• This topic has 34 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 10 years ago by GEDA.
Viewing 35 posts - 1 through 35 (of 35 total)
  • Show me some drop offs and advice on building them
  • GEDA
    Free Member

    I have been eyeing up a nice rocky outcrop in the woods for some time and done some building at home.

    The landing is a bit flat though and I was wondering what is the optimal landing angle I should be aiming at preparing?

    I have built some ladder drops at home that are about the same height. The take off is a bit sketchier and landing a bit short on the ones at home but I can session them and put in a heightened landing ramp to start with to get used to the drop.

    I am doing the drops on my hardtail. Will it be easier on a FS and what kind of drops do you do on your own in the woods or am I being a bit stupid doing this kind of stuff on my own?

    VanHalen
    Full Member

    If its on a hill you don’t need to build a landing.

    Speed is your friend.

    Make the run in nice for the first go. You can alter the trail into it later.

    Its almost impossible to give decent advice unless you see the options in the flesh. Basically if you think it looks doable it almost definitely is, you mat need extra bottle or peer pressure to man up. I’ve built loads of stuff its taken me weeks to ride. In the end its just another feature but for me, if I’m gonna build it, its got to have a challenge!

    maxtorque
    Full Member

    Watch out for a Fowl landing^^^^

    😉

    GEDA
    Free Member

    I was just looking at the drop on Caddon bank and from the photos looks bigger but I can remember it being easy and nice and smooth due to the landing so I was wanting to recreate that kind of smooth flowy drop. The ones I have made at home are not that flowy to drop!

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    I see you have considered a chicken line…

    mcmoonter
    Free Member

    Don’t be a chicken.

    GEDA
    Free Member

    🙂

    To tell you the truth the actual drop at home has been the least of my worries. I have nearly landed on a cat, a dog and the hens.

    At Inners I never plucked the courage to do the Matador drop but looking at it again it does not look that different to the one on Caddon bank. It just has a flat landing to begin with so needs to be hit with speed.

    wiggles
    Free Member

    Watch you don’t run your cock over when you land…

    I built a ladder drop when I was about 14 was just nailed to two trees about 12 feet up with a big ladder to ride up and a tiny 2ft landing, no idea how me and my mates didn’t kill ourselves, what you are planning looks much more sensible

    gazc
    Free Member

    i’m pretty sure the matador drop is bigger than anything on caddon bank, have ridden it on a dh bike when it opened. wouldnt have any problem hooning off any drops/jumps on the xc route on my hardtail! also that pic is from below so perspective doesnt show the flat gap/drop as clear as the other pic

    oh and is that in northumberland by any chance? could poss come and give u a hand (baby and new house means getting out v little at moment tho)

    jackal
    Free Member

    Apologies for the old pic, not got anymore recent ones. Circa 10 years old this is now (on a bullit, my first DH bike). The drop is still there but its now more natural and made of rocks;

    This was a nice fast(ish) flowing drop.
    You need to make sure the landing is steep enough for the size of drop you are doing. Its hard to tell how steep the landings are on your photos. The bigger the drop the steeper the downslope required.
    As said above make sure the run in is reasonable as if not you’ll just keep bottling it.

    There’s a few reasons why your backyard drops aren’t ‘flowing’…..
    Look at the angle of the take off ramp, its bordering on a jump, the landing then is only a few feet past the lip of the drop off.
    So I imagine your going up a take off ramp slowly so you don’t overshoot the landing, then awkwardly dropping in on the downslope. To make that smooth the landing would need to be another 10ft or so further out and then hit it with speed.

    Looks a nice spot, I love nice natural rock drops 😀

    smatkins1
    Free Member

    I do love a good drop off!


    DSC001


    DSC00480

    Build where there is a natural downslope landing!!!

    GEDA
    Free Member

    I can take off the smaller ramp quicker as I have got it in my head that I will not over shoot the landing. You are right that I do not like going full speed over the bigger one as I do not want to land flat.

    There is a good slope on the natural cliff but it is about two meters after the drop so commitment is the key. I can drop off the bigger ladder drop pretty slowly which I know logically is probably harder than a bigger drop at speed but then not everything is logical. I was going to dig out the landing on the ladder drop a bit more but I can’t get too much speed as the run up is only fifteen metres on the flat.

    GEDA
    Free Member

    And gazc sorry it is not Northumberland. It is Sweden, I am half expecting it to get a large dump of snow on it any moment and there are people hunting wild boar there this weekend so I better steer clear. Might be in Northumberland at Christmas and I know a few similar places for local people.

    honourablegeorge
    Full Member

    Nice smooth landing on this one at Revolution Bike Park, you can see the angle of it.

    DrP
    Full Member

    Just get someone else to build ’em…

    DrP

    agentdagnamit
    Free Member

    Willies away now please.

    no_eyed_deer
    Free Member

    It really is any old excuse in this place.. 😆

    DrP
    Full Member

    Willies away now please.

    😳

    DrP

    Stevet1
    Free Member

    On a hardtail- speed is your friend, the faster you are going the more forward momentum you have compared to downward and the smoother the landing. Read Jimmy Levans interview (BMX legend and pioneer of massive drops to flat) in the albion here if you have a spare half-hour.

    VanHalen
    Full Member

    those ladder drops are not proper drops.

    if its not got a sketchy run in, sketchy run out or flat landing, or better all three, its not a real drop, just a break in teh trail.

    dont get too worried about the landing. mainly because once you’ve done it once, and are comfortable you are not going to die, you`ll be jumping further than you expect. just make sure you are comfortable on the run in (a confident set up entering the drop is everything), clear a landing/runout area of the worst sharp pointy things, logs etc and it’ll be peachy.

    edit – jimmy levan is great!

    doug_basqueMTB.com
    Full Member

    No willie out for this one, my old man / taking a dump drop technique. Living the Rampage large in Spanish Utah 🙂

    alfabus
    Free Member

    This one is brick built, but wood is fine if you want it to blend in a bit better. There is a nice flat bit for you to do the actual drop off, but the key is the downslope on the exit.

    HTH 🙂

    GEDA
    Free Member

    OK. I went out at lunch time and did the smaller drop, Could do with a bit more speed. It was a bit dark!

    Stevet1
    Free Member

    Nice! looks a great natural drop off spot.

    RobHilton
    Free Member

    You’re very over the back – how are you just before you land? If you’ve made it to the middle of the bike again (stable) then ok, but if not you gonna find it harder to control.

    see revolution photo up there ^ for sucking up the take off and nice shape for landing.

    xiphon
    Free Member

    jackal Is that in Cranham Woods, Gloucester?

    There’s a very very similar setup there (well, there was when I was last there….. 8 years ago!)

    doug_basqueMTB.com
    Full Member

    Nice, natural line and well hit. You might find it easier with a whole back wheel though 🙂

    GEDA
    Free Member

    The landing is flat for the first 2 meters and as I said I know I am not going fast enough! It is easier on some of the other drops in the forest that have a more even bank afterwards. I am probably pushing the bike off the lip a bit to make up for the lack of speed.

    I will probably even out the landing a bit more.

    VanHalen
    Full Member

    nice.

    you cant comment on body position unless you know what the run in/run out is like – in terms of caution back is better than an OTB scorpion flip especially on the first few goes!

    alfa. thats the spirit. there is a potential retaining wall drop on new england hill in brighton i keep eyeing up (while sat in traffic) with a lovely sniper landing on a drop kerb. I need to man up before i get too old.

    stevomcd
    Free Member

    Jackal’s pic also looks a lot like a drop that used to exist in Lennox Forest, near Glasgow.

    doug_basqueMTB.com
    Full Member

    Was that the crazy big line they built up there with some skinniest before Stve? I think they added some more normal stuff above it. I heard it all got ripped out.

    jedi
    Full Member

    build the landing dependant on the approach speed

    stevomcd
    Free Member

    doug – aye, it all got ripped out. There was a big line of super-high North Shore (mostly pretty wide), then lower down in the woods, near Lennoxtown, there was a sort of DH course. The drop I’m thinking of was near the DH course. It dropped into a steep stream-gully, so was about 10ft to transition.

    bearnecessities
    Full Member

    Sod all the willy waving comments; if you’ve got a pic executing a drop off that most of us wouldn’t, I like to see them! They’re an achievement.

    Will waving is *cough* subtly *cough* showing your amazing house/car/salary – it’s NOT riding a bike.

    GEDA
    Free Member

    So the slower the drop the steeper the landing? I have had a tendency in the past being back heavy, i blame it on starting off on a rigid and having to be light on the front end. Getting a bit better now since building my own drops and jumps. Any tips for remembering to keep centered?

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