tried a 'rock drop off' at gisburn other day (speed on path then rock drop , and every time my front wheel touches the ground first on that drop off.. i do 'pull up' but still no luck.. yet i can do a similar thing ok when going over a small mound of mud at speed and jump in the air…
think im pulling up too soon on this particular drop off…its hard to judge ? lol any other pointers anyone…

Make sure you're not decelerating as you reach the edge as this will throw your weight forward…….

IDon't pull up. Pull back on the bars, push your feet forward. It also helps if you can aim for a spot close to the edge and compress your forks into that first.

I also land nose down most times – I hate (in the nicest possible way) people who make it look easy,

Also try a slightly shorter stem. Dropping from 100mm down to 70mm lost me no speed on the ups but gave me a lot more help on steep descents and drops.

you are trying to get air but are landing front wheel first? if thats the case, you are looking down for the landing before airbourne not out from the drop.(one of a few possibliteies but very common

Algore – Member

Also try a slightly shorter stem. Dropping from 100mm down to 70mm lost me no speed on the ups but gave me a lot more help on steep descents and drops.

what he said.

are you riding a bigntall farm gate of a bike?

it's not just a 'pull-up' – i'd say it's more about getting your weight over the back wheel. if your stem/top-tube is too long you'll find this very difficult.

oh and never pull up!

When I did a basic skills course at Llandegla, we were told that you shouldn't pull up on the bars.
I can't explain it very well, but we were told to imagine pushing the bike through & away from us using your arms & feet…..it made a massive difference to my normal 'falling off the edge' style of conquering small drops.

i think jedi,s comment is pretty much close… yep i tend to look down for the landing instead of looking outwards if this is the case… thats a good comment young jedi… i panic too much at 'drop offs'… my son always makes it look easy tho..grrrrr..lol
…. oh i dont have a long stem its an 'orange stem' and quite short really. so i dont think thats the problem.
must look ahead more amd get alot my speed i think…. will practice more ! (i promise)..lol it was hail-stoning too…damj that hailstone weather…..teeehee

Stumpy – I thought you explained it very well, actually…

Its not really about 'lifting' the front wheel as in a wheelie. I find the best thing is to push the bike 'forward'. For me this un-weights the front, prolonging your time on the ground with your back wheel.
I think its much the same as what is described above. An appropriate speed is essential to get you rolling off the lip. Try it off larger kerbs first and try to land with both wheels together.

Aye that's right JON … think of it as, trying to hold the front wheel in the air for long enough to allow the rear wheel to leave the edge and join it, then put both wheels on the ground at the same time.

Pulling up on the bars will often result in more weight over the front as you'll lean forward (bent elbows) as you try to pull up, obviously this makes the front more inclined to drop.

Stuart

Learn to manual.

another skill that links back to my thread from the other day 🙂
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/people-who-cant-wheeliejumpother-tricky-skills

echoing what others have said – it's not a jerky pull up, as such. more putting your bodyweight back to balance over the back wheel and keep both wheels nice and level as you go over the edge.

Just practice on a kerb.
It's exactly the same principle up to drops of about 3 feet.
Seriously, if you can comfortably drop off a kerb rear wheel first, the only difference between that and bigger drops is the size of your balls!

DrP

grum has it. if you can manual, then you will never have this prob again.

Are you loading the forks before you reach the drop off? If you preload the forks (push down on the forks) then you should have the momentum to for the bike to lift, then shift your weight back with heels down and your speed should carry you through to a smooth landing.

tracknicko – Member

grum has it. if you can manual, then you will never have this prob again.

it's true – all about the "rolling your weight back" technique as per manualling. in fact, a good way to learn how to do this for dropoffs would be to watch an instructional youtube vid teaching you to manual – would demo the technique perfectly.

the beauty of this is that once you learn how to keep and maintain the balance point, you will learn how to react to the back wheel getting a bit snagged as you go over the edge, say on a pokey bit of rock or a root.

much better than bouncing your forks down 20cm from the edge and hoping for the best!

"preload the forks" … if you're looking to use the rebound from compressing the forks there's no need 😉

Stuart

Flow over drops

Have a look at this link with its descriptions and photos…see if it helps!

nice one ! bike radar…. shall read it and try to digest….
(who said my balls wud drop ) ???
im a god dam woman cant you read my name ???? lol

Best piece of advice I was ever given re. doing drops was to imagine pushing a shopping trolley away from you (ie. giving the bars a sort of shove forwards as you hit the lip). This leaves your weight back but also seems to set the angle of the bike right.

was to imagine pushing a shopping trolley away from you

*pops tip into branium*

Some good advice up there.
Hit it with plenty of speed else you may stall and the front will drop, start small and build your way up.
As said above its a similar body position to going into a manual, lean back, heels down, and kind of push the bike away from you (don't wrench up on the bars), look ahead not down..

Body position like this (crap old pic) maybe;

😀

Have you tried straitening your arms? Sounds simple eh? Make sure you have done all the good stuff ie feet level, favorite foot forward, heels pointing down, looking down the trail not at your front wheel etc. Then as you approach the drop with a decent pace and relaxed riding position, straighten your arms. This forces your body into the correct position and negates the need to do anything too forced. As you leave the drop push through with the legs and the combination of that plus the arms should mean you effortlessly transition the drop to a smooth landing. This technique is obviously just the basic starting block to build on for drops but will mean you are swapping physical muscular effort for correct relaxed body position. Everyone I know that starts out landing front wheel first after drops I say to them "straighten your arms!"

……………………..or not if it doesn't work for you!!!

I'm not good but I find shifting your weight right over the back wheel will help. Just make sure that you return to a more natural position when you land. Otherwise it can go a bit Pete Tong…

🙂

Not my best effort but you get the idea.

nice !

Elaine

A new "drop line" has been built at lee quarry to help people develop this skill (I hope it helps me anyway cause I struggle with drop offs too). New line is basically a series of nothing but drop offs of various different sizes so you can start off small and build up to the larger ones. Good clear run ups and landing areas so nothing to worry about apart from the drop offs. Should be ready to ride early April. New pump track and pump line are taking shape nicely as well these should help with getting body position sorted out. Ed (Great Rock) will be running skills sessions on all this new stuff it would be worth getting on one of his training days.

hey thanks alot Tony…. i cant wait till all the new stuff gets up and running… excellent to hear about different 'sized drop offs',, plenty of learning for me then..brilliant…