Riding skills and tips
Improve your skills
Would you go skiing without getting lessons? Mountain biking is the same – the more you put into it to learn the correct techniques, the more you’ll get out of it.
Some of our mountain bike locations provide skills areas so you can practise different techniques before taking to the trails, but if you really want to progress and improve, we recommend getting some skills training.
Practice your skills and techniques
Our guides can show you how to practice some of the main mountain biking techniques. Seven of these are core techniques, and once you’ve mastered those, you can go on to perfect the rest.
Learn about core mountain biking techniques, such as weighting and unweighting, and tackling berms.
Once you've mastered the core techniques, read our guide on improving your skills.
Safety in Groups
More accidents happen when you crash into your riding buddies than when you’re mastering the technical stuff. Always leave a gap of at least five bike lengths between yourself and the rider in front before you shoot down the singletrack, and take care when riding in groups on the forest roads.
Find a Forest
Useful links
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Developing Mountain Biking
Whether you’re interested in places to ride, a skills course, a biking holiday or want to get involved professionally, you’ll find stacks of useful information at Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland.
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Bike Events Scotland
If you’re itching to challenge yourself, compete against other bike riders, or looking for social rides and charity cycling events across Scotland, find all the latest event news at Bike Events Scotland.
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Scottish Cycling
To find events, get advice about all six disciplines of cycling and discover how to get more involved in the sport, visit the national governing body for cycling in Scotland - Scottish Cycling.