CONTROL

Clutch, brakes, throttle — all at the same time? Let’s not try too hard right now and start off by developing a natural feeling.

Don’t worry about it too much yet. You will develop it by doing basically everything else.

Stick with good habits from the get-go: one finger on the clutch, one finger on the brake, so you’re always ready to react when it counts.

If it feels weird, make sure to setup your handlebar, controls and levers the right way. This can be found within the first few lections of THE FOUNDATION.

The clutch is what we would call the Trials MVP. Now is the perfect time for you to master controlling the friction zone, so that the clutch becomes much more than an on-and-off switch. Get this right early on, and your learning curve will stay steep.

Aggressive braking and slides on slippery or dusty ground are a great and fun way to prepare your brake control for every situation that’s about to come.

Clutch pops are often trained through obstacle riding alone. But we strongly advise mastering them with specific drills in flat area first — this will speed up your progress with obstacles, hops and advanced techniques by massive amounts.

One much-harder-than-it-sounds-example:
Do a clutch up wheelie, then pull the clutch & rev up the engine while the front wheel falls back on the ground. Stay slow. On impact, accelerate forward.

Both the brake and the clutch are now used to control your bike in every situation — just a lot more dynamic than before. The brake opens up automatically once you lose grip, and the clutch is popped to add in power on command.

It is simple, but hard: Drills. Then feedback from Coaches and friends. More Drills. Filming yourself and analysing it (or having it analysed). Even more Drills.

If you face the truth, you can make big progress in a short amount of time.

If you don't and 'just keep on riding', chances are these habits will stay for a long time.

Bonus: If you want to increase power and fix your movement patterns off the bike, now is also a great time to incorporate trials-specific fitness training.