight, pressure and grip to the front tyre is a matter of physics and biomechanics, not simply body position.

To transfer the weight of the rider's body – shoulders, chest, head and torso - into the front tyre, that weight must be transferred efficiently.

Try getting into a press up position on the ground or leaning on the edge of a table with straight arms. In this position you will feel a large amount of your body weight pressing into your hands. Here, the BONES of the arms act like rigid supports, allowing weight to be transferred easily and efficiently.

Now, try bending your arms and lowering your chest into a mid-press position. You will feel much less weight on your hands while the MUSCLES of your arms work much harder. The weight is no longer transferred downward, but instead dispersed sideways through the elbows. 

The same principle applies on the bike.

When a rider stands tall with arms relatively straight, they are able to transfer body weight through their hands (and feet), into the handlebars, the fork and ultimately the front tyre. When the arms are bent, a significant portion of that weight is removed from the handlebars and placed onto the feet instead.

If both arms and legs are bent and floppy  (relaxed) no weight is transferred into either!

This is a critical concept for coaches to understand.

 

Resisting VS Absorbing

When our limbs are relatively straight and strong, we are able to transfer weight and RESIST forces.

When our limbs are bent (but never floppy!!!), we are ABSORBING forces. 

It is not possible to absorb and push at the same time. We do ONE OR THE OTHER, often switching rapidly between the two depending on what the terrain requires.

For example:

• resist under braking

• push into a corner

• pedal

• push to pump terrain

• resist again to brake

• absorb through a rock garden

• resist to brake at the exit

Understanding when to resist and when to absorb is fundamental to effective riding.

 

Leverage

This distinction becomes especially important in cornering.

When the rider stands tall and transfers their weight through relatively straight arms and legs by pushing into the pedals and/or handlebars, they are using their height as leverage. The more weight a rider needs to add weight to the front tyre in a corner, the higher they may need to stand so that their centre of mass has a greater leverage effect on weight transfer.

 

Think of a simple lever:

• The closer you hold to the base, the LESS leverage you have

• The further out you hold, the MORE leverage you gain.

 

This is the same reason we pull a brake lever near the tip rather than close to the pivot.

 

NOTE IN POINT – THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A BENDY LEVER!