Dirt Jumps: got any tips?

[Lil' Punk]

hey,
my parents finally agreed to let me build some major dirt jumps in our back yard and i was just wondering if any one out there can maybe give me some tips, on the best way to build them. . .(if that makes any sence at all) . . .
Peace:banana:

[viv]

mbaction .com mountain bike action had an aticle in the last couple monthy on how to do it. You may be able to find it on their site. Sorry I dont remem the issue.

[gopherhockey]

There is the huge tabletop jump in the new XX loop that makes a nice beginner jump, although it would require a lot of dirt in your back yard.

This one is nice because it allows you to go for distance without hitting the face of a second jump (as in the case of a double jump)

I have ridden a few jumps that looked really REALLY small that turned out ot be really fun. (Memorial Trail for example) - these are just small mounds of dirt with just the right pitch on them to allow you to ride them fast, or pull up and get some air.

This shows you can have some fun jumps without having to dig a lot and make too much of an effort... I believe they were just a foot high and about two feet wide is about all.

[manual63]

Jumping them or building them?

Building them requires a bit of practice. It's much easier to build doubles, uses less dirt, but like John mentioned, it's not as safe and forgiving if you don't make it. If you are learning to jump, build a table top so you don't kill yourself.

The biggest problem with building jumps is getting the dirt. If you build a table top, it is sometimes best to collect logs, branches or whatever you can bury (no dead bodies please) to use less dirt. Even a set of doubles could use some logs laying across for the take off and landing. When building doubles, dig out in between them and use the dirt from the middle to make the lip (take off) and landing. Make sure to make a channel to drain out the middle if you make the doubles rounded enough to roll through them, which can be fun to manual sometimes.

The most important in making a jump is the lip and landing. Make the lip like a transition on a ramp or jump box (like what you see in the X-Games). This gives you more air time and height. The smaller the height of the jump, the less the transition should be. Make sure the transition is not too sharp or quick or it will be more of what BMXers call a kicker. You want the transition to be gradual and smooth. The landing should be not as steep as the lip and should not have as much of a transition, unless you are making a rhythm section (many jumps close together in a row). Make the landing wide so you have plenty of room for error. Most good jumps should be at least 3 1/2 to 4 feet high, but if you are learning, start off smaller. A typical table top is about 4 feet high and 10 feet long (not including lip and landing).

If you want tips of jumping, read on.

A table top is the best to learn on, because you can start off slow and work your way up. Start at a medium speed (5 MPH or so) and approach the lip. As you start to ride the lip, compress your body by bending your arms and knees and lowering your torso (read how to bunny hop). As the front wheel leaves off the top of the lip, pull up hard on the bars first and have your weight about centered on the bike and not too far back or forward. Your front wheel should still be going up as your back wheel reaches the top of the lip. Also you should be straightening your legs a little as the rear wheel goes through the transition of the lip, which is how you pump it. Now as the rear wheel catches air, you need to bend your knees and allow the seat to come up near year chest as you compress your whole body to get max air. You need to keep pressure pulling on the bars as you fly through the air. This will keep you from doing a nose dive. Now if you are on a table top and are not going to clear the whole thing, uncompress your legs first and push you back wheel down so you land on it first, then let your front wheel down. Also, if you jump a jump with no downside landing, land it rear wheel first. If you are going to clear the jump and land on the down side, then you want to keep your legs compressed and straighten your arms so you angle your bike to match the angle of the downside. You should be able to allow your front wheel to land the downside first, followed by the rear wheel. Be carefull not to let the front wheel hit hard, or the back wheel will come crashing down faster and not clear the jump. If you can land both wheels on the downside at the same time, that is okay, but don't land the rear wheel first, as you might loop out backwards.

BMX bikes are much easier to jump and toss around on jumps. Cruisers (24 inch BMX bike) and mountain bikes are more stable in the air, because of the larger wheels, but they are harder to control as far as you moving the bike around.

Suspension forks make jumping a little different. They can compress and absorb the whole lip if you don't pump right. I have issues with this since I am so used to a BMX bike for jumping. Make sure your fork is pretty firm and I push down and compress my fork at the bottom of the lip and, I am still learning this one, if I time it right, I can use the spring of the fork to catch more air off the lip. Be careful to keep the front end up when jumping. It's no fun to endo. Also, don't pull too hard on the front without following with the rear or you can loop out and land on your tail bone.......ouch!

[pwpatton]

I find myself pushing my bike through the the table top jump at lebanon. At least I did when I was getting used to it. It helped me not get squirly which I was having trouble with at first. It seems, like in skiing, that you want to take control of the jump and not just let the jump happen by rolling over it (even at high speed). In skiing I physically jump up at the top of a jump (literally jump up). This motion keeps me in control in the air which makes landing a whole lot easier. I tried finding a preload motion like Shad was talking about (motocrossers use preload) but I just couldn't get a feel for it. So I picked a motion that I could get a feel for. That was pushing the bike forward in the ramp of the jump. That helped me get used to the jump and now I don't even think about it. Or do the motion anymore. Now I'm able to use a bit of preload and hit the jump at a very high rate of speed. But again, I think the trick is doing some sort of movement so that you are in control of the jump and not the other way around.

Phillip

[manual63]

Actually, you are right on with your technique here if you are looking for control and not air. If you want more control, then you just kind of ride off the lip and then push down to land as soon as possible. This is a BMX racing technique when the object is control and the fastest way over something.

My previous description was about getting big air. If you want big air, you need to compress as you go up the lip and then unleash a fury of energy to pull up, launch and then compress the bike into you to get that extra air as you peak your height. It's all about pitch control and knowing how to use your arms and legs to control the angle and height of the bike in the air. It takes practice and some other prerequisite skills to be a good jumper. The most important is bunny hopping and landing control similar to how you land off drops or down side things. There is a lot more to it than just speed and riding off the lip. You must learn how be be in charge of your bike and not let your bike be in charge of you. Kind of how your treat your significant other.......:D......j/k......

[pwpatton]

After all the discussion yesterday I went out to Lebanon last night and gave a bit of thought about what I was doing and tried some of the things we talked about.

And you're right about the pushing the bike forward, it definately puts your bike down quickly (relative you how fast you hit the jump ofcourse). It's a great way to break in a new jump and get comfortable with the speed, feel and landing of the jump.

I am preloading but I'm still still not getting the air I want. I'd like to have you check out what I'm doing and see if I can improve my preload technique. I definately clear the entire table top jump at Leb but I feel like I'm moving pretty fast in order to do it. I'm wondering if I could clear that jump at a lower speed if I used more preload. Maybe that's the amount of speed that's needed but I'd like to see how others take the jump.

I'm really looking forward to trying out "compressing" in the air. I'm sorta wondering if I do that already. I'll have to pay attention to that. That's exactly the thing I do when skiing. It's a good way to get some air and keep in control of a jump (and of course once you get enough air you can pull off a trick, hehe). I'm dying to get out there with some good jumpers and seeing some jumping!!!

Phillip