I cut my teeth mountain biking on wet roots in Hawaii. We called em widow makers. Trial by fire is how we learned. I think your tips are great for people to have a better chance at cleaning them.
I had to tweak my riding quite a bit when I moved to Florida because of the roots. Best advice I can offer until you really know them is to "square up"! Hit them as perpendicular as possible! Once you learn the trail, find places to launch or bunny hop them. Also coasting over them can help as you're not putting additional wheels spin on the back wheel causing it to spin out...it just follows the momentum. Now I live in Belgium, and its mud.... love riding here, but the mud is just gets ridiculous, and keeps getting more and more ridiculous over the winter and spring. So much cleaning, drivetrain wear and tear, and just not fun at all because its just absolutely relentless and doesn't end.
We did a ride in western New York a couple of weeks ago, it was a little bit after a good rain. In our region riding roots is unavoidable and can be really dangerous after it rains. So instead of going as fast as possible, we decided to take it easy and really focus on riding the more technical rooty sections of the trail. We made a game of it to see who can ride the root section without dabbing. Instead of it being a slip and slide fest, we all crushed the trail and only had one crash! It was one of the most fun rides I had been out on in a while!
About a month late for me on this subject as I headed east from Cali to NJ ,Virginia and KY .I also saw some roots on the 401 in Colorado .They beat me up on my hardtail . It is some of the most challenging trail riding and thats without much elevation .
One other non-intuitive tip that I've learned over the years of East Coast riding: It's often easier to ride as close to the trunk of the tree creating the roots. The tree is usually on the high side of the slope or trail camber (although not always) and even if the roots are taller they tend to be closer spaced and the linear distance of rootiness (if that's a thing) is shorter. It makes it easier to put in a burst of speed and then float over the root section because the linear distance is shorter. The spot Jeff is riding here is kind of an uber-rooty part of the trail but when you have a more normal section it can be helpful.
The greasy season is staring here in the midwest. I've learned all of your tips over the years from trial and bloody knees. Best thing I do is unweight the bike and don't pedal on them......set up your pedal strokes before and in between roots to keep that momentum going. Plenty of times I've done 1/4 strokes to get a little bit extra speed. Nothing worse than the bike slipping out from underneath you. Great video as always.
Jeff. One thing I would add is to try “avoiding vertical roots” in the trail. If your front tire gets pinned against it you are likely to lose your balance and potentially crash. Living in SC we have lots of roots and those have given me and my sons the most trouble.
Great video, most mountain bike videos avoid tackling the hard practical cross country stuff like rock gardens and roots. Still trying to figure out how to get over those scary 2’-3’ logs we have all over the north east, gotta be easier ways than bunny hopping something that height. There’s so many videos about doing drops, but find a TH-cam video about getting over a 3’ log.
@@CornellHarris I have seen the videos on lifts and drops; and while they seems like they should be similar. It's a lot easier lifting onto a level section and riding, than it is mentally to lift over a large log, then have to shift your weight and suddenly drop once the front wheel gets over the log. Then when you have a log on a angle, forget it.
Great tips Jeff. I probably would have avoided rooty trail systems as a beginner if I had a choice, but living in north central MA, it’s unavoidable. It makes you a better rider, that’s for sure. One additional tip when negotiating line choice is that the path of least resistance is often the one that seems the least intuitive to newer riders. When confronted with a mass of roots, the tendency (for new riders) is to avoid the densest sections. The thinking is fewer roots to ride over will be less bumpy. The problem is, those bumps tend to be like choosing a couple of enormous steps rather than many smaller ones. Same with rock gardens. Don’t try to go around and in between, go for riding the tops of the bigger rocks that connect together.
Great tips, Jeff! I ride large roots all the time on my Duluth, Minnesota trails. I love the challenge of going up hill and downhill with roots. It keeps things interesting.
Ha! Looks like the areas around Green Pond in Rockaway and down in Bucks County PA where I do most of my riding! Love your content and just watching and learning from you. Saw you 'do your thing' many years ago at Freddy's Bike King bike shop in Bordentown. Was amazed by you back then and still amazed at your skills and how you make things look easy, but also how you explain the mechanics of riding. As a 61 year old MTB'er, the more I can do to improve my skills so I can keep riding, the better. Hope I bump into you sometime in Rockaway or at Port Jervis so I can thank you in person!
Along with a more compliant fork setting with regard to spring pressure and travel (compression) usually a quick slower on the rebound will help with the chatter even at slow to moderate speeds. The shop where I work, I tend to find that most forks are set too quick (+) with rebound settings.
Trail Boss, maybe I missed it but why you riding a hardtail more and more? It’s cool to see what you can do on a hardtail. Picked up a lot of tips from your vids for my hardtail riding. Thanks, I appreciate all your videos.
I never had access to a trail worthy hardtail when I rode for Giant. Once I started working with Reeb I got one, liked it a lot and then had the opportunity to design my own signature bike. It's a ton of fun so that's what I've been riding!
Bonus tip…..if you do start to slide while on the roots do not panic and attempt to over correct. I find that leads to a spill more often than not. Stay neutral and let the bike move under you as much as you can.
My local trails are full of roots, so I kinda learned all these tips by first hand experience. However, I'm still losing a lot of speed with very long flat or uphill rooty sections. I try to get as much speed as I can before tackling the section, but I get bumped everywhere and lose my momentum. There's also a very steep climb with some decent sized roots that giving me problem.
One of the comments mentioned bloody knees from their past trials riding. What brand of knee pads are you wearing? They look comfortable and breathable in the video. I'm guessing you're riding that one trail system you like in Florida (which is hot and muggy) based on the water next to the trail.
I like your videos. great stuff. The scenes of you standing and talking seems like blurry as if it is slowed or shot in a slow fps. I noticed it in a previous video of yours as well.
Hardtails don’t suffer from pedal bob unless you count the rear tire acting as suspension. (Rubber, low air pressure does absorb bumps and flex under load). Full suspension allows your pedaling power to be absorbed by the rear shock to some degree (or quite a lot) depending on settings, conditions, technique, rider weight, etc... Full suspension lessens the impacts of bumps but amplifies drivetrain loss (ie; pedal bob) where a hardtail is much more direct putting power-to-ground, but you “suffer” in terms of ride plushness.
Trail bikers stomp... If you loose the front there's a good trick that ... well takes a while to learn (comes naturally with a few years of riding old motorbikes on jenky trails... be prepared to whip your foot off the pedal (most likely uphill side), kick you heel into the ground and get it back on the pedal... it often gives you a split second more upright, maybe just enough for the wheel to get some grip... if I'm on enough of a side slope where pedaling isn't the best idea, I usually have my outer pedal forward or dropped so my up hill leg is free for lifting off... (and with the outer forward you can get a 1/2 pedal and still be ready with the upper leg. Oddly the best is usually to treat the ground like gravel, and just ride it... the less you make of it, the less it will probably get you... Over think it and you'll probably hit that big knot that your focusing on.
@@JeffLenoskyTrailBoss Hey Jeff, here's something I have been meaning to experiment with but it may interest you to try... WORST FOOT FORWARD... I have noted with those tricky uphill starts that one often puts their best foot forward, launches onto the bike and pedals... but this puts your best foot at the bottom of the stroke by the time the other foot is on the pedal... My theory... (And I have tried it a few times.. but usually in too much of a hurry to retry (rinse repeat) to see what happens...) ... If you put your WORST foot on when starting on a rooty/rutty/gravelly etc uphill, you push that down as you launch, putting your GOOD foot on at the top of a stroke, meaning your 2nd down stroke, (1st with both feet on the pedals) is with your good foot. I'm semi ambidextrous, (I actually find I back-pedal and swap between leading foot in multi S bends) but usually use my right foot on the pedal, left on the ground when launching uphill... the result is my less powerful left foot is the real 1st power stroke... which often ends in a failed takeoff.. (hilarity ensues... or is that HILLarity) Feel free to pinch the idea if it looks like I may be onto something... I'm a bit slow publishing my vids lately q8)
As a newer rider, my biggest problem with roots are roots on the wall of a berm. I am always worried I will wash out on them since there is such a big diff in traction than the dirt; but still don’t want to break and at speed it’s too late to change lines…🤔
Tip #7 - Burn with fire. I hate roots especially when they are wet and muddy. Even with a 5" tire they are a real pain and the true nemesis of flow. But still . . . we ride.
Now get those roots wet. It’s been wet here in Whistler for most of the last month. That’s another level of slick and because the summer was so dry, we all forgot how to ride wet roots.
The issue I have, other than being 63, is that we have tight switchbacks, between trees with a root system between and baby heads in front and past the opening. If you get your bars through, there really is no traction anywhere. Trail was made for old school 26" and narrow bars. Try taking a modern geometry 29er through that jank! No way. I get off and walk.
The thing is with these tight old school single track is that you have to stick to a narrower set of bars. This new school mind set of wider bars is better only applies if your riding newer wide open flow trails. The leverage that wider bar gives you doesn’t apply as much to slow, tight technical trails. 800mm bars don’t fit between many of the trees that you have to go between where we’re live. I’m running 760mm bars and it seems to be the sweet spot for my area. I’ve had friends running 780’s get caught between trees and have to cut them down. Good luck. Build your bike for what you ride not what the rest of the world and you tube rides!
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As always great content. One thing that help me a Lot it's keep looking ahead, while traversing trough the rootie sections
Nice to see you did tips at the place I ride at almost everyday
I cut my teeth mountain biking on wet roots in Hawaii.
We called em widow makers.
Trial by fire is how we learned.
I think your tips are great for people to have a better chance at cleaning them.
I had to tweak my riding quite a bit when I moved to Florida because of the roots. Best advice I can offer until you really know them is to "square up"!
Hit them as perpendicular as possible! Once you learn the trail, find places to launch or bunny hop them. Also coasting over them can help as you're not putting additional wheels spin on the back wheel causing it to spin out...it just follows the momentum.
Now I live in Belgium, and its mud.... love riding here, but the mud is just gets ridiculous, and keeps getting more and more ridiculous over the winter and spring. So much cleaning, drivetrain wear and tear, and just not fun at all because its just absolutely relentless and doesn't end.
Not having a death grip on the handlebars helps and letting the bike move under you naturally helps
We did a ride in western New York a couple of weeks ago, it was a little bit after a good rain. In our region riding roots is unavoidable and can be really dangerous after it rains. So instead of going as fast as possible, we decided to take it easy and really focus on riding the more technical rooty sections of the trail. We made a game of it to see who can ride the root section without dabbing. Instead of it being a slip and slide fest, we all crushed the trail and only had one crash! It was one of the most fun rides I had been out on in a while!
That sounds awesome! My kind of game.
About a month late for me on this subject as I headed east from Cali to NJ ,Virginia and KY .I also saw some roots on the 401 in Colorado .They beat me up on my hardtail . It is some of the most challenging trail riding and thats without much elevation .
One other non-intuitive tip that I've learned over the years of East Coast riding: It's often easier to ride as close to the trunk of the tree creating the roots. The tree is usually on the high side of the slope or trail camber (although not always) and even if the roots are taller they tend to be closer spaced and the linear distance of rootiness (if that's a thing) is shorter. It makes it easier to put in a burst of speed and then float over the root section because the linear distance is shorter. The spot Jeff is riding here is kind of an uber-rooty part of the trail but when you have a more normal section it can be helpful.
The greasy season is staring here in the midwest. I've learned all of your tips over the years from trial and bloody knees. Best thing I do is unweight the bike and don't pedal on them......set up your pedal strokes before and in between roots to keep that momentum going. Plenty of times I've done 1/4 strokes to get a little bit extra speed. Nothing worse than the bike slipping out from underneath you. Great video as always.
Great tips. Will be trying out the unweighting the bike one. Wipe out on wet roots too many times!
Great! We have a lot of rooty trails in Spore. This will be very helpful 👍
Jeff. One thing I would add is to try “avoiding vertical roots” in the trail. If your front tire gets pinned against it you are likely to lose your balance and potentially crash. Living in SC we have lots of roots and those have given me and my sons the most trouble.
Good call!
Nice video Jeff. Love your how to videos. This will help my eleven year old. Thanks!
Thanks for checking it out Charlie
Great video, most mountain bike videos avoid tackling the hard practical cross country stuff like rock gardens and roots. Still trying to figure out how to get over those scary 2’-3’ logs we have all over the north east, gotta be easier ways than bunny hopping something that height. There’s so many videos about doing drops, but find a TH-cam video about getting over a 3’ log.
Jeff actually has videos on here that helps with that.
@@CornellHarris I have seen the videos on lifts and drops; and while they seems like they should be similar. It's a lot easier lifting onto a level section and riding, than it is mentally to lift over a large log, then have to shift your weight and suddenly drop once the front wheel gets over the log. Then when you have a log on a angle, forget it.
Nice stuff Jeff ✨
Thank you George.
Great tips Jeff.
I probably would have avoided rooty trail systems as a beginner if I had a choice, but living in north central MA, it’s unavoidable. It makes you a better rider, that’s for sure.
One additional tip when negotiating line choice is that the path of least resistance is often the one that seems the least intuitive to newer riders.
When confronted with a mass of roots, the tendency (for new riders) is to avoid the densest sections. The thinking is fewer roots to ride over will be less bumpy. The problem is, those bumps tend to be like choosing a couple of enormous steps rather than many smaller ones.
Same with rock gardens. Don’t try to go around and in between, go for riding the tops of the bigger rocks that connect together.
Great tip!
Central mass rider and I know exactly what you're talking about lol.
Great tips, Jeff! I ride large roots all the time on my Duluth, Minnesota trails. I love the challenge of going up hill and downhill with roots. It keeps things interesting.
Ha! Looks like the areas around Green Pond in Rockaway and down in Bucks County PA where I do most of my riding! Love your content and just watching and learning from you. Saw you 'do your thing' many years ago at Freddy's Bike King bike shop in Bordentown. Was amazed by you back then and still amazed at your skills and how you make things look easy, but also how you explain the mechanics of riding. As a 61 year old MTB'er, the more I can do to improve my skills so I can keep riding, the better. Hope I bump into you sometime in Rockaway or at Port Jervis so I can thank you in person!
Thank you very much for checking out the videos, hope to bump into you some day.
Along with a more compliant fork setting with regard to spring pressure and travel (compression) usually a quick slower on the rebound will help with the chatter even at slow to moderate speeds. The shop where I work, I tend to find that most forks are set too quick (+) with rebound settings.
Jeff this is Jersey to a tee .
Great video for any level of rider.
Love your content
Thanks!
Trail Boss, maybe I missed it but why you riding a hardtail more and more? It’s cool to see what you can do on a hardtail. Picked up a lot of tips from your vids for my hardtail riding. Thanks, I appreciate all your videos.
I never had access to a trail worthy hardtail when I rode for Giant. Once I started working with Reeb I got one, liked it a lot and then had the opportunity to design my own signature bike. It's a ton of fun so that's what I've been riding!
+as a trials rider, I guess a hardtail is your natural habitat.
It's about the feel you get from a hardtail the connection. For me dual suspension doesn't give me that.
Solid advice, thanks Trail Boss!
Bonus tip…..if you do start to slide while on the roots do not panic and attempt to over correct. I find that leads to a spill more often than not. Stay neutral and let the bike move under you as much as you can.
Awesome advice!
awesome tips jeff...especially with hardtail 💪
My local trails are full of roots, so I kinda learned all these tips by first hand experience.
However, I'm still losing a lot of speed with very long flat or uphill rooty sections. I try to get as much speed as I can before tackling the section, but I get bumped everywhere and lose my momentum. There's also a very steep climb with some decent sized roots that giving me problem.
Awesome video and great tips! Just ease up on the jungle/bongo music 🤪😜
One of the comments mentioned bloody knees from their past trials riding. What brand of knee pads are you wearing? They look comfortable and breathable in the video. I'm guessing you're riding that one trail system you like in Florida (which is hot and muggy) based on the water next to the trail.
I wear Pearl Izumi pads and they're awesome! Light and breathable.
I like your videos. great stuff. The scenes of you standing and talking seems like blurry as if it is slowed or shot in a slow fps. I noticed it in a previous video of yours as well.
Hi jeff why do you ride a hardtail. Isn’t a full-sus suppose to lessen the impact(bob) you have in the rear?
Hardtails don’t suffer from pedal bob unless you count the rear tire acting as suspension. (Rubber, low air pressure does absorb bumps and flex under load). Full suspension allows your pedaling power to be absorbed by the rear shock to some degree (or quite a lot) depending on settings, conditions, technique, rider weight, etc... Full suspension lessens the impacts of bumps but amplifies drivetrain loss (ie; pedal bob) where a hardtail is much more direct putting power-to-ground, but you “suffer” in terms of ride plushness.
jeremy provonsil I see. Thank for sharing. Your videos are a inspiration to us all. Keep it coming!👍
Trail bikers stomp...
If you loose the front there's a good trick that ... well takes a while to learn (comes naturally with a few years of riding old motorbikes on jenky trails...
be prepared to whip your foot off the pedal (most likely uphill side), kick you heel into the ground and get it back on the pedal... it often gives you a split second more upright, maybe just enough for the wheel to get some grip...
if I'm on enough of a side slope where pedaling isn't the best idea, I usually have my outer pedal forward or dropped so my up hill leg is free for lifting off... (and with the outer forward you can get a 1/2 pedal and still be ready with the upper leg.
Oddly the best is usually to treat the ground like gravel, and just ride it... the less you make of it, the less it will probably get you... Over think it and you'll probably hit that big knot that your focusing on.
Great tip!
@@JeffLenoskyTrailBoss Hey Jeff, here's something I have been meaning to experiment with but it may interest you to try...
WORST FOOT FORWARD...
I have noted with those tricky uphill starts that one often puts their best foot forward, launches onto the bike and pedals... but this puts your best foot at the bottom of the stroke by the time the other foot is on the pedal...
My theory... (And I have tried it a few times.. but usually in too much of a hurry to retry (rinse repeat) to see what happens...)
... If you put your WORST foot on when starting on a rooty/rutty/gravelly etc uphill, you push that down as you launch, putting your GOOD foot on at the top of a stroke, meaning your 2nd down stroke, (1st with both feet on the pedals) is with your good foot.
I'm semi ambidextrous, (I actually find I back-pedal and swap between leading foot in multi S bends) but usually use my right foot on the pedal, left on the ground when launching uphill... the result is my less powerful left foot is the real 1st power stroke... which often ends in a failed takeoff.. (hilarity ensues... or is that HILLarity)
Feel free to pinch the idea if it looks like I may be onto something... I'm a bit slow publishing my vids lately
q8)
Well presented and sensible. Also, I'm gonna use 'Janky' to describe all sorts of shit from now on, so thanks for that.
As a newer rider, my biggest problem with roots are roots on the wall of a berm. I am always worried I will wash out on them since there is such a big diff in traction than the dirt; but still don’t want to break and at speed it’s too late to change lines…🤔
Tip #7 - Burn with fire. I hate roots especially when they are wet and muddy. Even with a 5" tire they are a real pain and the true nemesis of flow. But still . . . we ride.
Now get those roots wet. It’s been wet here in Whistler for most of the last month. That’s another level of slick and because the summer was so dry, we all forgot how to ride wet roots.
The issue I have, other than being 63, is that we have tight switchbacks, between trees with a root system between and baby heads in front and past the opening. If you get your bars through, there really is no traction anywhere. Trail was made for old school 26" and narrow bars. Try taking a modern geometry 29er through that jank! No way. I get off and walk.
The thing is with these tight old school single track is that you have to stick to a narrower set of bars. This new school mind set of wider bars is better only applies if your riding newer wide open flow trails. The leverage that wider bar gives you doesn’t apply as much to slow, tight technical trails. 800mm bars don’t fit between many of the trees that you have to go between where we’re live. I’m running 760mm bars and it seems to be the sweet spot for my area. I’ve had friends running 780’s get caught between trees and have to cut them down. Good luck. Build your bike for what you ride not what the rest of the world and you tube rides!
Is that the DVO Onyx SC D1 I see there
We need hooverboard technology for roots.
that would certainly help!
That root snot
I only ride roots on my motorbike at a track
Nice!
Tip number seven find a place to ride without so many roots. 😂🤣😭
UTAH and COLORADO riders do not apply..(no roots anywhere)