Mastering Mountain Bike Skills

I've been doing MTB for many many many years. Finally got a modern bike about 1 year ago and went nuts. Bought the whole family Mountain bikes and we have great trails we can access right from the house. We ride a lot. My kids are now 13, 10 and 7 they have all been biking from age 3. I've been struggling to teach them things that really stick, no matter how many mountain bike channels we watch on YouTube, nothing comes close to the practical teaching in the book. My riding has improved immensely in 2 weeks in ways I did not expect, and as a bonus, much of the material can be explained to the kids (and wife) in ways that have materially impacted their riding too. I looked at this book and thought, lame, how can a book out do GMBN or Seth or other MTB channels? It DOES and does is massively for you and for anyone you need to TEACH. I can't recc it high enough. Concise, humorous, and effective. You and anyone in your orbit can learn to ride with confidence, safety and skill. This book has been a game changer for me personally and my family. And for once, something Amazon sells that was not made in China...

Birthday gift for 10-year old. Liked I could preview the text and comprehension level before purchase, as well as general direction of information for this very capable bicyclist, but neophyte mountain biker. Giftee began reading it immediately, forgetting about other gifts still to be opened.

I took one ride on a MTB, and was like "wow I nearly died (figuratively, not literally) several times!" Still was a ton of fun, so I immediately set out to find a book on how one is to learn to ride, or actually shred. This is by far the best choice and most up-to-date. If you aren't rad enough to speak fluent Californian already, never fear, the glossary will have you up to speed in a hurry. My riding became 100% less scary and 100% more fun in just a couple rides, I am steadily improving as I learn to apply the skills and principles taught in this book. You can pick up a lot from YouTube too, in fact the author Lee McCormack appears in a lot of videos there, so you can fill in the gaps or concepts in the book you don't understand. And outstanding value, if they ever make a 4th edition I'll be sure to buy that one too. Get one, and learn how to develop your bike kung fu!

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.

It's a very good read. Good skills advice, technique, and instruction. I've been riding since the 90s, but I am self-taught. I can ride a trail and handle most tech and descents that I have a good time on my bike, but I also have a few bad habits or technique bits to fix. I never learned to manual or wheelie, and my bunny hops are effective, but I can't get the kind of altitude I want. I can ride a berm, but not as fast as I want to. You get it, ok but not awesome rider. I need to get this stuff sorted. I can't afford coach time, and Youtube can be dodgy on advise. My overall impression of the book is very good. It is well written, logically organized, and fat with photos, charts, and diagrams to help illustrate concepts. Now that I think about it, vids to go along with the book would be cool. Paper doesn't do that yet. So you just read a section, ponder the knowledge, then go practice it. Taduh. Not as crappy rider as last week. BTW I bought the digital and print versions. The digital is good for general reading, but the print version has much better photo resolution and general layout. The pics in the digital just tend to be placed between paragraphs mostly. Still useful, all the text is there and the message still gets through. I just think the book is better.

Latest updated edition of the best "how-to" MTB skills book out there. Can be tediously Californian (no he's not from there, I know) in its wacky moto-speak but the actual tips and techniques are way ahead of any other MTB book I've read over the years. If you're an ex BMXer you probably don't need this book but otherwise it's fantastic for the basic skills. I can honestly say it made me faster and safer at trail centres after 30 years of basic cross-country type MTBing. From an earlier edition I finally learned how to "pump" single track (or any trail) and discovered where all the free speed and traction came from that my riding mates already had. I just thought they had a higher innate skill level when I followed them. The techniques in this book showed what they were actually doing with their weight rather than simply riding/steering down the trail like me. Now I can follow them effortlessly with more grip in the corners, more fun in berms and even safely over small jumps/drop offs (the little ones that pitch you over the bars if you just ride into them). I'm too old to be arsed trying to follow anyone over a 4 foot drop-off but I'm safe now if the trail suddenly drops away 1 or 2 feet. Wish this book had been around in 1986. You can also use the detail in this book to help you interpret other folk's technique videos on youtube, etc. Fantastic book, ignore the "humor".

I’m not a professional mountain biker by any means. And reading this book isn’t going to get me any closer to becoming one. But it does have a lot of great tips on how to do a multitude of things. It works on basics like braking technique and balance/cornering to more advanced things like drops and jumps. It really is a great book that teaches w writhing from fundamentals to advanced riding skills. It’s a great book and has helped me ride much more safely while also decreasing my splits and overall times on trails.

I just got into the sport and am obsessed. I knew that I needed to nail the fundamentals to improve quickly. This book provides those basics in a clear, engaging, and easy to follow manner. I have improved leaps and bounds with this book. You can go back to it over and over and learn something new. YouTube tutorials are great, but this book lays out the fundamentals in a logical progression. YouTube videos can supplement what is contained in this book and provide a moving illustration of the text. If you are just getting into the sport, there is no better resource out there short of taking private lessons or enrolling in expensive camps.

Great book for all mountain bikers. Shows you how to set up your bike to make riding easier and more efficient - this made a huge difference to my riding. Then it is all about bicycle skills. I am in my seventies getting back into MTB that I did in the 1990's. The new technology in modern bikes makes a huge difference (bigger frames, 29 inch wheels, seat dropper posts, disc brakes, single chain wheel, etc) but this book shows that skills are far more important than equipment.

I rarely write reviews, but this one deserves a good review and also deserves the record to be set straight with respect to a couple of previous reviews. Specifically, buying a book called MASTERING mountain bike skills (the clue is in the title) and complaining that it is not suitable for beginners is akin to buying a book on vegetarian cookery and complaining that it does not have enough meat dishes in it. This book is by far the best skills book for anyone who has mastered the basics. It has a mass of detail in it. There are hundreds of hints and tips and the book pays dividends when read a few times over simply because there is so much info in it. I'm kind of gobsmacked at some of the bizarre criticisms I've read here. It's a shame these critics haven't named the books they have found superior. In over 10 years of riding I haven't seen another book/magazine/website/DVD that comes anywhere near providing the wealth of useful info that this book does. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to improve their existing mountain biking skills. Here's another clue/tip: - If you don't know what an endo is, don't buy a book called MASTERING mountain bike skills, buy a BEGINNERS guide to mountain biking.

Very deep explaination and good topics explain for dummies by a real topic expert.

Buscaba un libro completo con todo lo necesario a nivel de técnica y de funcionamiento de las bicis de montaña, y este libro lo tiene literalmente todo. Eso sí, está en inglés, que yo entiendo bien. El lenguaje no es demasiado técnico y me ha servido para aprender como se llaman muchos componentes lo cual es útil para luego poder comprar y mirar foros de mtb. Muy contento con la compra.

Aprendi muito com o livro e continuo aprendendo. As técnicas apresentadas me levaram a um novo nível. Na minha opinião, trata-se de um manual para se desenvolver e evoluir no Mountain Bike, principalmente se você não tem um treinador ou orientador para técnicas de pilotagem. Ao aprender pelo menos algumas das técnicas descritas com detalhes no livro, a diversão e o prazer da prática desse esporte vão aumentar muito.