5 Essential Skills Every Cyclist Should Learn

Dan, James and Oscar show you five essential skills they believe will make you into a more confident rider. These skills do take practice but aren’t too difficult to master, they will help you become more comfortable when riding in a group and out on the open roads.

The first skill we feel is important to get you started, is braking. Now, this could give you sleepless nights with images of you flying over the handlebars in a very unflattering manner. We have some really easy to learn tips to help you ensure your braking is controlled, effective and safe.

Riding out of the saddle is an important skill to become well accustomed to. Not only does it give you a respite from sitting on your saddle on a long ride, but it also comes in useful when you want to get maximum power out onto the road.

Cornering is a key skill you will come to enjoy more and more. Whether you're descending down a mountain or ripping it up on your local lanes. You will ultimately always end up coming to a corner. We want to help you feel more comfortable when railing it around them.

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Music: Epidemic Sound
Kiwi - Harvio

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Leave us a comment below!

[gcn]

What skills do you think we've missed? Let us know. 👇

[theloniousm]

Riding with one hand - essential if you are Italian and you want to talk.

[billsabado]

Having a handle bar moustache during a bike tutorial is highly appropriate

[Blues]

Change gears while being stopped:

- Stand on one foot, leave the other one clipped in
- Change into the gear you want
- Lift the rear wheel by pulling up the saddle
- Give the rear wheel a spin by pedaling with your clipped-in foot
- The chain should go where it needs to go

Very helpful when you've stopped in a massive gear

[adamgriss]

Why does everything sound more interesting when spoken in a Brittish or Spanish accent?

[albr]

5 essential skills to groom a mustache

[jacksazzy]

We NEED a video about correcting posture problems. I feel like having a bad posture when cycling worsens it very significantly and posture on a bike is definitely not an intuitive task.

[bizzehdee]

How many outtakes are there of Dan getting thrown completely clear over the bars before you got that smooth shot of him doing that awesome dismount?

[thomlarson]

So glad I watched this video and practiced braking last year when I got a new bike with disk brakes. Yesterday I was descending a hill in a bike lane when an elderly pedestrian stepped off the curb in front of me. I would have gone over my bars for sure if I hadn’t spent time practicing shifting my weight back when braking hard! (I also missed the pedestrian.). Thank you GCN!

[alanlewis]

All very useful for a newbie like me who didn’t get on a bike until she was over 50.

[ptimlick]

As an old, old cyclist, I say "way to go!" So much excellent advice.

[jurban]

I've been riding for 33 years, and these guys do a great job in a number of cycling videos, especially if you are newer to cycling. Some of their more advanced videos are great even if you've been cycling for many years. The only quibble is: Where in the heck are their gloves?! I've pulled out too much gravel imbedded in unprotected (and even protected!) skin after a wreck (or even after a mindless, careless tip-over) to ever consider riding without gloves....even at slow speeds!

[LUCYDIAMONDBOXER]

Basic maintenance skills... can't continue any of the above without knowing inner tube change, snapped chain and indexing procedures

[i-vernsimphonique]

Thank you for this video. Plenty of hard work and effort in putting the tutorials! I have learnt more about cornering, riding off the saddle and riding with one hand especially.

[danhal]

This helped me a lot.I started riding less that one year ago and love it.
Thanks for the help!

[jameshannan]

Great videos guys! 👏👏 thank you for putting this together

[phillippitts]

You guys are hilarious! I’ve been riding 40 years and I enjoy your shows every time. Thanks.

[amydixon]

Thanks guys, very useful! Both as a refresher for me, and as things to highlight when helping my daughter work on her skills, rather than just hoping she picks stuff up along the way. :)

[zerg]

Basic Tip 8 : When changing tyres or wheels, make sure you have the correct tread direction... putting a tyre on backwards will ruin your grip in the dry, and make it suicide to ride in the rain.

[nikolapocrnja]

These are essential no doubt. I would like to see some non-body focused content like "how to get back after a crash" or "how to be patient in traffic". I'm so glad that you included Observation - best one to prevent bad things. In traffic, I try to function like Robocop or Terminator, observing possible hazards, calculating my moves, speed etc. It's fun, I feel smarter and didn't crash since I started to observing at higher level.

I know I'm not going to have Dan's hair, but what are those sunglasses?