Mtb drops/jumps

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Yeah, got that DVD as well. Yet to watch it. Any good?

 

 

Otherwise, I've relied on Brian Lopes & Lee McCormack's Mountain Biking Skills books.

 

 

Very, very good.

[banna]

Yeah, got that DVD as well. Yet to watch it. Any good?

 

 

Otherwise, I've relied on Brian Lopes & Lee McCormack's Mountain Biking Skills books.

 

 

Very, very good.

 

I think it's good to understand the theory behind something (i.e. via books, dvd's etc), but that the only way to really learn a new skill is to do it practically with people who are very good at it. When I started to learn to play guitar, I initially tried to do it myself via books, and I did make some progress, but the speed at which I learnt new techniques basically tripled when I started playing with guys who were really good at it. Learning to jump well, will be exactly the same thing. I just need to ride with the big boys.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Ditto.

 

I'm the same way. Amping yourself up for it is far removed from following somebody and doing as they do..

[patches]

can I add my 2c worth... please... pretty please?!

 

Ok so the way I see it, weight distribution is key (as has been mentioned)

 

Going OTB is every riders nightmare, but at the same time one doesn't want to lean too far back as traction on the font tyre will be compromised.

 

Here's the basic idea.

 

When descending (or even climbing) your hips should line up vertically with your BB, and your chin vertically with your stem.

 

So basically no matter the gradient, if you were to draw a like vertically up from your BB that's where your hips should roughly be. (as Morewood kid said... "it's all in the hips").

 

Check this out on Mr. Minnaar

 

http://www.mtbiker.co.za/media/kunena/attachments/657/weightdistribution.JPG

 

You can see he's not leaning back like crazy with his bum nearly touching his rear tyre.

 

here's Mr. Patches (again, not a 'drop off'... it's actually a landing to a hip jump, but you can see how I'm getting my weight in line with the BB).

 

http://www.mtbiker.co.za//images/photos/657/475/aab970dfbc7241e73ef3b8a5.jpg

 

Now here's one of Mr. Fourie at 'the shoot' (Helderkruin)

http://www.mtbiker.co.za/media/kunena/attachments/657/helderkruin-001.jpg

 

'the shoot' is quite a steep rocky drop with a tight right hand turn at the bottom. So here one can't carry too much speed. Again... look at the horizon line (for angle), then look at where he's geting his weight. Yup over the BB)

 

Here's a useful article to look at when you have some time:

 

Bike Radar Tutorial

 

and lastly... a vid form Mr Minnaar where he discusses it a bit:

 

 

So yeah... there's my input on the matter, hope it helps

Edited August 10, 2011 by patches

[banna]

Thx Patches. Much appreciated. Your contribution is more than 2cents worth though! I think where I have been going wrong with my technique so far, is that I try to man handle the bike with my arms instead of just using the core of my body to shift it around. Obviously use your arms to guide it, but use your body weight and momentum more. And then secondly I think my posture on the bike is wrong. In all these pics the rider is hunched down very low just before the jump point. I think I'm way to upright before take off. Practise practise practise...

[nigelhicks]

can I add my 2c worth... please... pretty please?!

 

Ok so the way I see it, weight distribution is key (as has been mentioned)

 

Going OTB is every riders nightmare, but at the same time one doesn't want to lean too far back as traction on the font tyre will be compromised.

 

Here's the basic idea.

 

When descending (or even climbing) your hips should line up vertically with your BB, and your chin vertically with your stem.

 

So basically no matter the gradient, if you were to draw a like vertically up from your BB that's where your hips should roughly be. (as Morewood kid said... "it's all in the hips").

 

Check this out on Mr. Minnaar

 

http://www.mtbiker.co.za/media/kunena/attachments/657/weightdistribution.JPG

 

You can see he's not leaning back like crazy with his bum nearly touching his rear tyre.

 

here's Mr. Patches (again, not a 'drop off'... it's actually a landing to a hip jump, but you can see how I'm getting my weight in line with the BB).

 

http://www.mtbiker.co.za//images/photos/657/475/aab970dfbc7241e73ef3b8a5.jpg

 

Now here's one of Mr. Fourie at 'the shoot' (Helderkruin)

http://www.mtbiker.co.za/media/kunena/attachments/657/helderkruin-001.jpg

 

'the shoot' is quite a steep rocky drop with a tight right hand turn at the bottom. So here one can't carry too much speed. Again... look at the horizon line (for angle), then look at where he's geting his weight. Yup over the BB)

 

Here's a useful article to look at when you have some time:

 

Bike Radar Tutorial

 

and lastly... a vid form Mr Minnaar where he discusses it a bit:

 

 

So yeah... there's my input on the matter, hope it helps

 

EXACTLY!!!! ... look at the same vertical line drawn between the chest and your front foot in each photo ... SAME thing! - nice one patches! ...**** sorry I forgot to scan that doc ... will do it tonight - got too distracted building up a new Mongoose Booter Romonick Signature Edition last night!

[banna]

No worries Nigel. I think I have more than enough to work with here. Now to practice it until it becomes second nature.

[patches]

Thx Patches. Much appreciated. Your contribution is more than 2cents worth though! I think where I have been going wrong with my technique so far, is that I try to man handle the bike with my arms instead of just using the core of my body to shift it around. Obviously use your arms to guide it, but use your body weight and momentum more. And then secondly I think my posture on the bike is wrong. In all these pics the rider is hunched down very low just before the jump point. I think I'm way to upright before take off. Practise practise practise...

 

...funny enough I'm practicing the opposite when I hit the dirt jumps. Many of the top dirt jumpers are quite upright just before the launch. I feel way more comfortable in the hunched position, but when I watch the pro's hit dirt jumps they're pretty upright. Go way slower, and boost higher.

 

Check out Semenuk with a killer 360

 

 

You'll see he's pretty upright as he launches. Mid air though, he shifts his body weight to the core-over-BB/chest-over-front-foot position so that he can land smoothly.

 

But yeah, it's all just practice... and heck... even the pro's sometimes get the landings wrong...

 

(this is what happens when you don't have your front foot in line with your chest

 

http://ronnoc123321.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/2008_crankworx_co_slopestyle4s.jpg?w=564&h=329

 

Edited August 11, 2011 by patches

[banna]

Hmmm...I wonder if the bike weight doesn't have something to do with it? A DH bike is probably quite a bit heavier than a dirt jump bike and hence you would need more "pump" (i.e. in a more crouched position) to get it off the ground?

[patches]

Hmmm...I wonder if the bike weight doesn't have something to do with it? A DH bike is probably quite a bit heavier than a dirt jump bike and hence you would need more "pump" (i.e. in a more crouched position) to get it off the ground?

 

true... true! a DH bike requires quite a bit of preload due to the long travel. But wven then... some guys are way better at working the launch, and transferring energy through the bike to get maximum boost.

 

One of the DHL gang has raced worlds BMX and even he said it took him years to learn how to work the lip properly.

[banna]

One of the DHL gang has raced worlds BMX and even he said it took him years to learn how to work the lip properly.

 

What?! Years!! I need to get this right this month still !!

[patches]

What?! Years!! I need to get this right this month still !!

 

haha! don't worry, don't worry... you can still learn to hit jumps and drop offs this month. But the ability to boost over 15 school buses from a 1m high jump at 20kph... that may take some time!

[TYGA]

Crikey that foot between the wheel and fork looks like the kind of mess you don't want to get yourself into.

[patches]

Crikey that foot between the wheel and fork looks like the kind of mess you don't want to get yourself into.

 

yup!

 

here's the crash that resulted in th stuck foot

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV8OgiXKGwA

[Capricorn]

Banna: what patches is describing wrt the upright position are the DJers essentially J-hopping off the lip to get more height. DHers go low so as NOT to get too much air, aka squashing the jump. Racing line and jumping line aren't always the same thing.

 

There are similar upright-ish techniques versus squashed ones for going over Drops, all in aid of getting the wheels down faster, because with a squashed drop technique (crouched low), pushing down with your legs once off the drop gets the wheels down quicker.

Also, the faster you go, the less backward you have to be. If slow, get back. You do this naturally on a pavement. going really fast, you dont even need to move, except maybe to squash the drop to get the wheels down quicker after the lip.

 

As for drops on steep terrain, just before the front goes over, move weight slightly forward to preload the front, same way you preload into a lip on a jump, then lean back to help unweight the front along with a bit of preload boost. You'll find you can practically manual off the lip as CptMayhem mentioned, without pulling up on the bars. It's a simple mass transfer + rebound from the fork.

 

If you can, watch the finals vid for Mt Sainte Anne, notably the section where they have a full side-on view of Troy Brosnan doing that huge double at the finish line. Perfect example of jumping technique. I'll try to find it and let u know where in the clip to start watching from. I use VLC to watch the clip as I downloaded it to my machine, and then use the 'E' button to step thru the jump sequence frame by frame. Really good to watch.

 

edit: correction, it's the Specialized Monster Energy recap of their team's performance at Mont Sainte Anne (2011). That's where you'll find the jump sequence starting from 03:47 in the clip.

 

PM me your email address,and I'll send you the sequence of screen captures. Pretty good mental training aid.

Edited August 13, 2011 by Capricorn

[Capricorn]

here's the youtube clip.

http://youtu.be/IPpGDp2gg7c?hd=1

Edited August 13, 2011 by Capricorn