Originally Posted by
Robert A
I mean the force of gravity, too. When you lean right in a turn, the centrifugal force to the left is counteracting the lean. The force is lined up with the tilt of the bike. If it was to the right, you'd fall right over.
Ah yeah. This is true. Idk. I can’t claim to have a scientific reason for putting my knee out but I would say that if you’re not doing it naturally, doing it forcibly isn’t gonna make you faster. The #1 thing you can do to improve your downhill skills is get nicer tires and #2 is follow someone you trust
but you have piqued my curiosity. I’m going to try descending without flaring my knee and see what happens. Maybe I’ll update. My guess is that, psychologically, it helps me keep track of how hard I’m leaning, regardless of whether I scrape. Motorcyclists do this even when they don’t intend to get anywhere near knee-scraping territory. Some motorcycles can’t.