BRAKING & SPEED CONTROL
7 min · Free lesson · written lesson, video in production
After this lesson you can slow hard before a corner or feature, without skidding, using the front brake properly.
The Technique
- One finger on each lever. Modern discs need no more, and the other fingers keep their grip.
- The front brake does most of your stopping. Use both, but stop being scared of the front.
- Brake in a straight line, before the corner. Off the brakes through it. Grip spent on braking is grip you can't spend on turning.
- Brace for the deceleration: heels down, hips back slightly, low. If you don't brace, the brakes throw you forward.
- Squeeze, don't grab. Feel for the edge of lockup and hold just under it.
- Pick braking zones where grip is good. Not on roots, wet rock or loose off-camber.
Common Mistakes
Dragging brakes everywhere: arm pump, cooked rotors, no control left when you need it. Fix: distinct braking zones, then release.
- Rear-only skidding. Feels dramatic, stops nothing. Fix: retrain the front with the drill below.
- Grabbing the front mid-corner. Fix: all braking done before the lean.
The Drill
Fire road or carpark. Roll at moderate speed to a marker and stop as short as you can without a skid. Move the marker closer as you improve. Then take it to a corner: brake hard, release fully, turn.
Learn hard front braking on grass or gravel at low speed first. Practise skid control off trail; skids tear trails up.
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