Michael Hanslip Coaching

If you want to go faster, you have to pedal harder

April 2026
Writing | May 2026 | March 2026

Lubricated valve stems 2...

27/04/26 18:29 Filed in: Gear
Back in September, I wrote about the idea of adding lubricant to tyre valves and the valve stems to stop sealant from blocking them. I've been using "lubricated" valves for many months now. Long enough to find out that if the sealant gets in there, it will turn solid even if it won't stick to the valve itself. Clearing it was super easy - pull the string of congealed sealant out. But not foolproof.
I haven't figured out how to get lubricant inside the valve stems - I think I need a pipe cleaner since a cotton bud is too big in diameter to slide inside. I could use the same submergence approach, but then they'd be out of commission for a few days (I have many spare valves but not many spare valve stems).

Riding cues #5

11/04/26 14:55 Filed in: Riding
One cue that PMBI repeats a lot is chin over stem. That ensures that the riders centre of mass is centred in the bike’s wheelbase - a stable position. It should be obvious that there is room for variation in this position - one can be centred and still not be optimally positioned.
 
Legs should, by default, be extended. And this is where the problems arise. Challenging terrain makes people crouch. Straight legs are more relaxed, more stable and provide better "suspension" (like a fork, you want your legs to absorb impacts and return to rest, not stay down in their travel). It is easier to keep chin over stem - centred - position when legs are straight. Most people bend their legs and either go directly backwards or find their way back. The cue, therefore, should be something about long legs. In challenging terrain the correct response is bent arms but long legs - hence the importance of the hip hinge in mountain biking (I'm sure I've written about hip hinges before and if I haven't I should as it is worthy of its own entry). Bent arms lower the riders centre of mass, increasing stability. And those bent arms can push the front wheel down which is generally more advantageous than being able to absorb the upwards movement of the front wheel (the fork can do that or the rider can lift up immediately prior depending on the size of the bump).
 
For 10 years I went to BC for a month of mountain biking and by day 3, no matter the prep prior to going, my legs were sore. That always settled after a couple more days and I just chalked it up to being unused to long days on bumpy trails. However! My recent trip to Thredbo for a week didn't generate sore legs at any point. I think the difference is my default straight legs has finally landed as an actual default position, and thus I'm not challenging my legs in the same ways as before. Between the elbow cue and the leg cue, I feel like I'm riding as well as ever, and in some ways better (despite being another chunk of years older).

Riding cues #4

04/04/26 18:02 Filed in: Riding
I used to have this cue printed on the long sleeves of my coaching clothing. If you want to go faster you have to pedal harder. While it is an obvious truth, it doesn't always occur to people in the moment. I remember riding up a hill with a friend on a ride and he kept shifting trying to stay with me on my singlespeed bike. The reality was, he had to do the work regardless of chosen gear. He just needed to pedal harder. (Incidentally, he rode his singlespeed the next time we went out and at that same hill he had no issues keeping up.)
To go faster on a bike requires either pedalling the same speed in a higher gear or faster in the same gear - either one is the "harder" I refer to.
 
The genesis of the saying was last minute advice to a rider going into a windy criterium race. At one point he thought about what I said, pedalled harder, and won. And so it became my thing.
 
In DH racing, sometimes to go faster you have to use the brake less. But that's a different cue!

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