How to ride flat turns at maximum speed

Flat corners are a piece of cake at low speeds, but they can catch you out or force you to really hit the brakes when you’re riding fast. Follow our guide to getting round flat turns at top speed and you’ll be soon be leaving your riding buddies choking on your dust.

1. Set your speed and line

Approach the corner with your pedals level and your body in a neutral position on the bike.
Brake before the corner to set your speed and move out as wide as possible to make the corner as easy as possible to get around.

Take as wide a line as you can when you approach - Steve Behr

2. Stay off the brakes and lean

The tighter the corner, the more you need to lean. The faster you’re riding, the more you need to lean.
Drop your outside foot and push the bike down using your inside arm.
Stay off the brakes – they’ll affect your grip and lean angle.
Avoid leaning with the bike because you’ll hit the deck pretty quickly if you lose grip.

Lean the bike more than your body for maximum traction - Steve Behr

3. Hold your position, then straighten

If you’ve set your speed properly and you’ve leaned the bike enough to make the turn, then have the confidence to hold your position until you make it all the way around.
Your bike will naturally come out of the lean.

You will naturally come out of the lean as you exit the turn - Steve Behr

Four points to remember

1. Get low

Lower your chest towards your handlebar and keep your elbows high. Bending your arms gives you room to straighten your inside arm and lean the bike over in the corner.

2. Drop your foot

Drop your outside foot to create more room between your legs so you can lean your bike underneath you while keeping your body as upright as possible. Force as much weight as you can down through your outside pedal, too.

3. Lean your bike

Focus on leaning your bike underneath your body. You’ll need to lean your bike so you can use the grippier edges of your tyres, while keeping your body upright so you can apply downwards force to increase traction.

4. Look ahead

Keeping your head up will aid your balance in the corner plus help you keep your body upright and stop it leaning with the bike.