It is 2021 and I still cannot corner

Hip angulation :smiley:

I tried to describe it, but not sure how I did. But as a skier you know exactly what I am talking about. I was also using the adage look at the space, not the tree

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You angulate your whole body into the turn. But what I think Landis is referring to is that most riders turn w/ their head and shoulders while their hips stay perpendicular w/ the bike. The best way to learn how to corner is watching MTB cornering videos. A little more extreme that what you need on a road bike because you typically do not lose traction.

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If one is available in your area, I would highly recommend signing up for a skills clinic (you can usually get some upgrade points as well for completion). While “outside, inside, outside” is certainly the primary tenet of cornering, you need to have the confidence and skill to understand how to make the bike work for you. You will not always have a perfect line choice, so practicing the same approach over and over will not help you in an event.

You need to be comfortable leaning the bike by putting pressure on your outside pedal. You also need to find the appropriate balance between steering and counter-steering. You can’t rely 100 percent on counter-steering in a race, you need to have the bike handling skills and awareness to adjust in the moment. A plurality (if not majority) of riders have poor bike handling skills and awareness and will not “hold their line” or concern themselves with your safety or level of comfort. The onus is on you to protect yourself and control your bike in ANY circumstance.

A good skills clinic will have you practicing your cornering with other riders and getting feedback from a certified coach with race experience. I can’t recommend it enough. A couple days of your life to add more purpose to your practice and give you priceless confidence that you will never get practicing parking lot turns solo. It will be the best $60-100 you will ever spend.

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Here at 2:16 (really2:24). Look at how his hips open to the turn and his head placement, ect. This is way exaggerated for roadie, but you get the idea. You only need to watch that 1 youtube section the rest is very MTB specific

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Ok, but then this is the opposite of skiing, no?

Also, I am curious how you transfer cornering techniques from mountain biking to road biking.

Yep no worry I get it…

Looking, turning your head, to see your line etc…yes for sure. What I am describing these guys doing is turning their head and shoulders in the direction of turn AND they lean/position both head and shoulders well to the inside (off the centerline of the bike).

So if you could have balls of steel, while cornering, take as much of your upper body mass and get it as far to the inside of the turn (as far away from the centerline as possible). Eventually your tires will lose grip and you will crash/slid out. This is what I see/trying to describe.

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What you’re describing he covers at 4:11, keeping your belly button over the BB, not inside it.

Oreo - I actually do a lot of these drills on my road bike when I’m screwing around. The main difference is that on the road bike it is much more subtle.

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Oh, I think I get what you mean. If I understand you correctly, then your point is that you should try to remain more upright with your upper body when you lean your bike (as opposed to your spine being in line with the seat post). This moves your center of gravity closer to the bottom bracket, which gives you more traction.

@DZaster
I have a mountain biking background. I wouldn’t call myself a great bike handler on my mountain bike, but I get around. On my mountain bike, I do much more with my heels to adjust my center of gravity and move my hips back and forth in relation to the saddle. Like you wrote, on my road bike, movements are much more subtle, not least because I simply can’t move about as much. But still, I find it helpful. I don’t panic just because I lose traction or my wheel locks up (which rarely happens, but still).

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Yes, that looks like a better line to me

I don’t know if the optimal line but it’s better than your previous lines.