Mountain Bike Jumping

walesm55716

Hi All,

I have a problem which is totally affecting my confidence when riding / attempting jumps / drop offs etc. I ride a Saracen Ariel 1 and when i take off from the jump my feet come off the pedals ( not slipping).

I am unsure whether this is down to my shock settings or technique ( personally i think technique). I have tried slowing down my rebound on the rear shock but to no avail hence my thoughts about technique.

I am relatively new to riding and got the bug in a big way but this as i said is totally affecting my confidence when riding and makng it less enjoyable than it should be.

Any help you could give me would be great!!!!!!!

cee

sounds like technique.

think soft knees and elbows

When you take off, the bike will be thrown upwards. If you are too stiff...it will then push you upwards, resulting in your feet coming off the pedals.

Allow you legs to bend, sucking up the bike as it comes closer to you. Then, when the bike starts to fall away, allow your legs to straighten a bit, so you are always connected and in control.

junglist_matty

Practice makes perfect... ensure you have nailed the bunny hop and that you're doing it right with your feet pointed towards the ground. Here's some tips to help stop your feet slipping off pedals...

1. Ensure you have grippy pedals; something like DMR V8
2. Ensure your shoes have a good tred pattern that gets a good grip on the pedal
3. Position your feet on the pedals so the balls of your toes are roughly over the centre point on the pedal
4. Point your toes towards the ground ensuring your feet are not flat (almost as if standing on tip toes)

The rest comes with practice....

1mancity2

As Matty says, master the bunny hop first.

Dunno what shoes your wearing but using a mtb shoe like five10 with the stealth rubber sole will make a big difference to your grip on flat pedals.

3Bears

junglist_matty wrote:

4. Point your toes towards the ground ensuring your feet are not flat (almost as if standing on tip toes)
.

Everything I've read says the opposite, heels down: http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... mps-24040/

adrenalinemunki

grippy shoes and pedals vastly improved my bunny hop, but I think there are two main tips which for some reason rarely get mentioned together...

firstly its about being able to throw your weight towards the front so that the back can kick forward once the front is up (try just lifting the back wheel while coasting along to get a feel for it).

secondly its (like others have said) about your feet... if when you jump you point your feet downwards (which should be natural anyway since thats how you would jump without a bike), then that enables you to push backwards then pull upwards (tucking your legs up) to lift the rear.

for the second tip, having good pedals and shoes is a very noticeable improvement

felix.london

get some SPDs!

adrenalinemunki

felix.london wrote:

get some SPDs!

Nooooo!

Learn to do it properly first on flats then get SPDs to further improve the results of a correct technique

walesm55716

Thanks to all for your comments , I will get out the practice the techniques described above and get it nailed down . Have thought about getting spd's but truthfully I would rather get the technique correct first then try them.

Thanks

1mancity2

walesm55716 wrote:

Thanks to all for your comments , I will get out the practice the techniques described above and get it nailed down . Have thought about getting spd's but truthfully I would rather get the technique correct first then try them.

Thanks

X2

junglist_matty

3Bears wrote:

junglist_matty wrote:

4. Point your toes towards the ground ensuring your feet are not flat (almost as if standing on tip toes)
.

Everything I've read says the opposite, heels down: http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... mps-24040/

My mistake; I was referring to nailing the bunny hop technique.... I think once he nails the bunny hop so his feet don't slip off the pedals, they're not going to slip off on jumps and drops.

Your foot position over jumps and drops is effectively the same, just keep them so they feel natural, for the bunnyhop, you point your feet towards the ground so you can flick the back end off the ground. Some jumps and drops will need you to bunnyhop them, others will flow more naturally and you just have to maintain your natural riding position on the bike, feet will be pointing slightly up as you should have your weight further back on the bike.

adrenalinemunki

The heels down thing never made much sense to me, if the bike is in the air, I want toes down so that I have complete control over raising or lowering the rear... also landing with toes pointing even vaguely up sound like it would knacker your ankles :?

Either way, each to their own I guess, but if I'm in the air, my feet are the same whether bunnyhopping or jumping and it feels perfectly natural and composed

junglist_matty

adrenalinemunki wrote:

The heels down thing never made much sense to me, if the bike is in the air, I want toes down so that I have complete control over raising or lowering the rear... also landing with toes pointing even vaguely up sound like it would knacker your ankles :?

Either way, each to their own I guess, but if I'm in the air, my feet are the same whether bunnyhopping or jumping and it feels perfectly natural and composed

So long as it feels natural then everyone will have a slightly different technique and style... Its never set in stone that every jump or drop you have to adopt a set position. You have to adapt to the surroundings and this is only something you'll naturally learn as you spend more time on the bike; its fairly simple really:

Having your feet pointed too far forwards on the landing means you'll be far more likely to have your foot slip off the front of the pedal and the back of your shins will get ripped open by the spikes on your pedals...

Having your feet pointed too far backwards on the landing means you'll be far more likely to have your foot slip off the back of the pedal and the front of your shins will get ripped open by the spikes on your pedals...

Foot position is just as important and the angle you point your feet, too far back on the pedal and it'll slip off the back of the pedal; too far forward and it'll slip off the front of the pedal.

Body position will also affect how likely your ankles will come off the pedals; if your body weight moves around a lot your feet position will change, and too much body movement or bad body position can cause your feet to become unsettled on the pedal and slip off.


To be honest, you will get hurt, you will fall off and your feet will slip... Even the best of us make mistakes from time to time and have feet slip off pedals, but its all about practice. Just get out there and ride what you feel is natural to you... I find body position is far more important than foot angle for jumps / drops; you'll constantly adjust your feet without even thinking about it!

kinmofo

everyone will have thier own slightly different way of bunny hopping. i barely point my toes down atall.

and im my own experience, the grippyer and more ferocious the pedal... the better!

like has already been said practice your bunny hoping. but also try practiceing your track standing. stationary skillz are just as important imho

nozzac

I'm no expert but it seems to me you just have to find a set of local jumps and spend hours hitting them and trying stuff out. The big rule seems to be STAY LOOSE. If you find you're moving stiffly along with the bike (aka Dead Sailor) then normally a very painful crash follows.

As for drop offs - you're not supposed to be jumping on most of them anyway so no need for any pumping or hucking that is likely to get your feet off the pedals. All you need do is push the bike forward underneath you - how hard and how fast depends on the drop and and the shape of the landing.

The best advice in text form I've seen is in Mastering Mountain Bike Skills by Brian Lopes. He knows a thing or two about mountain biking. The info on cornering in that book is gold.

walesm55716

Thanks NozzaC, i do have the Brian Lopes Book but not got round to reading it. Will defibnatley take a look at that one.

nozzac

3Bears wrote:

junglist_matty wrote:

4. Point your toes towards the ground ensuring your feet are not flat (almost as if standing on tip toes)
.

Everything I've read says the opposite, heels down: http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... mps-24040/

If you look at the photos, the only time the heels are down is when pumping the face, after that you can see his toes are down.

felix.london

My right foot came off the pedal earlier on a 2ft drop (with the bunny hop that makes it 3ft - biggest yet 8) ) - and I wear SPDs!!