Mountain Biking - Getting air without ramps 'n stuff

What is the best way to just jump off the ground without a ramp or somethin'? I can do it, but I can just barely make a sidewalk curb. I just kinda made up my own way of doing it without anybody telling me, so I'm checkin to see what you guys do. I have pedal straps, too.

What I do with my clipless pedals is I just pretend I'm not on a bike, that instead I'm just standing on the ground and crouch down and spring up with my legs like I'm just jumping from a stand still. I know this isn't the 'correct' way to bunny hop but it works for me. Also keeps me balanced when I'm hitting drops without any sort of kickers. You should be able to duplicate that with straps.

Hmmm...I studied trials. I wanted to learn how to bunny hop. I do it without the aid of clips or clipless pedals. Simply flats. There are many variations to a bunny hop.

Goto www.trials-online.com they have movies and great tutorials on bunny hopping. Moving with speed I can hop over a foot (this is handy for climbing larger objects) and at a standstill I can jump a little higher. This is odd as most are the other way. I chalk it up to year of basketball. I have a lot of vertical strenght with no movement.

Cheers.

Originally posted by ShawnSR
What I do with my clipless pedals is I just pretend I'm not on a bike, that instead I'm just standing on the ground and crouch down and spring up with my legs like I'm just jumping from a stand still. I know this isn't the 'correct' way to bunny hop but it works for me. Also keeps me balanced when I'm hitting drops without any sort of kickers. You should be able to duplicate that with straps.

That's just what I do. I can't get nearly a foot like Maelstorm though! That's some gooooooooood jumpin'.

I've gone to the trials-online page to see the videos, but even with quicktime on my computer, I'm unable to view the videos. All that shows up is an empty box where the video should be.Does anyone know why I can't see these videos?

12" is actually pretty small. Ryan Leech hits 45 inches I believe. www.ryanleech.com. Good bunny hops do require good form but in all reality if you suck at jumping normally during regular sports your jump will suck on a bike. A good tip to keep the bike attached to you is to point your toes down. This helps a lot. My foot never slips off anymore and I can suck the bike right up into my chest.

Also don't do this with clipless. Practice without. Your skill will be so much more refined than with clipless. BEsides it will be that much more impressive. Anyone can bunny hop with clipless.

Not sure why the movie doesn't work. They all work for me.

I would say use platforms instead of clipless and practice. Buny hops are second nature now but when my friends and I were learning as kids we would set up different obstacals that would fall easily so we would not wreck if we did not clear them. Then we just practiced over and over. We eventually were hoping garbage cans and any thing we could find. If you have the basic idea down you just need to practice. Some people learn right away and others may take a while. Good luck.
Slainte:beer:

Check out this jump. No clipless either just old converse flats I believe...

http://ryanleech.com/multimedia/films/sidehop2.mov

notice that his front tire is higher than his rear.

if you want to go high, you have to get your front tire up.

it's all in the upper body. your don't use your feet to pull the bike up.

it is like the ollie on a skateboard. those guys don't have their feet attached but they can pull the board pretty high.

plus, the guy in the video has a 19 pound bike. (or something close to that.)

practice, practice, practice

we use to make a pole vaulting thing that would hold a stick off the ground, you could raise the stick but if you hit it, it would fall.
or cardboard box's, or big gulp cups....

Would a monoshock in the rear soak up my bunny hops? it's pretty stiff if it does dampen it anyways, so it's not a huge deal I think.

So what's the strategy? Do I hunch down and rip up, yanking my handlebars up, then just let my feet and pedals follow up, not really doing anything? Do I use the back brake on the way up or do I pedal in a jolt or somethin'? I understand the videos cause I've played them a lot of times (they're cool), but I don't really get what they're doin'.

That site has detailed instructions on hopping. Very good written instructions that mesh well with the movies. Hopping on a dualy is easy for low hops (just hopping) but for really high hops it is easier with a hardtail and then even easier with a trials bike. It is still possible though.

I asked the guy at my LBS today and he said to pull up on my handlebars while pushing down on my pedals. Is this right? I can't really seem to go very high, only about 5 inches right now. I know I can do more, I'm probably doing something wrong.

Originally posted by jump
I asked the guy at my LBS today and he said to pull up on my handlebars while pushing down on my pedals. Is this right? I can't really seem to go very high, only about 5 inches right now. I know I can do more, I'm probably doing something wrong.

that doesn't sound right to me.....

but if your getting five inches your doing something right.

can you do it up a curb?
practice it rolling, find something like a cardboard box and practice going over that.
something that won't hurt your bike if you don't make it.

sounds like your on your way.
just keep practicing and you'll get better.

Ok the way I do it. I lift with my handlebars. At the height I want I jump. This takes etting used to but I literrally suck the rear end up. The higher I jump the higher I go. Having my toes pointed down helsps with this sucking motion. The higher my front wheel goes the higher potential my total jump has. This sucking of the rear end also involves a little wrist action but that comes with time too.

To push down on th pedals doesn't sound right and you may be limiting power. Unless he is talking about a pedal kick than that is very different.

I can jump a curb easy now. So I need to just whip my handlebars up and level out the back?

The technical way to do a proper bunny hop is to wheelie first (for trials riders at least), but most people find it easier to do a flat bunny hop. It is not so hard to get up to 3' with lots of practice. Also it depends on the obstacle you are approaching. I have done a few trials competitions and I find that the wheelie/ bunny hop method is best for anything bigger than about 12" or so, since if you can't clear it at least you won't be doing an endo. First learn to do it flat, just pull up on the bars and jump with your feet. It helps a little to have clips or straps but not all that much. After you master that one try pulling a wheelie and pulling everything up with your bars and feet, It's cool when you finally get a hold on it all.

I can't wait until I practice enough to get in the 12"+ numbers!! I'm really working on your suggestions, thanks!

Push down on your bars first, compress the tire and then pull up

I know that I'm reviving an old thread, but I'm just starting to learn to bunny hop. I'm finally lifting my back tire off of the ground. Just a few inches now, but there is some great stuff in this thread to increase that.

Anyway, what is this wrist flick that everyone keeps talking about? Do you just rotate your wrists up?

Lastly, I'd just like to say that these forums are great. I'm very glad to finally be posting, after watching for the past week or so. I've already learned a lot!

Draft

for me, a bunnyhop is not in the wrists. it's in the shoulders, arms and lifting of the legs.

pull up while leaning forward and jump with your legs while your pushing your arms/bars out infront of you. (it's all done at the same time)

the bottom line is, if your bunnyhopping now, you have the technique.

now you just need to practice it over and over and over.....:)

I would suggest you start trying to hop over stuff soon.
start out small w/ a empty pop can. or a small stick. or empty box.

then once you can clear that kind of stuff, move on to curbs.

Now, I need to figure out how to suck the back tire up. I can get it off of the ground, but I can't get any air under it. I saw that one person drags it up using their feet, but I can't seem to grip the pedals at all. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Draft

Tip your feet downwards...compress body down while lifting front wheel and then transfer weight up and forward springing your feet up...

then practice, practice, practice.

mmm......its all about the kangaroo....pretend your a kangaroo when your jumping with your arms close to your chest and pull them up with you as your jump.

be a kangaroo..

Hey Draft, your only about an hour away from me........what bike do you ride? Have you came to marquette to ride before?

Originally posted by KleinMp99
Hey Draft, your only about an hour away from me........what bike do you ride? Have you came to marquette to ride before?

What's up? No, I've never rode in Marquette. I know some people that have though, and they say there's some sweet trails. I've done most of my riding in IM and Houghton. I know some people that'll be living in Marquette this summer, so I'll have to get some time and make a trip up to ride. Oh, and I ride a trek 4000. It's ok. I keep updating the components though.

It feels like I'm jumping correctly, but I can't get my back tire up. I guess I'll just keep practicing.

BTW, thanks for the link to that trials page. I'm getting a lot more comfortable on my bike just by playing around with the fundamentals. Excellent stuff.

Draft

Just an FYI, my friend helped me figure out how to really lift the back tire up, using an effective practicing method.

You need to figure out the upper body motion that it takes to pull the back up. Stand over your bike wth your feet on the ground. Pull your front tire off of the ground. Now, with a smooth, but fast motion pull your handle bars back then push them forward. Figure out exactly what you need to do to get the back tire as high as the front one. Do this until it feels natural. You can then put that motion to use when your riding your bike and you have your front tire in the air.

One of my major problems was not being comfortable pulling the bike up under me. This wouldn't allow me to actually jump. You have to understand what you need to do in order to pull the bike up so your feet never leave the pedals. This takes practice.

Once you've learned to do these things, you should be bunny hopping. Then just keep practicing.

Let me know if any of this helps you bunny hop, because it helped me.

Draft