Here is a primer on most everything you need to know to get starting riding mountain bikes. It answers many questions new cyclists have about some basics or riding mountain bikes. I give my opinion on techniques and other cyclists pitch in with their opinion. This is in two sections. We will start out with Riding Skills --- the Basic Riding Position and Turning.

Others added: You may want to add that your grips should be about shoulder length apart, but that would only really affect small / large people.

You could mention that you can (or may have to) ride with pedals vertical (and/or with one foot loose) in tight turns.

Many people spin their pedals slower than is optimum. Faster feet in a lower gear will often give you more speed and less fatigue, although it can take some time to get used to spinning your legs at 90-plus revolutions per minute.

Others added: To steer, put your weight on the inside of the turn. Turn your front wheel toward the turn, and hold your bike upright. Even if one or both of your wheels begin to skid you can easily recover. In contrast, if you lean hard through a turn on loose material and either wheel loses traction, you will be picking gravel out of your leg.

You almost always want your weight centered between your wheels. This means you move your butt further back as the terrain gets steeper. Learn to feather your front brake. Let off on the brake when your wheel hits an obstacle, and hit it harder when you have a smooth even braking surface. Many people do not learn to feather the brake, so they put their weight too far towards the rear. This rear weight shift results in too little weight being placed on the front wheel, so that you cannot easily steer.

I've found that negotiating sharp turns at some reasonable speed is easier when the seat is an inch or so lower than normal. The trick is to lean the bike (but not the rider). This is really just a variation of normal turning.

Point the inside leg in the direction of the turn (knee away from the frame), putting all weight on the outside pedal. Push down on the inside handlebar. At this point almost all weight should be distributed between the inside grip and the outside pedal. This is much easier with a rigid fork - with a suspension fork, you really have to bear down on the handlebar (a grunt may be required!). At this point the bike is leaning under the rider, with the seat anywhere from under the thigh to just under the knee. The rider's weight is centered over the point where the two wheels are in contact with the ground, so there isn't a washout problem even in loose conditions.