How to Tricks and Skills for MTB

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MonsterEnergy

Well-Known Member
How on earth do you do a bunnyhop.
When you lift your front wheel up, i can't pull the back up. Mind you, my bike weighs a ton
 

CanucksTraveller

Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
Location
Hertfordshire
As ever, Google and YouTube are your friends....
A pro with a good video set up explains it better than people on a forum can in written form.


View: https://youtu.be/e-OkWl_1M4s


BTW I bunny hop my road bike over potholes, and that was something I learned myself on a Raleigh Burner at age ten, before Google's inventors were even in high school.

Just imagine, we oldies just tried sh!t out and got good at it back then, you now have access to all the online content we never had, and you're still asking other people! 😄

Have fun, and practice!
 

PeteXXX

Cake or ice cream? The choice is endless ...
Location
Hamtun
The bike I learned to bunny hop on, (was the term 'bunny hop' even around in the 1960's?) many moons ago, has no suspension, no GT85, no youtube or search engines, and was forged from gas pipe.
I could still jump over sticks with it, though..
 
OP
OP
MonsterEnergy

MonsterEnergy

Well-Known Member
Anyone know where the MTB jumps are in Queensferry?
 

MontyVeda

a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
the way i do it is... pedals horizontal, putting the back pedal into a more vertical position. Lift sharply on the bars and push backwards with the back foot (the only way this force can go is up). Saying that, I can only get about 6" of 'air' :scratch:

ps. my bike isn't light.. it was, before i put a back rack and a pannier on... but I can still get it to hop over speed humps.
 
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ChrisEyles

Guru
Location
Devon
I l finally earnt to bunny hop properly on a BMX having tried & failed for ages on a MTB. Once you get it, it's like riding a bike lol, you never forget.

Before then I used a cheats (think it's sometimes called an English) bunny hop, where both wheels leave the floor at the same time, rather than manualling then picking up the back end. Maybe try to get the hang of this first, it's a bit easier

Hard to explain in words how to do it... I sort of pump my bodyweight hard down through the pedals, sinking my hips (saddle needs to be low) then jump up, pointing my toes down a little, which seems to lift the back end. Don't pull on the bars with your arms, you'll get an initial lift but that'll crash back down without much control.

Although not a "proper" bunny hop, you can still get good air off a small lip in the trail, and use it to clear non rollable drops. I use it much more than the proper (American?) hop as I'm much more confident in my ability to do it well under pressure.

After a few years practice I can just about hop my MTB "properly" in the car park, but don't have the skill to do it while hurling down a rocky slope.
 

ChrisEyles

Guru
Location
Devon
Just watched skolly's vid, looks like that's what he's doing there too.

If you haven't found it already GMBN have a great you tube channel for MTB skills and other general MTB stuff, you could waste hours on there!
 

Kajjal

Guru
Location
Wheely World
Another way is to find a small log or similar and learn to jump over it. To begin with you will simply pull the front wheel up and learn to unweight the back wheel. Eventually you will do this at speed and then progress to simply clean jumping the log. It’s a bit like riding a bike, the first time you do it almost by accident but then it just clicks.
 
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