How to rear wheel hop pedal/kick a trials bike - MTB Trials for beginners
- 6 years ago
Next Video: https://youtu.be/OqJowhWO2r8?list=PL5S7V5NhM8JQMDBn-phBthNl7pCdQrC46
If you’ve been following my mountain bike trials tutorials, you know that it’s all about making really precise maneuvers. This is why we learned to track stand, hop in place, and reposition a bike from a standstill. Today, we’ll be building on those skills with some rear wheel hopping techniques. Why?
Well, take, for instance, this little spot I’m track standing on. I don’t have the speed to ride off the end, but if I get up on my rear wheel I can make a nice controlled landing.
Or let’s say it was super critical that you jump to this little post before landing. You’ll only have the space to do that on one wheel.
You can also launch yourself forwards with a kick hop to clear a gap at low speed. These are all great reasons to get up on your rear wheel.
Knowing how to bunny hop or at least manual is a good prerequisite for this technique.
To get your front wheel off the ground in the first place you can just lock your brake and throw your weight back.
Some people learn by doing a little endo first, but in real life you won’t always have the space for that. Doing a quick crank in a low gear can also help. Be prepared to catch yourself with your foot when practicing.
Now lock up your brakes and practice hopping with your front wheel resting on something. Pull the bars towards your chest in quick bursts to pop the bike up, and remember it’s your handlebars holding the bike to your feet.
When you first get it, you’ll likely start hopping backwards, which is useful sometimes but not necessarily what we want to do here. To counter this, try to apply more force upwards when you’re pulling on the bars.
Now try doing it on flat ground with just a few hops. Do more each time until you gain some confidence. Now you can experiment. Try releasing your brake and kicking your pedal to propel the bike forwards from a standstill. You can also try jumping up like you would in the second part of a bunny hop.
After you’ve practiced this for a few hours, you’ll wake up feeling like you got thrown down a flight of stairs, but that’s just your muscles getting bigger. Trials will make you strong.
In the next trials video, we’ll be learning how to get up and down obstacles without even needing to hop at all.
If you’ve been following my mountain bike trials tutorials, you know that it’s all about making really precise maneuvers. This is why we learned to track stand, hop in place, and reposition a bike from a standstill. Today, we’ll be building on those skills with some rear wheel hopping techniques. Why?
Well, take, for instance, this little spot I’m track standing on. I don’t have the speed to ride off the end, but if I get up on my rear wheel I can make a nice controlled landing.
Or let’s say it was super critical that you jump to this little post before landing. You’ll only have the space to do that on one wheel.
You can also launch yourself forwards with a kick hop to clear a gap at low speed. These are all great reasons to get up on your rear wheel.
Knowing how to bunny hop or at least manual is a good prerequisite for this technique.
To get your front wheel off the ground in the first place you can just lock your brake and throw your weight back.
Some people learn by doing a little endo first, but in real life you won’t always have the space for that. Doing a quick crank in a low gear can also help. Be prepared to catch yourself with your foot when practicing.
Now lock up your brakes and practice hopping with your front wheel resting on something. Pull the bars towards your chest in quick bursts to pop the bike up, and remember it’s your handlebars holding the bike to your feet.
When you first get it, you’ll likely start hopping backwards, which is useful sometimes but not necessarily what we want to do here. To counter this, try to apply more force upwards when you’re pulling on the bars.
Now try doing it on flat ground with just a few hops. Do more each time until you gain some confidence. Now you can experiment. Try releasing your brake and kicking your pedal to propel the bike forwards from a standstill. You can also try jumping up like you would in the second part of a bunny hop.
After you’ve practiced this for a few hours, you’ll wake up feeling like you got thrown down a flight of stairs, but that’s just your muscles getting bigger. Trials will make you strong.
In the next trials video, we’ll be learning how to get up and down obstacles without even needing to hop at all.