Can`t Jump – Dare`nt Jump

The rewards of jumping don't balance the price as you get older.

That statement makes me sad. I don't ride a bike because, on balance, it seems like a good idea at my age. I want to do 20ft doubles when I'm 50, which means I only have 17 years to learn!

I have yet to see any convincing reason that says jumping off the ground, twisting in the air and shouting culman is an essential part of riding a bike. It maybe something you like to do but I cannot see that it is essential. Why make life difficult? And I haven't said that I'm refusing to try, I just don't see the need to learn something that I'll hardly ever use. Most of the jumps I see carried out are over puddles or small obstacles on straight flat bits of track. What a waste of time and effort. The "big air" pics on here all seem to be on specialist tracks that are set up just for jumping and showing off. Don't go to those places, so don't need to do it.

yeti are you on an FS bike? if so its potentially a damping issue, if not its surely weight distribution or yanking up too much on ya feet (probably only likely if you're running spd's) are you?

Can jump, can't land.

One thing that's giving me trouble at the mo is a jump on a trail that i've done a million times, but is presently a bit worn down as you hit the lip, so there's a nice smooth upslope, but then a couple of inches of treestump sticking out upright at the top.

Now on a regular trail I KNOW my back wheel would just roll over that, legs and tyre would soak it up and i'd carry on in the intended direction, but on a hardtail at least my brain has convinced me that my front wheel will go over, the back will hook up, I will rotate round the rear axle and plant my face in the trail. I just can't get it, I'm going to have to go up there with a spade and sort it out.

For me jumping and bunny hopping just adds to the riders toolkit.
Hipping bus stops or lifting your front wheel to manual and then spotting a line to bunny hop a root section.

The fun is being smooth and silent as possible – hanging up back wheels and flat landing is horrible – if you can't jump it doesn't help with that.

a couple of inches of treestump sticking out upright at the top

Sounds like you need to use the stump as a kicker to get the bike pointing upwards. The rear wheel should then just barely touch it.

10pix went to Holmbury and Pitch instead so no. Will do though!!

Eccles, I don't know about jumping, but I can testify to the fact that you can land, albeit in an elephant into an orchestra pit stylee. Give us a shout if you're up for a mid-week skyve ride some time, it's been ages.

I have the same ability to get plenty of air but never stick the landing. Usually ending up nose or rear heavy, but occasionally combine that with sideways and at an angle. At speed this manifests itself with plenty of squeeling and torn skin, at low speed I just fall off and wish I@d never bothered.

Still, I want to. I need to.

get to a bmx track, learn properly. out on an xc ride or at a trail centre there are so many additonal variables (badly shaped jumps, worn out lips, mud, ice etc.) so you'll never really learn what you are doing wrong.

get to your local bmx track, learn how to pump properly and consistently, then get flying.

I’d say confidence is the key skill, you probably have 90% of the muscle memory, bike control skills you need to get comfortably aloft and safely back down, more often than not it’s simply head games, the major trouble with riding a trail where there is a jump ahead, is that you know it’s coming, you’ve eyed it up, run through all the potential ways you can injure yourself, and the whole of your run in is spent mulling over your certain death… What you haven’t done is think, yeah I can have that and just ridden it.
It pays not to be too much of a thinker sometimes, certainly on first attempts, it’s the same principle as spotting the right line through a corner, you know what to do, it’s simply a case of doing it and turning down your instinct to avoid risk (easier said than done sometimes I know) but over analysis doesn’t really help, you don’t have to thow down instant 50ft gaps, and all the whips, X-ups and tricks are really just decoration, the odd clean 2-3ft double is not beyond you… Honest…

Being able to precisely pick and place landings and take offs for clearing obstacles like roots, stumps and rocks means you will be able to carry more speed and save energy, and once you’ve learned to read jumps then it’s a skill that can be applied to any trail you ride…

Tried a jump once, landed on my head and bent my finger to the side damaging the joint. Took a few months to get better. My joint is still bigger than the others. I blame it on foot and mouth, all the proper trails were shut. Try to avoid leaving the ground at all costs now.

The funny thing about jumping is that you imagine it must be tricky, but actually it is deceptively simple. Usually people are coming to grief because they are putting too much fuss into it, making it too complicated. Of course the trick is to makes sure that you are doing the correct simple thing, rather than the wrong simple thing!

in all the eyars i have been showing people how to jump and stuff ,everyone is suprised how easy it is.it's almost a let down! 🙂

jenga – open your eyes mate.
picking up the bike, jumping, manualing even whipping is all about keeping flow on the trail.
just the same as planning gear changes, getting out the saddle or timing your pedalling to negotiate a turn would in a road TT.

all these skills can make your ride LESS effort and waste LESS time.

I'm thinking about getting a new bike but would like to start jumping and riding more downhill trails.

Any suggestions on a bike that would be suitable?

Thinking about spending up to £1200, not sure between long travel hardtail or FS.

I'm leaning towards the Specialized Pitch Comp.

advice and recomendations welcome.

chuck, it's not about the bike

for 'proper' jumping it IS about the bike.

you can't ride trails on an XC bike.

learning to jump is not !

Completely and utterly clueless here, would like to be able to do the basic non-terrifying stuff but remain firmly planted on the ground. However, I suddenly seem to have clicked for no apparent reason the most basic move (that everyone else learnt at age 4) of flicking the front wheel up . You don't pull you push! I actually cleared a massive – easily 4 inch! – log on the track recently without getting off / crashing / ending up in an ambulance. Yessssssss! On top of the world for days – Ononeoranges' front wheel in off-ground shocker!

Not sure 1) I could repeat it or 2) I'll be appearing in any rad vids soon.

(Apologies for the rather unseemly enthusiasm!).

tracknico – maybe others will correct me if this is wrong assumption, but most people here will be wanting to safely hit, clear and enjoy the kind of jumps that crops up in the flow of a singletrack, rather than the vertically-faced kickers from a set of doubles. "trails" is a misleading phrase for most recreational cyclists.

I agree, learning to jump isn't but I'm buying a new bike and want to make sure it can take the strain and abuse.

chuck, 🙂

well im sorry to mislead. i was merely suggesting that one would benefit from riding somewhere where the jumps are made to be jumped, and not because the FC guys had got bored and put some lumps in.

in fact i was responding to a guy who siad he wanted to buy a bike to go jumping. to which a more jumping orientated bike would surely be btter suited?

I have a mate who is capable of riding really steep rolling drops, is really fast on singletrack and is dead fit, he cannot seem to land his bike on anything other than the front wheel. Seems this is a common problem.

I'd love to be able to ride the jumps I see on my way down the A3 by the M25 Junction but I think that time has passed so I'm happy to just do the odd 3 footer along the trails.

no he said jump/downhill trails ie a mtb! 🙂

Id love to learn how to ride doubles, so I can ride some trails faster, but the thought of not getting enough air and crashing into the landing ramp scares the beejesus out of me!!!
I can`t get over the fear so cant just hit it for the first time, im sure its just a matter of speed and pushing into the take off… 🙁

You don't pull you push!

10/10! It seems surprising at first.

he cannot seem to land his bike on anything other than the front wheel

I bet I know what that is, and if he stops doing it he'll be even faster on everything else too.

I think learning on tabletops is the way. Once you can clear a 8 foot tabletop the world is your oyster..

ok ok, i dont wanna argue about what bike a fella i dont know wants to buy…

but if he's jumping/doing dh trails only, then choice of bike is important.

So any mountain bike is designed for jumping and downhill tails?

With my limited mtb knowledge, I know that is bollocks.

any mtb will do those things yes. a hardtail,a race xc bike, a full dh bike, a 4inch trael fs……

ok…

If I go for a little ride in the woods at some point I will go downhill and there is a chance of a wee jump or two. That doesn't mean I'm doing DH or dedicated bike jumping.

thats great glen, but if someone is buying a bike specifically to do those two aspects of your ride, and not for your entire ride, then they may be better off buying a bike that does those parts better.

you can't ride trails on an XC bike.

Sure you can. Jedi says 'it's not about the bike', I prefer 'if the rider can do it, the bike can too'

A XC Marin Wildcat Trail and rider…

I've since got a jump specific bike as the Marin wasn't too keen on the bigger jumps (much bigger).

It's probably worth noting that a good landing is usually nice and gentle and isn't that hard on a bike it's cack handed flat landings that snap frames.

Yes.

I know.

I'm not saying anything different.

What I am saying is that those people that think "trail riding" means sky-high built doubles in jeans around yer ankles and pushing your bike if it is uphill are in a minority. Most people just like going for a ride on what they call trails, and want to be able to jump a little and stay safe and enjoy it.

ok, grand thats agreed.

i think chuck knows he wants something a bit more solid anyway.

although euro has nicely pointed out that yes indeed in theory if you buy a cheap 'xc' HT that looks a bit small for you, and then slam the seat right down, you can go get jumping crazy to your hearts content.

The trend is certainly to make the entry level hardtails more over-built. A lot of them anyway. Usually the fork and wheels will be weak spots I guess.