Attack position

Key facts

Skill level

1/5

Risk

1/5

Terrain

every descent

Bike types

MTB, eMTB

The stance

• Feet: pedals level, heels slightly dropped, weight in the feet.
• Legs: knees bent and a little out, like a skier's.
• Arms: elbows bent and out to the sides, hands light on the grips.
• Hips: over the bottom bracket, moving back only as the trail gets steeper.
• Head: up, eyes on where you are going.

Heavy feet, light hands

Your weight belongs in the pedals, not on the bars. Heavy hands make the front wheel dive and your arms tire; heavy feet keep the bike planted and leave your arms free to steer.

Make room to move

The stance only works if the saddle is out of the way — drop it with a dropper post. Practise moving between neutral and attack on a gentle trail until it happens without thinking.

Related articles

• Dropper post — A seatpost that drops at the push of a lever on the bar and rises again on its own. The saddle goes out of the way for the descent and comes back for the climb, without stopping.
• Trail riding — The most common way to ride a mountain bike: loops that climb under your own power and descend the good stuff, on one bike that does a bit of everything.
• Cornering — Getting round a turn fast and in control: brake before it, look through it, lean the bike more than your body and let the tyres do the gripping.
• Braking — Braking well is braking in the right place: hard and early on good ground, then off the brakes where the trail is rough or turning. The front brake does most of the work.
• Manual — Riding on the back wheel without pedalling, balanced by shifting your hips back. On the trail it lifts the front over holes and roots and smooths out drops and rollers.
• Bunny hop — Lifting both wheels off the ground without a ramp — front first, then the rear. It clears logs, roots and holes and is the base of every jump and trick.
• Frame geometry — The angles and lengths that decide how a bike rides: stable or nimble, easy to climb or eager to descend. Every model publishes them in a geometry chart.
• Rock garden — A section of trail covered in rocks — fixed or loose, round or sharp — with no smooth line through. Momentum, line choice and loose arms are what get you across.
• Drop — A vertical step down on the trail — a ledge, a rock or a built platform — where the ground falls away under the wheels. Small drops can be rolled; bigger ones need speed and a clean take-off.