Justen

Okay, with higher end bikes, are the rims or tires any better at handling rolling up onto curbs or over other obstacles without getting damaged?

One of the LBS staff told me that the best way to go up a curb is to simply ride into it and let the bike go up. I would have thought that it would be better to give it some lift than to just ride into it. I do keep my tires at a fairly high pressure (6-70 psi) for road cycling so wonder if he was thinking of doing this when the tires are not as hard ?

Either way, I would think it could bend the rims if you did it wrong.

Justen

Jim311

Yeah, you can bend teh rim if you aren't careful. I always hop the rear wheel up over if I'm going fast, but chances are if you're running high enough pressure it will be okay. Really sharp steps or rocks have done that to me... pinch flatting my tires.. but I've never had any damage to my rim from it.. just damaged tires.

KleinMp99

Cheap wheelsets will most likely get damaged from riding into curbs too hard, high end wheels probably wont be damaged. Best thing would be to bunnyhop on the curb or find a place to ride up where there isnt a curb (Common sense).

iamlucky13

Depending how much higher end the bike is, maybe. Remember with bikes that you always have a choice of two out of three features: lighter, stronger, cheaper, so it is possible to get stronger, high end rims. One thing to do is make certain that you get double walled rims, which are supposed to be significantly stronger.
That said, yes you can bend the rims if you do it wrong, although usually it takes quite a bit of force and, to the best of my knowlege (someone correct me if I'm wrong), you are actually more likely to do it at a lower tire pressure. This would allow the tires to flex enough that the rims would come in contact with the curb. It is more likely, however, that repeatedly running straight into the curbs will gradually flex your wheels out of true and you'll have to spend a fair amount of time with your spoke wrench.
I always slow down when I approach a curb and do a small wheelie so that my front tire just barely clears the curb. Then I use my feet on the pedals to lift the back tire up the same height. It takes just a little bit of practice and once you get it down, you'll be able to ride up onto foot high obstacles without a problem. I usually figure if I hear a thud, I could have done it better by slowing down more or focusing on making my tires clear the obstacle better or not overclear it. Hope this helps

Justen

Kleinmp99 - okay, I know that it would make sense to ride up where there is not a curb but that was not really the question. Wouldn't it make more sense for me to learn how to deal with these obstacles instead of just avoiding them ?

As for bunnyhopping - how do you do it ? This may be a really basic skill for some of you but i dont' know how to do it so please don't make any smart remarks. I have come here to learn, not to be humiliated.

Thanks,

Justen

Justen

Thanks Jim,

Some of our curbs do have the wheelchair ramp like indentations so they are no problem but I am just wanting to start learning some basic stuff so I can eventually start doing some downhill riding when this injury has resolved. I have a broken arm in a cast so my bike handling is a little awkward right now.

Justen

Justen

Hey, thanks for all the tips.

I have been trying to lean back and lift the front wheel up so that it is not just being run directly into the curb. However, as I mentioned in my other post, I have a cast on one arm and it makes it hard to handle the bike as well as I would otherwise. I cannot hold the grip well and changing the gears or braking is a bit of a challenge too.

I guess it does take practice and once I get this da*n cast off, it will be much easier.

What do you do coming down off a curb to avoid that thud ? The best I can do is just to roll off and then stand over the front so the back of the bike isn't carrying my weight when it comes off the curb and hits the road. Does that sound right ? I have seen some riders come off sideways and kind of swing the back of the bike to the side. I guess that works too.

Justen

KleinMp99

YOU CANT EVEN BUNNY HOP? (JUST KIDDING!!)

I couldent bunny hop worth shhhhiiiittt when I first started either, and my friends could. I found that learning how to bunnyhop without clipless pedals was hard....and it took me awhile to learn. You can do it 2 ways, bring the bike up all at once or start with the front wheel and then bring up the back (they have names but I dont know what they are.)
I guess you have to do it like this:
1. Pull up with arms
2. Retract legs in
3. Push down with arms (not slamming the front end back down)
4. Whatever else you want to do.

All of that has to take place within a second

Actually you could even skip step 3, but it might help....I dont know:confused:

Justen

Nope...can't bunnyhop but ready to learn everything I can :-)

I am going to try both ways and see what works. It's probably going to be a whole lot easier without this damn cast on. argghhhhh !!!

Anyway, thank you for the tips !

Justen

Joe Gardner

Why are you riding on curbs in the first place? You need to be out in the street, it is much safer for yourself and others.

Anyhow, you should still learn how to bunny hop, it will come in handy on just about every ride once you understand the basics. For detailed information look here: https://users.aber.ac.uk/sjs9/Tutoria...alkthrough.htm

It is going to take alot more then just reading a page, plan on spending hours practicing.

dirtbikedude

Here is a long answer from another site.

"The most common bunnyhop is done when you ride along crouch down and shoot straight up and lift both tires off the ground at the same time. Of course, NOBODY good does that. Below is what is the standard freestyle bunnyhop- it was referred to as a bronco because it kind of looks like that when you do it. But if you call it anything besides a bunnyhop people will look at you funny. (he-he)

Begin by rolling at almost any speed- probably a good speed to learn the trick is slow/medium so if you case it you won't die.

DO THE REST OF THE STEPS IN A VERY QUICK SMOOTH MOTION...

Lean down and back on the bike- slightly behind your seat. Pulling back on the handlebars to get the front wheel of the bike off the ground. The higher you can get the front wheel at this point the higher you will usually be able to go... NOTE: If you pull back or lean back to far the bike will loop out and you will fall on your butt. NOTE: This is just like pulling up for a wheelie!

Make SURE your weight is back when you try this next part. If your weight is to far forward you will nose dive and could even go OVER the handlebars...

When the front wheel has peaked out shoot your body straight up and a little bit forward. Do this by pushing down on the pedals and pulling on the bars. In a split second your weight is travelling upwards. BASICALLY YOU ARE JUMPING. With the front wheel in the air already you do not have to lift the full weight of the bike when you end up lifting it. But you must lunge (jump) upwards as quickly as possible. This will REALLY affect your height.

As your body is now travelling upwards, lock your feet against the pedals (see note below) and lift the bike off the ground. HUH? How do you lift the bike? By pressing down and slightly backwards on the pedals you can grip them. You don't put your WEIGHT on the pedals... you have your feet at an angle and pull UP with your feet. This is the HARDEST part of the trick. Do NOT think it will come in a day... or even a week. Once you can do it do NOT expect to be able to get a foot of the ground... MAYBE a few inches... But height will take practice...

To get really high.... Because you have extended your legs when snapping upwards you should bend your knees and tuck the bike in as close to your body as possible to get the maximum height.

Riding out isn't a problem- just let gravity do its thing.
PRACTICING: Building up to do a bunnyhop of more than 2 inches is NOT something that will happen over night. It can take months to learn to bunnyhop up a curb. It can take YEARS to learn to bunnyhop a couple of feet high. Practice about 3 to 5 minutes a day EVERY day to get better at it.

FACTORS: Since bunnyhopping involves a lot of physics stuff you need to consider the following- Bike length, bike weight, YOUR weight, how high YOU can jump, and how strong you are. These will ALL affect how high you are able to get the bike. Remember if you are small and have a heavy bike you will NOT be able to learn as quickly to go high.

HINTS: Ride towards a curb (a 5 inch or so curb) at a VERY slow speed. Lift your front wheel onto the curb and then lift your rear wheel onto the curb. Do not put your foot down. Do not let either tire hit the curb.
When you can do this with neither tire hitting the curb... go faster and learn the motion of lifting the front tire first then the rear tire. This rocking motion is what makes a HIGH bunnyhop possible. At some point you should be travelling at the curb fast enough to lift the front wheel onto it and then the back wheel onto it BEFORE the front wheel lands. THIS is a bunnyhop.

LIFTING THE BIKE: Possibly the number one reason people can't do bunnyhops to begin with is that they don't understand the concept of locking their feet against the pedals. There is a reason that pedals (especially aluminum ones) have those little studs on them. If you look at the video you will see how it is possible to lock your feet against the pedals and just lift the back end of the bike off the ground. This is the same action that snaps the back end into the air when the front wheel is off of the ground. It is also a good way to help to learn the trick."

Justen

I am on the street but I thought the curbs would be a good place to start, and because I sometimes stop at a store or something and need to go up on the curb to the sidewalk. Yes, I could just get off the bike but if nobody is in the vicinity, it is a good place to practice right ?

I am planning to do TONS of practicing...but just wanted to get some tips. Thanks for the website reference.

Justen

Maelstrom 

For a curb simply pop your front wheel up and then when the rear gets close enough jump with your rear feet. The bike should follow and the wheels didn't hit the curb. You don't even need to bunny hop to not hit curbs...

Bunny hopping is very important so still learn it though Especially if you plan to ride the shore at all.

Justen

Thanks. I was trying them this afternoon. I am getting the hang of it but I just can't grip one of my handlebars properly when I am popping the front wheel up so the weight of the handlebar and wheel shifting throws the bike off to the side...argghhh...anyway, will practice more tomorrow.

Justen

Joe Gardner

Here is a tip, practice with a 2x4 board. It will not damage your rim if you run over it, first try to hop just the front wheel over the board, then link frot and rear hops. In a few days you should beable to hop both front and rear over the board at the same time. Now move to curbs.

a2psyklnut

I'll add to Joe's suggestion. Start with a 2x4 flat on the ground, then up on it's side (4" side up), then move up to a 2x6, then a 2x4 on two aluminum cans.

Here's a tip I used to teach my wife. I spent an afternoon teaching her how to lift the rear wheel only. She pretty much knew how to wheelie, so I taught her to do a rear wheel hop.

Roll along at a pretty slow pace, Middle ring up front 3 or 4 gear in back (easy pedalling, but with some resistance).

Start in a neutral position, body weight centered on the bike. As you're rolling, you want to simultaneously lean forward by bending your arms, and pulling your chest toward the bars (more forward and down vs. just forward), while tucking your feet back an up. Your back wheel should do a little hop!

keep doing this until you're comfortable. This is the motion you need to learn in order to get your back wheel up.

Watch a cat jump. Compress your body down and back. Lift your front wheel, then extend out your arms trying to "push" the bike forward. Then shift your body weight forward (to neutral, not Too Far Forward), then do the leg tuck thing! Viola! You've just bunny hopped.

Practice over an obstacle. For some reason your mind will not jump unless there is something to jump over!

L8R