Technique: Essential winter mountain biking skills

18 comments
By Seb Rogers, What Mountain Bike | Friday, Dec 18, 2009 2.30pm

Most of the challenge of winter riding is in overcoming a lack of grip. All that rain makes things a bit slippery, whether the trail is muddy, rocky or rooty. And cold, clear days aren’t necessarily any better, because ice and snow bring their own problems.

You need grip to propel the bike forward, change direction and stop when you need to, and a sliding tyre interferes with all of these bike riding fundamentals.

You won’t be able to keep your tyres gripping all the time, and coping with a sliding bike is part of the skill of good winter riding. But keeping your wheels turning and pointed where you want them to go is the goal you’re aiming towards. Here’s how:

Move that arse

Weight distribution on most mountain bikes is biased towards the rear. That’s good, because the rear wheel needs more grip to convert your efforts at the pedal coalface into forward motion.

But when things get really slimy, you may need to shift your weight even further back to help the rear tyre dig through to firmer ground, and then be ready to move it forward again, fast, to give the front tyre some traction. Weight shifts are the key to maintaining traction in the slime.

Engage your brain

There’s no doubt that persuading a pair of 2in-wide tyres to cut through inches of mulch and mud is hard work, but brute power isn’t always best. Remember, we’re aiming to keep the wheels gripping and moving the bike forwards, and winter conditions mean that the tyres will often have less grip than normal.

Essential winter mountain biking skills:

You’re already using your body’s mass to maximise traction, but your brain can help too, by scanning the trail ahead in search of the best (grippiest) lines and making sure that the effort you’re putting into pedalling is well matched to the conditions beneath your tyres.

It sounds like a lot to concentrate on but by planning ahead and reacting quickly — backing off the gas, for example, when you feel the rear tyre start to spin — you can maximise your progress and minimise the chance of an unscheduled bailout.

Wet rocks

Here’s the odd thing about rocks: some of them have plenty of grip, even when they’re wet (sandstone and gritstone, for example) and others have all the tractability of a skating rink (stand up and take a bow, please, limestone). But unless you’re a geologist and can identify a rock from 100 paces, you’re best off assuming that they’re all slippery little blighters in winter.

Essential winter mountain biking skills:

For smaller rocks, try to stay off the brakes — especially the front — and stay loose over the bike, allowing it to skip sideways if that’s what it wants to do. Perversely, speed can be your friend in this situation, skimming your wheels over the tops and getting you out of trouble before you can get into it.

Bigger rocks need a more circumspect approach. The same basic principle applies — keep your body loose and lay off the front brake — but scrub off your speed before you get there and keep your wheels away from any off-camber nastiness. Hold your nerve, let it roll, and you’ll be fine.

Wet roots

Unlike rocks, roots are always slippery, especially when they’ve been polished by many tyres. There are only two ways to deal with wet roots. The first is to avoid any wheel contact at all, lofting both wheels over the offending obstacle at a speed that’s appropriate to the trail conditions and your skills. This is the only way to cross roots at an angle.

The second is to turn in advance so that you ride over the roots at 90 degrees to them, keeping loose over the bike and unweighting the wheels slightly as they roll over.

Essential winter mountain biking skills:

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User Comments

There are 18 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 18 of 18 comments

  • perennial favourite? - article rolls out again, with not apparent dusting down from last year.

  • Not sure what you mean, mountain-nic. Yes, we run stories about how to ride in mud every winter, because every winter there are newcomers to the sport who may find it useful. Don't think we've run this particular article before though.

  • What about real winter riding, does anyone have any tips about riding in snow? Last year i embarrassingly slid round like an old granny with heavy shopping in my front basket while other riders just sailed past.

  • check at the buying advice and mtb beginner in the mountain bike forum section.

  • You're using some of the same pics as used on the 'mud' article.

  • certainly seen these photo's before and the article seems very familiar to last years. Not that I'm knocking the usefulness of the contents, especially for newcomers, but it would be good to review any comments from last years article and include some readers advice.

    some here goes- no mud guards in winter! madness, wet backside (as in your pics) is both uncomfortable and shows a lack of understanding about the "weight penalty"of water and the very real dangers of rapid body cooling in wet, cold and windy conditions. In winter especially on remote rides, a simple mud guard system front and back (Crud catchers and neoguard or similar ) helps keep the wet off your back side and the front flying guarb out your eyes. It's all very well assuming you'll stay warm because your working hard, but this will not be the case if you have a serious off, mechanical or even a puncture.

    Whilst I appreciate the aesthetics are altered by the adding of guards, common sense needs to prevail in winter.

    Having seen first hand the effects of mild hypothermia and the speed at which this comes on, (whilst working in a Mountain Rescue Team ) the omission in this article of suggesting (for the reasons stated above) that the addition of guards is a good idea is, in my opinion, a rather large oversight, especially if this article is aimed at newbies to winter riding.

    OK so this article is about skills, but lets start with gear, weather and self preservation, then skills.

  • I'm sure you're right mountain-nic but I still won't be putting on mud guards anytime soon!!

  • Half the fun of mountain biking is getting coated in mud. Mud guards look rubbish. If someone's going out, then they probably should know/be prepared for what they are doing. If you get cold, work harder. Or man up.

  • @benneally - when you're in a remote section of Afan or Glyncorwg, with no mobile signal and you have a serious mechanical or off, being wet through and edging toward hypothermia - manning up ain't going to work!

  • Have to say without mud guards even with water proof pants on your ass is cold .......i mean were not talking mud liek a rainy summer day here the guy in the photo is riding in slop in winter

    get some mud guards even if you not in Afan or Glyncorwg its got to be more comfortable

    Front mud guard stops slop spraying in your face

    Dont get me wrong i dont have mud guard's ....but then again i dont ride in slop :) but if i did ride in slop i would have the mud guard,s

    Also keeps the gritty crap out of your bike bit's some what

  • should have read that before i posted it .....spelling is hopless :)

  • hear hear mountain-nic.........

    i use mudguards but only in winter, going out on a ride when its muddy/wet is about enjoying it preferably without a wet/muddy arse, who cares if they look rubbish ( benneally).

    they take seconds to take on/off, so if its frozen over ( like today) you can whip them off.

    if you see me out with my mudguards on and have a chuckle who cares, i will be the one with the dry arse when im sat in the pub with a pint !

  • Well, is not most of this just common sense?

  • ... also - what sort of a moronic trend is it to have MBs as well as more or less all other bikes sold without mudguards?

    Those people on here that say "oh, half the fun is getting covered in mud" don't forget that your opinion is just that, i got the impression that you say it like a fact.

  • I put crud catchers on for the first time in late Oct and will do so every winter from now on. Even if it's been hosing it down in summer I'll do it- one of the smartest buys I've made for my bike

  • And think about all the extra mud and wet weight you'll lend up carrying on your sprayed back,

  • "Half the fun of mountain biking is getting coated in mud. Mud guards look rubbish"

    What? Why not just take up mud wrestling and save the cost of the bike. You look such an idiot with skid marks up your arse - a bit like a baby's nappy on inside out - not a cool look.

    Mudguards are a no-brainer in winter. I keep mine on all year now, especially at the front, as I no longer have to keep my mouth shut to avoid getting a mouthful of flying sheep/cow/dog shit.

  • I mainly only ever use a front crud catcher but I may sometimes put a rear mudguard on for trails where I know im going to get wet due to wheather.

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