The thing that's always fascinated me about Blake is that he can mess things up, on purpose! just so you don't have to, and still ends up looking better than most people who think they know what they're doing while he's doing it!!
Just started mountain biking a few weeks ago on some very light trails and found it totally different from street riding. I'm no where near ready to attempt any drops till I get experience and confidence
The dead sailor has never looked so styled 👌 I don't make mistakes on these drops cos it's getting the bike to go off the edge in the first place that I have issues with 🤣🤣🤣
Saving this for the riding season. I just started mountain biking last year, and haven't really done any drops yet. But Drops and Jumps are what I want to conquer this year! And, as always, Blake is a Beautiful Person!
Best advice is get some coaching - best money you'll spend, it saves crashes, ripped cloths and skin. Look up " How to Bike" with Ben Cathro from Pinkbike. He ha 3 seasons, each with about 8 episodes taking you from beginner through to advanced. All the best. Regards Tony Sadler South Wales uk 🏴
1st mistake for a lot of people, trying it in the first place. Too many people get ahead of themselves when Mtn Biking and try things like drop offs before they even have the basics down usually because a friend talked them into it. My boss at work hurt himself pretty badly trying to jump over a log as a beginner rider.
Another problem with beginners is many jump straight into using clips, and then they build really bad habits of just pulling with their feet on everything instead of utilizing proper forms, and then when a less than ideal situation comes up, not only do they goof because they don't have the correct skill, but they can't get off the bike either and have an even worse crash than they would have with flats.
Excellent video Blake, I came off last February on the drop at FOD on the GBU line and that was purely going too slow, a week in hospital with a smashed clavicle, broken ribs and a collapsed lung has taught me to go FASTER 😂😂
Mate these are all the mistakes that I make ALL the time. Thankfully someone is looking down on me and I haven’t crashed yet. That dead sailor describes me perfectly. I try and find a small section and just session it over and over in order to build my confidence. It is when I am gaining a bit of height, and by height I mean a couple of inches that I go all stiff and start pulling on my handlebars.
Thank's Blake ! I usually don't watch this kind of content but I haven't been hitting jumps lately and on my last ride I went for some, but I pulled harder with my dominent arm than the other many times, which isn't ideal as you said so your tips really helped me, thank's !
Leaning off the back is not so good when it comes to drops, what Blake is saying it should be 50 - 50 some weight at the front of the bike as well as some on the back. When it comes to the bike 🚲 your like the balancing scale ⚖️ the rider. Amazing tips once again Blake 👏💯.
Big thing we mis: I personally would say thats how you should ride drops: no pulling, no hanging on the back, no pushing, no lifing, just compress and let the decompress of the bike make you take the drop nice and steady.
Biggest problem I make is having my back foot slightly dropped which sends me sideways. The biggest help was quickly weighting and then unweighting at the lip. But I can’t say I’m confident at drops!!
One thing to note, if the drop has a slight lip or some log or anything at the end that might bump your wheel up, one should unweight the whole bike when transitioning over it, otherwise it will be otb.. Jeff Lenosky has good video explaining it
ooo yeah... did that on a dirt mound on my YZ250.. the lip kicked the back end up and out.. I ended up doing a donkey kick in the air and landing sideways wheels 1st and on my hip.. only to bounce about 1m into the air and over the bike. (back when I was a little more bullet proof). Somehow I made it to 40 (well a week b4) before I made my 1st visit to A&E.
Biggest I've done was about 8ft... to flat... on a motor bike... by accident... Luckily I caught a branch and it bent with me landing me on my feet perfectly on the track below (unlike the bike that landed rear guard 1st after a nose over. 3ft is about it for me... but that's to near flat.. and I'm 54
I liked it because I simply like how Blake presents. Still a little confused though that we aren't supposed to pull on the bars to avoid a dead sailor but we are supposed to pull on the bars so the front wheel doesn't fade away too fast?!
Yeah that threw me off too. Most other vids I've seen suggest pushing the bike forward when going off the edge, not pulling up. I assume that is what he meant or maybe I'm just missing something.
I think what he means is, give the bike a little pump just before you hit the drop, that will make the bike naturally lift a bit at the front and not nose dive. I might be wrong though!
I love this guy😀 I watch your channel thanks to Blake💪🏻. Blake you make me want to jump on my bike like crazy🤪 but that would break 🙈 Please if possible advise tall and heavy guys like me (194cm and 120-125kg without fat🙈) on buying a bike to be used for some jumping but mostly enduro and trials. Full suspension? hard tail? I'm thinking of buying a Specialized Stumpjumper Comp or Enduro. I know you don't use Specialized, so I'm asking for some other good recommendation. Specialized just has a store close by and I have an old one. I am open to any other company. Thank you very much.
I always like the gmbn video's!! Very relaxing...good tips and technics. Good job Blake!!!👊 Btw....where is this and is it allowed for everyone to bike there?
Hey ! Thanks for all your videos, always informative and funny. Bumped into this one since i am trying to understand a massive crash that i took 2 weeks ago on a similar drop in the forest. Drop did not feel that big, still ended up going OTB. Think I did a combination of pulling the bars, not enough speed, bad commitment. Ended up with a trip to ER and a AC joint separation grade 3. Feeling extremely depressed since then, at the bottom of a very deep hole. Doctors say no surgery is needed. Will have to wait for it to heal, with some heavy PT and a permanent bump on the shoulder. Not sure i will ever mtb again, body took a big hit but also the mind. Anyone here suffered such an injury ? Any story, feedback on healing process ? I am 40M. Peace everyone.
still looks scary high for me. ;D perhaps i should finally switch from my XC ht (cube attention sl 2016) to a trail ht. On rougher "trailier" or descent parts I always think I am going over the bars.
So question on this (though not entirely on just drops); let's say you are popping the drop, or a step down, similar to a shallow take off from a jump, how do you not pull on the bars? As you push through your legs at some point you reach max extension on your arms. I find I have the same problem on step downs as jumps as drops, in that if I have to add any amount of pop, even though I am pushing through my legs, I go dead sailor and turn in one direction (usually left). So how can you pre-load with sort of hitting that point when it's a shallow take off? Normally drops are fine if there's no distance, but where I am sometimes drops or step downs don't have enough run in to hit like a normal drop and require some amount of preload but I do find I am dead sailoring a lot....
curbs do! they are great for practicing correct technique, you can find big curbs and other similar curb like features around where you live that are great for practicing.
I'm still new to mountainbiking! Am I supposed to wear special pants with cushion for short 1-3 hour rides? I just wear my casual outdoor jeans/other pants and my butt hurts for 3-5 days after riding, any tips would be appreciated 😢
Check with your local bike shop about your seat and body position. Special pants are for special people... Most of us just wear... pants Being an Italian (Sorasio) for that long does seem a little extreme.. I'm usually a little tender for a day... getting off the seat as much as possible to get the blood flowing helps. If you stay sat, you cut circulation, hilarity ensues. I sometimes shift my weight so the seat is under one leg rather than in the middle when on flat boring sections. I did a ride once in Wellington New Zealand on road/gravel with an old hard tail... 10 k up to a summit we camped then next morning rode through an old rail tunnel... to continue a 75ish kilometer ride... As I entered the tunnel I stood up... and broke the seat bolt.... I did the rest of the ride with the seat perched on the post, and basically rode side saddle... I was DEFINATELY Sorasio for days after that!.
Man...how do I do it in the end? (Beginner here) should I lift the front wheel or not before dropping? And how? Should I use the manual technique to lift it or just use the strenght of my arms? They make it seem so simple but reality is so scary. Seeing this videos, sometimes it feels like They're not doing anything. Just going fast and thats it, they drop perfectly. In my mind, if I just rely on speed, and do nothing else, I go nose diving everytime lol.
I've been training with smaller (beginner) drops since last year, and what I've noticed that works, is that you should push your bars forward just when the front wheel is coming off the edge. This will shift you weight backwards and unweight the front wheel, preventing it from dropping. Of course you will need to have enough speed as stated in the video. When you add even more speed, you might not need to do must as the speed already unweights your front wheel enough. But that might require too much speed for your landing. You might have a corner waiting for you. So by unweighting the front wheel by pushing the bars, allows you to have slower speeds (but not too low!).
Ever tried Amber lenses? Go spend $3 at the local hardware store and get a pair of amber safety glasses then ride on your favourite section of track that duck in and out of sun and trees... if you've never worn amber lenses you may be a little surprised at how they TURN ON the light in forest sections... and safety glasses are cheap.. and don't break as easy as sunglasses... I use them for winter as well.. no dust/bugs in the eyes but I can still see in the shadows (better than clear lenses). well worth $3 just to hear everyone you get to try them when they put them on in the shade... bizarre but it basically filters out "blue" darker light (short explanation of a loooong reason)
Local rides into a tree followed by sucker that thought a local knows what he's doing!. I always said to my mates when riding trail bikes... "Don't follow me. I take stupid lines but will usually make it out... You won't"
How old is old (all is relative... especially if your related to it)... I did my 1st 1m drop (previously hadn't gone past axle height) when I was around 50.... and I did a video of it. Overbikeing helps...
![[DRAGON BALL LEGENDS REVEALS ＆ STUFF] LEGENDS FESTIVAL 2024 Special Edition Part 1](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mV5bGIswTtQ/mqdefault.jpg)
These episodes should be called "Blake knows"....Blake advice is always sounds solid..thanks for the tips...cheers
Great suggestion! 😂 Thanks for the support! 🤘
Blake is the best from gmbn for explaining things with a bit of comedy, love it!❤️
The thing that's always fascinated me about Blake is that he can mess things up, on purpose! just so you don't have to, and still ends up looking better than most people who think they know what they're doing while he's doing it!!
Spot on! I wish I could jump like this even if I was stiff or doing it wrong 😂😂
That high speed OTB example is so outrageously painful !!!! Omg
Just started mountain biking a few weeks ago on some very light trails and found it totally different from street riding. I'm no where near ready to attempt any drops till I get experience and confidence
Doing curbs and short loading docks (Like at my old elementary school) are good practice areas in urban riding that can be taken to the trail
The dead sailor has never looked so styled 👌
I don't make mistakes on these drops cos it's getting the bike to go off the edge in the first place that I have issues with 🤣🤣🤣
Saving this for the riding season. I just started mountain biking last year, and haven't really done any drops yet. But Drops and Jumps are what I want to conquer this year!
And, as always, Blake is a Beautiful Person!
Best advice is get some coaching - best money you'll spend, it saves crashes, ripped cloths and skin. Look up " How to Bike" with Ben Cathro from Pinkbike. He ha 3 seasons, each with about 8 episodes taking you from beginner through to advanced. All the best. Regards Tony Sadler South Wales uk 🏴
1st mistake for a lot of people, trying it in the first place. Too many people get ahead of themselves when Mtn Biking and try things like drop offs before they even have the basics down usually because a friend talked them into it. My boss at work hurt himself pretty badly trying to jump over a log as a beginner rider.
Another problem with beginners is many jump straight into using clips, and then they build really bad habits of just pulling with their feet on everything instead of utilizing proper forms, and then when a less than ideal situation comes up, not only do they goof because they don't have the correct skill, but they can't get off the bike either and have an even worse crash than they would have with flats.
In my opinion, scrubbing prevents 100% the dead sailor, but first, as you said, being relaxed is key.
Good to be aware of the dominant pulling arm when getting stiff... 😄
thanks heaps blake/anonimous cameraman iv been working up to a big 14 metre drop step down thing all the best
Blake definitely knows how to explain things.
Excellent video Blake, I came off last February on the drop at FOD on the GBU line and that was purely going too slow, a week in hospital with a smashed clavicle, broken ribs and a collapsed lung has taught me to go FASTER 😂😂
ouch gl man
As a starting mountainbiker I could really use this video, thanks!
I love Blake's interpretation of the dead sailor! :D
When I do doubles.. a Sailor Dies!
@@Alan-75 I found pulling the bike up under me when in the air helped lessen my habit of killing sailors.. I don't do doubles.
Solid tips but i like the tip the Joy of Bike guys give to stay hinged with your body, as well as centred.
Blake is awesome at explaining the techniques and keeping it simple 😀
That's 2nd crash clip is brutal.
That's a cheeky looking bike Blake. Good advice especially the don't pull on the bars. 👍
This is one of my top MTB channels and another great video. Well done!
Mate these are all the mistakes that I make ALL the time. Thankfully someone is looking down on me and I haven’t crashed yet. That dead sailor describes me perfectly. I try and find a small section and just session it over and over in order to build my confidence. It is when I am gaining a bit of height, and by height I mean a couple of inches that I go all stiff and start pulling on my handlebars.
Thank's Blake ! I usually don't watch this kind of content but I haven't been hitting jumps lately and on my last ride I went for some, but I pulled harder with my dominent arm than the other many times, which isn't ideal as you said so your tips really helped me, thank's !
Leaning off the back is not so good when it comes to drops, what Blake is saying it should be 50 - 50 some weight at the front of the bike as well as some on the back. When it comes to the bike 🚲 your like the balancing scale ⚖️ the rider. Amazing tips once again Blake 👏💯.
yea the leaning to the back was my problem
Great video 😃 it's not only the drop but it's also steep after the drop 😳😳 these drops are intimidating 😳😳 i'm doing the little drops 😃😃
You have such a wholesome way of explaining things .... I like listening to you 🙂
This is so easy to understand other videos I've seen are so hard to understand but this clarifies everything thanks
Glad it was helpful!
at windhill yesterday, such a good experience!
Big thing we mis: I personally would say thats how you should ride drops: no pulling, no hanging on the back, no pushing, no lifing, just compress and let the decompress of the bike make you take the drop nice and steady.
I love the way you pronounce off as orf 😁 very helpful tips 👌
Mountain Biking rocks!
Awesome as always blake
Love the old footage of seth!!
Thanks, Blake. Most of your videos are really helpful. Keep them coming.
Thanks bud🤙🙌
Leaning back is old school shore thinking where you dropped a bike with an 8.5 kg front end from an almost stand still
Thanks for your explanation very helpful to me
Enjoying every Blake vids. Thanks
Glad you like them! Thanks for watching! 🤘
Biggest problem I make is having my back foot slightly dropped which sends me sideways. The biggest help was quickly weighting and then unweighting at the lip. But I can’t say I’m confident at drops!!
Need to get back to Windhill, not been for over three years!
Great early season reminders Blake
Glad you found this one useful! We're so stoked for the MTB season to get underway!
Great explanation. What I noticed is, sealant leaking on back wheel. Other than that, fantastic content....
One thing to note, if the drop has a slight lip or some log or anything at the end that might bump your wheel up, one should unweight the whole bike when transitioning over it, otherwise it will be otb.. Jeff Lenosky has good video explaining it
ooo yeah... did that on a dirt mound on my YZ250.. the lip kicked the back end up and out.. I ended up doing a donkey kick in the air and landing sideways wheels 1st and on my hip.. only to bounce about 1m into the air and over the bike. (back when I was a little more bullet proof). Somehow I made it to 40 (well a week b4) before I made my 1st visit to A&E.
I remember my first time at the park. Tried the drop lines. 2ft was chill, 4ft was fun. After the 6ft drop I said alright that's my limit
Biggest I've done was about 8ft... to flat... on a motor bike... by accident... Luckily I caught a branch and it bent with me landing me on my feet perfectly on the track below (unlike the bike that landed rear guard 1st after a nose over.
3ft is about it for me... but that's to near flat.. and I'm 54
Yeah they're some big jumps, that's for sure! 😅
I liked it because I simply like how Blake presents. Still a little confused though that we aren't supposed to pull on the bars to avoid a dead sailor but we are supposed to pull on the bars so the front wheel doesn't fade away too fast?!
Yeah that threw me off too. Most other vids I've seen suggest pushing the bike forward when going off the edge, not pulling up. I assume that is what he meant or maybe I'm just missing something.
I think what he means is, give the bike a little pump just before you hit the drop, that will make the bike naturally lift a bit at the front and not nose dive. I might be wrong though!
In Blake we trust.
I just want to hit all three drops like steps at .37!
my tip: if possible - jump off the drop by foot. it give the air time feeling.
I love this guy😀 I watch your channel thanks to Blake💪🏻. Blake you make me want to jump on my bike like crazy🤪 but that would break 🙈 Please if possible advise tall and heavy guys like me (194cm and 120-125kg without fat🙈) on buying a bike to be used for some jumping but mostly enduro and trials. Full suspension? hard tail? I'm thinking of buying a Specialized Stumpjumper Comp or Enduro. I know you don't use Specialized, so I'm asking for some other good recommendation. Specialized just has a store close by and I have an old one. I am open to any other company.
Thank you very much.
Excellent videos like always 🔥🔥
Appreciate it! 🤘
Rolling up with a Barney colored purple and green bike is a great example of rule number one lol
2:15 That noise!!!!!!
I'll see your 2:15 and raise you a 3:30
Great vid and always great tips……see your wearing the Amazon glasses?
Bikesaya💪
I always like the gmbn video's!! Very relaxing...good tips and technics.
Good job Blake!!!👊
Btw....where is this and is it allowed for everyone to bike there?
Hey ! Thanks for all your videos, always informative and funny.
Bumped into this one since i am trying to understand a massive crash that i took 2 weeks ago on a similar drop in the forest. Drop did not feel that big, still ended up going OTB.
Think I did a combination of pulling the bars, not enough speed, bad commitment.
Ended up with a trip to ER and a AC joint separation grade 3.
Feeling extremely depressed since then, at the bottom of a very deep hole.
Doctors say no surgery is needed. Will have to wait for it to heal, with some heavy PT and a permanent bump on the shoulder.
Not sure i will ever mtb again, body took a big hit but also the mind.
Anyone here suffered such an injury ? Any story, feedback on healing process ? I am 40M.
Peace everyone.
So... that pair of glasses was the only thing worth using from those amazon purchases? Got it. 😆
what is the speed for the big drop option im guessing trail speed and a couple of cranks
The literal chicken sign for the ramp side LOL.
still looks scary high for me. ;D
perhaps i should finally switch from my XC ht (cube attention sl 2016) to a trail ht. On rougher "trailier" or descent parts I always think I am going over the bars.
So question on this (though not entirely on just drops); let's say you are popping the drop, or a step down, similar to a shallow take off from a jump, how do you not pull on the bars? As you push through your legs at some point you reach max extension on your arms. I find I have the same problem on step downs as jumps as drops, in that if I have to add any amount of pop, even though I am pushing through my legs, I go dead sailor and turn in one direction (usually left).
So how can you pre-load with sort of hitting that point when it's a shallow take off? Normally drops are fine if there's no distance, but where I am sometimes drops or step downs don't have enough run in to hit like a normal drop and require some amount of preload but I do find I am dead sailoring a lot....
I use to be a dead sailor! 😅
Did the yellow bike guy survive?
Biggest mtb drop off was me having a kid and gaining 60 pounds. I don’t even fit in my gmbn jersey.
Muscular imbalance is a problem.
Noob here doing droplets for now.
My frnd tried to do a drop and he did one of those dual wheel hop ended up doing it after the drop and crashing
Do kerbs count as drop offs?
curbs do! they are great for practicing correct technique, you can find big curbs and other similar curb like features around where you live that are great for practicing.
Absolutely! You can find some massive curbs around your local town!
No, im not, im infallible like a renaissance pope.
I'm still new to mountainbiking! Am I supposed to wear special pants with cushion for short 1-3 hour rides? I just wear my casual outdoor jeans/other pants and my butt hurts for 3-5 days after riding, any tips would be appreciated 😢
Check with your local bike shop about your seat and body position. Special pants are for special people... Most of us just wear... pants
Being an Italian (Sorasio) for that long does seem a little extreme.. I'm usually a little tender for a day... getting off the seat as much as possible to get the blood flowing helps. If you stay sat, you cut circulation, hilarity ensues.
I sometimes shift my weight so the seat is under one leg rather than in the middle when on flat boring sections.
I did a ride once in Wellington New Zealand on road/gravel with an old hard tail... 10 k up to a summit we camped then next morning rode through an old rail tunnel... to continue a 75ish kilometer ride...
As I entered the tunnel I stood up... and broke the seat bolt.... I did the rest of the ride with the seat perched on the post, and basically rode side saddle...
I was DEFINATELY Sorasio for days after that!.
2:16 😂
Blake is an EVA fan
Man...how do I do it in the end? (Beginner here) should I lift the front wheel or not before dropping? And how? Should I use the manual technique to lift it or just use the strenght of my arms? They make it seem so simple but reality is so scary. Seeing this videos, sometimes it feels like They're not doing anything. Just going fast and thats it, they drop perfectly. In my mind, if I just rely on speed, and do nothing else, I go nose diving everytime lol.
I've been training with smaller (beginner) drops since last year, and what I've noticed that works, is that you should push your bars forward just when the front wheel is coming off the edge. This will shift you weight backwards and unweight the front wheel, preventing it from dropping. Of course you will need to have enough speed as stated in the video.
When you add even more speed, you might not need to do must as the speed already unweights your front wheel enough. But that might require too much speed for your landing. You might have a corner waiting for you. So by unweighting the front wheel by pushing the bars, allows you to have slower speeds (but not too low!).
@@ariijas5956 clear as water my friend, thank you very much. I'll give it a try!
I really love these glasses Blake. Do they also change colour when it's bright out? 😂
BTW: I saw the video where you bought stuff from amazon.
Ever tried Amber lenses?
Go spend $3 at the local hardware store and get a pair of amber safety glasses then ride on your favourite section of track that duck in and out of sun and trees...
if you've never worn amber lenses you may be a little surprised at how they TURN ON the light in forest sections...
and safety glasses are cheap.. and don't break as easy as sunglasses... I use them for winter as well.. no dust/bugs in the eyes but I can still see in the shadows (better than clear lenses).
well worth $3 just to hear everyone you get to try them when they put them on in the shade... bizarre but it basically filters out "blue" darker light (short explanation of a loooong reason)
Cool
My rigid doesn't like drops....I have to "FLOAT" it over them. 👻
New to the sports here. So how does the feet stays on the pedals? TIA
I have that same question. Haven't seen a good answer to it yet.
WHAT ORBEA BIKE IS THAT ?
so, "speed is key, but confidence is key...er"
Isn't riding "the chicken" a way to gain confidence and proper technique?
2:16 💀
This might be the most confusing drop tips video ever lol
💯💯💯💯
I have never liked drops. I like spotting my landing.
So you all think blake has the best tutorial.
Is that guy on the yellow bike ok? 😬
I'm not sure the chicken sign is helpful
Sure looks like you pulled up on the bars on the last drop…
"follow a local" local rides off in to the distance long before you reach the drop
Local rides into a tree followed by sucker that thought a local knows what he's doing!.
I always said to my mates when riding trail bikes... "Don't follow me. I take stupid lines but will usually make it out... You won't"
There is an easy way to avoid doing anything wrong: don't ever do drops. As an old and scared old man I just ride past the drops.
How old is old (all is relative... especially if your related to it)...
I did my 1st 1m drop (previously hadn't gone past axle height) when I was around 50.... and I did a video of it. Overbikeing helps...
I’ve gotta say you guys make the most annoying videos and never actually explain any good technique.