I promised to buy myself a new frame if I can finally learn to hop well…..not crazy high…just, better. Or , at all lol.
I took the still shot at the beginningof the video cause it looks like I'm about to hop over my house! But then, the same thing always happens. I drop like a rock and my back tire gets a few inches at best.
I video myself so I can try and see where I'm going wrong…. I've watched dozens of " how to bunny hop vids"
Any advice other than keep practicing? Thanks
by high0utput
12 Comments
[my take on how to bunny hop.](https://youtu.be/M7KMAfMst9A)
I’m kinda in the same boat as you. Consciously telling myself to get my weight off the front, then off the back when I started adding the tuck, really helped me the most. It feels weird to be on these bikes at first. Brant Moore and Billy Bikes’ hop videos are really helpful. Compare your form to slow motion of those doing it really well. Also, stop practicing hops for a bit and try manuals. That will give you a good feeling for how far back on the bike you need to be at the start of a hop.
Butt lower, front wheel higher then spring with your legs. You’ve got most of the movements. You just need get everything fully extended in order to get that bike moving up.
Lift your legs at the max pull up simultaneously knees towards your chest you’ll nail it you are right there
as soon as you spring up with the legs just kinda jump up with your legs and at the same time pretend like you’re trying to twist the grips off as the bike beings to lift up.. grip with your palms and roll your hands up wards.
that’s how you really get the frame to tuck up under you.
Front wheel needs to come waaaaay up before you hop with your legs. You should be trying to fling the front up with your arms and core, and then add to that upward momentum by hopping up with your legs
Imagine you’re trying to lift those bars up on over your chest, that visualization helped me get my hops higher!
There’s a lot of helpful stuff here guys thanks.
One of the problems I think I have is if I get my butt real low and pull back far, I feel like I’m close to looping out, and no longer in a position to jump…. If that makes sence
pull the front wheel higher, try and close your legs tighter so you get a better grip on the bike and when you’re tire is high up, jump, pulling your handlebars up as well, a couple tries and i was able to do it again after 5+ years
I’ll talk about what the perfect hop feels like rather than critique what you’re doing, as what you’re doing is on the right track, but as others have said you just need to maximise it all.
How a good big hop works/feels:
– Imagine you’re crouching down without a bike to jump as high as possible, that’s the same initial feeling in a big hop
– I jump the centre of my body weight just behind the centre line, so slightly backwards away from the front wheel
– when I am at full front wheel up and back wheel still on the floor, my body is straight up, my bars are pretty much in my lap. I’m almost doing a “taking the piss” stand up wheelie position where you are about to (but don’t quite) loop out
– I am then starting to glide up at the maximum pace possible with myself being just off looping out
– as I reach the peak of the hop with my body, I begin to suck my legs up completely out of the way and push haaaaard forwards on the bars to bring the back up with my legs. (Absolutely no scooping the back end up with the feet. You just move them out of the way upwards)
– at the peak my chin is nearly on my seat and my bum is dead centre over the rear axle
Heres a link to one of my biggest hops so you can see the end position and how extreme the body position is: [Big hop – Yes I have realised it’s 20 years old now 😯](https://www.deviantart.com/cheesebmx/art/B-B-B-Big-22931725)
Keep practicing! You’ll smash it.
You’re lunging forward with your shoulders instead of springing straight upwards from your legs. You’re losing a lot of power transfer as a result. The pull on the bars and the spring from the legs should happen as one organic movement, but the legs are the most important element. The jump should get the motion started, not the pull. Practice hopping up curbs from the side. Then straight on. Then move to ledges and benches. Focusing on the goal of getting up to a higher plane will take your mind off the mechanics and allow your body to figure it out.
Push your back wheel into the ground