Ladies Only Poll- The Ever Elusive Bunnyhop

[cheryl@nsmb.com]

Ramirifika was pretty disappointed how badly her poll and thread on the bunnyhop got jacked by the boys....so let's try it again!
Ok boys, please don't vote and we know you know how to bunny hop. You all boys do so this one is just for the ladies.


Ramirifika asked:
"There is something odd thats going on. OR not going on I guess. For some reason (hmmm lazy?) I havent mastered the skill of bunnyhopping. I'm pretty happy when I bunny hop a curb
And I've noticed that not very many other girls can either. Whats with that?!?!? I know in general girls dont "play" as much on their bikes as out counterparts but its odd how hard it seems for us to pick up this skill. Enough is enough for this chicken. I have a goal to master it by spring!
Any ladies who wanna drop advice or match my goal (or poke fun!!) please do. I figure its only fair to do it on flats (hahhaha I can kinda bunnyhop low things with my clips - does that count?). Answer the poll based on flats. Maybe a few of us could get together and practise . . . jenelle I know you'd be game."

[Fluid]

I have never mastered the bunny hop, no matter how many times I've tried. I just have a hell of a time trying to get my back end up. The only bunny hops that I can do are the cheater ones where both my wheels come up off the ground at the same time. But as Ryan Leech says, you're not really clearing the object then, unless you go at it with a lot of speed.

Out of curiosity though, is there any way to bring back some of the replies from the now deleted original bunny hop poll and thread?

Even though it got a bit threadjacked, I found there to be a LOT of VERY helpful pointers in a number of the replies and now I have nothing to reference anymore :(

[cheryl@nsmb.com]

Ok Fluid. I found this extremely helpful how to for you-from bmxtrix. I find it helpful without being confusing and answers a lot of questions.

Bunnyhops aren't hard, but learning how to do them high does have a trick to it. Bunnyhops are the basis for a thousand street tricks and a few flatland tricks. What flatland tricks? Well, you can do bunnyhop 180's and 360's, you can do barspin and no-handed bunnyhops on the ground, and to really amaze people you can learn Whoppers- the bunnyhop tailwhip (only a handful of pros can do them). Possibly the most important feature of learning bunnyhops is the additional control that is gained of your bike and the ability to lift the bike in the air and put it where you want it. When you learn rolling barflip tricks then being comfortable with lifting the bike in the air will be critical.

The most common bunnyhop is done when you ride along crouch down and shoot straight up and lift both tires off the ground at the same time. Of course, NOBODY good does that. Below is what is the standard freestyle bunnyhop- it was referred to as a bronco because it kind of looks like that when you do it. But if you call it anything besides a bunnyhop people will look at you funny.

PREREQUISITES: ENDOS - Specifically learn how to do endos without using your brakes (watch the video of this trick to see a brakeless endo!). Also, you should be able to pull the front end of the bike up (without pedalling) so high that you can fall over backwards.

Begin by rolling at almost any speed- probably a good speed to learn the trick is slow/medium so if you case it you won't die.

DO THE REST OF THE STEPS IN A VERY QUICK SMOOTH MOTION...

Lean down and back on the bike- slightly behind your seat. Pulling back on the handlebars to get the front wheel of the bike off the ground. The higher you can get the front wheel at this point the higher you will usually be able to go... NOTE: If you pull back or lean back to far the bike will loop out and you will fall on your butt. NOTE: This is just like pulling up for a wheelie!

Make SURE your weight is back when you try this next part. If your weight is to far forward you will nose dive and could even go OVER the handlebars...

When the front wheel has peaked out shoot your body straight up and a little bit forward. Do this by pushing down on the pedals and pulling on the bars. In a split second your weight is travelling upwards. BASICALLY YOU ARE JUMPING. With the front wheel in the air already you do not have to lift the full weight of the bike when you end up lifting it. But you must lunge (jump) upwards as quickly as possible. This will REALLY affect your height.

As your body is now travelling upwards, lock your feet against the pedals (see note below) and lift the bike off the ground. HUH? How do you lift the bike? By pressing down and slightly backwards on the pedals you can grip them. You don't put your WEIGHT on the pedals... you have your feet at an angle and pull UP with your feet. This is the HARDEST part of the trick. Do NOT think it will come in a day... or even a week. Once you can do it do NOT expect to be able to get a foot of the ground... MAYBE a few inches... But height will take practice...

To get really high.... Because you have extended your legs when snapping upwards you should bend your knees and tuck the bike in as close to your body as possible to get the maximum height.

Riding out isn't a problem- just let gravity do its thing.
PRACTICING: Building up to do a bunnyhop of more than 2 inches is NOT something that will happen over night. It can take months to learn to bunnyhop up a curb. It can take YEARS to learn to bunnyhop a couple of feet high. Practice about 3 to 5 minutes a day EVERY day to get better at it.

FACTORS: Since bunnyhopping involves a lot of physics stuff you need to consider the following- Bike length, bike weight, YOUR weight, how high YOU can jump, and how strong you are. These will ALL affect how high you are able to get the bike. Remember if you are small and have a heavy bike you will NOT be able to learn as quickly to go high.

HINTS: Ride towards a curb (a 5 inch or so curb) at a VERY slow speed. Lift your front wheel onto the curb and then lift your rear wheel onto the curb. Do not put your foot down. Do not let either tire hit the curb.
When you can do this with neither tire hitting the curb... go faster and learn the motion of lifting the front tire first then the rear tire. This rocking motion is what makes a HIGH bunnyhop possible. At some point you should be travelling at the curb fast enough to lift the front wheel onto it and then the back wheel onto it BEFORE the front wheel lands. THIS is a bunnyhop.

LIFTING THE BIKE: Possibly the number one reason people can't do bunnyhops to begin with is that they don't understand the concept of locking their feet against the pedals. There is a reason that pedals (especially aluminum ones) have those little studs on them. If you look at the video you will see how it is possible to lock your feet against the pedals and just lift the back end of the bike off the ground. This is the same action that snaps the back end into the air when the front wheel is off of the ground. It is also a good way to help to learn the trick.

180 & 360 BUNNYHOPS: If you are interested in doing a 180 or 360 bunnyhop then first learn regular bunnyhops- Now instead of pulling straight up while riding straight, turn just before you bunnyhop and turn your bars in the direction that you want to turn. SNAP the bike around. It is very important that you understand completely how to do a rock walk. You can do the trick pretty slow so don't be afraid to land with the bike sideways- it is part of learning the trick. 180's can be done almost totally flat and rolled out of similar to a 180 rollback. With a 360 bunnyhop you will probably need to land on the back wheel first and then pivot out. There are very few riders that can get enough momentum to do a FULL 360 bunnyhop on the ground and land both tires at the same time.
Off ledges... well that's a different how-to.

FAQ's
1. I'm 11 years old and can't do this trick after trying for a long time...
A. You are probably pretty small. Bunnyhops are a STRENGTH trick. The bigger you are the more luck you will have with them. Give it some time - you may just need a few years to grow.

2. My bike weighs 35 (or more) pounds, is this a problem?
A. Of course it is. The more your bike weighs the more you have to lift up. When learning a strength trick that you haven't done before the more the bike weighs the more it will fight you.

3. I weigh 90 pounds, why can't I bunnyhop?
A. You weigh NINETY POUNDS! That means the bike is over 1/3 of your body weight! Geez, this is basic kids. You simply need time to grow and get bigger.

4. I'm 4 foot 10 inches and ride a (long) street bike, why can't I bunnyhop?
A. Bike length plays a major role in how high you can bunnyhop. Longer bikes with shorter riders are very hard to manipulate. That is, the bike may be to long for how tall you are. It's NOT impossible, but will be harder to learn on.

[ralph]

phew... cheryl that's a lot to read. :) especially for my thread scanning tactics...

I hadn't checked the forum for a few days, sorry to hear the thread/poll got jacked...

I think I need to bite the bullet and buy some bike parts so I can build one of my hard tails back up and practice practice practice... :)

I find w/ bunny hops that my problem isn't the little parts... I can do everything seperately... I'm just RETARDED when it comes to putting the whole thing together... and of course, when I ask my fellow riders, they just say "I dunno, I just do it..." grrr... I hate that!

:) c.

[mtbgal]

heheh! ramika the poll troll...all those boys 'jackin your poll', eh, D?

oh geez. uh...


the bet for dinner is still on, and i've been a bunny squashing machine lately, so save your pennies...yes we can go to TH for dinner.
btw, i thought there was a lot of great info on the hops from the boys, and cool that someone invited us for an urban to teach us how!!! I'm down wit da co'ed...

[cam@nsmb.com]

I learned to bunny hop in Italy on a bmx I found leaning against a dumpster. It was a couple of steps down from the bikes they sell at Walmart.

I hope this isn't a jack - I just thought I'd add something that was helpful to me (learning on a bmx).

[mtbgal]

definitely not a jack.

I think that it's a great idea to go learn how to bunny hop on a bmx in Italy. Best advice yet!!! :)

[Scooter]

I learned what I call the "dolphin hop" on my mtb....with clips. It helped to learn the motion. The dolphin hop is the bunnyhop, but because so many people vary on what they say is the bunnyhop, I call it a dolphin when Im describing it. When you lift up your front wheel, then your rear....thats a dolphin/bunnyhop. The best way in my opinion to learn is to go on the bunnyhop diet. Go for a street ride....you can even go in the winter.....and bunnyhop everything you see, or try any ways. Curbs, manhole covers, rocks, snow banks...whatever. It helps a lot with through the repition. That is of course, once you have the technique down. I used to go to the Canadian tire parking lot on my linch hour from work, and just bunnyhop my knapsack, you can use a sweater too. Then you can "fluff" it up to make it higher. It doesn't matter if you don't clear it either. Very little risk involved.

[Sharon]

I think that it's a great idea to go learn how to bunny hop on a bmx in Italy. Best advice yet!!! :)

depends on how much wine or espresso was required or consumed...

[the flying moose]

thanks for that post cheryl. im a guy and i still cant bunnyhop to save my life.

[boardchk]

I learnt how to bunny hop on my bmx over speed bumps(the bump helped initiate the hop)....it just happened all of a sudden one day...now if only I could get those manuals......

[cheryl@nsmb.com]

Oh the ever elusive manual! When I was in California I had the pleasure of riding with Robo. He can manual on flat ground for about 10 minutes if you wanted him to. I cannot even get into a manual on flat ground. I definatly use a jump or bump to even get me into the balance point.
Michelle from Victoria could show everyone on this board how to hold a manual for too long!

[BrianPark]

I cannot even get into a manual on flat ground. I definatly use a jump or bump to even get me into the balance point.
Perhaps look at a smaller bike or a different setup? It shouldn't take a lot of effort to get to the balance point.

[cheryl@nsmb.com]

Ya I try on my bmx mostly but no dice yet.