Cornish_Rdr_UK

I learnt to properly bunnyhop gaps which ive been struggling with for ages, it just came to me when i was riding, like tuning on a light, i can now bunnyhop 5 foot gaps on flat, i can bunnyhop over things about 3/4 of a foot tall (not very much i know) and i can bunnyhop off edges and land on a slope and i can get about 9 foot of distance from that, whereas before i was getting about 2 foot.

Those bunnyhops are more useful than you think, i think my problem was i learnt the british bunnyhop, and then didnt bother learning the better, american bunnyhop so i got stuck in the technique of the other one..

MadMan2k

lol, what's a 'british bunnyhop'?

Maelstrom 

I am curious to know myself?

I am assuming one is like a level lift and one is the traditional bunnyhop now called the "j-hop", "monkey grind", "donkey kick", "blowhard", and "maneuver we feel we need to change the name of to make it seem original but it really is so old school your grandmother did it before you were born".

Funkychicken

probably a bunnyhop measured in metric.

Maelstrom 

Hey watch it, canadians measure in metric ...

Funkychicken

yeah so do we aussies actually

MadMan2k

I'm a master at looping out of manuals now, woot


...now to learn how to balance them.

Cornish_Rdr_UK

The younger half of the UK is metric, the old group are imperial, the group in the middle ( me) are abit of both

A british bunnyhop is just where you flick your legs on the pedals, and yank the bike up with you, its not as effective, both ends of the bike come up at the same time, and max height i can get is about a foot, but its very hard to hop over anything with a british bunnyhop because i had a hard job measuring when to pull jup, whereas its very easy with your american hops

PaulBravey

I'm in the middle group too - it was strange being taught metric at school but in every day life having to use imperial measurements which you'd never been formally told about. I think the only things still in imperial are the road system and pints of beer aren't they?

As to the topic, I've been a bit disappointed with my progression on my mtb - the progression on the road bike was obvious due to increased average speeds on climbs and the ability to turn higher gears while on the mountain bike the progression seems to be in much smaller increments due to the greater reliance on bike handling skills in addition to leg and lung power.

Funkychicken

i thought that was just a standard bunnyhop. so what's an american one then? how do americans lift the rear wheel?

the bunnyhop is still elusive to me after a year of riding. i cant do it w/o being clipped in and i'm still lifting both wheels at the same time therefore no more than six inches height achieved. Hoping to change that and learn on flats - now that they just came in (right through the door half an hour ago, straight to my office desk) hmmm its not working guess i should put them on the bike first. At least i can wheelie abit now, got my balance somewhat on that, now to practice a manual.

Maelstrom 

Its takes some practice but once you get it isn't hard. (gettin really high is)

Its more about body movement than anythng. Lift front, throw body forward lifting the rear end and then throw bike forward and up. I can maneuver my bike just fine without clipless.

MadMan2k

Anyone do anything worth posting today?

I rode up to the trail by my house, there were these people getting ready to hit the trail... the guy had a santa cruz, it was pretty nice. I just opened the gate and rode down the trail, then I turned back like 10 minutes later because I didnt want to ride the whole thing, and I saw them coming the other way like 1 minute from the trailhead. Slow people.

I also went to the BMX track with my dad, but I was tired and I didn't really have much fun. They changed the track, made it much less flowy but the jumps are bigger for those pro types.

FearTheHizzo

Well after lurking quite awhile tis about time i contribute something to these forums. Started mountain biking again around five months ago after a year long hiatus from any sort of physical activity. Mountain biking has gone hand in hand with a dramatic improvement in my life. Long story semi short i became a gambling addict at college and my grades fell along with my physical and mental health. A few of my friends decided it was time to intervene and explained to my parents the real cause of my decline. My parents decided it would best for me to not go back for this spring semester and for me to attend community college at home. That was probably the best change i possibly could of made with my life. I made gambling inaccesible to me by canceling my checking card and deleted all of my computer games i wasted my life away on. During this semester my grades improved dramatically along with my outlook on life i went from 145 pounds 6' to 160. My self esteem has atleast doubled. I replaced my old 1998 gt tequesta around a few weeks ago to a 2004 kona stuff and have been spending atleast 3-4 hrs a day biking. The progress in skill and health along with the experiences from biking have been some of the best times in my life. I enjoy everything about it and hope to eventually compete in some sort of mountain biking discipline. For a recent story yesterday went on a 30 mi or so ride in the forest and had a great time despite taking a nice fall at a christmas tree farm. I bunnyhopped a small ditch at around 25mph and then got taken out by a christmas tree as i overshot where i planned to land. The tree sent me flying onto my ass and elbow taking around half the skin on my forearm off. Ran out of water soon after. Good times.=)
- Just realized i forgot to use paragraphs ,but meh just skip it if it bothers you instead of whining about it=)

MadMan2k

FearTheHizzo:
Great story. Glad you were able to find something better to do than gambling. Also glad it could be something as fun as cycling. You might find cycling to be addictive also, but at least the money you spend goes to good stuff you can make use of, if you're careful anyway.

Drunken Chicken

I started getting the hang of the "American bunnyhop" yesterday while just riding urban. I now understand the technique, all I gotta do is work on it, all I managed yesterday was an inch.

Drunken Chicken

Definately. Cycling is addictive but in a positive way (mostly, anyway. On Friday afternoons in school I'm pretty stressed out because I wouldn't have ridden a trail for five or so days. Then in the last period I just daydream about Saturday's and Sunday's trails)

Funkychicken

I have been inspired by notfred to revive this thread (21 of 25 top threads are about equipment). Hope nobody minds.

earlier in the year i thought i'd be doing lots more big drops as soon as i went FS. Now that i have my coiler, i've found so much more to learn and get used to. for one thing, instead of doing more drops i've found myself going faster over technical terrain, the long fork travel and toughness of the bike is making me complacent about the way i land (too far to the front). i guess the drops will have to wait until i learn to lift my front end more and also learn how to jump. two things i'll vouch for: this is a tough-@$$ bike, and flat pedals are fantastic.

norcodirtjumper

Not much progression with me lately, other than I can walk without cruthes now.

joelsp

I have found a new fun riding activity. It involves riding through the city at night.
I am not sure why but it is a lot of fun. Not too many people and, not too many cars, so I can kind of just ride around wherever, jumb curbs, whatever, I find it to be incredible fun, and practice.