Downhill speed hacks Podcast

[Cotharyus]

One of the things mentioned in the podcast on hacks to go fast downhill is to brake before the corner rather than in the corner because braking tends to stand the wheel up. Yes to the first part, but not so much to the second. The reason it’s best to brake before you turn is because your tire can only generate so much grip – lets look at it in terms of Gs (G-force) and to make it simple, we’ll say the max grip the tire is capable of generating is 2 Gs. If you roll through the turn without your brakes on, all 2 G worth of grip can be lateral – that is, keeping your tires from sliding out from under you sideways to the outside of the turn. Same turn, except now you’re on your brakes. So for instance, 1 G of grip goes to slowing you down/keeping from skidding the tire forward, so you only have 1 G of grip left to actually corner with. This is, perhaps, an over simplification (certainly, to be certain) but I promise you I can lock up either or both wheels in a turn and slide them without them standing up, but there is no escaping the physics of traction.

[Aaron Chamberlain ✓ supporter]

Thanks for the lesson!

[Author]

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