> On their own, these dynamic forces exerted by the rider’s legs barely affect anything about the distribution of the ground reaction forces – one can’t make on

> On their own, these dynamic forces exerted by the rider’s legs barely affect anything about the distribution of the ground reaction forces – one can’t make oneself heavier by just pressing harder on the ground. I'm not sure about this. Yes, static weight _is_ fixed, but a rider can vary their dynamic downforce considerably. Skilled off-road riders (i.e. mountain bikers) vary their dynamic downforce for various reasons, including traction. As always, I'm up for a discussion on this; it is possible the conventional mountain bike wisdom is a butchered version of the physics.