Intermediate Skills

[Caerus]

Some of us may and probably will in my case stay at this not 'beginner' but clearly not an 'expert/advanced' level for ever ....... I am just not gonna be a bunny hopping, 'wheelieing', DJ/DH trick rider ever but I'm OK with that

I spoke to a good few mates about this, and they also are in the same boat, these are guys that ride a lot, enter the Sani, Stage Races etc etc. All competant riders, but lacking in technical skills.

[forkie]

Erm... bunnyhop = something bigger than, say, 15cm/30cm? a bunny

 

fixed

[RockCoach]

I went on Sunday to brush up on my intermediate skills(J-Hop, Manual & wheelie), needless to say I was left in a lot of pain and woke very sore on Monday. A J- Hop, as in the video clip posted here is not easy to do on a large MTB, with SPD and a high seat post.

 

Any recommendations on the best way to wheelie, manual & J-Hop?

 

Firstly, get some flat pedals. Secondly, put your saddle all the way down. Follow the advice in the videos. Find some lawn. Wear your camelbak.

 

For manualling practice get your weight back quickly and pull your front wheel all the way over. As you lift the front drive your feet forward. Flat pedals will enable to get off the back before you bail (hopefully). Now learn to control the flipping over motion by applying some rear brake.

 

Manualling helps you with the first stage of the bunny hop. The advice in the vid is pretty good. What I can add is that after you pull your front wheel up, your next motion is to push the bars forwards and away from you. Just before you do this forward push you 'spring' on the pedals pushing your feet down and then pulling them up as in the vid.

Edited June 26, 2012 by slick

[Caerus]

Firstly, get some flat pedals. Secondly, put your saddle all the way down. Follow the advice in the videos. Find some lawn. Wear your camelbak.

 

For manualling practice get your weight back quickly and pull your front wheel all the way over. As you lift the front drive your feet forward. Flat pedals will enable to get off the back before you bail (hopefully). Now learn to control the flipping over motion by applying some rear brake.

 

Manualling helps you with the first stage of the bunny hop. The advice in the vid is pretty good. What I can add is that after you pull your front wheel up, your next motion is to push the bars forwards and away from you. Just before you do this forward push you 'spring' on the pedals pushing your feet down and then pulling them up as in the vid.

Thanks for that, its certainly harder then you would think . I've got some old flats I'll put on tonight. Is it easier to do a wheelie sitting down or standing up? Is there a better gear to be in, I did manage about a 10m wheelie, after getting the hang of pulling up my bars evenly

 

What I have found is that I'm not pulling on my bars at the same time( left seems to always trail the right, I'm right handed) so it keeps putting me off balance, I do the same when I hit jumps and can cause some near misses on the landing.

 

I need to be able to control my centre of gravity when doing the manual & wheelie. I'm sure one will come with the other.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Thanks for that, its certainly harder then you would think . I've got some old flats I'll put on tonight. Is it easier to do a wheelie sitting down or standing up? Is there a better gear to be in, I did manage about a 10m wheelie, after getting the hang of pulling up my bars evenly

 

What I have found is that I'm not pulling on my bars at the same time( left seems to always trail the right, I'm right handed) so it keeps putting me off balance, I do the same when I hit jumps and can cause some near misses on the landing.

 

I need to be able to control my centre of gravity when doing the manual & wheelie. I'm sure one will come with the other.

 

Dude, a manual needs to be done when you're out of the seat. Always. Wheelies are under power, which means you can do them (recommended to, actually) whilst you are sitting down.

 

A manual (no, not the book) is done whilst free-wheeling. Easiest way to do it is just to practice, practice & practice. What Slick said is spot on. It takes time, but you can feel it when you're doing it right. You're almost in that "twilight zone" where you're semi weightless. Get that down pat before you try to do a proper bunnyhop, so that you can at least control the backwards motion first.

 

As Slick said - grass / soil - helmet - flats - camelbak - full finger gloves. You will fall. But just carry on doing it, and you'll get there. It's not a quick fix, unfortunately... No magic powder here!

[Mileage]

_IMO

 

_{If you cant do anything below you are a novice}

_{If you can ride the spruit from Paulshof to Botanical Gardens only puting foot down at road crossings you are beginner}

_{If you can ride all the trails at Groenkloof and Fountains without putting a foot down you can happily call yourself intermediate}

_{If you can ride all the black trails at the Bike Park in Bryanston incl the gap jumps you can call yourself advanced}

_{If you think these trails above are for pussies and a waste of time you are expert}

[Caerus]

Dude, a manual needs to be done when you're out of the seat. Always. Wheelies are under power, which means you can do them (recommended to, actually) whilst you are sitting down.

 

A manual (no, not the book) is done whilst free-wheeling. Easiest way to do it is just to practice, practice & practice. What Slick said is spot on. It takes time, but you can feel it when you're doing it right. You're almost in that "twilight zone" where you're semi weightless. Get that down pat before you try to do a proper bunnyhop, so that you can at least control the backwards motion first.

 

As Slick said - grass / soil - helmet - flats - camelbak - full finger gloves. You will fall. But just carry on doing it, and you'll get there. It's not a quick fix, unfortunately... No magic powder here!

 

The thing is I'm doing these as I ride, I think. To just do a manual or J-hop on a flat grassy area is harder then it looks. The falling I don't mind, but I'm determined to learn to wheelie properly I'm still suffering from sore shoulders, arms & back from Sundays practice session. I did about 6km up and down the touchline at the local football ground practicing, lol.

[RockCoach]

Thanks for that, its certainly harder then you would think . I've got some old flats I'll put on tonight. Is it easier to do a wheelie sitting down or standing up? Is there a better gear to be in, I did manage about a 10m wheelie, after getting the hang of pulling up my bars evenly

 

What I have found is that I'm not pulling on my bars at the same time( left seems to always trail the right, I'm right handed) so it keeps putting me off balance, I do the same when I hit jumps and can cause some near misses on the landing.

 

I need to be able to control my centre of gravity when doing the manual & wheelie. I'm sure one will come with the other.

 

Wheelie sitting and manual standing. For a wheelie just lower the saddle 3 or 4cm. It is easier to learn to wheelie before manualling. A very easy gear will pop up too easily and a hard gear you will battle to get off the ground. So something inbetween...

 

When you pull your wheel up concentrate on shifting your weight back instead of pulling the bike up with your arms. In other words try to keep arms straight. The right spot will feel weightless as cptmahem said. If you feel the front falling back down pedal harder. If you going over too far, lightly touch the back brake. As I said with manualling, practice by going over backwards on purpose so that you learn where the limit is. Then use rear brake to bring it forward and find the sweet spot. If the bike falls over to the one side use your hips to shift your weight to the opposite side. Keep pedalling...

[Hairy]

The thing is I'm doing these as I ride, I think. To just do a manual or J-hop on a flat grassy area is harder then it looks. The falling I don't mind, but I'm determined to learn to wheelie properly I'm still suffering from sore shoulders, arms & back from Sundays practice session. I did about 6km up and down the touchline at the local football ground practicing, lol.

 

practicing on grass is tough as you loose momentum quickly and you pedal allot!

[RockCoach]

 

 

practicing on grass is tough as you loose momentum quickly and you pedal allot!

 

Downhill slope helps a lot.

[Caerus]

practicing on grass is tough as you loose momentum quickly and you pedal allot!

Tell me about it, I was shattered afterwards. I had sore muscles I did not even know existed. There is a massive abandoned building site near me that I'm gonna go build some stuff on this weekend to practice with. Edited June 27, 2012 by Caerus

[roxapollo]

Bunnyhop (properly)

Not walk a 30cm dropoff, but rather float it

Be able to at least navigate the top section of Vasbyt (not necessarily gap it, but just negotiate it)

"shift" mid-corner (use your feet & thighs to shift the bike sideways so that you manage to turn tighter through a corner than you would ordinarily be able to)

clear a 1m gap jump.

Be able to ride a 50km Marathon / XC ride without being tickets afterwards.

To me the intermediate label is a tad ambiguous. Once a rider has moved out of beginnerdom, I think there are a number of levels of intermediate skills before one becomes an expert. The reason I say this is because it is quite easy to progress from beginner but will take years of committed skills practice to get up to an expert level. To even understand how an expert will flow on any trail, you will already be starting to learn it as it is applying all the skills, all of the time.

 

Most people in this inbetween phase should be working towards or being able to:

 

- Have a good understanding of balance to ride comfortably down steep stuff

- Have good pedalling technique, make good power and have finesse to be able to ride up steep stuff with technical obstacles

- Manual and bunnyhop in order to hop up and down ledges

- Do small drops and jumps

- Track/trail stand

- Have decent cornering technique for single track and berms

- Know how to unweight front and back wheel in order to handle rough stuff

- Pump terrain to maintain momentum

- Save yourself, get out of trouble and learn how to fall

 

The more advanced an intermediate rider becomes the longer, steeper, higher, faster all of the above skill becomes. As for fitness... by the time you have these skills in your quiver you will be fit enough. You will also have done enough riding to do basic mechanicals yourself...

 

 

I think Slick has described it well.

My 5 cents:

Some riders are stronger technically and others are stronger fitness-wise.

I can do most of the 'intermediate' tech stuff but am toast after riding a 42km funride - I would be horrified to be classified as beginner.

Other skills which cross my mind:

- Negotiating thick mud/sand

- Funride/Race etiquette (thanks spellchecker) - Riders who are not confident on ST and stop on the trail without getting out of the way.

- I am guilty of being un-schooled on the maintenance side - have just gone tubeless so no experience there and also never used a chain breaker (touch wood)

- All this MTB jargon/terminology makes me think I may be a beginner.