OK, gang. I like to think I am a decent road cyclist with above average skills.

However, one thing I have never done (or even attempted) is the dreaded "bunny hop."

I sometimes see my club-mates do this to hop over a set of railroad tracks...or the occasional pothole.

Anyway, is this a skill that's really worth learning, or is it more like doing a "wheelie" that looks cool but has minimal value other than showing off??

Skill worth learning...sometimes you have no time nor the space to swerve to avoid an obstacle.

I learned it a few weeks ago when I had no other option. Worked beautifully.

+1.

More important if you race, or do training rides where you're in a pack (as oppossed to a paceline) and sometimes don't have the option to move laterlally.

Even without racing, there are still times it's handy; pothole on a narrow shoulder, and traffic prevents you moving laterally, wet railroad track that cuts across the road on a diagonal, and traffic doesn't allow you taking it at a 90 degree angle.

Done right, hopping is going to be both safer, and easier on your wheels than the alternative in a number of cases.

But if you don't know how to bunny hop.......

Yes it is worth learning. I hopped a 1 foot gap in the pavement the other day due to road construction which most likely saved me from a pinch flat or worse. Another 100 yards up the road was a dude changing a flat due to hitting that very same gap. It is easy to do, just hold on to the bars and jump.

I didn't think it was a skill to be learned... you just, do it. Maybe its because I started out mountain biking?

I've used it before. It's much better to jump an obstacle than to swerve around it if you're in a group. Just don't crash...

Looks like you answered your own question.

If you ride in groups, then I consider it a basic skill for reponsible cycling.

Ok, Ok.

Thanks for the feedback.

I will have to add this to the arsenal.

ask this guy.

Definitely worth learning, but rarely used. It's just ... in those times when you didn't see a pothole (or other obstacle) coming, or can't move out of the way in time, it's much easier on you and on your wheels to go over it than to it it.

Very easy with clipless pedals, it isn't like being on a BMX.

when you are on platforms, you have to position the pedals just right so you can lift the rear wheel as you jump. if you are right-footed, you would do this with the pedal roughly at the 7 o'clock position when viewed from the drive side.

when clipped in, you just pull the front end up and then jump.

There was a German forumite who said they called it a pig hop when you do it with foot retention.

You can actually get off a decent bunnyhop just by unweighting the pedals as you yank up on the bars then push them forward and down a bit and also twist grips (hoods, whathaveyou) forward.

I'm trying to talk my wife into bunny hopping the tandem, so far not a lot of interest.

Hahaha! I bet with enough attempts a good team could pull off one or two. I'm off to search youtube for this.

OMG. Look how easy it is


They weren't going fast enough to clear a pothole, though.

A few of the cement to asphalt transitions on the MUP are really bad. If you're traveling at speed, hit them would be a tube replacement. You have to hop them more of the time.

How does one bunny hop? I must be too fat Everytime I try, I can lift up the front tire a bit but my jump usually doesn't get he back tire off the ground. I'm vertically challenged.

I am no expert, as should be obvious...that said, I believe you need to bend your knees to pull up the bike, especially the rear.

Probably best to paint some lines in the road and practice jumping over them.

Any other ideas from the collective?

Beer cans. Once you can do 12oz stacked two-high on a regular basis you're ready to clear just about any curb.

Also speed bumps. You can feel it if you stack on 'em (code for not landing in the landing zone) but it ain't so harsh as to wreck your rear rim, like a curb would be.

Yep, I love to see riders bunny hop obstacles on road bikes, because I immediately know how they learned to ride. BMX'ers and MTB riders approach a bunny hop quite differently than road riders, and the bunny hop seems to be more instinctive than planned or "handled". I would guess that those of us that were raised on BMX and MTB learned how to maintain our torso path to maintain momentum and to use our legs to raise the bike rather than to hop the bike, while those that started on the road actually attempt to hop the bikes over yhe obstacle. Either method works, but using your legs as suspension results in a smoother transition.

I bunnyhopped a wooden road debris hidden by shade going 30 mph on a descent. Made i thru but holy crpp that scared the heck out of me. I slowed it to 20 rifht after.

I bunny hop all the time. It's also really fun.

Traditional bunny hop:




If you ride clipped in, you can just brute force it without properly "preloading" the pedals and having timing finesse pushing the bars forward... Technically you probably still "preload" the jump but can just pull the whole bike up by brute force when clipped in.