Can't seem to jump

Namb

I'm generally quite new at mountain biking. I bought a mongoose super thrax I think its called, and its a reasonably cheap hardtail, just for general trail use, and very intermediate downhilling. It was the most I could afford, I'm only 17, a student living by myself with a part time job... Ive been going along to my local trails, and I seem to progressing each time, getting faster and more "flowy-ier" each time but I crumple as soon as both wheels come off the ground. now these jumps are very small, the maximum airtime you could possibly get from them is less than half a second. My first problem was my feet somehow falling off my pedals. I soon fixed that but I have the scars to prove it. but now even with the smallest jump, and trying my hardest not to land on my front wheel, the front simply goes out of control and it involves me skiding face first across the gravel.

I realise that a huge part of it, is purely mental. I have to stop myself from soiling my pants for what even intermediate riders could roll over, but I just can't do it without my feet coming off, my arse banging un-stylishly off the seat, or face planting the unforgiving earth.

I can do them very slowly, with only the front wheel coming off of the ground, but its not really airtime then, and Im not progressing.

Has anybody got any tips? how I should sit/stand, where to lean etc? I've tried youtube and its a load of bolloks

appreciate any help you can give me.

Anonymous

Sounds like you're actually trying to jump off the bike.
First, learn to bunnyhop. This won't necessarily help you jump, but it will give you a better idea of sticking with the bike in the air.
Then, get used to riding rough trails, and letting the bike move under you, without fighting it.

After a while, it should just click.

Gazlar

Namb, 3 years on and I'm still the same with them, I seem to unload all my weight onto the bike and "squash" jumps. I'm getting better and more controlled at it and whilst not getting huge air, which as you've nailed on is a mental thing, I'm getting little jumps out. my couple of tips

1 look beyond the jump, head up and looking at the line ahead of you, as you hit the upslope, stay loose, dont hang on for dear life which is what I was doing and effectivey forcing the bike back into the ground

2 as you land, drop your heels a little, it helps you stay stable on impact.

Like apretty much everything with mountain biking its all about your weight distribution and bottle, the more you ride the more you will be ale to get a feel for how it works. But good luck, theres no better feeling than mastering a skill thats stumped you

thegiantbiker

I had a problem like that with a set of rock steps at my local trail (croft trail to all fellow sufferers of Swindon) and once I'd finally got the right technique and line it feels like a huge victory every time I ride up them.

I learned to jump by just rolling over the traffic humps in a car park faster and faster and feeling where the bike wanted to go. If you've got the skill to keep it upright when it's trying to fly, then you can probably balance it in a jump.

Not that I'm an expert though, so to all you "experts" out there please don't have a go.

Ransaka

I'm far from an expert but I foudn it to be mental and speed. I was scared of coming off so rolled into jumps and drops slowly and things went wrong. In the end I M'dTFU and belted at it and presto, much smoother. Having realised I'm not necessarily going to die on a 2 foot jump I've started to get better technique wise. It'll come, just takes time.

Namb

Thanks all for the encouragement. I'll try dropping my heals when I land, I've actually noticed that in most of the pro videos. as for practicing on road bumps and the such, as silly as it sounds, I have seemed to have mastered them. on the commute to work I actually manage to get reasonable air from bumps, drains and kerbs but as soon as I hit the trails I completly fail. guess its just a case of keep trying.

Also, not that I'm making up excuses, but are landing jumps much easier on a full sus?

visceralspyker

Although fairly new to mountain biking I have ridden BMX for 15 or so years so jumping has been something of an everyday thing.

Firstly the biggest thing to remember is to relax.
try not to think too much about the jump.
The hardest thing I have found is dealing with the suspension.
Try to push into the transition of the take off (the curve) not too much though.
Do this by sightly bending your arms and legs, after a while you will feel when you get it spot on.
The tricky part is knowing when to release the suspension. I cant really explain how you get this right as it tends to be different depending on your riding style.
Once in the air the best thing I have found is to stay loose and try not to over correct the bike if it feels like its going to land at the wrong angle.
Once you land just try to suck up continue to keep relaxed and ride out the bump.

Stick to the small stuff until you feel more confident. It will come over time and before you know it you will be jumping like you were born to do it.

tomstickland

Maybe find some stuff where there is no jump but the bike will automatically go airbourne on it. Things like ramps and undulating surfaces where if you go fast enough the bike will just let go of the groun without you doing anything.

bluechair84

Took me years to get my head around jumping. I could hit every drop off but as soon as it was a kicker I would always fall sideways off the bike. Eventually however, I got a 'switch' in my head and now I can hit most things.

Try a kicker (up curve) that doesn't have a transition (down curve) - so it's a jump to flat. Ride it until you can comfortably get both wheels off the ground and concentrate on getting as high as you can, not as far as you can. Eventually you'll just be able to launch of it and splat to ground everytime like a fool (which is a good thing).
Then start worrying about a double - a kicker and a transition. You'll find that if it's a good double, the kicker will line you up perfectly for the transition. You'll already have mastered getting up, then you just need to practise angling the bike down for the landing.
Then go for gap jumps which are exactly the same as a double, but the landing is usually at a lower level than the kicker which makes it seem daunting.

Anonymous

Gazlar wrote:

2 as you land, drop your heels a little, it helps you stay stable on impact

I'm not disputing that it works for you, but I don't think dropping the heels will actually be of any help by itself. In fact, if you take a big enough impact, it could lead to quite severe ankle injuries.

Gazlar

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Gazlar wrote:

2 as you land, drop your heels a little, it helps you stay stable on impact

I'm not disputing that it works for you, but I don't think dropping the heels will actually be of any help by itself. In fact, if you take a big enough impact, it could lead to quite severe ankle injuries.

Yeah possibly nut the best way of putting it, I suppose a better way of putting it is don't be afraid to let them drop and take up some impact that way, rather than getting all rigid on the bike and landing flat footed and locked up, which in turn throws you about. I find by relaxing my ankles a little and taking the landing with my weight on my heels it helps get my weight back, my balance through the jump and my positioning ready to pump again should i need to for the next jump.

but seriously, i'm talking an inch of dip or so, not major angles of feet here

getonyourbike

I've been visiting a dirt jump spot quite a lot recently and I think I'm getting the hang of it. There's a few that I haven't tried yet and won't until i've seen somebody else ride them.

Some tips:
Learning a bunnyhop is useful as it develops the feeling of letting the bike come into your body and lifting the rear wheel up.
Learn a pumped manual. I'm guessing you're talking about quite small jumps here and little lips so to get any decent air out of them you need to pump into the face of the jump. So you need to press through the bars to compress your forks. The rebound will help get you into the air. if you don't pump then the suspension would absorb some of the lip so you wouldn't get anywhere near as much air.
Stay fluid and not rigid, otherwise you're effectively pushing the bike away from you if you stiffen up and your feet off the pedals.

So if you were riding a some dirt jumps you'd need to pump into the face of the jump, let the bike come into your body and then when the landing nears you need to extend your legs to absorb the force of landing. Once you get used to jumping you'll soon learn to use correct weight distribution to ladn in line with the landing.

nozzac

This book has the best descriptions and images of jumping I've seen: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Mountain-Skills-Brian-Lopes/dp/0736083715/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309893759&sr=1-1

snowden_88

Do what I do, close your eyes and hope for the best*






*dont do what I do

snowden_88

Do what I do, close your eyes and hope for the best*






*dont do what I do

bluechair84

some super slo-mo footage of people jumping for your deliectation

tsenior

Gazlar wrote:

I seem to unload all my weight onto the bike and "squash" jumps.

obviously you cant do it all the time (not applicable for drops, may cause crashing on doubles) but where the jump is not an end in itself and merely a trail feature i find i go faster unweighting the bike going into the up of a (potential jump) and pushing it down into the tansition sort of like i'm making the movement to jump but well before the lip if that makes sense.

-i just find that i have more control and can carry my speed better keeping the wheels on the ground longer: obviously its not as cool as flyijng through the air humming the A team theme.

bluechair84

tsenior wrote:

obviously its not as cool as flyijng through the air humming the A team theme.

I'm doing this next time I'm airborne

Gazlar

tsenior wrote:

Gazlar wrote:

I seem to unload all my weight onto the bike and "squash" jumps.

obviously you cant do it all the time (not applicable for drops, may cause crashing on doubles) but where the jump is not an end in itself and merely a trail feature i find i go faster unweighting the bike going into the up of a (potential jump) and pushing it down into the tansition sort of like i'm making the movement to jump but well before the lip if that makes sense.

-i just find that i have more control and can carry my speed better keeping the wheels on the ground longer: obviously its not as cool as flyijng through the air humming the A team theme.

Yeah i admit to having more control, but my technique was/is at times so poor that when I'm trying to get airborn to prove to myself that I can, I end up at best manualling over the jump and at worst becoming a flailing mess all out of shape. I however am uncool as I whistle the theme tune to Vandervalk

dlknight

I'm also fairly new to trail riding - although having cycled for years.

Been watching and reading some guides on another well known internet magazine site and their coach recommends to NOT force the jump but instead just flow through and push the bike through the transition. I started practising this off kerbs and small steps around town, gradually moving up to largers steps / groups of steps. Dropping the heels and flicking the wrists, pushing the bike forwards as you hit the lip and then dropping the toes and transitioning into dropping the heels after landing.

I tried this the last couple of visits to Cannock on some of the small kickers along the Monkey and it has improved my air time considerably. One thing you will find when you get the transition perfect is that there is no drama or noise of clattering drivetrain and the bike will touch down almost silently and continue (hopefully) along its intended path !

creamsodauk

im still very new to the bike scene but as a younger lad i used to play on my bmx and dlearned to bunny hop both uk and U.s style (slight diffrence as too how the front and rear wheels lift)

anyway i recently found a trail that goes off down hill and speeds up and along the trail are small drainage style dips nice and shallow (less then half a foot deep) but these allow for some airtime off the other side. and i felt at home straight away simply flowing with the bike through the air and had no landing concerns even on the light gravely surface.

so i would imagine more practice time and simply getting used too your bike and shifting your weight will help, i for instance sometimes hang off the rear seat a bit when i want more rear traction and less weight on the front. Same for trying to wheely its all about center of balance and such which all comes with practice and time

Jedi

pmsl@ american and english bunyhop! there is only one bunny hop

Anonymous

Jedi wrote:

pmsl@ american and english bunyhop! there is only one bunny hop

Surely you must have heard that terminology before, it's been around a long time.

Jedi

there is only a bunny hop

Anonymous

Of course there is.

Jedi

yeah one.

Anonymous

So, surely, you must have heard the terminology used before, to describe two ways of spontaneously levitating a bicycle for a short perdiod of time?
I used to read about them in my brother's old BMX mags in the early 80s, even, and though I can't remember which way round the names go, it's hardly a rarity to hear them discussed under the names USA and UK style?

Jedi

no.a bunny hop has always been a bunny hop. us and uk were new words for right and wrong.
front first then the rear= bunny hop

Anonymous

Why is there a right and wrong? sometimes you only need a tiny little hop :?

Jedi

both wheels together requires more speed to travel a complete bike length and also it means you pull the bike up and you pull with dominant limbs

Anonymous

yes, but the bike still hops. It's a small hop, but sometimes it's enough. It's not "wrong".