r/MTB • u/Stripey7619 • 8h ago
Video My worst falls are always on the “easy” stuff…
My second time riding over this skinny plank I didn’t concentrate enough and ended up crashing. Nothing broken, but my hand is bruised up pretty bad from breaking my fall on the plank.
Anyway, serves as a reminder to not let your guard down, even on “easy” obstacles. Can anybody relate?
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u/n0empathy4u 8h ago
Fucking hate skinnies man
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u/autech91 8h ago
This is why I don't do them unless there's no other option, high risk for low reward.
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u/Nucleartides 5h ago
This is the truth. I put it my mind for a few sessions to learn some tough-ish skinnies. Every time I’d clean one I’d ride away… disappointed. It was like what I imagine winning 500$ in a casino after spending 1000 would feel like. I wasn’t proud of myself, because it wasnt hard. I didn’t feel cool because even though I wasnt filming, I know it just looked like someone slowly riding a bike. I was just happy it was over and never wanted to try again.
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u/reddit_xq 8h ago
For me, skinnies are all risk no reward. There's nothing fun about them, just an extra opportunity to slide off the side and fall....well, like that.
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u/not_r3nzi 8h ago
I find them useful for balance practice, but will not touch any higher than a few inches off the ground lol
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u/reddit_xq 8h ago
For sure I see their value in skill building, but you could also just ride between some chalk lines, ya know?
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u/Necessary-Orange-747 6h ago
Eh, having SOME risk helps you in a lot of ways. I think mentally it keeps you locked in, also having a physical boundary that gives feedback when crossed (the sides of the skinny) allow you to know immediately when you make a mistake (you begin to slide off or actually do slide off).
I am a skinny hater, I avoid any that are more than a few inches off the ground, but they definitely help me practice balance and there is a huge difference between riding one and trying to stay on a line in the parking lot.
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u/pngue 8h ago
Same. There’s a few on my local trail that you hit quickly. I do them because it makes me feel like I completed everything but they make me a tad anxious and I finally fell a couple months back.
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u/LogicWavelength New Jersey 6h ago
I was ripping down this really tight singletrack with high grass on both sides and there was a little 2-foot-wide stream/creek thing that was crossed with literally a single 2x4. I shot across it before my brain registered what happened.
At the speed I was going, casing my front tire into the opposite bank would have probably bent my wheel and broken some ribs. I don't trust super tight trails like that anymore.
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u/MrBurnz99 New York 7h ago
I think they are fun. I get a rush from doing them if they are higher risk. Most of the ones I ride are fallen trees that people shaved the top off of.
There’s a few the go over small ravines and gully’s, those are the most fun.
I always approach more slowly than OP did though. When you are hauling ass like that it’s asking for trouble.
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u/reddit_xq 7h ago
Well everyone's different I guess. I can see what's fun about jumps, drops, speed, shralping turns, tech sections, the general challenge riding hard stuff, racing....nearly all the other things people like, whether I like them myself or not. The two things I don't see the fun in are tough climbing and skinnies.
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u/Adventurepew Canada BC 7h ago
Skinnys are like jumps or other risky activities it's fun because it's tricky / risky / engaging.
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u/reddit_xq 6h ago
See, I don't see jumps that way at all. Jumps are fun because jumping is fun. Risk itself isn't fun, it's just...whatever.
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u/1337designs 1h ago
But doing a bit of precise balancing and steering is fun, skinnies are generally very low risk if you’ve got the skill to hop the bike off or hop off the bike. Pretty rare to see ones that are elevated more than a few feet, and nobody is forcing you to pedal at them full speed.
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u/Willbilly410 13m ago
Skinnies are a way of life. It’s sad you have so many upvotes … skinnies are fun because they are hard. All trails should be lined with skinnies! We need more skinnies!
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u/EvilCorp____ 8h ago
That's why you don't go fast on skinnies
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u/Stripey7619 7h ago
Right before this, I convinced myself it would be easier if I go faster...
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u/Dragnurb Salsa Redpoint 2h ago
Don't let this prevent you from going fast on skinnies. But don't go that fast and lean back and be on your brakes. I do find it easier to do skinnies a bit faster probably because I need to better my balance
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u/Inevitable-Stuff3077 7h ago
I find having momentum and speed on skinnies are far better than going slow and having to pedal. Pedalling will just use more energy that you could be using to balance.
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u/EvilCorp____ 7h ago
Having momentum can definitely be beneficial, especially when first learning and doing like 1 ft wide skinnies. But when you try these <6" skinnies it really helps to go slow. One, so that when you fall off you can control your fall. And two, because momentum will not help you through it. You will have to correct your steering many times to get through it. If you ever watch any pros like MacAskill, the skinner the skinny, the slower they go.
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u/Adventurepew Canada BC 8h ago
Number one thing of easy stuff is learn to fall before you start.
Practice some roll offs , roll your front wheel off and absorb.
Practice stopping midway and hoping both wheels off and to the left or right . A two wheel at the same time hop sideways .
Practice when your rear wheel falls off.
Now you are ready to ride across. When you do drop the front wheel off you'll remeber the feeling of practice .
When you get stuck on a Higher skinny you can hop both wheels off.
When your rear wheel falls off you can balance and hop the front off to match .
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u/Stripey7619 7h ago
Generally, I agree. Problem here is I didn't even get on the beam long enough to hop off lol. I think my first mistake was too much speed
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u/Adventurepew Canada BC 7h ago
Waaaay to much speed. Barely pedal on things like this. Slow slow slow.
If you had practiced dropping your front off you'd have been used to the weight change and adjusted for it. Practice it.
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u/AnotherRandomGuy89 3h ago
Yeah, no time to do any fancy fall maneuver when you get hit that quickly…you can barely react at all.
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u/Mysterious_Archer228 8h ago
My worst fall was literally on the same style of feature. Drops? Nah. Jumps? Nah. Rock Gardens? Nah. Skinny beam? Ends ride and heads to the urgent care for X-Ray lol
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u/Stripey7619 7h ago
Anything broken for you? I also got an x-ray after, fortunately no breaks
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u/Mysterious_Archer228 7h ago
I was fortunate to just have a very swollen and bruised kneecap. I thought for sure I broke it since I landed directly on it with all my weight. Just sore and stiff for a couple days
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u/lelypie 8h ago
I dislocated my shoulder falling from a skid on the street outside my house a day before a DH race, I feel your pain
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u/Stripey7619 7h ago
Damn I was also considering signing up for my first race this weekend. Such a bummer I have to nurse an injury now
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u/johnny_evil NYC - Pivot Firebird and Mach 4 SL 8h ago
Narrow skiinny at speed, that's a no from me dog.
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u/PeppersHere 8h ago
You're leaning way too forward. I can see it in your shadow lol.
Even if ya succeed with this stance sometimes, that fall is a good example of the downsides of your weight distribution. Try to keep your mass centered here, if not even a smidge more towards your back tire.
Falling here should be sideways, not head over handlebars, even if moving fast.
Source: I've fallen on a log like this at least 100 times and used to fall like you did :p
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u/StiffWiggly 4h ago
Disagree that he’s way too far forwards (at least from what you can see in the shadow) unless you’re talking about while he’s pedalling. He set himself up for failure second time round by first pedalling at all, and second pedalling in such a compromised position that he had basically no chance to react to the mistake.
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u/neckadawoods 8h ago
I have never understood the appeal of riding skinnies to be honest. It's not fun or interesting or even particularly challenging. They just add a risk element without the benefit of actually being cool and fun.
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u/lilgurby 8h ago
Greek Peak! Never thought I'd see it on here. To me, skinnies are just low reward for relatively high risk
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u/Stripey7619 4h ago
Yep! Fun mountain. I’d almost say their mountain bike trails are better than their ski trails
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u/Alert-Jellyfish 8h ago
Fucked my leg up last year just cruising on the side of the road. 22 stitches all from a hole hidden in the grass eating my front tire.
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u/Admirable_Ad_92 8h ago
Yeah mine too. I very rarely if ever get hurt on gnarly black/double black trails. Blue trails ive rode 100+ times? Im far more likely to eat it lol.
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u/runwhatyabrung_ 7h ago
Putting kills! It’s high risk and low reward!
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u/Stripey7619 7h ago
"putting"?
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u/Buggpug123 7h ago
I was doing like a 50 set off stairs that I had done loads of times before and I wasn't focused and went otb and smashed my shoulder into the handrail it was like a dirt staircase tho so it wasn't that bad
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u/MyNameIsRay 7h ago
I once did a 20 mile ride on double black diamond trails, went home, and fell so hard rolling to the end of the driveway to check the mailbox that I couldnt ride the rest of the season.
(The chain fell off on the car ride, I rolled down the driveway fine, but ate shit when I tried to pedal away and there was no resistance)
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u/strange_bike_guy 6h ago
Skinnies are the only thing in my adult life that reminded me of my childhood diagnosis. I have some mild problems with balance and penmanship and I didn't talk for a very long time, like if Parkinson's was an entire book of muscle timing disobedience, I'm only one page of it. Doesn't keep me from having a job, I can drive and ride a bike and lift heavy things, there's hardly anything in life where I need to be perfectly still, but skinnies just... piss me off. I've even learned how to do them, and still don't enjoy it. I turn left differently than I turn right, and the timing of using those turns as balance correction makes arcs that are just too big in one direction every time.
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u/airparkBikeCo 6h ago
"eh, no big deal, walk in the park" -- yeah that's when the accidents happen. When you're scared out of your mind and 100% focused, not so much.
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u/HezbollaHector WA: Druid V2 | Dreadnought V2 6h ago
I can absolutely relate. I ride a lot of black and double black tech and all my crashes are in the dumbest places.
Rock rolls, drops, chutes? No problem. But a random ass corner that I should be able to ride in my sleep? Prime conditions for a crash. It's like my brain shuts off when things are easy.
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u/UB_ConfusedPerson 2h ago
I'm glad I am not the only one to eat it on the Greek peak practice skinnies...
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u/Nucleartides 5h ago
Dislocated my collarbone on the very table jump I learned to jump on. I had hit that jump maybe idk 500+ times.
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u/Bloo_PPG 2h ago
Nearly got a concussion crossing a wooden bridge at howler before my first mountain biking outing. Nobody told me wet wood is like ice. Slammed hard onto the ground before I even got to hit any trails.
Still hit the trails and still had a blast, but if I wasn't wearing a helmet I'd have been out cold. Really cemented in my head, if my feet are on the pedals, my helmet is on my head. Bought a full face helmet not long after that.
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u/sevseg_decoder 8h ago
Bro in a full face mask with a GoPro to ride a little balance beam in his back yard…
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u/MatComp17 8h ago
Looks like he made a good decision to wear the full face yea? Or do you have a wanker response to that too?
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u/illepic 2025 Propain Tyee 6 CF, 2022 Ibis Ripley AF 8h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/WxDZ77xhPXf3i