seely

Its strange, for about 3 years now off and on I've tried to learn to bunnyhop on platform pedals. I originally learned on clipless which gave me poor technique. I kind of gave up, but worked on doing nose wheelies and picking up the rear end of the bike, and then about a month ago I just casually tried a bunnyhop again and got it the first try. I know there's been some people posting about their frustration with bunnyhopping so I guess I would recommend learn how to modulate the front brake and bring the rear of the bike up with your feet... once I figured that out bunnyhopping was completely natural it seems.

Jason222

WOW, that took you a REALLY long time!

cryptid01

Ol 222, you are an asshat.

Are you still "japslapping" curbs?

Jason222

...IT TOOK HIM 3 YEARS! The longest I'd heard of before that was 3 months!

Japslapping is just a really weird way of saying pedal up or surge. It's actually more difficult to learn than bunnyhopping, but when you have it it's actually easier to do then bunnyhoping, especially if you have very little speed.

But you'd know that right? You know everything.

Funkychicken

good job on that seely, it gives the rest of us some hope

seely

I guess I should say that when I say I was trying for 3 years, it more like I would occasionally try and still not be able to do it. I never alotted much time to actually practicing or trying. However, now that I can bunnyhop, I'm having a blast with it and trying to convince myself I need a trials bike...

Jason222

Congrats...but don't think bunnyhopping really well will make you good at trials...there's a lot to learn, but it's insanely fun.

Although, you can pick up some REALLY cheap trials bikes on ebay. They don't have the best components, but they're okay to learn on.

Here's one if you're interested. That's EXTREMELY cheap for a trials bike, considering that a cheap trials bike is usually 1k-1.5 k.

Dannihilator

So?

Flak

I could be wrong, but im pretty sure that ALL trials riders started out learning to bunnyhop at some point.

Jason222

Yeah, but it's definately not the most important.

DylanTremblay

Congrates man! And don't worry about it it took me 2-3 years to properly learn also

madbiker555

1 month for me, I learned by just lifting my front tire as verticle as possible, and the back tire just seemed to follow. Now I can go pretty high on my bmx

Congrats on finally getting it though, it can be difficult at first, but after awhile, you can get them timed perfectly.

Chone

It is worth noting he did not practice for 3 years and then got it... it seems like he didn't practice much if at all and only a few times in those 3 years until he just practiced a bit and got it...

If we go by that... it took me about 10 years to get the bunnyhop

Maelstrom 

Not everyone works on bunnyhops. I can do a very basic bunnyhop, enough that I can unweight the back if I need to get up and over stuff. I could care less about doing a real bunny hop...

Congrats seely...I am still waiting for it to "click" and become natural, at this point its like doing wind sprints for football...its a "have to" instead of a "want to"...

seely

Yeah thats the way I felt about it and why I never really worked on it all that much, but I do like the extra control that you seem to get with it on jumps and drops.

Maelstrom 

Oddly, I can jump off of jumps...just can't bunny hop stuff haha...

rockrates

sounds like seely could use an ally to take some of the heat coming from the trials riders. [clears throat] i've been really riding since i was 11 (21 now) and have NEVER popped a wheelie. not once. ever. nor can i bunnyhop...although i can fake it riding clipless

so even though i lose major style points across the board, it's all good bc while you're waving your wheels in the air, i'm going faster than you

Funkychicken

+1 with mael & seely's comments. not working on it hard enough, and jumping off a jump is heaps easier than bunnyhopping so far. one day...

Jason222

...it won't click if you don't try at it...

For me, it's really become instinctive, but it takes a few months of time to get it that way. It took me 3 days to learn to bunnyhop...but I decided I wanted to learn it, I had been biking for a long time before then and I didn't even know about the bunnyhop.

Best way to make yourself more fluid with it is to just take out a hardtail(if you have one, it doesn't have to be anything special) and practice doing them for a weekend.

It took me a long time to get the timing right. Probably 4+ months until it got fluid.

Maelstrom 

I am to busy riding to play around that much for a bunny hop. I know "how" to learn, but I would rather practice railing a dh course than hopping around.

JagdNeun

Well, I can get over most trail obstacles if they arent too big, but I can't really bunny hop. Check this out:

https://members.tripod.com/%7Etrashzen/anbun1.html

Pheard

Bunnyhopping is like impossible for me, maybe its my frame geometry or lack of good braking. I can wheelie uphill, and use my pedals to pull my front end up, but thats about it. I suck.

Funkychicken

until i can find some time that doesn't conflict with my urge to just ride the trail, i'm resigned to that fate

Siu Blue Wind

Wow Jason. You da man.

Flak

I always thought it was something ppl learned as a kid on thier bmx. To hear people touting it as a "skill" seems funny to me. Its way too generic to deserve any real recognition.

Not a slam against those that are happy they learned, its a useful trick....more of a slam against people who go around bragging about it.