So a few of my friends have got me into dirt jumping. They forwarded me a bike to buy for £180 which i did so now im looking for advice on how actually good my bike is. what do you think? what can be improved to the bike for the learning stage and also do you have any advice for me? thanks, Jake. :-).

SPEC:
Mongoose thunderball frame
24 inch halo rims and hubs
brand new magura hydraulic disks 210mm front (not on atm) and 190mm backs
halo tyres
dmr v8 pedals
new chain
marzochi DJ3 Pro forks 110mm travel

Advice:

Learn how to jump with someone who knows what they’re doing.

Don’t go for anything you’re not confident about.

Don’t worry about what bits you’ve got on your bike as they’ll inevitably get trashed in time.

Thats a spot on build for a Dirt jump bike really.
Its a Mongoose Fireball by the way, not ‘Thunderball’.
I used to have one until it got nicked. Great little frame with excellent rear wheel adjusters added to the dropouts.

The Dirtjumper forks are heavy but solid and perfect for what you want. The rear brake is fairly unimportant, so long as it works (a bit) and stays out the way.

Halo wheels are bombproof, I have a set too on my DMR.

Looks spot on for what you want.
This was my Fireball (ignore the Transition stickers….)

Looks good. Quite slack for a dirtjump bike, but not the end of the world.

Go and have fun, fall off a bit (not too seriously), pick yourself up, and continue 😀

Oh and yes, try ride with people who are good at jumping. One reason I took sooo long to get confident at jumping was because I mainly rode with people who were only as good, or worse, than me.

bike’s pretty shit but that doesn’t really matter too much as long as it’s not too big and is strong enough to take a few bails

Better than the bike I tried to learn to jump on (a 21″ Hardrock Comp)…

hardrocks actually have half decent DJ geometry (in 15/17″ rather than 21″ tho) and are fairly strong.

I learned 36 years ago, on a 16″ wheel “chippie” you prob won’t have a clue what that is? think Raleigh Chopper but tiny. planks off wood propped up with bricks for ramps.

Hmm, there seems to be something missing from hat blindside ..

Would dropping the stem down the steerer tube against the headset (as with the pink bike) help with dirt jumping?

“(in 15/17″ rather than 21″ tho)”.

Exactly 😛

And nope, never heard of it haha. But ghetto ramps ftw for sure.

Also, if you’re only using it for dirt jumping, don’t bother fitting the front brake, an extra cable to get in the way/get caught/disk to get bent, and extra weight.

Would dropping the stem down the steerer tube against the headset (as with the pink bike) help with dirt jumping?

probably but maybe he’s 7ft tall

I broke my hip at the local jumps trying to learn.

If you’re over 30 and have never done dirt jumping before my advice would be ‘don’t’.

shit advice there ^^

I broke my hip at the local jumps trying to learn.

If you’re over 30 and have never done dirt jumping before my advice would be ‘don’t’.

My most painfull crash ever was following someone into a quater ramp, assuming the whole body movement/turning thing came naturaly, it didn’t, I went straight up, and came back straight down on my back, 6ft to concreat!

Thankfully I landed flat which meant there was no twisting/bending, just epic bruising!

Are you over 30?

shit advice there ^^

Agree.

Start small, build up slowly – try to find some small trails, or even a local bmx track. Learn to pump first. Then get used to gently popping off the lip. Most of all, relax. I know it’s easy to say, hard to do – but if you’re all tense and ‘dead sailor’ you’ll get no flow.

See ol’ Jimmy Pratt for flow:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMtohJ1iLoM[/video]

Wow thanks for all the feedback guys, new to the forums and its a great community by the looks of it! Im 6″2 so not too far off 7ft 😉 That pink bike of yours is lush! Also what someone mentioned about the handlbars being dropepd to the headset, should that be done? and why? thanks again =]

EDIT: Im 20 =]

Also what someone mentioned about the handlbars being dropepd to the headset, should that be done? and why?

You could do – ride the bike initially, see how you get on, if you feel the front is a bit high, move a couple of the spacers above the stem.

Just keep playing with it until it feel right 😉

Jimmy Pratt’s boosty style rules!!!

front end does look too high (pic may be deceiving tho)
too high bars pitch you over the back when you really want to be in a centred, neutral, natural position (if you get what I mean?)

so kind of gives you a midpoint/balance?

Kinda yeah – with jumping (and GW is probably much better than myself) you move your weight back a little when popping off the lip, and forward a little when coming back down to nose the bike in.

So you want your weight to be in the middle to allow you to make both of these small shifts in movement.

shit advice there ^^

mine?

“Kinda yeah – with jumping (and GW is probably much better than myself) you move your weight back a little when popping off the lip, and forward a little when coming back down to nose the bike in. “

Please don’t lean back when you take-off small jumps. Not intentionally anyway (ie if you’re doing a backflip).

…if youre doing a backflip.

LOL, i doubt ill ever be able to do a back flip aha 😛

Please don’t lean back when you take-off small jumps. Not intentionally anyway. ie you’re trying to backflip.

Yeah – sorry, I meant to emphasise it’s the small shift in weight. Not actually leaning right back. Unless you’re actually trying to back flip.

Just stay neutral and push at the lip.

Hey, aim high. Both metaphorically and physically 😛

haha =] cheers Duane 😉

just as a far fetched question, i dont suppose anyone rides in or around essex area?

Your bike looks absolutely spot on for learning on, as long as it fits you in terms of reach and bb-bar height then don’t worry.

In terms of advice this forum makes me cringe! Some stuff is just plain wrong, some is said with the best intentions but makes assumptions about your ability, position etc, and some is just negative (don’t? Why not!? I started 2 years later than your cut off age and love it) reading how to advice just won’t work.

Ride with others, watch others ride, talk to them about what they do. Remember being able to do it and being able to teach how to do it are very different skills though! Ignore anything mbuk and the like say on the matter and just have fun. If you aren’t getting it then spend a bit of cash on a skills course with Jedi. He is head and shoulders above the rest and really works with your individual skills and needs rather than following a formula.

Cheers slowrider =]

high5 slowrider! you still buzzing from the 6 pack etc eh?

Aye, off the bike after that daft crash I had on the step up. Rode for 3 weeks but been told to stop as I’ve chipped the bone and damaged the tendon. Shame really, been really enjoying the local jumps and had half a plan to come ride with you guys again this weekend…

some is just negative (don’t? Why not!?

well, in my case you end up having all sorts of metal work inserted in your hip (after beign told you were borderline for a hip replacement ‘at your age’ – I was 35) and you have to explain to the mother of your 3 month old child that she’s largely on her own for any child care requiring mobility for the next 12 weeks. You then have to explain to work that you’ll be off for a long time and then 2 years later you have to go through a similar exercise to have the metalwork removed and be told you run a significantly increased risk of longer term problems with arthritis etc.

Now, I’m happy for people to make informed judgements but the truth is that the older you get the less likely your body is to heal properly and the shoudl understand that there are more risks learning to do DJ than XC.

(plus it was a somewhat tongue in cheek comment – I should have added a 😉 )

pop down anytime 🙂

wwaswas – can’t say I agree.

I too have metal plates from trying to push myself beyond my abilities. A tough lesson. But there’s no way it’s stopped me from getting back into it. I started jumping again this summer after a lesson from Jedi – and now I just progress at a slower pace.

I’m sorry for your injuries, but that could of happened tripping down some stairs. Does that mean you only recommend people only take the lift – just to be safe?

Does that mean you only recommend people only take the lift

no, but I would advise them not to jump down the stairs 😉

as I said it was a bit tongue in cheek but, in my case, the risk/reward balance means I now stick to xc and try and keep at least one wheel on the ground all the time.

I’d advise people against BASE jumping too, tbh, but that’s cos I don;t like heights…

Fair enough wwaswas, thats a nasty experience! The OP has already decided to give it a go though, whereas you have weighed up what is important to you and decided on a balance that suits your situation. Each to their own. Id be terrified of many things in life but would encourage anyone who wants to try something out to do so…it’s not my bones they are breaking 😉 (unless it’s cage fighting with me, in which case I’d advise against it as it would be my bones they are breaking)

Hi,
All good info there, really worth getting some coaching if you can or if you can’t do that then ride with some good riders who are pumping the transitions on the jumps. Also find a local Pump Track and develop a really solid pump and then start to drive the bike with your feet. Check out our pumping vid here:

Learn to Pump Vid

Get in touch with Jedi for some local coaching or if you find yourself in North Wales give us a shout!
Bob