How do you bring your back wheel off the ground to jump curbs and such? I was racing my kids in an empty schooling parking lot yesterday and wanted to pull a fast one on em, however I was goin pretty fast and didn’t feel that I could safely jump a curb. I’m riding a 26” mtn bike, front suspension only.

You need clipless pedals or toe clips so you can hop and lift the bike.

Google "bunny hop". Plenty of videos on how this is done. And you DO NOT need clipless pedals nor toe clips. It will help but not necessary.

Not true at all.

areJ, I'm sure a quick youtube search would be good for learning. While you're there, check out Danny Macaskill for an added treat.

Bunny hops can be done without clipless pedals or toe clips. Kind of a crud video, but here's an example of how to do it on a BMX with flat pedals. Basic mechanics are the same whether you're on an MTB, road, or BMX. Bring up the front, then push it down fast enough to bring the rear up.


Better to learn without toe clips or clipless, anyway. You won't learn bad habits.

The last time I curb jumped I launched to soon and did an endo into the front yard in front of several people passing by. To make it worse I did it on an old women's three speed with a metal front basket. supastar!

thats what I thought! I've tried that but just couldn't get it to work. Eh, maybe I'll try it again tonight if I'm out........in my driveway!

Practice. I still amaze my kids when I use my BMX skills from 30 years ago - it's like riding a bike - you never forget.

That being said, I doubt I'll be doing any tabletops off a small curb with my 30+ lb. monster.

Thinking back to when I learned...I practiced by jumping a leave rake laid in the driveway. I started by doing both wheels at once then moved on to the front wheel first stuff later. Once you find the motion you'll be able to jump much higher pretty quickly. Don't be surprised if you can clear a foot in only a few weeks.

A funny memory - I took my buddy's 7-inch travel MTB for a spin one day. I headed for the curb with some speed and barely, by the slimmest of margins, made it up. For a moment I thought that I was going to face plant into the concrete. Apparently a 45 lb bike with a big squishy suspension isn't as agile as a BMX bike. Who would have thunk?

I tried it yesterday and I believe I was able to get both wheels off the ground. not nearly enough to jump a curb and I couldn't do it at faster speeds. Keep tryn. I'm just waiting for my son to start trying these things, he JUST started riding without training wheels.

You are not alone on this experience. I remember that stuff being so epic, I got a nice applause to go with the embarassment.

Get your weight low and raise up quickly. The bike will come with you. It's really not hard at all. You can raise both wheels at the same time. You don't HAVE to do the 'raise the front wheel first' method. Having a little speed helps. Practice just riding down the road. It really is not very hard at all.
Now, of course years of dirt bike riding makes this second-nature to me . You can do the same thing on a 250 lb dirt bike.

Again you do not have to have clipless pedals or clips to do this. Dirt bikes don't have such things.

Raising front wheel method on a trials bike(motorcycle):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZeLKep5AFM

Now on a heavier dirt bike:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF7z5kUR1ow

nice!

my daughter tried showing me that she can dismount a bike like me. I told her not to, she asked why, because you still have training wheels, when you can learn to ride your bike without them, you can do all the stupid stuff you want.....most likely I'll be out there with you doin the same things, if you break a bone, its just part of growing up