Customer Reviews

Mastering Mountain Bike Skills - 2nd Edition

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Bicycle training includes physical, psychological, and skills training. Although riders often ignore the latter, without skills training mountain bikers limit their potential enjoyment and development as competent cyclists.

This is one of the best books ever published on acquiring mountain biking skills, a book whose principles broadly apply to other forms of bicycling, including road cycling.

The book is well-organized and the topics flow well. The book begins with general bike set-up and pedaling, transitions to braking, cornering, hopping, dropping, and jumping, and puts the basics together in chapters about flowing, crazy (miscellaneous) conditions, and racing.

The book has more than 100 color photos and diagrams, which overall illustrate its points well. Diagrams, such as those on pages 64, 66, and 67 depicting zero, negative, and positive camber help the reader learn the meaning of familiar yet uncertain terms. Time-sequence photography, such as images on pages 106 and 107 illustrating the difference in jumping techniques of a dirt-jumper and cross-country racer are superb.

The book attempts to detail principles for beginners and experts alike, and overall does a great job.

As excellent as the book is, it could be improved.

A glossary would help. Authors and editors often forget that not everyone knows the meaning of the jargon words-such as rail and carve. Even if explained at first usage, a glossary of mountain biking terms would improve the book.

The language is hip, sometimes crude. Although attractive to many who practice downhill mountain biking, the lingo might not appeal to all. For example, in describing pedaling style at the bottom of the pedal stroke on page 34, the authors write: "Pretend you're scraping dog crap off the bottom of your shoe."

The book includes descriptions and illustrations that are inconsistent. For example, in describing a series of turns on page 59, the text describes a left then right series of turns, but the illustration is right then left. In describing how to carve flat turns, on page 66, the text says lean your bike more than your body, but the rider is leaning his body more than the bike. On page 69, in describing skidding into loose corners, the text describes the method of dealing with a skid turning left, but the time-sequence photos are of a rider turning right. Such inconstancies make it more difficult for the reader to follow the authors' points.

Sage advice has its exceptions. When exceptions are not qualified as such, readers may be confused. For example, throughout the book, the problems associated with needless, overzealous, panicked, or overly cautious braking are reiterated. The novice mountain biker may think: "Always stay off the brakes!" Yet in describing how to conquer switch backs, page 68, the first item of advice is "Slow WAY down....you want to reach a happy speed, not scare yourself..." which, of course, is what novice riders think in every situation they consider braking. If the authors had said: "This is an exception to letting-the-brakes-go-to-ride-more-effectively rule," they'd clarify their thinking for the reader and gain credibility.

These minor quibbles aside, this book has great information about mountain biking skills, from one of the most skilled riders who has every lived. If you are a mountain biker, get this book-even if only to look at the pictures.

Reviewer's note/disclaimer: The publisher sent me a review copy. I was not paid for this review.

I'm going on 53 and got my first mountain bike 1 year ago. After a rude introduction to single track, I decided to try and learn some skills. This book looked like a good source of info, so I ordered it. My first impression was that I'll never risk most of the moves shown by the pros in the book. It's definitely geared toward all-out riding. But I went back to the book and got more selective with the chapters. I then realized that all the basics are there. Not only are the techniques shown, but there's great explanations of why they work. It's almost like having a video. So what first looked like an intimidating how-to manual, now seems more like Pandorra's Box. I look forward to practicing whenever I can spare the time, then getting out and enjoying some terrain. The deer trails above my home have taken on new meaning.

Learning anything proceeds along a continuum. Starting from where one isn't even aware how much one doesn't know, (unconscious incompetence), the first step is to become aware of just how much one doesn't know. This would be the stage of conscious incompetence. As one gains knowlege and practices a set of skills, they are in the phase of conscious competence. Elite atheletes, like Brian Lopes in mountain biking, have reached the stage of unconscious competence. They no longer even have to think about it, they "just do it." Lopes started riding at 4 years old, and turned pro at 17. Rising from the ranks of BMX, Brian has been successful in a vast range of off road biking activities. Not only has he been successful at many of the biking disciplines, he holds world records in bunny hopping and distance jumping, and he is even the star of a mountain bike video game "Downhill Domination" for PlayStation.

The problem is, people at Brian Lopes' level of unconscious competence are not necessarily any longer the best teachers for us mere mortals. The years of developing skills, motor memory, reflexes, and balance, mean folks at this level are no longer even aware of all that goes into their amazing performance. They aren't even necessarily able to say how they do certain things.

Enter Lee McCormack, a man who has been explaining things and writing about bicycling for years. Despite some pretty impressive biking acheivements of his own, he is still close enough to his conscious competence to break down and write about the basics and specific skills that go into excellent biking performance.

Mastering Mountain Bike Skills describes itself as for anyone who wants to ride better, faster, or more confidently. It helps you master the skills to all types of terrain in almost any type of situation: cross country, freeriding, downhill, dirt jumping, bikercross, urban terrain, and even skate parks.

Chapters cover bike selection and setup, balance, position, pedaling, pumping terraqin for speed, braking, cornering, wheelies and hops, drops, jumping,speed, lines, and racing.

I read this book straight through, but it's one you'll want to keep out and refer to often as you ride, develop, and practice skills. There's great tips and tricks for people at all levels of skill and experience. It's also fun that Lee throws a lot of little jokes in all through his writing. The combination of Brian and Lee have produced a book that will help me in getting back into mountain biking after an 11 year break, and will be referred to often.

The combination of experienced authors, supportive facts, and the fashion in which the material is presented makes this book the best way to learn about mountain bike skills. The format is what I like the most. There are clear frame by frame pictures of moves with concise descriptions to go with them. The authors also provide interesting scientific facts about cycling physics. The troubleshooting sections are also helpful. The chapters are all well organized and packed full of helpful and not so obvious information. Any rider can benefit from this book. The book is more than a list of tips (like most other books: outside foot down, look ahead, etc.) It is the best tool that I own for improving my skills next to my bikes. I am a seasoned racer and I am learning so much from this book. Buy it!

I'm an "emerging" sport level DH/Freeride biker that wants to take it to the next level but I'm having trouble finding fast, knowledgable riders to ride with. In this book, I've found that rider and then some.... This book is very well illustrated with lots of detail starting from the basics to jumping 50ft gaps. Most of the books I've seen go to the extreme of showing you how to drop off a curb, MMBS shows you how to drop off a CLIFF. They have bike setup tips, usefull troubleshooting guides and tons of race winning tips. The list goes on... I received my book yesterday (#55 - Thanks for the signature Brian), I've read every word and I am looking forward to trying it all.

I bought the first edition of Mastering Mountain Bike Skills over three years ago and the advice within it made me a faster rider - the guys that used to leave me in their dust are now the guys I hang with on the twisty singletrack. Not only am I faster, but I am smoother and in more control: crashes are almost a thing of the past.

The first edition was awesome and the second edition is even better. This book contains everything you need to know from choosing the right bike, how to set it up, and it then goes through every aspect of riding a mountain bike - pedalling, braking, cornering and how to cope with any obstacle that any trail will throw at you. Each concept is explained very clearly and has photos and diagrams to make things clearer - the book is packed with very useful photo sequences so you can study a rider's form all through the execution of the move. It is very progressive and never overwhelming - you can go through it chapter by chapter, or ignore the stuff you know and go straight into drifting and cranking jumps - the choice is yours. I found this to be a valuable reference book: after spending days or weeks on a certain skill I would re-read the appropriate section to fine-tune my progress.

I have read many magazine articles and watched many videos/DVDs on riding skills, but this book is far more comprehensive. This book takes a few days just to read, let alone practicing the lessons - you can't fit that much information on to a DVD (or even three). I also think it is a better place to start than skills clinics which are often overcrowded and expensive - this book is like having your own instructor on-call. Once you have used this book to build your skills you will get a lot more value from a skills session with a professional as they will polish your skills instead of teaching them to you.

For much less than the price of a decent tire, Mastering Mountain Bike can help you corner faster on the tires you already have. Many people upgrade components on their bike instead of investing in their skills - to those people I say "Buy this book!"

i teach mountain biking skills clinics and i have found that this book is an excellent tool in teaching all levels of mountain bikers - beginner to pro. it is a very well written, fun to read, and highly detailed book that will help you overcome your current obstacles and help you to ride the drops you never dreamed you could.

I'm someone who learns pretty well from books, but I don't think you need to be to like this one. I've bought a lot of books with this thought in mind on mountaineering, skiing, telemarking, soccer...you name it. This is by far one of the best books I have ever read to learn techniques. And, I believe the reason it is so good is because it is written by two people who are probably a bit different in the way they learned the sport of mountain biking.
It's obvious that Brian Lopes is the "natural" athlete, and much of the information comes from breaking down what he does in different situations on a bike. Lee McCormack is no slouch and it is his left brain approach and his ability to break moves down into do-able steps that makes this book so accessible.
If your into mountain biking, expert or novice, this book will help you improve.

I'm a former amateur road cyclist/USCF, etc., who hates cars & discovered serious mountain biking 8 years ago. I'm addicted to agressive, technical, cross-country single-track & ride 15+ hours/week. I have taught myself over the years by asking questions and observing, reading, etc. I did learn several things from this book, and reread parts just to renew my consciousness and allow key points to settle into my subconscious, and it does and has helped my riding, indeed, but nowhere near as much as I'd like. Still, I would recommend purchasing it.
Just that I would love to sit down with Lopes and edit each sentence, each diagram and photo, detailing in very clear, understandable language as to what is really meant to be conveyed, so that a mostly self-taught enthusiast who is into mountain biking purely for the personal thrill, and doesn't care about the lingo or keeping track of the "stars" or racing, could more easily incorporate these skills into his/her passion. The book makes some good points, a lot of them in fact, but it's just not well-written, and is frequently bereft of true definition. Both descriptions and terminology are lacking in definitive substance just where they are needed, and as good as the photos and sequencing might appear to someone flipping through, they too are often frustrating: when a very detailed, point-by-point explanation or diagram is needed, much is left to the imagination to finish.
One simple example, for example, lies in the use of words like "preload" and "load" in different places, when they mean the exact same thing: compress the fork and prepare to unload it once it has been loaded. 'Preload' should only be used to indicate a static shock (actually, even there, it's questionable---I tend to think the word itself is redunant) as in its position when the bike is at rest in order to adjust air pressure/inspect a fork/ measure, etc. Similarly, "pump" might sound obvious to the writers, but 'pump' is what my father would yell when I was 4-years old, meaning pedal hard. Defining terms and actions accurately and precisely, in a scientific sense and in relationship to similar words, for the benefit of the reader-student, seems to have been rarely taken into consideration. Many sentences and paragraphs are left open-ended (& often filled with puns - not that there's not a place for humor at times, but it's often distracting and leaves me wondering what the hell are they talking about). In addition to wanting to sit down with Lopes and help rewrite this book, which could be so much better than it is, an artist of the technical ability of say, the late illustrator Oscar Ratti (see _Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere_), could do a much better job than many of the photos. As with any good first textbook, hopefully this one will evolve into a 2nd edition, and edited for clarity by someone outside of the "industry'.

I'm lucky enough to live near some great off road trails - the Avalon area in Maryland. Problem is that I'm an old guy (the bike I had before the Cannondale Prophet I just bought is older than you!) (all right - I'm over 50) and I really like riding trails. So, now I've got a new bike that's a lot more capable than me, I want to get better. The trails I ride are twisty single track with lots of roots, rocks, stream crossings, occassional short downhills with berms on the turns... great stuff. Well, enough about me (it is all about me though isn't it?), but this book was a great help. First, as they say in the book "let the bike roll". When you're perched at the top of a gnarly section it's nice to be able to call up your mantra of "let the bike roll" as you head down into a gully full of rocks, roots, fallen branches etc. The book gives solid advice on skills to learn so that you get the most out of your bike (things like weighting and unweighting). It gives you insight into how to do things like manuals, hops, etc that most riders don't know how to do. (To learn you have to practice but this book really helps get you started). I've really enjoyed the book and read it and try stuff in it practically every day.