Why are tight left turns harder than rights?

Another beginner mtb question from me!

Okay, I noticed that when I was riding singletrack that the tight left hand turns were very hard for me. I could never turn tight enough and had to bail on almost every one to avoid crashing or ending up way off the trail in the wood. I did better on right-hand turns (not great, but better).

Being a long-time roadie, I am used to leaning my body to turn and barely moving the handlebars at all. That doesn't seem to work on singletrack! I guess I need to turn the handlebars more, but why would it feel so much harder/scarier /impossible to the left than to the right?

I should mention that even on the road, u-turns have never been a strong skill of mine. I'm a decent cyclist, but slow-speed maneuvers in general are one of my weaknesses.

I tried to practice a tighter left-hand turn tonight on our trails at home, around a tree, and promptly fell. Nothing too serious, but I'll have a new crop of bruises. I could do the same turn (slowly and not gracefully, but upright) to the right.

I am right-handed. Does that make a difference?

Are there any specific techniques I could use to get better at this, or does it just require I keep practicing over and over until I get it?

Thanks again for all your past and future help -- I feel like I am learning to walk all over again, trying to learn to mountain bike!

Emily

Everyone has a "sweet leg", which is the leg that they prefer to be in front when coasting along without pedalling. I think it is easier to turn corners in the direction of that sweet leg.

I personally like to ride with my left leg forward (which is my non-preferred side) and I find turning left hand corners so much easier than turning right.

Anyway, from your description of your cornering it sounds as though you are making a few technical errors which is not helping you turn well. When the corners are not tight you can simply maneuvre your body to turn the corners, however, when the corners are sharp (like a hairpin turn) both momentum and bike steering play an important role. When I first started riding I always got told to turn sharp corners as if I was driving a bus, in other words, you need to steer out nice and wide with that front wheel. Turning the wheel out wide allows you to keep the momentum going and allows you to accelerate once you have turned.

Hope all that makes sense.

I have a harder time on right turns! I spent 1/2 hour a while back doing slow circles and figure eights in my street. Then on my driveway- it has some slope to it. I know my neighbor thought I was nuts. I work on getting the circumference tighter, even to the point where my knee is hitting my grip as I pedal and a need to tuck it in closer to the top tube. Yesterday I was at the park and did circles round and round the center of the basketball court, trying to stay inside the line. Working on these skills at home will transfer to the trail, and its fun too.

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Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

I am used to leaning my body to turn and barely moving the handlebars at all. That doesn't seem to work on singletrack! I guess I need to turn the handlebars more, but why would it feel so much harder/scarier /impossible to the left than to the right?

Emily

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I was just at a Norba and took a skills camp with Alison Dunlop. One of the things we spend a significant amount of time on was cornering. She said it is a misconception that you lean your body into a turn (especially tight switchbacks).

The four components that we focused on were:
1. Counter weighting the outside foot.
2. Moving our handle bars & arms/hands as we enter the turn (hard to accurately describe over the internet).
3. Not leaning into the turn, keeping our weight over the back tire so we keep traction. Possibly sitting back or forward on the saddle depending if the switchbacks are up or downhill.
4. As we enter the turn, focus turning our head to the exit.

Before I took this clinic, I always leaned into (all) turns. Now I realize that it is not always the thing to do. This is probably why I have so much trouble with technical switchbacks....something to work on for next race season.

I am left handed and have more trouble with right turning switch backs. I can handle up hill ones just fine but down hill gets me. A friend told me to aim for the tree and then turn...that didn't work AT ALL! I went from riding off the trail to hitting the tree! I HAVE noticed that I keep my body in nuetral (as far as leaning) and put my weight over the back of the seat and tap my breaks...then once I'm "aimed" out of the turn I pedal faster. It's not working all the time yet but more each time :)

I took a mt. bike clinic this spring and had some issues turning. Basically, I had crashed earlier in the day and had tweaked my neck. I could turn it to the right, but not to the left. Later in the day, we were riding some switchbacks and I was turning right just fine, but couldn't go left to save my life. I have to admit, it was pretty funny -- I'd make the right turn, get to the next switchback and have to stop, lift my bike, and turn and then get going again. Apparently, you have to be able to turn your head in the direction you're turning or you can't make the turn. Is this perhaps your problem?

Susie

Another helpful thing for me was getting used to letting go of the brakes on switchbacks, at the apex of the turn let go of the brake (slowly) to let the momentum carry you through. I practiced this plenty when we did a mtb. tour of the Colorado trail, in one section we had 23 tight switchbacks in a row (it was crazy)!

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Originally Posted by Susie

I took a mt. bike clinic this spring and had some issues turning. Basically, I had crashed earlier in the day and had tweaked my neck. I could turn it to the right, but not to the left. Later in the day, we were riding some switchbacks and I was turning right just fine, but couldn't go left to save my life. I have to admit, it was pretty funny -- I'd make the right turn, get to the next switchback and have to stop, lift my bike, and turn and then get going again. Apparently, you have to be able to turn your head in the direction you're turning or you can't make the turn. Is this perhaps your problem?

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No, I can turn my head just fine, but this sounds exactly like me otherwise! Right turn - check - left turn - miss the turn, start veering into the woods, stop, lift bike, start again. Really strange! I am definitely going to keep working at it. I obviously have some sort of body imbalance (or brain imbalance!!!) :D

Emily