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Mountain Bike Magazin Cannondale Crocodile Trophy Mb Action Articles were taken from Mountain Bike Magazin
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 One
of the first mountain bike pioneers is Gary Fisher. In the late 70's he
and Joe Breeze started taking road bicycles of the pavement and onto rugged
trails. He is from the Marin County in the Bay Area by San Francisco. Now
he has his own bike company and racing team also called Gary Fisher. Gary
Fisher designs really good high end bikes with many features not found on
different bikes. He invented a different geometry that is different that
regular mountain bike geometry by having the stem shorter and the angles
on the tubes different. It is called the Genesis Geometry. The geometry
is a peculiar thing because some people love it and some people hate it.
It supossedly makes you a better climber. When I rode a Genesis bike I could
feel that i had more power than usual. |
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Tips
And Tricks GET BETTER BALANCE 3
drills to keep you calm and in control. How Slow Can You Go? Pick a rough section of trail scattered with small rocks, roots and other rideable obstacles. See how slowly you can roll through without toppling over. Momentum makes balance easy. Slowing down challenges skill. Push and Shove. Find an open grassy field where it won't hurt to fall down. Ride side by side with a friend, and alternately shove each other as you roll along. At first take turns, making your pushes obvious. When you get better, throw random "blind" shoves. The idea is to challenge your balance, not start a brawl, so keep the force reasonable. No
Hands, No Eyes. On that same open, smooth field, stand directly in line
with a distant object like a tree or a pole. Pedal in the direction
of that object. Take one hand off the bar, then the other. When you
can hold your line, close your eyes and try it blind. Most riders naturally
veer to one side or the other. Do this enough and you'll learn to counterbalance
that tendency.
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DON'T GET STUCK IN A RUT Alison Dunlap
Tells How To Grind Through the Grooves When scorching summer sunshine meets trails marked with hoof prints, tire tracks and rain-cut trenches, the result is dry, packed singletrack with bumps and ruts that could pitch even the fattest freerider. This technical challenge won't slow you down if you ride it right. Here, XC hammer Alison Dunlap (LUNA Chix) shows you how. Work it like a rudder. "When you're coming into a section that's so rutted your bike's going to be pushed all over the place, shift back and grab the saddle firmly with your thighs. Then work it like a rudder through choppy water, moving your hips back and forth while maintaining steering control." Don't stare. "Treat ruts like you do all obstacles-don't look at 'em. Look ahead of the rut, and keep your bike going in that direction." Maintain speed. "Speed is scary; grabbing your brakes is worse. It's when you slow down that you bauble back and forth and fall over. It's okay to scrub speed to keep the pace from getting out of control, but then ease off and let it roll." Run a little low. "I like running my tire pressure a little low to get more grip on rutted trails. At a fast course (like Sea Otter), I'll drop the pressure a few pounds." Improvise your lines. "Obviously, you don't want to carve a new trail, but if there's a ridable area above the rut, get up there. As long as you maintain your speed, you won't slide back in." Drop your shoulders. "You need to stay loose if you want control on ruts, and if you're shoulders are up around your ears, you can't ride loose. Before you head down a rough section, give your shoulders a little shake and drop them down. You'll ride a lot better."
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