7 Pump Track Mistakes & How To Avoid Them | Mountain Bike Skills

Pumptracks are one of the best ways to improve your riding but it can be easy to make mistakes when you are learning. Blake is at the 417 Project’s indoor pump track with seven mistakes that are often made.
Subscribe to GMBN: gmbn.eu/subscribe
Get exclusive GMBN gear in the GMBN store! gmbn.eu/167
The correct body position, using both your arms and legs to pump the transitions, and line choice will have you flying round the track in no time. The most important thing to remember is don’t pedal!
If you'd like to contribute captions and video info in your language, here's the link 👍 gmbn.eu/166
Watch more on GMBN...
📹 gmbn.eu/PumpAndManual
📹 gmbn.eu/pumptrackvs
🎵 Music - licensed by Epidemic Sounds
9th Power - Henyao
Morning Light - Onda Norte
Recess - AGST
Submit your content here:
upload.gmbn.com/
Click here to buy GMBN T-shirts, hoodies and more: gmbn.eu/GMBNShop
The Global Mountain Bike Network is the best MTB KZbin channel, with videos for everyone who loves dirt: from the full-faced helmet downhill mountain biker to the lycra-clad cross country rider along with everyone and anyone in between.
With the help of our pro and ex-pro riding team we’re here to inform, entertain and inspire you to become a better mountain biker, including videos on:
- How to ride faster with expert knowledge
- Fix everything with pro know-how
- Ride anything with world-cup winning skills
- Dial in your bike with bike set-up advice
- In-depth entertaining features
- Chat, opinion and interact with us on the Dirt Shed Show
Welcome to the Global Mountain Bike Network | Covering Every Angle
Thanks to our sponsors:
Canyon bikes: gmbn.eu/Canyon
Nukeproof: gmbn.eu/nukeproof
Chain Reaction Cycles: gmbn.eu/chainreactioncycles
DT Swiss Wheels: gmbn.eu/DTSwiss
crankbrothers pedals: gmbn.eu/crankbros
crankbrothers seatposts: gmbn.eu/8b
Continental: gmbn.eu/Continental
POC helmets and eyewear: gmbn.eu/POCsports
Topeak: gmbn.eu/topeak
WD40: gmbn.eu/WD40
FSA: gmbn.eu/fsa
Ergon: gmbn.eu/ergon
Park Tool: gmbn.eu/ParkTool
Northwave: gmbn.eu/Northwave
Camelbak: gmbn.eu/camelbak
Douchebags: gmbn.eu/Douchebags
Garmin: gmbn.eu/Garmin
KZbin Channel - gmbn.eu/GMBNsubs
Facebook - gmbn.eu/GMBNFB
Google+ - gmbn.eu/GMBNGplus
Twitter - gmbn.eu/GMBNTW
Instagram - gmbn.eu/GMBNIG
GMBN Shop - gmbn.eu/gmbnshop
GMBN Tech - gmbn.tech/subscribe
GCN Tech - gcntech.co/subscribe
EMBN - embn.me/subscribe
Leave us a comment below!

[@Gamingoodz]

Just got back into mountain biking last year and the first time I tried out a pump track I hit my max heart rate soo damn fast, I was gassed and gasping. It's a lot of work pumping with your legs, especially if you are really out of shape like I am. I can't imagine how fit those people that compete in pump track are..

[@MySkobi]

Damn, Blake got all colour coordinated... Nice video man

[@th_js]

Blake that bike looks awesome!! 👌🏻

[@fildag260]

I can see ur comments on every single gmbn video, go ride ur bike instead of commenting every gmbn video

[@th_js]

@@fildag260 I ride my bike almost every day.

[@the_spanner_ch7mp]

@@fildag260 the videos are here to watch. And plus how would you know he leaves comments all the time? Oh wait you must be watching all the videos 😜🤟

[@BlakeSamson8]

Thanks dude. I love the colour. 🤘😬

[@charliemottram7935]

Yea

[@PedalingDave]

First time I rode one I was surprised how much of a workout it was. Blake, after the first bit about getting speed from just pumping you weren't yet breathing heavy!

[@BlakeSamson8]

Pedaling Dave pump tracks are hard work not going to lie but they are bloody fun.

[@greengonzonz]

BMX! This is BMX racing in a nutshell. I've seen people gain positions/win races on this skill alone. Second most important skill after gate starts

[@jannoheckl8626]

At some point you have to learn how to manuell and jump

[@nk-dw2hm]

@NoGSLForYou start out learning on grass, and practice failing first. When practicing manuals intentionally throw it as hard as you can so you go out the back and try to land on your feet like that. I'm an older novice but learning how to fail is sometimes more important than learning to succeed

[@tylersavoy3266]

*rips it around the track fast af* “See, it doesn’t really work” good vid tho

[@samuelnaidenov]

The new Canyon stitched 720 looks sick in this color!👌

[@wesleyteegarden246]

It's the stitched 360

[@samuelnaidenov]

@@wesleyteegarden246 I was talking about the 720 but this one looks good too

[@wesleyteegarden246]

@@samuelnaidenov Ohhh, kk sorry

[@adamchap5127]

finally my riding expirience will be more crispier thanks for the tips

[@gmbn]

🤙

[@alanmc9834]

“Here’s mistake number 1” *shows GMBN logo I love the videos tho

[@SWTrailsAndWheels]

Dang, that no pedal start speed buildup was impressive!

[@jake_7526]

Blake Samson is the best 👍😎

[@jerryvolpini7987]

Loving these short videos, on point and full of helpful tips! Thanks!

[@blainewinters8492]

You guys never run out of amazing videos!

[@dimensionsofearth]

I never get tired of seeing these pump track videos! Such nice pump tracks too

[@brunojeronimoabreu]

thanks men ! from Switzerland !

[@jasbezjak]

Gmbn is my favorite mtb channel

[@JakeOlsonTheSnake]

Solid work, Blake & co. Nicely shot, clearly stated, and, fun! Currently practicing my pumping on a local dirt-track here in WA.

[@KP-ky1sn]

All your videos are great, Always enjoy them but as a newbie, this one puts it all together for me, Sort of the missing link I was waiting for.

[@beardedvikingmtber]

Quality vid lads & it’s going to help me the next time I’m at Leeds urban bike park 🤟🏻

[@the_spanner_ch7mp]

Great video Blake 🤘 Colour coordinated bike and helmet look mint 👊

[@onerider808]

I’m pumped to go to the Pump Park now...

[@Ethelred77]

Ah! Very well timed, this video. I have just started taking my XL 29er to the pumptrack. Still feel it in my legs, haha.

[@TheNotoriousMIC]

Ethelred77 you can get a decent Bmx for less than £300

[@Ethelred77]

I like the idea, but then i'd have to buy a car as well, because it's 20 km to the pumptrack. No problem on my MTB, but on a BMX... Well, i guess it is time to buy that car.

[@geemail369]

Start by using your gear - if you don't find it holding you back in any way, no need to get new stuff!

[@Kev.in-Bike]

Thanks for this vidéo 👍🏼

[@donhilton145]

Love this video been working on this skill living in michigan we are a couple weeks from race season cant wait to apply this skill into my riding

[@BlakeSamson8]

Don Hilton RAD. Glad you liked the video and good luck racing dude

[@christianhollis5157]

Can we get a bike check on Blake’s new ride?? 🤙🏻

[@eliotcrowe7884]

I've seen a vid about pumping technique on trails, but only after seeing this do I realize how much speed you can generate JUST from pumping - that was pretty impressive!

[@alexmarianetti7586]

to Blake, that bike is sick

[@davidkeane2399]

Was at the local pump track on Sunday with my son. After half an hour trying to keep up with him I was knackered. Then I realised how relaxed he and his teenage mates were. As soon as I relaxed myself and stopped trying to push too hard, it all came together. We ended up hitting the doubles with ease. It was a brilliant session once I chilled a bit.

[@ericbeaudry8704]

Thanks Blake, i'm gonna try all... Nice New bike

[@gmbn]

Awesome.. SEND IT! 🤘

[@JonnyDogTV]

Love the bike the colour looks sick

[@BevanSchubert]

Thank you Very helpful

[@reneh.6551]

Beautiful bike...😍... and nice track 😎

[@ValeraPikhota]

Amazing video Blake)))!!!

[@iainkaiser5099]

Just seen this video. Very informative!

[@benjaminaraneda2293]

Great video!

[@adamsandles8103]

At my pump track the parents think it's a daycare centre and it's super annoying cos you'll have so much speed coming up behind a child and they'll just stop on the top of roller and you either have to break and stop and lose all your speed or try and go around them but they might turn into you and you might turn them into a pancake and it's super annoying because I'll get so much speed and then 10 kids will just waltz onto the track while their are getting out the spoons and the needles and they'll think great somewhere for the kids to play and I'll get so annoyed because this stop on Bermd they stop on rollers and they chick up the drop-in it's so frustrating

[@ZOB4]

Rode a pump track for the first time EVER today as part of a skills clinic. First few times were terrible, but started to get it by the end!

[@Howtobeacrack]

great video!

[@sushiljoe7933]

Sick vid and bike!

[@evan2079]

Love your vids

[@thomasstraser5143]

nice vid like always ur soooo good at ur bikes ily

[@bennywilson9]

I guys love you vids your the best

[@rusterkat1188]

Aggressive Mode FTW!! OMG 🤣🤣🤣 Great video, thanks!

[@GregoryVog]

Nice video!!!

[@fieryawesomeness]

Whoa 417 is just down the road from me. When were you guys here?

[@akadiggerwitz]

Another dialled in How-To from Blake “The Pump” Samson 🤙

[@BlakeSamson8]

Chris. J.Calcott aaaaaah to kind Chris. Thanks man

[@HUSHHUSH-]

The colour and your bike looks soo good . Great video Blake. Bet it was your idea 💡 🤘

[@BlakeSamson8]

Jusdrug 🤘😬

[@skyla-idiot]

Best. Indoor pump track. Ever.

[@johanneshockerup3017]

Oooh, love pump track! My dad build one in our garden, 6 years ago! So I've been trying to perfect my technique ever since:) But it ain't as rad as this one;)

[@geemail369]

Just keep building ... tracks and skills! 😉

[@garthly]

The over energetic pump was pretty funny!

[@neildaniel8232]

Biggest mistake I've made at that pump track was going round it on my 160mm Enduro bike just after a big lunch in the cafe and waiting for the uplift bus to resume. I may have overdone it and threw up in the bin... 😨

[@PSNragglefraggle1]

Just found out there's a new pump track near me. Once I pump up my suspension, I'm going to give it another go!

[@pink43560]

Great indoor facility at 417...

[@walterlafleur8961]

Insipred. Taking my DJ to the pump track tomorrow.

[@anthonyjudewilliams5411]

Hello from the Philippines

[@gmbn]

Hey! 👋

[@SKFaisalMahmud-jv3yg]

Hello from Bangladesh!! 🇧🇩🇧🇩

[@BlakeSamson8]

Faisal Mahmud hello 👋

[@richardwilliams9975]

Check out the pump track at Parker’s field,North Petherton Somerset. One of the best council built projects ever.

[@5492sparky]

Quality.

[@tomgannan6845]

Wtf the torque in the background had no saddle?

[@James-yy4vl]

Tom Gannan the weight weenies are getting out of hand

[@fergalfleming5993]

Pulsating, generating power, pistons... Got it ;-)

[@TrailPOV]

Ended up riding a local pump track a couple of years ago and was amazed how physically demanding it can be to keep going round.....is that more common with big dually Enduro bikes or similar for all?

[@migatron1]

It's a good workout on any bike

[@geemail369]

It's quite a workout in itself - but a *big* bike robs a big chunk of your efficiency! That's why hardails with rock solid, low-profile tires and progressive short-travel forks prevail.

[@lesthervera5136]

Bike check of that canyon plssss

[@migatron1]

Blake's got bigger forearms than most people's calfs

[@geemail369]

Spinach!

[@dominicpenalosa5277]

omg i was thinking same lol

[@jannoheckl8626]

You could lock the suspension while pumping that helps getting even faster

[@bl1nky319]

Nice color blake

[@Dan-de5ek]

I think I need to flow more and get more height on the berms as I’ve looked back at some videos and I always enter the berm low and exit it low

[@nvillbeats]

The first one helped me because when im pumping I dont use my legs because my sister only taught me how to use hands to pump for some reasons

[@allsolutions9346]

Hi Blake, thanks for all your videos I'm 37 years old and just starting on this MTB world. Now Im practicing on a home made pump track here in Santiago de Chile but i think the bumps are too deep and short, so the length is shorter than a 26'' mtb. Is there any special technic for going on that?. Thanks man. Awesome channel.

[@geemail369]

You mean peak-to-peak?! 👀 *That's way too short!* More an obstacle course than sth to pump. Try to build around two bike lengths to ~2x axle-to-axle in between peaks and the valleys no deeper than the top edge of your brake rotor.

[@gmbn]

🤔It's would be the same technique but a lot harder!

[@pawewielgus2105]

perfect timing Blake! i’ve just found a pump track on my commute way back from work, and it is located on top of a quite big hill so no need to warm up ;-) one thing that hit me with a big surprise was how much grip there is in corners! insane amount, i would crash every time i go such aggressive on a trail in the woods! i struggle to make some nice jumps, when the speed is ok i’m not concentrated on line and when line is ok i’ve got not enough speed - will practice make it better? or should i change something?

[@gmbn]

Practice makes perfect 🤙 SEND IT!

[@BlakeSamson8]

Paweł Wielgus hey Pawel, perfect. Well I hope this video helps you out dude. The more you practice the better you’re going to get. People tend to loose speed in the corners, it’s all about being confident and know you have the grip. Practicing on a pump track is never boring, just hard work hahaha. Have fun

[@mountainlessmtb9940]

Pump track fun big bike BMX!

[@PaladinMika]

my god that aggressive part was really violent

[@buckrodgers3096]

Campaign for more 'proper' pump tracks actually designed for mountain bikes, by people who know how to do it right ... the UK needs more of them (especially in the midlands please!) - The various council built "pump / bmx tracks" (I use in inverted commas) in my area just don't cut the mustard because they're built with (what seems like) clearly no understanding of what they should actually be like ... They remind me of the 'skate parks' that used to get tacked on to the side of children's play areas back when they started becoming 'the thing' for councils to build ... okay so council built skate parks are a lot better now than they were 10 or 15 years ago, but I don't want to have to wait that long before we start getting good pump tracks ... I'll be too old by then! xD

[@g-forcehack1913]

Yes I find it like this in Devon. There is one near me which cost the town alot of money but is designed stupidity cos I keep nearly crashing on it Joe due to there design fail.

[@Lucas-hk6gn]

I have NONE near me I live in Australia and I just went home from a holiday and found a Pump Track no joke 10 hous away from me! The berms were smaller than a water bottle! It was very hard to ride and I crashed loads.

[@clubdevoiture1618]

We want one of these pump tracks .. help sign and share the petition to help make it happen!!.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6TZnWepmLmdja8

[@MrBJPitt]

Low roof had me worried 😯

[@Dutchandstuff]

What about a full sus bike? Should we lock the shock? What rebound setting works best?

[@geemail369]

Lock-out is the way to go. Suspension working "eats" your input!

[@electric2018]

I feel like this is one of those easier said than done things

[@dkmtb7980]

Been there

[@chabs6748]

Can you make a vid on how to distinguish kinds of mtb?

[@geemail369]

Neil already did. 🤔 He was standing at a sandy beach if i remember correctly!

[@amyleibbrandt]

when you are talking about pedaling ,what if you pump track has not so many rollers and more jumps (if your track starts with two rollers the a jump the a berm and a jump the a step up then rollers)thanks if someone can explain

[@MyBetsie]

That super forward elbow position. Then bake rides with his elbows back around 30 degrees. Elbows super forward causes shoulder impingement and puts way too high a load on the triceps. Back 30 (as he is actually riding) spreads the load between triceps, shoulders and most importantly (as it's the strongest) the chest.

[@jesusfreakcircus8597]

Pump track!

[@tonioplamio8197]

Pls do a bike check😍😍

[@wills1110]

I really want to try a pumptrack

[@BlakeSamson8]

Will S they are so much fun Will.

[@HajrhJsjcjus-oe5ek]

I ride Pumptracks pretty often, like every weekend, and I thought I could ride quite okay. I can pump, double, manual... But that Video showed me, how much i am doing wrong😭

[@HajrhJsjcjus-oe5ek]

Especially riding too aggressively is my problem

[@discozoostaff]

What material is that pumptrack is made of?

[@calebtorrisi6281]

After watching this video I learnt that I want a Canyon Stitch

[@janzoo4238]

Go to the burrows pump track

[@janzoo4238]

Is that 417 by any chance

[@lewiscraik83]

Project Frederick yes it is

[@Ronni.Petersson]

#AskGMBN Blake can you make a video on how to turn left and right and then left and right on a pumptrack? It would help me a lot if I could find out how it is supposed to take me around the turns.

[@geemail369]

Huck your bike going over the ridge when transitioning from one bowl into the next. Practice two steps separately: leaving and entering a bowl at speed (to/from flat). Tilting the bike over mid-transition is something trained best starting on smaller ones and progressing from there. Good luck, keep going and growing! 🍀✊🏻

[@slaya2299]

you make it look so easy but i struggle to gain speed

[@banananarwhal6591]

Is it possible to have poorly designed pump tracks? Ever since I saw Blake do his first pump track on gmbn, I have been dying to go practice on one. I live in a small town and just last weekend, we FINALLY opened out first track. However, I noticed that the rollers were much closer together and much steeper (about 5ft tall) than any I've seen on gmbn.

[@geemail369]

Yes, proportions have to be somewhat right to get flow going. Ever tackled a jump where the landing didn't "match" the takeoff? You'll instantly notice something is off.

[@harrymcalister9409]

What bike do you ride Blake?

[@benleach295]

#AskGMBN I noticed that on the pump track Blake isn’t dropping his outside foot when cornering - I’m not trying to criticize Blake’s riding (as he is a way better rider than me!) but I’m just curious as to whether there is a different technique required for that kind of riding?

[@geemail369]

Since the ground in a park has a smooth (predictable) surface and is banked your bike stays perpendicular to its contact surface - this way there's nothing your inner pedal could get caught on and you're able to push evenly using both legs, feet level, which is crucial for pumping!

[@zanewilson8317]

I’d like to see Blake come out of that berm higher and try to wall-ride the “wall of graffiti” into the next roller. That would be a pretty sick to try..

[@matthewfox7000]

He should invite Sam Pilgrim, I'm sure he would be up for a wall ride

[@LukebeingLuke]

Is it possible to use that Canyon Torque effectively? Or is a full sus not a great bike on a pump track?

[@geemail369]

Long travel fullies lacking lock-out will be a *killer* workout but you _can_ get'em going ... kind of. Far from "efficient" but doable. To use you words: not a *great* bike for pump track riding.

[@LukebeingLuke]

@UCK35czIlFpoHik5hh1Tm8Pw yeah it thought so. But fullies have other dissiplines they are better in. This is a good reason to buy another bike ;)

[@gmbn]

Yes you can ride a pumptrack on any bike! But yes a hardtail is the most efficient for sure 🤙

[@mikeysurname7941]

First like hell yeah. Love the vids guys

[@willbennett7107]

New bike Blake can we see a bike check pleaee

[@drewpenn7440]

How much pump could a pump man pump if a pump man could pump?

[@rasmusimboden2392]

is it a unwritten roule to use a BMX on a pumptrack ?

[@jakeevans1129]

Rasmus Imboden no not at all I used to ride BMX on a pump track as I used to race but now I ride dirt jump bikes

[@gmbn]

Definitely not! You can have a lot of fun and build skills on almost any bike on a pumptrack 🤟

[@jesusfreakcircus8597]

Tree!