Berms shoot you out of the turn, flat corners want the outside foot down. Learn eyes, body position and bike lean to corner faster and safer downhill.
The short answer to the most common cornering question: ride berms (built, banked corners) with level pedals and let the wall carry you; ride flat corners without banking with the outside foot down. The reason behind both is always the same — you want your tire as perpendicular into the ground as possible so it doesn't wash out.
Corners are where downhill time is won or skin is lost. When the tire washes out you almost always fall sideways onto shoulder and collarbone — and that's the single most common injury region in mountain biking. So good cornering technique isn't just fast, it's active self-protection. The key is three things: eyes, body position, bike lean.
Remember: you don't ride into the corner, you ride to the exit.
Finish braking before you turn in. Go into the corner braking and the tire washes out. Better to be slightly slower at the entry and accelerate back out at the exit.
Turn your head to the exit, not to the front wheel or the apex. Your body automatically follows your eyes — look far through the corner and your line becomes round and flowing instead of frantic.
In a flat corner without a wall you drop the outside pedal all the way down and put your weight on it. That lowers your center of mass and presses the tire into the ground. Your inside knee points slightly out into the corner.
In a berm you keep the pedals level and actively pump into the wall — the banking supplies the grip on its own. The higher and faster you enter, the more the berm carries you. Here you shoot out of the exit as if off a ramp.
Lean the bike more into the corner than your body (bike-body separation). Your torso stays more upright and over the tires while the bike builds lean angle. That keeps your weight vertical over the contact points and grip at maximum.
Cornering crashes almost always go sideways — and there it hits shoulder, collarbone and hand first. So: ride new corners slowly first and raise the speed step by step, never send in blind. Check the surface — wet, loose gravel and roots in a corner halve your grip; act earlier and softer there. Ride berms mid-height at first, not at the very top: enter too high and lose speed, and you slide down the wall. Gloves and knee pads are mandatory for corner drills because the typical crash is a sideways wash-out.
Practice corners with the two-point look: the moment you see a corner, briefly fix the entry, and before you even reach it, your eyes jump to the exit. This active look-ahead gives your brain time to plan the line and takes the panic out. Combined with "brake before" it's the biggest jump from choppy to flowing. Look far, ride calm.
Both, depending on the corner. In flat corners without banking you drop the outside foot to press grip into the ground. In a berm with a wall you keep the pedals level and pump into the banking. Rule of thumb: no support from the corner → outside foot; wall supplies support → level.
Usually because you brake in the corner or have too little weight on the front. A braking tire loses side grip. Finish braking before the corner, keep pressure on the front via the attack position and lean the bike more than your body so the tire grips vertically.
You tip the bike into the corner more than you lean your torso. That keeps your center of mass central over the tires while the bike builds lean angle for the corner. It gives you more grip and the ability to quickly right the bike again if it slips.
Faster than you think — a good berm carries you better the more speed and pressure you bring. Ease in slowly and raise the speed over several laps. Important: build speed before the wall, because braking in the wall kills the flow and lets you slide down.
In tight or slippery corners you roll with level or outside-foot-down and only pedal again at the exit. In wide, grippy berms you can pump along gently or drive out at the exit. Avoid hard pedal strokes mid-lean — that can break the rear tire loose.
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