Originating from rally car racing, the Scandi flick is one of those feelgood skills. It looks awesome, will make your buddies behind you whoop and holler, and can actually help you get round corners too.
The idea is to use a rear-end drift or skid to send your bike towards the outside of the turn (the ‘flick’) and to then re-weight the back tyre and push through the apex.
Semi-professional mountain bike rider and Identiti Bikes UK enduro racer Oli Carter demonstrates:
The Scandi Flick
1. Initiate the flick
As you approach the corner, aim for the inside quite early. Then grab a bit of rear brake and steer up towards the outside of the turn. This will cause the back end of the bike to fall lower than the front.
2. Mid-turn
From now on don’t brake. The Scandi Flick will have slowed you down for the corner and set you up perfectly to carry good speed through it.
3. Aim for the exit
Look for your exit point, lean in and rail the corner. The faster you go, the easier it’ll be. You can rely on centrifugal force to pull you straight.
4. Feel good!
It feels awesome when you get it right. People tend to think a Scandi Flick is just something that looks good, so they grab a handful of rear brake and do a skid. But it’s a lot more than this, and can be a really helpful skill in the right corner. When you get the hang of it, it should just happen naturally.
5. Secrets to success
Off-camber corners are a good place to practice because they’ll naturally push the back end downhill, aiding the pendulum motion and getting the rear wheel around the turn quickly.
Don't forget…
Eyes on the prize: Always make sure you’re looking up and around the corner. Where your head looks, your shoulders follow, then your hips and the bike. You can see in the picture above that my bike and body are going one way but my head is clearly looking the other way, around the corner.
Weight the front: When you start feeling more confident, it really pays to weight the front wheel as you approach the corner. This will make the back end lighter, which will help you to swing it round the turn quickly. Then you need to be ready to reload the rear wheel in the apex to generate speed out of the corner and into the next section of trail.
Be relaxed: It’s important to stay loose and relaxed so that the bike can move around underneath you. Have faith in your riding skills and don’t fight the bike!