# Jumping curbs



## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

I went to watch a cyclocross race and I was amazed that many of the riders were "warming" up in the parking lot jumping curbs. They were effortless!

I'm 5'11" 220 lbs. and have a road bike. Can I jump curbs on my road bike and eventually do it effortlessly at my weight or is it harder for a guy of my weight?

Can I learn to do this on a MTB because of the tougher wheels or is it difficult to learn on a MTB because of the weight of the bike and then again, my weight?


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## gregwjs (Nov 9, 2007)

You can do it. IMO start with relatively high pressure in your tires so that you don't pinch flat or bend a rim when you miss. Then go for it. Clipless pedals help if you go both wheels at the same time. Alternatively, do it "california style" (what we used to call it in the 80s). Approach curb at speed, yank up on front to clear curb, shift body weight forward to unweight and lift rear wheel while in mid air. Hard to explain, easy to do. Nice part of "California style" is you concentrate your effort on getting the front wheel over the obstacle. Worse case scenario is the back wheel hits hard, as opposed to going over the bars b/c you didn't get the front wheel over while trying to lift both wheels at the same time. 

Put on your helmet, go outside and do one right now and get back to us.


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

I've tried it with my road bike and the problem I was having is, I see these cyclocross guys pedaling continuously, they keep pedaling throughout the whole process. It looks so smooth. When I try it, I'm so worried about getting the front wheel up over the curb, and I'm pulling up on the handlebars and with my feet clipped in to the pedals, that I don't keep pedaling during the whole process. I only pedal after I get the front wheel over the curb.


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## bemmis (Sep 14, 2008)

very easy. mtb would be a good place to start. if you can do it on a mtb you can do it on a road bike. the easiest way to get the bike in the air is to do a wheelie with your shoulders above the bar and your weight speread evenly on your hands and feet. experiment to see what feels good. also, if you havent done a wheelie before its very simple. just slightly bend your elbows in the hoods position while standing up, then thrust your body away from the bike. your momentum should lift the frant end off the ground. 

another approach to jumping curbs is first wheeliing the front wheel up the curb, then do a wheelie whith the rear wheel by crouching slightly, leaning forward and pushing off. (make sure to push on the bars too so your feet dont leave the pedals. Doing it this way greatly decreases your risk of knuckling the curbs, which can be catastrophic at speeds >5 mph.


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## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

It's not about the weight. Sure, you could probably stand to lose a few...as is the case with 99% of us. It's more about practice. The pros and elites, they spend a lot of time on the bike.

I feel like I learn something every week. The other day, I went out to the local trails and just felt a whole new sense of weighting and unweighting through turns. Like snowboarding or surfing. It seemed so simple, yet it wasn't there the whole previous year.


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## gregwjs (Nov 9, 2007)

Pedal up to the last second, do the bunny hop and hit the ground pedalling. Start slow and increase your speed as you get more comfortable.


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## colinr (Nov 20, 2006)

gregwjs said:


> hit the ground pedalling


This is the most bizarre advice I have ever heard.


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## gregwjs (Nov 9, 2007)

colinr said:


> This is the most bizarre advice I have ever heard.



Uh yeah, let me clarify that. Hit the ground and then start pedalling. :thumbsup:


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

Try a mountain bike, once you can hop a curb with a 30+ lbs. full suspension bike, you'll be able to hop over barriers with a cross/road bike, they are the easiest bikes to bunny hop with since they are fully rigid and much lighter.


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## colinr (Nov 20, 2006)

Dan Gerous said:


> Try a mountain bike, once you can hop a curb with a 30+ lbs. full suspension bike, you'll be able to hop over barriers with a cross/road bike, they are the easiest bikes to bunny hop with since they are fully rigid and much lighter.


I'm still trying to figure out if this whole thread is a joke, but no, just because you can bunny hop a curb on a mountain bike does not mean you can hop barriers on a cross bike.


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## myette10 (Jul 20, 2003)

hopping a single curb during warmups is one thing, hopping two barriers at race speed is another. The few times I've tried the barriers in a race, my problem has never been the first barrier, it has always been the second one.

to the OP, be careful not to go to slow. This process is combining two vectors, one vertical and a second horizontal. If you hop 3 feet into the air but only move forward a foot during the time you're airborne, you're in for an unpleasant ending. Likewise, if you only hop enough to clear the curb, but do so as warp speed, you'll be pleased with the outcome.


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## freemtnrider (Nov 9, 2007)

gregwjs said:


> do it "california style" (what we used to call it in the 80s).


AKA= jet hop!


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Let's start another barrier hopping debate!


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

colinr said:


> I'm still trying to figure out if this whole thread is a joke, but no, just because you can bunny hop a curb on a mountain bike does not mean you can hop barriers on a cross bike.


Well, not barriers, I was slightly exagerating. 
My point is that it's just much easier to bunny hop on a cross bike than on any other bike, even a BMX, and a curb is pretty low.


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## TylerF (Sep 22, 2008)

> My point is that it's just much easier to bunny hop on a cross bike than on any other bike, even a BMX, and a curb is pretty low.


I wish I could bunnyhop my cross bike like my BMX. I can easily make it up a picnic table or four stairs and such on a BMX. Not the case on the cross bike. I still can't bunnyhop barriers on that thing.


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## gregwjs (Nov 9, 2007)

TylerF said:


> I wish I could bunnyhop my cross bike like my BMX. I can easily make it up a picnic table or four stairs and such on a BMX. Not the case on the cross bike. I still can't bunnyhop barriers on that thing.



Why not just race cross on your BMX bike? :idea: 



And 3 of the 4 races I've done this year had at least required bunny hop in them. A couple of curbs, a log, and a drainage ditch. 'tis a good skill to learn, even if you're not planning on bunnyhopping the barriers...


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## colinr (Nov 20, 2006)

Dan Gerous said:


> Well, not barriers, I was slightly exagerating.
> My point is that it's just much easier to bunny hop on a cross bike than on any other bike, even a BMX, and a curb is pretty low.


I just looked at your website and unless I'm greatly mistaken you've owned a cross bike for less than a month. So I'm gonna go ahead and suggest that you don't really know what you're talking about here. Nothing personal.


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## colinr (Nov 20, 2006)

TylerF said:


> I wish I could bunnyhop my cross bike like my BMX. I can easily make it up a picnic table or four stairs and such on a BMX. Not the case on the cross bike. I still can't bunnyhop barriers on that thing.


It's *really* hard. Check out this video, even Powers and ****** screw it up sometimes:


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

colinr said:


> I just looked at your website and unless I'm greatly mistaken you've owned a cross bike for less than a month. So I'm gonna go ahead and suggest that you don't really know what you're talking about here. Nothing personal.


I know enough to know hopping a barrier is hard (I wouldn't even try it), we were talking about a curb here that's easily done by just jumping with both wheels at the same time, not even needing to know how to do a real bunny hop... I just shouldn't have talked about barriers I guess... sorry.


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## cyklopath (Feb 24, 2007)

Lawrence, bunnyhopping is terribly useful for every kind of riding...... clearing a pothole on your roadbike, hopping a barrier, clearing a log on singletrack...

Because of your size, start with your mountain bike. The suspension, stronger rims and fatter tires will make your learning go easier. Start by practicing hopping small things. Getting the speed right to clear the obstacle is one part of the equation and getting the height right is the other part. 

Once you've gotten it down, start practicing it with your cross bike. The cross bike will be somewhat easier because of the lighterweight, but I found I have to be more careful on the landings. I weigh nearly the same as you and pinchflat if I'm running lower pressure and botch a landing. 

I personally don't hop barriers. Have not raced enough cross, and I'm pretty sure I'm faster with a dismount than I would be hopping the barriers. All of our local barriers are too close to each other to hop anyway.... 

As for how weight effects it, I'm now your size, but weighed in at a svelte 140lbs when I was racing seriously. I could easily bunnyhop a 13-15" obstacle back then... however 8-10" seems to be my limit now. I'm sure some of that is because of my fitness (lack of) and strength, but hauling an extra 60+ lbs over is definitely hurting things.


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## jajobe (Aug 29, 2006)

*I'll chime in*

I agree with cyklopath, try a 2 x 4 in the grass with the mtb and try just hopping spots on the road on your cross or road bike. Pull up on bars and pedals. The video is a Bunnyhop cheating with clipless pedals to pull the back wheel up, not fast over our very close paired local barriers. Hard pedal to lift the front wheel first, not a yank, then pull up on pedals and push bars foreward to bring the back wheel up and over. When you see pedaling that is to lift the front wheel. I play on my trials bike and its fun but doesn't really help in cross, because its a slow speed activity. My last race I kept eyeing a 18" log in the woods wanting to hop it for the first two laps, too much traffic, after that I was carring too much mud and sucking too much wind to try.


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## bemmis (Sep 14, 2008)

i can bunnyhop ~2' on my mtb. i could probably do ~1' or so on a road bike but im too scared i would break it.


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## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

colinr said:


> It's *really* hard. Check out this video, even Powers and ****** screw it up sometimes:


Indeed. The whole point of 40cm/4m was to "oblige" guys like Nys and Wellens to dismount. Bunnyhopping barriers is not a winning strategy; it's a parlor trick for exhibition races like Cross Vegas and such.


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## PeanutButterBreath (Dec 4, 2005)

Some parlor tricks are pretty impressive though. SLC local Bart Gillespie:









http://picasaweb.google.com/rockyandbella/WeberFairgroundsCrossRace#5258656782348168786

I can verify that there is no ramp on the backside. In fact, there was a 90 degree turn into this obstacle.


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## 88 rex (Mar 18, 2008)

Clearly all these curbs need to be sandbagged.


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## eyefloater (Jul 3, 2006)

PeanutButterBreath said:


> Some parlor tricks are pretty impressive though. SLC local Bart Gillespie:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Scroll to the second-last thumbnail for the photo in question ... 

Edit: weird, that photo didn't appear when I first viewed the thread. Maybe a login issue on Picasa. Or maybe it's just 7:50 in the morning and I have no idea what's going on.


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## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

"Clearly all these curbs need to be sandbagged."


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## lawrence (May 17, 2005)

This has been a terrific thread for me. I don't own a cross bike, only a road bike and a MTB. I'll use my MTB to learn with and using a 2 x 4 on the ground. Next, I ride to the local park and elementary school looking for a half curb, one of those curbs that is low where they've paved half way up. I figure that would be a good place also to start.

From the feedback I got here, though my weight will deter me from going over high objects, it seems like it shouldn't interfere with a plain ole' curb.

I have done some bunny hopping before as a last resort over a pot hole on my road bike.

The advice "Hard pedal to lift the front wheel first, not a yank, then pull up on pedals and push bars forward to bring the back wheel up and over. When you see pedaling that is to lift the front wheel." That info is good. I was confused about the yank and the pedaling forward.

I want to learn this technique because it helps with bike handling; Next, I'm a rider leader for a lot of beginner rides, this year about 125, maybe more. Last year it was 96. As my "riders" get to the ride location, I can be "warming" up by jumping curbs to "impress" them with my terrific bike handling skills. It will help me carry a little more weight when I give them advice.


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

I came from a BMX background. I previously was able to bunnyhop a fire hydrant. Sure as hell lost that ability along with the upper body muscle it required....

Anyways, coming from BMX to MTB to road, bunnyhopping ("J-hopping" by lifting the from wheel then the back) a curb was really no problem. I do not pedal the whole time, just pull up...hard.

The off season is a great time to learn and practice this stuff. I think I'll go practice tomorrow.

My advice? Get a smallish book and a brick. Start by jumping over the brick in the grass. Then, prop the book up with the brick so it's about the height of a real curb. Practice jumping it until you're consistent. Then, just transition to a real curb. Be sure not to go any slower -- that's the easiest way to fail. Even if you "case" it and land on the back wheel, if you go fast you have a better chance of just rolling over it.


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## jajobe (Aug 29, 2006)

*Look at this*

Pedaling to hop is much more advanced so just bunnyhop until very comfortable, you will use it for curbs and such. Then practice on this: http://www.trials-online.com/video/japslap_to_big_log.php You pedal to lift the front and pedal again to hop the back. Again you won't ever use it in a race, its much harder on a cross bike, but lifting the front by pedaling can be useful for roots and rocks in the woods. The rest is kind of a useless knowledge thing unless you want to impress people in the pits.


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