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Descending Skills

Cycling / Popular

Descend safely with proper body position, braking, and line choice.

What coaches agree on

  • Ride on the drops (the curved lower part of the handlebars) when descending or cornering — it lowers your center of gravity for more stability and grip, and puts the brake levers within easy, powerful reach.
  • Take a wide-apex-wide line through corners — enter wide, touch the apex, and exit wide — so you carry your speed smoothly all the way through the turn.
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  • Lead your braking with the front brake, since it's far more powerful than the rear, and shift your weight back as you brake hard to stay balanced over the bike.

Common mistakes

  • Braking hard, late, or mid-corner instead of finishing your braking beforehand is a common error — it overloads the tires and can lock a wheel, sending you wide or sliding out.
  • Fixating on a hazard, the road right in front of your wheel, or something behind you, instead of on the line you actually want to take, is a common error, since riders steer toward wherever they're looking.
  • Tensing up through the shoulders and arms when nervous makes steering and braking jerky and uncertain; the coaches' fix is building confidence gradually, starting on familiar, gentle descents before pushing your speed.
How To Improve Your Descending
Intermediate

How To Improve Your Descending

Coach's take: This is exactly what you want in a descending tutorial — clear cues you can actually use next ride.

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