Can’t get my head around berms!

[Sidepod]

For whatever reason I just can’t get that nice warm feeling whilst railing a berm.
I get all of the physics and technique etc but it just doesn’t feel right.

I’ve always had some sort of moto/crosser/enduro and berms have never been an issue. Chuck it in, sit forward, foot out, look where you want to go and nail the throttle. If it gets away from me I’m comfortable I can save it.

Standing up on the eeb just feels out of control. If anything slips there is no chance of catching it.

I’m ok with it and fast enough but it just doesn’t feel like I’m in control.

 

[#lazy]

Try staying in a neutral position on bike ( arms legs slightly bent with weight at the centre) and look as far ahead as possible then your body and bike should automatically follow the berm . Knowing the berm will help with how to ride wether you go high lower or the middle , and just keep practicing !
If you’ve been practicing for years with no joy get some tuition ?

 

[Gary]

foot out?

WTF?

If your berms have good support keep your feet on and level and load into the berm (from this position you can still weighting the outside of the bike for more grip if needs be).
You don't have a throttle to correct the bike so all your speed and control comes from a good entry into the berm.

 

[Hobo Mikey]

Most important….Don’t brake on the berm.

 

[Pdoz]

Sidepod, if you feel comfortable riding motorbike style, try adapting that to the bike. Outside pedal down and weighted. You can even channel a bit of road racer by getting the inside knee / elbow out.

It'll drive the cyclists crazy, especially if you only do it every 3/4 berms so they can't figure out what's going on.

 

[B1rdie]

Don’t look ahead on a berm! Look to your exit and twist the quads like you want to point your belly that way. Your inner legs acting on the saddle and the twist ot the quads will do the work that a throttle would do.

 

[Dave_h34]

Light
Heavy
Light

Its just a compression/bomb hole on its side.

 

[w2ge]

foot out?

WTF?

It‘s a motorcycle dirt bike technique, on the inside of almost any turn, the inside leg goes almost straight forward, helps weight the front wheel and if you slip it’s there to dab and (hopefully) make a save.

 

[Mikerb]

Surely the whole point of a berm ( at least what MTBers refer to as a berm) is that the rider can lean the bike to take the turn whilst the bike actually remains vertical to the terrain. In that respect it can be ridden with level pedals as the centrifugal force acts to push the bike onto the banking.
A berm will only act in that way if the bike enters the radius of the turn at its beginning. That means entering ( for example) a left hand berm from high on the right hand side of the approach. If you enter the berm from the centre or left hand side of the approach you have to drift the (or scrub) the rear wheel to align the bike with the radius of the berm..............or risk going over the top!!

 

[B1rdie]

What they call “a twist of the wrist” on motorbikes could be translated as a twist of the hips in mtb. The control over the rear wheel can be more easily done with feet on the pedals, inner foot a little up is safer than level.

 

[Doug Stampfer]

I think what the OP is saying is he knows what to do & does it but it just feels foreign. I guess after a certain amount of time it will become familiar however I think the difference is, on a moto entering the corner with a throttle controlling your speed & a foot out feels safer or reassuring whereas entering a berm flat footed on a mtb you're relying on your technique & momentum.

 

[Gary]

What they call “a twist of the wrist” on motorbikes could be translated as a twist of the hips in mtb.

Eh.. No.

Because...

Um... Physics

 

[B1rdie]

Eh.. No.

Because...

Um... Physics

You should hang the portrait of your degree at the bottom of such posts.

 

[B1rdie]

Escape mode

 

[Gary]

Yeah Einstein. He looks amazing through those berms but still doesn't magically have throttle control via his hips and his feet remain clipped in the whole time.

 

[Jimbo Vills]

I come from a motorbike background (tarmac, going fast in circles type not dirt)

berms draw no comparison to motorbikes they are alien to me too ?

I struggle with ‘trail’ breaking as I’m so used to breaking to apex then throttle out….

with berms you seem to just need to rail the thing but trust in the tyres takes time.

obviously it’s all about body / feet position and weight distribution but with varying conditions, lines and internet advice it’s not something I find natural.

practice and I think some tuition is needed to break it down and get rid of the bad habits I have developed already and years and years of the complete opposite ingrained on brain I need to get over ?

 

[Gary]

You already seem to have a far greater grasp of the concept and procedures required than most noobs and many "experienced" mtb riders commenting.

 

[apac]

Oops, I seemed to have accidentally wondered into the experienced section. Pardon me, I'll find my own way out.

 

[E150rob]

Get braking done before turn, look towards exit of berm and most importantly have faith in your tyres! A lot of trail center berms can feel sketchy due to loose gravel. Anyone will wash out on those berms no matter how good they are.

 

[Jimbo Vills]

You already seem to have a far greater grasp of the concept and procedures required than most noobs and many "experienced" mtb riders commenting.

ha. Cheers…

it’s the slow ones I struggle with. Fast big speed and flowing ain’t no issue. Cos the speed you carry and commitment you’ve placed means it’s too late to think about it….

the sketchy slow speed ones that does my head in. I’m either killing speed and the exit. Or running hot and feel / am washing out.

it can’t be that complicated ?

 

[Coolcmsc]

Just checking, are you ‘pumping’ the berm when it’s going to help? That definitely feels more secure, not out of control. Just whizzing round a berm off the brakes having set it up, is a thrill, but can also feel passive if you’re in control. Perhaps thats it?
Anyway, random addition: Saw a Remy Métailler vid the other day where he was pumping twice sometimes in berms where the radius changed — he was trucking down some steep dusty stuff ?

 

[Jimbo Vills]

Just checking, are you ‘pumping’ the berm when it’s going to help?

yes mate when I feel it’s going to help. But it’s also a temporary thing, as by pumping and loading the suspension and tyres, they are shortly going to unload….

obviously it works on certain berms but for me it’s the slower more switch back type I’m struggling with whereby ‘pumping’ isn’t going to help.

it’s more of a sustained loading by body position sweet spot I need to find which I obviously haven’t ?

nothings consistent in mtb which is why I enjoy it.

i defo need to hit a more bike park place and session just a few runs to get the few right.

 

[Coolcmsc]

yes mate when I feel it’s going to help… it’s the slower more switch back type I’m struggling with whereby ‘pumping’ isn’t going to help.

Yes, working on those too…. If I could do 180 stoppies, at least I could style round ?

 

[B1rdie]

I do feel better with riding berms than with doing double jumps. There was a bike park in the USA that had a feature at the end of the DH track that they called “corkscrew”, it was a woonden ramp that turned like two and a half 360s ending on a sprint to the finish line, many of the riders that could do all the jumps of the track would take the chicken line to avoid the corkscrew. If I had the ebike those days I would keep riding up that track only to ride that thing.
The secret to do tight turns is to lean the bike, but once one does not feel comfortable doing that, another way to mind the move is look at the exit point and try to point the belly bottom that way, by doing this drill, the body will naturally build the confidence to make the bike lean.

 

[Gary]

You sure they weren't just choosing to avoid riding a shit gimmicky wooden feature followed by a pointless sprint ?