How To Ride Downhill On A Cross Country Bike | XC Bike Descending Skills

Cross country mountain bikes typically sacrifice some descending ability in favour of more speed and acceleration on the flat and uphill. Nevertheless, Rich has some top tips to help you tackle the descents faster on your XC MTB!

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[gmbn]

Do you want to see more cross country content?

[GeorgeFrideric]

'I got a little bit loose at times'. Not in those shorts you didn't, Rich...

[manuelhijar]

Yes please!! More XC videos and tips. We see enough Downhill ones. Thanks

[georgmtb]

Even as a seasoned xc racer who is pretty fast on the downhills, I changed to a dropper post this season and it has transformed my riding, and taken it to a whole new level, even If I am not that much faster, it helps me recover on the downhills and be fresher for the uphills.

[joshiboy]

Much more fun, do it all the time. I remember when DH bikes only had 100mm travel

[cavanparsons]

The whole video I wanted him to lower the seat

[MTBMOR]

Boy do I need this....I've been riding my XC bike for 2 months while my Enduro is in the shop. I had 3 crashes this weekend....perfect timing....well, actually this is 2 months late

[markusilomaki]

Make video on "is todays xc bike the 90's DH bike?" There might be a lot of similarities.

[dave_xc]

Try again with a cross country hardtail next time...

[chrisridesbicycles]

Oh that brings back memories. Can you do another run old school with 560mm handlebars, 135mm stem, 60mm travel on the front and nothing on the rear? And yes, rim brakes only of course. What do you think? Challenge accepted?

[skyworks]

I just love fast light XC bikes, really good for training. My is the Track Supercaliber and as a motorcycle rider all I want is speed up and down the trails.

[darcyphillips]

I do all my DH on a Scott Scale 740 and I love it. I must confess though, I run Minion DHF & DHR II, dropper, 25mm rise bars, 60mm stem, 180mm f disc & metal pads on single pots.... all this keeps me honest on the trails

[tdwarrior]

I've ridden several major trails on a full-suspension XC bike without a dropper like the Barr Trail off Pikes Peak Colorado, Ribbon Trail in Grand Junction, the Whole Enchilada in Moab, and the Tahoe Rim trail. I started mountain biking in the early 90's when there were no such thing as a dropper post and had cantilever brakes. My XC now is better than what most DH bikes were back then.

[dadventuretv]

Could have called this: “How to ride downhill like it’s 1990.” Lol

[rosskline]

You can descend on just about anything when the seat is all the way down. Makes a HUGE difference!!

[darkman]

I live in Trinidad and Tobago and although I have not ridden all the trails, it does seem from the ones I have, that we are more into XC riding.

[chiccorocker]

You need some guts to do those down hill sections without a dropper. I'm so addicted to dropper posts at this point that I would almost put it on my trekking bike as well. And it's all GMBN's fault of course as I had no idea they existed before (thank you!).

As somebody said long ago: I'd rather take an hard tail with dropper than full sus with a rigid post

[rmstucky]

Skill, line choice, precision, experience, and skill...

[JimiAle]

Under biking is always fun, even XC courses on a gravel bike

[clemensklosterer]

I was waiding so long on such a xc video thx