Have you ever followed a rider who, without even pedalling, seems to get away from you on a descent, and yet you’ve not touched the brakes?

Wonder how they did it? Well, weighting and unweighting is the black magic of riding — it’s a subtle technique that’s difficult to spot, but get it right and this simple action can totally transform your riding.

Although it’s best at first to practice weighting and unweighting on a smooth surface, such as a pump track, it won’t be long before you’re looking to pump into trail obstacles or jump over them all together.

This is a skill that separates good riders from great ones so is essential to learn and guaranteed to improve your riding.

Watch more of Brendan’s skills videos here, and read more about weighting and unweighting your  bike in the June issue of MBR, on sale Wednesday April 29.

About this series

Behind every great rider is an understanding and appreciation of the foundations of good technique. Over the next few months, with the help of World Cup downhill racer Brendan Fairclough, we’ll be taking a look at these fundamentals, and to help ingrain them into your subconscious, we’ve devised a number of skills drills to go away and practise on your local trails.