I am struggling to get any air off jumps, any tips for what I should be trying to do? Is it a matter of just hitting them with more speed or is there a technique!?

Off to Cwmcarn this afternoon so want to play around in the freeride section at the top of the Twrch trail. Always seem to struggl to get off the ground up there…

Cheers

‘playing around in the freeride section at the top of the Twrch Trail’ would frighten me if only a few minutes earlier I was asking for advice on how to do it from an internet forum!

Not that I can jump, it has to be said.

Worth adding, that I ride the Twrch trail and free ride area most weeks, so am comfortable on them, just struggling to get what feels like any air!

Going faster is defnly not the answer!

Get someone who can jump to take you through it or… http://www.ukbikeskills.co.uk/

I broke my hip having taken a similar ‘have a quick read on the internet and then set off and have a go’ approach.

It hurt.

Lots.

Start with dropping off kerbs and stay there is my advice.

Yeah I’d like to do one of those bike skills days, suspect my technique is somewhat shoddy! I’ll not try going faster this afternoon then……

start small, and practise.

and i don’t mean ‘do a few jumps halfway round your xc loop’.

i mean ‘spend every day at a local jump spot – for a week’.

You need someone who knows how to jump to watch you and tell you what you are doing wrong. GW of this forum was kind enough to spend a couple of hours helping me and it made a huge difference

Find a decent drop / jump and send her.

Top tips:
1) Commitment is everything
2) Never look at a drop from below
3) If in doubt add speed, better to go to fast than too slow

Hm best thing to do is not try to be pro. I did a fairly small jump the other day probably both wheels off the ground about a foot, twisted the bars a little bit probably by accident, hit the ground about 20mph on my shoulder. Luckily nothing broken but bad bruising and a gash in my shoulder (which it took 4 hours to find out about!)

The best thing to do is practise, but dont make ramps out of bricks and woods, get something soft to fall on like woodland and grass. Try to incorporate them in the flow of your riding, if you hit what you would normally drop off at 20mph, you will jump off it instead as the momentum just carries on.

Start with dropping off kerbs and stay there is my advice.

As in trying to jump of kerbs? I can kind of do that, the jumps on the twrch I can go over no problems (I have seen people hurt very badly getting the table tops wrong!)

3) If in doubt add speed, better to go to fast than too slow

that works sometimes, but not always. on large tables for example, its a lot more comfy to land at the top, than overshoot and land on the floor

the trick is compressing into the upslope. A skills day is probably going to help way more than tips on here though (or one of the skills vids/books)

Ewan – Member

Find a decent drop / jump and send her.

Top tips:
1) Commitment is everything
2) Never look at a drop from below
3) If in doubt add speed, better to go to fast than too slow

I can attest that point 3 is bang on, 15 months of physio and my shoulder still hurts

Learn how to bunnyhop properly first, that will help. Ride in flat pedals, that also helps. Learn all of these skills when you’re a kid, that probably makes the most difference.

Those jumps on the twrch are not the best to learn on in my opinion – they have a very noticable lip that kicks. I have trouble getting (safe) air off those despite being comfortable on drops and tabletops with more wedge shaped kickers.

Oh and the speed thing – don’t do this, unless you are following someone into the jump who knows what to do. Last september I overshot the landing on a tabletop, landed nose down, OTB and broken collar bone, ribs & concussion….

Best advice is to build your own jumps, at a size comfortable for you and as you progress make them progressively bigger.

DT78 couldn’t agree with you more not the best jumps to learn on at all . the jumps on the lower part of the dh are also very bad.

Those jumps on the twrch are not the best to learn on in my opinion – they have a very noticable lip that kicks. I have trouble getting (safe) air of those despite being comfortable on drops and tabletops with more wedge shaped kickers.

Fair enough, they do feel like they throw you a bit, I tend to have more luck on the earlier jumps to be honest and tend to ride over the table tops. Anyone know anywhere in the south wales area with better jumps to learn on?

porth pump track? maindy pump track?

have you seen the jumps in Bute Park? Usually some kids playing on them. Best to go on a monday morning when there in school! 😉 Looks like on ok place to practice although never had a go myself. yet

have you seen the jumps in Bute Park? Usually some kids playing on them. Best to go on a monday morning when there in school! Looks like on ok place to practice although never had a go myself. yet

Think I know the ones you mean inbetween the big tesco and the susprension bridge? Not far from my house to be fair but have gaps inbetween which scare the hell out of me, plus lots of people walking past to watch!! lol

Interested in this as well. I’m happy on reasonable size jumps but don’t seem to be able to generate the pop that others do. Same jump between me and a mate and he seems to be able to get a lot more height which i find frustrating. Not sure of the technique required, something to do with driving the bike through the upslope with your legs isn’t it 😕

ahh the good old talybont jumps! I learned my trade on them whilst at cardiff uni 🙂

Either find someone who know who to jump and ask them to show you or:

Find an easy tabletop (between 5 and 8 foot long with a fairly gentle kicker).

Find a place on the trail before the jump that you can comfortably roll toward the jump from. Roll up to the jump a couple of times to gauge what kind of speed you are getting. Just stay relaxed on the bike (central body position, knees and arms bent). If the bike feels like it is close to getting airborne add a couple of pedal strokes and try again.

Experiment with the speed you need to just get airborne without trying (just staying relaxed on the bike). Avoid pedalling too close to jump if you need room to get up more speed move a but further from the jump.

Once you are comfortable with this (practise lots!) you can think about “trying to jump”. The correct technique is to pump the bike into the face of the jump by pushing it away from you with you feet and hands (mainly feet). Don’t try and pull the bike up. If you try and pull the bike up you have a strong tendency to pull the bike to one side or twist the bars which can make for very sketchy landings (or a faceplant). If pushing the bike away from you seems like a weird idea practice on the flat pumping the bike with your feet (this is the basis of a manual too)

Once you are in the air keep you head up (don’t look at your front wheel) As you land, land the bike and absorb the impact with bent knees and elbows.

So get your speed right (don’t brake or pedal at the face of the jump)
Push the bike away from you not up
Keep your head up
Land the bike then land yourself

Certainly don’t start out with a plank against some bricks at about 20 degrees, then try a board against a pile of builders sand at about 40 degrees. on a Raleigh Grifter. That is my advice.

that works sometimes, but not always. on large tables for example, its a lot more comfy to land at the top, than overshoot and land on the floor

Very true – however if it’s anything other than a table top (e.g. a drop, a gap, or a double) you really don’t want to come up short. Many a physio session has taught me that! I’d rather have a horrific bottom out noise from the bike than smack into the back of a double at 20mph!

have you seen the jumps in Bute Park? Usually some kids playing on them. Best to go on a monday morning when there in school! Looks like on ok place to practice although never had a go myself. yet

Think I know the ones you mean inbetween the big tesco and the susprension bridge? Not far from my house to be fair but have gaps inbetween which scare the hell out of me, plus lots of people walking past to watch!! lol

yes, there the jumps im on about. The first few jumps look fine but the jumps at the end of it do look a bit too much to try in full view of dog walkers and joggers. When im back in the UK next i may give them a blast on a quiet day when the kids are in school.

I’d rather have a horrific bottom out noise from the bike than smack into the back of a double at 20mph!

**** big double if you couldn’t clear it at that speed.

Im planning on breaking something trying to do doubles at the weekend. I will have somebody video it so I can post a vid of the crashes!

Speed is your friend.

You can’t get hurt in the air.

Just copy this fella, he has the knack (Forward to 2:20 if you’re impatient)

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6PEYE5sGyA[/video]

**** big double if you couldn’t clear it at that speed.

Go large or go home and all that…. 😉

I_Ache – Member

Im planning on breaking something trying to do doubles at the weekend

It’s no wonder you ache.

Speed is your friend.

Un true.

Well I used to be able to sort of jump but havn’t done it properly for years. First time at the DH trails with a big group in about 10 years should provide enough peer pressure for me to throw myself off something silly.

I was on DH holiday a couple of years ago where a guy turned up for the day, acted like a cock, said it’d be great to do some jumps cos he hadn’t for years, was told he needed to learn how to jump when told he was really sketchy, but came out with the immortal words…

“I just need to go faster”

Next run he faceplanted – not wearing a full-face helmet!

Very messy it was, broken nose & a few teeth missing.

I did a skills day with Jedi. Went from nothing to doing doubles in one course.

+1 for what richmtb says.

You do not need to do it on flats and bunnyhopping has nothing to do with it. Gave me the confidence to go to Woburn and try loads more, whereas before I wouldnt even dare. Ive only crashed once since – still find it hard to stay relaxed when airborne, so I tend to change course mid flight and hit trees on landing.

**** big double if you couldn’t clear it at that speed.

depends on how kicky it is and how much step up/down there is. I’ve come up a bit short at that kinda speed on ~20′ doubles, but at the same time, cleared 25′ stepdowns at approx half that speed

Drive into the face of the jump, then go light at the lip – that’s what I read anyway, I can’t jump for toffee either :p

learn how to bunny hop
start bunny hopping into banks this will help u learn to drop the nose for tabletops/doubles etc
relax
build slowly

you dont “need” to be able to bunny hop to jump at all.
jumping is easy physically once you know but its mentally hard for people.
speed is deffo not your friend! 🙂

Try a bmx track. Most tracks have jumps for all abilities. Start small and take your time. It’s not about speed, but more about pumping the terrain and learning how to move your body around the bike to gain pump and lift on take off and again on landing, whilst being relaxed in the air.

Start small, learn how your body feels and practice until it feels natural. As any new skill, after a little practice you will learn to be comfortable in the air. Then it’s just psychological as far as size goes.

A good way to practice at a bmx track is to try doing a lap without pedaling ar all, role the star hill and use your arms and hips to pump. After a while you’ll be amazed how much speed you gain. Once you’ve got that far, try using the same action on some of the smaller jumps and try to relax and let the front lift. Keep doing this until you get air

Once your tired call it a day, and never never say one last jump

Oh and don’t bother with twrch jumps, lots of kick but not very long. Really not very good to learn on.