It looks like I’m the only person who can’t do this and I really want to be able to do it. I live abroad and can’t find people here to show me. I’ve got flats to put on my Solaris to learn, watched the videos, broken it down into its parts, can do them separately on the lawn all day but cannot for the life of me string them together 🙁

Any tips? Or how-to’s that worked for you?

Tricks and Stunts with the Martin’s and Hans Rey. Should find it on Youtube I would have thought. That’s how I taught my ex wife.

Here it is;

the light bulb moment for me was when someone told me top point my toes to the ground. I practised rolling along just lifting the rear wheel up by pointing my toes at the ground and pushing the sole of my shoe into the pedals giving me the grip to lift the wheel up.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/video/2011/feb/21/danny-macaskill-video

I can’t do this either.

Gonna watch these videos tonight……….

Why ‘American’ bunny-hop?

Rockplough – Member
Why ‘American’ bunny-hop?

You yank the back of the bike up

I’d always considered that a requirement of a bunny-hop, as opposed to the much easier ‘speed-hop’ (both wheels together).

Not heard it called that before so you learn something new every day.

I always thought a lot of it was to do with your grip on the bars and rotating the force you use to lift the bike through your wrists. I ride flats and can lift the rear wheel a good 6″ off the ground whilst keeping the front down.

Back from the ’80’s BMX days. The both wheels together ‘English’ bunny hop, or just bunny hop as we were in England (coincidentally in Brazil they call Brazil nuts, nuts), was popular but the American bunny hop was more effective at getting onto higher objects at controlled speeds and therefore more effective at turning the ladies heads.
I have no idea why it was called the American Bunny hop, it just was.

I can’t do it either.

I can speed hop on flats okay these days having been a master spud puller in a previous life.

I think its because i can’t manual for toffee and that’s kind of the important first step.

I can do it, but I doubt I could explain how.

I seem to remember when I was a kid we called it a ‘pro’ bunny hop for some reason.

Now if I could just learn to pull a proper manual….

You need to learn how to lift the front wheel without pulling with your arms.

In other words, learn how to get into the manual position (You don’t actually need to be able to manual much) and it’s easy.

Without this you will fail miserably.

As pointed out by jef ,an English bunny hop 2 wheels at same time used mainly at speed to clear smallish obstacles or domestic animals then the american bunny hop normally executed at slower speeds to clear larger obstacles ..also comes into play to get more air off a ramp …. I learned to do it about 35 years ago and is the basis of virtually every bike manoeuvre known to man …. I think I learned by pulling up my front wheel and then throwing all my weight forward ..we used to jump over bikes standing up BITD

Never heard of an American bunny hop, the kidz used to call them cat leaps round these parts.

I can’t bunny hop, however looking at this I know it is just wrong http://www.wikihow.com/Bunny-Hop-on-a-Bike right?

Seems to be contrary to a lot of advice out there. I think.

(coincidentally in Brazil they call Brazil nuts, nuts)

A common misconception, they actually call them “Parà chestnuts”, Parà being a region of Brazil.

I entered a bunnyhop contest in Newcastle when I was about 17. Everyone was knocked out in the mid 20 inches except me and Jez Avery. I topped out at 37 inches and he beat me. I was gutted.

Wow that was a long time ago. Probably struggle for a foot now.

But yeah, never heard the term ‘American bunnyhop’. It’s just the only way to do it if you want to get over kerb height.

A common misconception, they actually call them “Parà chestnuts”, Parà being a region of Brazil.

And they’re not nuts 😆

It took me a while to get my head around but I can do them pretty easily now, and teach others.

Once you have compressed yourself and the bike, moving your weight back quickly brings the front wheel up. Now lean forward and “pivot” the bike to raise the front wheel.

The timing of your movement of your weight decides how fluid the bunnyhop is.

The highest I achieved, that was measured, over a hurdle was 23″ when I was 15 on my old BMX.
I am no expert on nuts.

I’m going to build a bunnyhop-o-meter and get my skills back

thanks for all the help, will keep trying and will celebrate my first inch on the bunnyhop-o-meter when I can!