How to Ride a Bike Down Stairs

Last Updated: September 20, 2021

Have you ever watched teenagers ride down a set of stairs, and wondered "how do they do that?". The truth of it is, it's not that hard. You just need to learn a bit of technique.

Steps

1
Find a short set of stairs with small steps to begin with. The less steep they are, the easier it is for learning.
2
Pick up a little speed. Go too slow and you will bounce your way down the stairs. Too fast and you're likely to end up airborne. Ideally, you should be going about jogging speed.^{[1]
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3
Ride straight toward the stairs, standing with legs and arms relaxed and slightly bent and eyes looking past the bottom of the flight of stairs.^{[2]
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4
Slide your rear off the back of the seat as your front wheel begins to descend. This moves your center of gravity rearward, making for a smoother and safer ride.^{[3]
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5
Relax, and ride down the stairs using your bent arms and legs to absorb the bumps. If you need them, apply your brakes slowly and softly; otherwise you will take an alternate route to the bottom of the stairs via a flight over your handlebars. Also be sure to not turn your handlebars while going down, unless you want to go crashing down sideways.^{[4]
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6
Finish the flight of stairs, slow down, and look toward your next obstacle.^{[5]
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7
Locate a larger and steeper flight of stairs once you are comfortable riding down the short one, and apply the same fundamentals to a larger extent. Get back, relax, look past the bottom of the stairs, and have fun!

Warnings

Be absolutely certain that the brakes on your bike work well, the handlebars are tight, and the tires are properly inflated.

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Always stand up when riding the stairs. No matter what bike you're using, it will always hurt if you sit down when riding stairs, and it reduces your control as well.

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If you aren't comfortable going over the stairs, don't. You probably aren't ready for it.

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When attempting this stunt, exercise extreme caution. If the stairs face a busy road or junction - have a friend mind the road to warn you of approaching cars, or just find another set of stairs, if you are simply trying to learn.

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