Skills Courses...

[gradeAfailure]

Thought I'd put this in here rather than the post-'98 section as I'm interested in the views of more old-school riders.

So, skills courses. Effectively getting lessons on how to ride better, smoother, faster, tackle more difficult terrain, jumps, drops, etc. Have a look here if you've no idea what I'm talking about:
http://www.great-rock.co.uk/
http://www.ukbikeskills.co.uk/
amongst many others...

What are your thoughts, if any? Do you have any desire to be able to ride better or are you happy with what/how you ride currently? Do you think they're a waste of money or a better investment than any bike part you could buy? Considering that in almost any other sport getting skills coaching is commonplace, why not mountain biking?

Personally, I'm saving up for a day with Jedi at UK Bike Skills as I've heard countless testimonials on how he's transformed other peoples' riding for the better, and I definitely want to ride better.

The floor is yours...!

 

[poweredbypies]

I would say a fair amount of us on here cut our teeth riding on fully rigid bikes. You soon learn to pick your lines a lot better when you have no sus to soften the blows.

 

[brocklanders023]

I don't ride enough and don't get 'rad' enough for me to be bothered tbh. I'm happy with the level I'm at.

 

[Whatleymeister]

I would be curious to see where I could improve my riding.

 

[gradeAfailure]

I would say a fair amount of us on here cut our teeth riding on fully rigid bikes. You soon learn to pick your lines a lot better when you have no sus to soften the blows.

Or you just ride slower...

Up until a couple of years ago I hadn't ridden suspension at all, now I have a 6" travel AM bike in addition to a fully rigid retro, and the skillset is very different. On the modern bike, because of the suspension, you pick totally different lines to the retro - the smoothest line isn't always the fastest - and sure, if you ride them both at the same speed then the modern is "easier". However, because it allows you to carry so much more speed, to ride it seriously fast is actually quite difficult - you're having to look so much further ahead and process the trail so much faster that mentally it can get quite challenging.

In all truth, riding a modern FS has actually made me faster on the retro because I've had to learn a new set of techniques, and I'm sure that skills coaching could improve upon that further. Of course, if you have no desire to go faster than you do at the moment then it's kind of a moot point!

Remember, practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent; if all you're practicing is bad habits, you'll just embed them even deeper.

 

[P20]

I haven't done the course myself, but I can highly recommend Ed at Great Rock. Wor lass has done a few of his courses now and it's transformed her riding. More confident, better abilities and as a result faster and happier.

 

[gradeAfailure]

Yeah, I've heard good things about Ex Oxley

Surprised not many people have an opinion on this? Is it because it's not something you'd ever heard of or even considered, and if not, why not?

 

[velomaniac]

As you get older you get set in your ways which might be the wrong ways plus you dont bounce very well when you, shall we say, tactically dismount. Thus learning something new or correct that reduces said dismounts is got to be a good thing. If i had spare disposable cash i'd do a course.

 

[kingoffootball]

Riding off road, along with running, is one of the few things I can actually enjoy without feeling I'm any good at it.

If I felt like being a better rider would make me enjoy it more then I'd probably go on a course, but as far as I can predict, if I took a course and improved it would probably spark that need to be good and then I'd constantly feel the need to get better and better at it, which would definitely reduce the enjoyment I get from going out for the more relaxed rides I do at the moment.

 

[MiniNinjaRob]

I bought a days session with Jedi at UKBikeskills. Doesn't matter what type of bike you ride, old or new, he will make you ride better and enjoy what you do more.

And he can teach anyone to do a set of 6ft doubles in 20mins. I promise you'll do it, no matter how scared you are, or how little suspension you have.

Worth more than any component for even double the price.