Riding Position - In and Out of the Saddle

Now that you are riding, let's talk about your position on the bike. The way you are holding the handlebars, sitting, etc.

In the Saddle

If you have seen pictures of expert/pro mtbers before, you may have been thinking how uncomfortable they look, all stooped over like that. Your were partly right. It is more comfortable to sit on the bike like it was a chair (not leaning forward), but it drastically limits your ability to handle a mountain bike and it's really bad for your back. Sitting upright leaves you little ability to manuever quickly because there is no weight on the front tire and you therefore have no traction on the front tire. Sitting upright greatly lessens the force your legs can apply to the pedals because you upper body weight is behind the pedals; when leaning forward your upper body weight provides a weight for your legs to push against on your body as well as the pedals. Equal but opposite forces greatly improve your downward stroke power. Sitting upright basically removes any ability to deal with obstacles in your path because it focuses all your weight on the back tire. In this position you can't absorb shock with your arms or legs, you can't use your upper body weight to enhance to over-all balance and center of weight of the bike and you can't use your body weight to pick up the bike in a bunny hop or other techniques. And worst of all, sitting upright channels every impact on the bike tire straight through your pelvis (ouch!) and into your spine, neck and head (major ouch!!). Never sit upright!

You should already know how you are supposed to be sitting, since you should have gone through the section on setting up your mountain bike before you came here. If not, go here and read up. But here is a quick recap.

The ball of your foot (the thickest part right behind toes) should center over the middle of the pedal. Do not ride on your arch! This allows you to use your calf muscles to enhance your balance the same way as while walking. It also lets your ankles absorb some shock naturally instead of channeling it into your knees. And lastly, later you'll learn about a technique called 'spinning' that requires this proper foot position.

Your hands should be a little wider apart than your shoulder width. Also, this should place your hands in the center of your grips, not on the very outside or inside. Having too narrow or too wide of a grip on the handlebar totally ruins your balance on the bike. (expert riders cut their handlebars to the width they want for a perfect fit. I woudn't suggest that for you until you figure out just what the perfect width is)

Your weight should be partially forward onto the hands, shoulders out over the top bar, with your over-all center of gravity near the center of the bike (not on the seat). This gives you a great deal of manueverability on the bike. You can lean forward to increase traction on the front tire, or for steep climbs. You can lean back to lighten the weight on the front tire for sandy sections, or for downhill sections. You can lean left or right to enhance cornering or to simply miss hitting a tree with your shoulder. This is called 'attack position'. Over-all, attack position improves balance, handling, traction and shock absorbtion.

Your elbows should always be slightly bent, never straight.

Your weight should be focused on your 'sit bones' in the rear of your pelvis, and not on the sensitive area between your legs. The sit bones should be on the wide portion of the seat. Keep away from the 'horn' of the seat with your weight. The horn is more of a guide for your legs/knees that for holding weight.

You want to learn this. It is not uncomfortable when your bike is set up right. In fact, you'll find it very comfortable even on long rides. You can handle most ANY terrain from this position (without even standing up) because it offers probably 90% strength, balance and manueverability.

Out of the Saddle

Some tougher areas require that extra 10% though, and you'll have to get out of the saddle and really apply yourself. If you are in a proper sitting position you can launch right into the proper standing position because you are already optimally balanced. Just stand up, maintaining your center of balance over the bike and slightly bent elbows (you'll have to crane your neck just a bit while looking up). Keep you body low over the bike so your legs can pump hard and use your hips to rotate through the pedal strokes. Do not bob up and down! Now you can focus most of your body weight through the pedal stroke. Again, you can alter the bikes over-all center of balance by leaning forward or rearward, left or right. You can drop right back into the proper sitting position.