Off camber corners tug at your front wheel, take your bike places you don’t want to go and basically give you the jitters.
Off camber corners tug at your front wheel, take your bike places you don’t want to go and basically give you the jitters. Unless you know how to not only survive them, but attack them. Luckily, winning the ISDE two years in a row with the Australian women’s team means you have off-cambered turns nailed. Jemma Wilson, shows you how…
How to: Off-Camber Corners
WATCH Jemma’s video here and see the step-by-step tips below…
1. Look for a line
Nailing the right line through an off-camber turn is all-important. For this type of turn, as I approach it I will decide where to ride. I will turn in late, cut across the trail and exit tight – you can see the line. There’s a few things to do before I sail out of it full throttle, though – but the important bit is to plan your line on approach.
2. Brake and sit down
One issue with off-camber corners is that when you enter them too deep, the camber and gravity takes over and the bike won’t go where you want it to. Brake harder, earlier. Then, as you enter the corner roll off the brakes entirely and smoothly sit down. You need to be looking for your line as
you do this.
3. Drive through the corner
Now you are on the right line, at the right speed, you can start keeping the bike stable by driving with the throttle. Not too much though! Feel for the front and rear wheels’ grip as you roll on, too much throttle can lighten the front end or cause too much wheelspin, causing the bike to follow the camber down the hill with either end – either is not good. You can see on this pic I have just got on the throttle.
4. Posture
Speaking of grip, your posture is going to be the difference between tucking the front or reversing down the hill on your butt. Sit forward to weight the front wheel, with lots of weight on that outside footpeg to push the tyres into the ground. Keep looking for your line – where you look is where you go.
5. Drag rear brake
A good tip for left-hand off-camber corners is to use your rear brake to help hold the line tight. Using the rear brake with the throttle still on actually lifts the back, helps squat the front and therefore aids turn it. This lets you hold a tighter line on off-camber turns. It’s harder to use the rear brake on right handers, as your boot is hanging near the front wheel to help weight it and/or catch any front wheel tucks but this method is so effective, it’s tempting to run a handlebar-mounted rear brake lever.
6. Exit on the gas
You can see here I have done the hard bit of the turn and am now hard on the gas. If I had gotten too greedy with entry speed or taken the wrong entry line, I’d be fighting the bike on the outside edge of the track, wasting time and not feeling happy. Because I got the above right, I am on solid throttle – and getting on the gas early is where the time is made in an off-camber turn.
TIPS
• Off-cambers vary in their severity. The more the camber, the more you need to think about your line and how to get on the throttle early to stabilise the bike.
• If there is a rut at the outside (bottom) of the off-camber turn, it can be faster, even though it’s a longer route because you have more grip.
DOs
• Be smooth, but not tentative on the throttle.
• Stop and have a look at the corner if you can – you can make up a lot of time on off-camber corners if you get the right line.
• Work as hard as you can on maintaining grip.
• Finish braking early, the longer you hang onto that lever, the longer it is before you are on the throttle.
DON’Ts
• Get too greedy with the throttle.
• Rush the corner entry – this type of curve is set up with the entry. Get it right here and the rest of the corner is easy.
• Use the front brake too hard mid corner – you could tuck the front wheel. By lid corner you should be off the brake and on the gas.