I am fairly new to Mountain Biking (week 3). I have a table top by my house that I am trying to clear. I am posting a couple of videos here of some hits. I am getting very close. A few details about me. I’m 31, 240 lbs riding a hard tail GT avalanche that I upgraded with a 1×11 drivetrain, hydraulic brakes, new tires, etc. Probably not ideal for dirt jumping, but at 31 I need to add some excitement in my life and catch some air.
by Tiny-Acanthaceae2282
5 Comments
You’re doing great for week 3! I don’t know the answer but I just wanted to say that.
Relax, go faster, center your weight on your bottom bracket
– someone you prolly shouldn’t take advice from
You’re jumping before the lip. Wait a little longer and use the entire lip.
[Obligatory video](https://youtu.be/s9w2zSvuaGM?si=2l1f6HZVWK-0ewEU)
right now you are bunny hopping at a nearly random point and randomly landing on the other side. to the extent you could nearly achieve the same goal just bunny hopping over any particular length or feature.
particularly with such a good practice jump at your disposal, what i want you to do is very intentionally leave the very top of the launch ramp with your back wheel. and try to enter the landing afterwards with your front wheel, with the back wheel following shortly after. not so much the wheels leaving the ground at the same time at both ends.
another way to think of it is ‘use the entire ramp’. and in order to do this you want to weight your feet through the pedals on the launch and get a decent upwards kick following the ramps trajectory… while keeping your head and upper body relatively flat and looking forward on a center line. try to make your head the gimbal with the rest of your body doin the work. notably the knees bending.
that said, what you are doing atm is fairly safe and you’ve done well to manage how to safely jump and keep the bike level and not turn a safe basic jump into a danger with bad technique.
oh and you dont really need more speed like the other person said. im 100% certain with proper jumping technique you can clear it at the same exact speed. using poor technique and just adding speed to clear a jump like this IS THE ONE WAY to turn a safe learning jump into a pointless trip to the ER. technique > speed
also watch ben cathros how to jump video on youtube and you should see how the rear wheel leaves the lip and the bike follows the trajectory of the lip instead of ‘fighting it’. and then, as you get good technique out of that lift you may find it naturally leans back into the landing with the front wheel first. try not to like lean back or ‘look up’ and get stuck with the nose high. landing in a wheelie and once gain, ending up in the ER when you dont need to.