Elbows up, go faster?

[Kevin31]

When riding MX, why do I want my elbows up? How can this make me faster?

 

[Anssi]

That way your arms will act as additional shock absorbers for the front.

 

[Tom Dixon]

When you keep your elbows up, it keeps your shoulders straight, which keeps your center of balance in the right area, which makes you go faster, which........... You get the idea, keep your elbows up.

 

[yzer67]

it is also easier to open up the throttle

 

[Kevin31]

Thanks

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

The idea of keeping your elbows up & out is to give you more control and leverage. Since you do more than just turn the handle bars to turn, keeping the elbows up & out allow you to use your upper body to lean the bike instead of just your forearms. It also aids in keeping the wrists straighter. The proper way to grip the bars is similar to reaching for a doorknob, if you try this approach, keeping the elbows where they belong will be easier and feel more natural. There was a thread some time back asking why some riders have their levers up so high, gripping the bars like I mentioned you'll see why they do.

Like anssi said, your arms will reduce the amount of shock that transfers from the bike to your body with the elbows up too.

 

[Sawblade]

Next time you go riding try this. Find a safe second gear corner. Enter the corner standing in the attack position with your elbows up. Execute the corner by braking, seating down, weighting the outside peg. Now go back and do the same corner with your elbows down. You will see the difference in the amount of control and effort with you elbows up.

 

[wardy]

always remember

elbows up =arms work like a shock absorber like stated above.

elbows down= arms work to "turn" the bars rather then stabilize

rough conditions make this much more useful and apparent

wardy

faster is achieved by picking the right lines, position on the bike to hold that line, and throttle control to maintain the whole process.

 

[KLX_BOY]

ELBOWS UP

And it looks so COOOL.:D