[Closed] How do you ride off drops?

maxtorque - Member

So how come not one person in the entire world has posted a pic of them doing what is becoming the "STW manual" then??

GW doesn't bullshit about his riding, he doesn't need to. But I think he'd struggle to do this manual while also taking a photo. And even then you'd say "It's a still, proves nothing, you couldn't possibly have held it there, because biology"

What do you think the chris smith vid proves? He's not out to keep his wheel low, why would he? He's going for distance so he's making it simple.

So now NW is in on the trolling too. This is getting really entertaining. 🙂

Thread closed.....go home people.....nothing more to see here (god I miss Jamie).

Took ages to work out what you were all arguing about.

On my BMX, maybe even my DJ, i "can" (i mean could) manual indefinitely with the front wheel an inch off the floor, you get really low and far back, the further forward you are, the higher you need the front to balance out the moments.

If i could get as low and far back on my 29er, im sure i could repeat the same 1" high manual, but there's a wheel in the way of my gooch.

Also, my taller BMX friends tended to manual with the front wheel lower, their COG was typically further back due to the longer limbs. It would start further back, to pop front end up, it relies on rate in change of COG to pull the front up, they'd start closer to the limit of displacement, so would normally end up closer to the limit, ie further back in the manual, leaving the front wheel lower.

Conclusion, yes you can manual a MTB with the front wheel an inch off the floor, if your limbs are long enough to clear the rear wheel, i dont think it has anything to do with the moments, purely there being a rear wheel in the way.

Drop, if i can, i just go fast and pull up like i would on a jump, i tend to boost them, if im likely to overshoot, i pump down off of it like you would the back side of a roller, into a steep back or a jump landing. I guess the second method is like the shopping trolley thing, but i see it as the more advanced of the two. I'd just start out getting good at manuals, then proper bunny hops on flat ground, then you really master the fore/aft balance thing before introducing danger.

I'm lost. If I want to do a drop do I need to be able to manual first?

Or has the answer to the original post been mentioned within the subsequent trolling/pee ing contest and I missed it?

If in doubt, flat out.

If I want to do a drop do I need to be able to manual first?

No, but i reckon it makes it a whole lot safer.

Otherwise you're just relying on speed to ensure your your rear leaves the drop before you rotate too far forward and go over the bars.

Plus doing it manual style means your legs will be straightish, maximum available suspension available from your body to absorb the impact of landing and stay balanced. Plus you have your full range of movement to correct yourself if the landing is a bit sketchy.

Without doing it, you land, your weight is forward, the travel on your forks is used up, your body is in a bad position to deal with anything on landing, just a recipe for screwing up really.

jam bo - Member
If in doubt, flat out.

If I want to do a drop do I need to be able to manual first?

I can't manual for toffee but have no problem riding off drops.

You're not

Otherwise you're just relying on speed to ensure your your rear leaves the drop before you rotate too far forward and go over the bars.

Without doing it, you land, your weight is forward, the travel on your forks is used up, your body is in a bad position to deal with anything on landing, just a recipe for screwing up really.

This might be true if you take off with your weight forward, but not with any sort of proper technique.

Thank you. Listening with interest. I've gone on the basis of speed is my friend, which worked up to a point but still landing too often on the front end, even with getting my hips back, and one significant and a few close OTB moments.

Maybe my forks are too heavy and I need an upgrade. Surely cant be my 'technique'... 😉

whatnobeer - i think we are pretty much agreed here. What you're describing is a manual, well in terms of technique, well the maintaining balance aspect, you may not be able to manual, but by the sounds of it you're doing very much the same thing, well once the front wheel is up and you're in the balance point.

Crux of it is you're manipulating your balance point so that it remains far enough behind the drop edge until the correct time, then when you land, it's ideally both wheels, more rear wheel on a flatter landing, with the best position to deal with landing, which is the best general position, centred on the bike with full range of motion available from the climbs, ready to deal with landing/ground/to set up for the next obstacle.

svalgis - Member

So now NW is in on the trolling too. This is getting really entertaining.

I'm sitting this one out because I'm shit at manualling 😆

4.5 pages of BS and all we have is shopping trolley and pumping over a stick.
The Mrs ain't manualling. End of. 🙂

Manuals are easier for women as a higher proportion of their weight is in their rear. And that is an internet fact 🙂

@SOAP, let the other half read the thread.. should make anyone drop off

[img] [/img]