Beyond Skills: The Six Key Factors That Drive Mountain Bike Performance
When it comes to mountain bike coaching, performance isn’t just about perfecting your technique. Across sports and countries—Canada, New Zealand, the UK—coaches often reference the same six core performance factors, regardless of what they’re called locally. These six pillars are: Environment, Equipment, Technical, Tactical, Physical, and Psychological—or simply, EETTPP.
Each of these factors plays a unique role in shaping a rider’s experience and performance on the bike. Some can be influenced immediately, while others take months or years to develop. Here’s a quick breakdown:
Environment: The trail conditions, weather, time of day. Not always in your control, though you can work around it (e.g., riding earlier to beat the heat).
Equipment: Bike setup, tire pressure, suspension tuning—this is one of the easiest and most impactful areas to change quickly.
Technical: Your riding skills—braking, cornering, pumping, line choice. The bread and butter of skills coaching.
Tactical: The decision-making side—when to push, when to rest, how many warm-up laps to do. Tactics often overlap with mental sharpness.
Physical: Strength, endurance, nutrition—building the engine that drives the bike.
Psychological: Confidence, focus, and mental readiness. All the gear and fitness in the world won’t help if your mind isn’t in it.
Why Equipment Might Be the Best Starting Point
For most riders—especially the intermediate or advanced "everyday rider"—equipment is the low-hanging fruit. It's adjustable, immediate, and often underappreciated. Coaches frequently find that riders, even skilled ones, have poorly set-up bikes: tire pressures that are too high, suspension that’s too stiff, bars set too high or low.
Simple changes to bring the bike to a baseline setting—appropriate for the rider’s weight, ability, and terrain—can make a huge difference. Without touching skills, a well-tuned bike can instantly boost confidence, comfort, and control.
This is especially true for recreational riders. While a pro can make a suboptimal bike work (to a degree), the average rider relies far more on a properly set-up machine. Ironically, though, equipment also matters more for pros on race day—because their physical and technical factors are already maxed out, so small tweaks (like tire pressure or suspension settings) could mean the difference between winning and missing the podium.
Skills vs. Strength vs. Setups
Another reason equipment is such a focus in coaching: it’s one of the few factors that can be optimized in a single session. You can tweak a rebound setting or drop tire pressure in seconds, and see immediate improvements. Compare that to physical conditioning, which takes months, or even skills, which develop over multiple sessions.
That’s why high-quality coaching includes attention to bike setup. A lesson might focus on body position or braking drills, but if the bike is working against the rider—overinflated tires, slow rebound, or poor cockpit setup—even great technique won’t translate into great performance.
The Bigger Picture: Coaching with All Six Factors
Great coaches consider all six performance factors, not just the obvious ones. While technical skills will always be a big part of mountain bike coaching, the psychological side—confidence, fear, focus—can often be the limiting factor. And yes, environment plays a role too, though it’s less within our control.
Ultimately, defining what “performance” means for each rider is key. For some, it’s racing and shaving off seconds. For others, it’s riding smoother, safer, and with more joy. Depending on that goal, different performance factors will take center stage.
Takeaway: Whether you’re a coach or a rider, think beyond just skills. Adjust the equipment, check the mental game, consider the conditions—and aim for small wins across the board. That’s where true progression lies.
