[Closed] How do I ride drop offs?

Best tip i heard was to push the handlebars like your shoving a shopping trolley off a cliff when your front wheel hits the lip of the drop-off.

Oh and lean back a smidge.

Shopping trollies rock!

Shopping trollies rock!

😉

Weight back, pedals level .. don't let the bar drop too fast - also riding faster helps!

I lean back over the back wheel so that my centre of gravity is moved backwards and the front wheel can move vertically and match the gradient of the landing.

You don;t need to be able to manual as you don't need to get the wheel up that high. If you do when youy lanmd a big one the bars will throw themselves forward and you may well go over them

I hear shutting your eyes helps too.

Three inch drop off NAILED by me..... ******** Awesome.

[img] [/img]

😉

get your weight back and do a tiny manual at the lip then move your weight back center but don't think of any of that whilst you do it!

redthunder that is totally sick man, you should call your bike "the white lightening"!!

redthunder, you have teh mad skillz! Soccer shinpads FTW!

@mrnutt.

It was well Gnarley as well on the landing 😉

The soccer pads save the shins from the brambles etc. Dont give a monkeys what they look like but but my shins are in now in good nick.

I cant find decent shin only armour and I dont what my knees covered as they get hot 🙁

PS They are 661 prototypes BTW.

Redthunder - did you land it OK? Looks well rocky 😯

(Slight hijack -

Red, how about orienteering gaiters? http://www.ultrasport.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=&products_id=182 )

Pfft! that ain't nowhere near 3 inch - more like 2 😉

@bushwhacked

Had a bit of moment in mid flight but gathered it all together and then planted it 😈

TSG Shins you say. Are they armoured ?

I use TSG Shins but might be too hot for riding XC.

@snaps

2 and three quarters mayby.

snaps - Member
Pfft! that ain't nowhere near 3 inch - more like 2

Is that what she told you?

😉

I'd say even 2 inches was generous. More like 1.

@flash

The gaiters would get ripped I reckon and offer no pedal whack protection.

It would be good if someone like 661 would do a solid shin protector. The good thing about the soccer pads is that the back is open and your legs stay cool.

They do work even if they do look naff.

It's all relative - let him have his moment 😉

Actually this is Daves thread not mine 😉

Here is a photo of me preparing for my XC MTB ride...

[img] [/img]

Redthunder, may I just say,

RAD!

And indeed, Gnarly.

Dude.

😀

Top man...

Are those engraved nipples?

red thunder - got some of these last summer as I'm fed up with having battle-scarred legs.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=27766

What's she doing looking under that Trojan's skirt?

Those are schweeet skilz from RT, and no mistake

All you haters saying it's under 3 inches, don't forget the air he's taken off the lip too. We may even be talking FOUR

Is it a secret location RT? - wouldn't mind bringing ma crew & sessioning that for a while

For larger drops at speed the trick is don't try to lift up at all, push down with the bars or your feet to adjust your landing angle to match the downslope. Do not let the front rise much unless it's a large drop to flat. Landing rear heavy is a recipe for disaster in most cases.

For most drops you'll find on a trail keeping your speed and leaning back alittle and nothing else is likely to be all you need.

What's she doing looking under that Trojan's skirt?

Seeing if he's Scottish?

Ha "push down" c'mon that's just cruel

So Yeah don't pull up, pull back. On the run in up in the ready position start with a slight weight shift forward, then back(not up) till your arms are straight continue your back shift so you can build up pressure through your palms, as this happens imagine you've just fell over on ice (feet flying forwards from underneath you)
DO NOT LET YOUR ARMS BEND UNTIL YOU WANT THE FRONT WHEEL TO RETURN TO EARTH.

Practice all this on the flat many many times (top tip put a squeaky dog toy on the floor this becomes the lip of the drop, your aiming not to squeak with your front and to squeak with your rear before or as the front touches down.

Remember back not up

my tactic is to try( please note try)to time a manual so that I popo the front of just as it rolls off the edge usually works..... 😉

As for shins got some 661 vegge shin gaurds just brilliant as I had got all SPD in my riding, and the terror pins were leaving me lookinng like a shark attack victim! Not issue with long ride s in them but all day stuff 50k+ meridas I stick with SPD's

top tip AJ, like the falling on ice analogy- i have felt that and not known quite how to describe it.

i do always prefer a squeak from the back rather than the front too. 😉

Line it up right, then get paralysed with fear, that way you can't do anything stupid at the last minute.

never pull. either up or back.
push your heals down and forward, pedals level and head up.

simples

AJ's tactic is how I usually try, but do make sure you have practised, as I tried it once coming off a step that was only about 12-18 inches and cocked it up, it ended up with me lifting the front wheel and almost instantly dropping it again again, with the front kinda plummenting off the drop. Thankfully my forks saved me... just. I've never managed full travel and to hit the bump stop on them before, or since...

Since then I think the paralysed with fear has helped as well..

:o)

drops are a simple thing to learn physically. mental skills need building too

seat right up,clipped in, pre-jump everything.jobs a good un.

Bunny as you hit it then hope for the best 😆

Jedi is right... its simple! Best way to practice is to ride but you can try or imagine trying to drop a trolley off a kerb both sets of wheels landing at the same time. No pull just push forward 🙂

Really twist sideways, tuck your chin to your chest, close your left eye, and let go with your hands.

With all the mixed advice above, this probably makes as much sense to the poor chap!

DrP

As others have said the technique is simple its just getting your head around the size of the drop! I'm no expert but doing a short manual off the end seems to work for me - basically unweighting the front end rather than pulling it up or hopping. Seems to work for me but the biggest drop I've done is only about 2ft with a nice long run-out into a berm.

there is two way you can do this. If you have enough inertia, the trolley/jedi technique is good.
If you are standing still, you'll have to pull the handlebar/push a bit on the pedal (like you would do for a wheeling) otherwise you might not be able to get over it, and you would just "ride over it" as oppose to get over it.
However, I have found that in real life, drop off big enough that you must get over them, have usually a take off and landing areas allowing you to get enough momentum. Second technique is for this buggering big step just before/after a tight switchback.

Thanks everyone - some really good stuff here.

I think I always try to pull the bars up and that lifts my weight up not back - I'm liking the idea of pulling back. Also the tip RE the squeaky toy - that's one to try somewhere no-one can see! 🙂

Thanks!

David.

Like this:

"WEEEEEEEEEEE!

BUMP!

OUCH!"

That's my technique anyway.

Something I'd like to learn too as there are a load of drops I'd like to try. I'd be interesting in some sort of skills course that teaches this kind of stuff where I could just practice on simple stuff and build up to bigger ones.

I don't have the no fear attitude I had as a kid, so at the moment I come to a drop and just crap myself 😀 . There's no way I'm going to just go for it without knowing what I'm doing though. At the very least it will cost me money to not be working! 😀

Drops are simple, wait till you start trying jumps...

There's a great article here:
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/fitness/article/complete-guide-to-downhill-mountain-biking-part-1-25183

This tip has made a big difference to me:
"Think of a cone of movement, which is basically your weight pivoting around the bottom bracket. Whether the bike is pointing up or down, leaning left or right, you should be able to draw an imaginary vertical line through your core (the area round your hips) and the bike’s bottom bracket"

[img] [/img]

Looks like he rolled that one!

[img] [/img]

I'm impressed with that!

Amazing looking bike!

Tragic looking outfit!

never pull the bars . push and weight shift.

If you have your weight forward the front wheel will drop, if you have it back the back wheel will drop, if you lean to one side the bike will lean to one side, if you get cross rutted you'll probably go over the bars. It isn't rocket science. Look ahead hit the drop/jump/whatever centred on the bike and match the angle of the bike to the angle of the down slope.

Iain

OK Jedi i'm fully aware of your abilities but explain pushing the bars please.

you push down/away with hands and heals that moves the bike under you forwards therefore putting u behind the bb andf the wheel raises/unweights

Ok so i've been thinking, Pushing? so by pushing the bars forward/down and adding a correctly timed weight shift rearwards.....You achieve the drop technique?

you wont need to shift rearwards as you move the bike forwards underneath you by pushing which puts you behind the bb by default

you offer guiding and coaching in the cairngorms?

Ah beat me to it Jedi, but..... once you've pushed the bars forward and shifted rearward and your arms are fully extended are you not pulling backwards on the bars? 😀
Just to be an arse (me that is)

no

Aye

I'm always interested in how other people demo/describe things as it's all tools in my box.
that's all

the only time you pull a bike with hands or feet is when clean in the air and making it look good 🙂

No. How?

jedi , he`s taking the piss. andy entered red bull rampage years ago ;O)

lol

Marty. bite me;-]

I'm not taking the piss.

i need to think more

you push down/away with hands and heals that moves the bike under you forwards therefore putting u behind the bb andf the wheel raises/unweights

Having been shown and taught this technique by Jedi I can confirm it does work. Even with short arms you can move the bike a fair bit forward (and level) with the arm push and the heals 'down' causes the bike to front wheel to unweight/lift.

Taking the shopping trolley analogy how would you get one to land flat over a kerb? Kicking the rear wheels gets the front up and pushing the bars moves the whole trolley forward quickly over the lip.

I'm not a doubter, but i am a doer. I'll be back J 😉

Jedi, serious question, you say never pull on the bars? So does that mean that you can do a bunnyhop with just weight shifts? I'm intruiged as I was trying it the other day, and I definitely pull up on the bars a bit, just with tons of body language as well... I can pop into a manual with just a rear weight shift thingy, but not a hop. Im seriously interested if that's how you hop?

Ignore all interweb advisors and book yourself onto a skills course ASAP…

[url=

i think this is what jedi means.....

lyons. nope

alpin, kind of .:)

Right, I wasn't sure if that was what you were saying... I know exactly what you mean by pushing the bike away etc, and I do that when I hop and drop, and stuff anyway. Ps, fancy Corby again soon?

lyons, im off to corby today 🙂

nah lads. you are all wrong.

roll in with no speed at all, then just jump backwards as hard as possible, tuck your feet up and hope for the best. bit of lean might help, but might not. remember to REALLY tuck your head back and pull up with your feets.

easy

wot you mean, kind of?!??

surely it depends on the size of the drop and the speed at which you approach it.

a decent sized, steep drop being hit at speed will require you to push the wheels to the ground so that you can regain control more quickly.

if hitting a drop to flat at lower speeds then you'll have to pull up/pop front wheel/shift weight back more otherwise your front wheel will drop and the rear will hang on the lip throwing you over the bars.

smaller drops at speed can mostly be run at with your weight shifted back a litle and slightly bent knees/arms to absorb the landing.

get the wheels back on the ground more quickly

Hah, wish I could come, I'm tempted, for midday?

More training was had with a (easy) five inch drop 😉

"The Shopping Trolley"

[img] [/img]

Owned, Nailed , Awesome Rad , sick air and stuff. Matching the STW profile perfectly 😉

red thunder, your cranks need to be level.
alpin, why try to land. it's a given that it will happen.