What Kind Of Rider Are You?

There are many mountain biking styles out there. While some like to sit and spin, others like to stand and hammer. I have done a lot of looking at how I ride a bike lately in my quest to become a better mountain biker. Through searching through my own mountain biking technique…I have come to several conclusions.

I tend to pick harder gears and hammer it out.
I ride heavier bikes than most of my fellow cycling addicts.
My legs are perfect until mile 25 in the woods or 35 on the road…then things head south.
I am more comfortable in higher heart-rates.
I put a lot of trust into my large tires and suspension.

Ideally, to be a well rounded mountain biker, you would want to be comfortable in all riding styles…using them when needed.

My need to mash the harder gears really came to light during my newly found road biking. I found that I rarely ever left the big ring…at all. This directly correlates with my need to push bigger gears in mountain biking to power over instead of efficiently spin.

The characteristics of my riding style is a by-product of the type of riding that I enjoy the most…all mountain, super tech. It is also a necessity with higher rolling resistance of larger, more aggressive tires (2.4 even for xc riding) and extra weight I decide to carry around. There is a flip side to this that is self destructive in some ways. To truly increase my skill level to be better at the trails I enjoy the most, I also need to be proficient at the other styles.

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Is the way I ride wrong? No…it is just the way I ride, but it does not work for all conditions…hence my quest at becoming better at all riding styles.