Concussion Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 How do you do big gaps without doing a massive pedal kick and looping out? ie: Tunni's massive gaps / gapping of a rail etc. I watch a lot of vids and sometimes it seems like the rider isn't even putting a pedal kick in... which obviously he is!When I try, I lower the front end and power down as hard as I can while pulling the bars in towards me, resulting in the rear wheel rolling quite a bit. If I tried to do this on the edge of a big gap or on a rail I'm sure I'd kill myself!Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greetings Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 What, you mean Tunni does or doesn't do that massive pedalkick? He does in my opinion, all his gaps look like he's putting a lot of effort into them. You need to watch closely at how Marco Grosenik or TRA gap, they seem to have mastered that move. In answer to your question, you need to pinch gap and most important of all, jump forwards with the body and pull the bike with you, not the other way round (as in do a powerful pedalkick and expect the bike to propel you forward). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousertrials Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 How weird, I was just about to post this very topic. Great minds do think alike, but are stuck at 7ft gaps! Inur nice reply but please elaborate a bit. Additionaly, please keep em coming every big gapper out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrishayton Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 lean into the gap. when you kick you want to push yourself forwards. the only real way to get to grips with it is look how people like damon gaps. look how low he drops his front wheel and the push forwards. it will make sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omgnoseat Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 I'm having trouble with big gaps myself tooIt feels like my body is jumping pretty far, but the bike just won't go with meyea that might sound stupid but can't explain it in any other way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krisboats Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 (edited) Jonny MC is a great example of a huge gapper as far as i'm concerned, possibly because i ride with him a lot so have had a lot of time to watch how he gaps. The majority of the work is done with weight shifting and upper body strength. He sure does put a good stomp on the pedals in there for good measure but its not the main thing that drives him across the gap. The body position on take off appears to be quite a crucial element and upon looking at some of the big gapping riders you'll notice they do the same. He starts off on the back wheel and gets quite close to the edge of his take off then, unlike a lot of people, he leans forwards as he lowers the front end so as to bring his body weight further into the gap to start with rather than lean back and have more distance to cover. Here's a run down on a gap he did in leicester thats bike length plus roughly 1.5-2 feet.... so around 7'10-8' ish, going from a single width wall (so not a lot of room for pure pedal driven force) and its a gap up slightly by about 5-6 inches to a very narrow landing with a wall blocking part of the way.Starting pointNotice how the bike is quite vertical, upon trying this myself i noticed that when your standing straighter and with the bike higher up the gap your about to attempt seems smaller, which really does help with your confidence before you even start the move.Starting the preloadThe preload is essentially a way of giving you every bit of extra force that you can possibly get, jonny's perfected this into doing several things at once. In this first stage he jumps upwards with one correction hop at the same time as shifting his bodyweight forwards to the point of getting the bars underneath his shoulders on extremely large gaps. Notice how the bike has barely moved in position aside from moving straight up for the preload hop but instead of moving the bike forwards his body has shifted towards the gap.Hitting maximum preloadThis is the time when the weight shifting and preloading jump combine to expel a bit more force into the jump. He's now leaning well into the gap despite the fact he's leaning back for a long arm extension for more distance to gain momentum with his body as he pulls himself towards the bars. At the same time as he reaches his lowest point with his arse and legs his back tyre has compressed into the wall to help give that extra little bit of bounce for the gap (remember, every little helps). At this point his lead foot has also found the engagement point in the rear hub so as soon as he stomps on the pedal every little bit of force is applied to spinning the wheel round. Look at his heads vertical position in relation to the last picture, same distance into the gap but he's significantly lowered the bike and got his shoulders and hips down very low as his knees are bent.Beginning the jumpThis is the point everything kicks off. He pulls himself forwards with the bars, jumps upwards with his legs extending them completely from how they were before and at the same time as jumping he stamps on the pedals to get the back wheel shifting the bikes weight underneath him. Look at how he's thrown his hips forwards before the bikes even taken off the wall, he now has a much shorter distance for his body to travel so all he has to do is get the bike across the gap.Midflight tuckingSince he's gotten his body most of the way across the gap already with his explosive start he now needs to geth the bike across as well. He pulls the bike up with his shoulders and elbowsand gets his hands roughly in line with his chin. In order to get the bike that high he has to fully compress his legs and get the back wheel right up to his arse to acheive both enough height to increase his flight time and to give enough room for extending his legs in a minute. Notice how he spots the landing and tweaks the bike in order to miss the wall? And people say guys can't multi-task Extending towards the landingAt this point his arms doen't really change position but he extends his legs out from underneath himand pushes the bike towards the landing, aiming to land on top of it rather than to hit the edge so as to avoid dents and punctures. At this point it becomes apparant that his body has only moved 2 or 3 feet at the most since the bike left the wall he was taking off from, yet the bike has moved a lot more. Abosrbing the gapNows the time for soaking up all the energy from the gap in order to land smoother and keep his weight forwards to make the gap. His arms stay extended ready for pulling himself forwards and his knees become compressed so the force of landing isn't soaked up entirely by the innertube and sidewalls of the rim. All thats left of the move is pulling himself forwards with his arms and legs.So a quick re-cap:Get to the edge of the take offKeep the bike verticalJump up and forwards with your bodyCompress your legs and keep arms straightPull your body forwards then stamp on the pedals while jumping upwards with your legsGet your elbows near your ears and feet near your arseKeep your hands still and extend your legsUpon landing straighten your arms and bend your kneesHe also recommends looking about a foot past the edge of your landing, so don't aim for the edge, aim a foot past it. He also always tells me to get my feet near my arse and get my elbows up, something i often forget to do.Hope it helps somewhat. Edited September 10, 2007 by Krisboats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigman Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 I would add that it is just as much about jumping upwards as it is to jump forwards, i used to hook the bike into the air alot when gapping, such as johny does, but recently i seem to have changed my technique.The main thing about big gaps is trying to land smoothly, anybody who has ridden with me will (hopefully) confirm that i land sometimes with barely a noise! When i look back at footage of me gapping i push the bike way infront of me just before i land, this then means that i have the full length of my legs and arms to absorb the impact and thus making it smoother.I will try and get a little vid to show this when i get back from work Jonny MC is a great example of a huge gapper as far as i'm concerned, possibly because i ride with him a lot so have had a lot of time to watch how he gaps.But i am sure someone out gapped him on flat gaps at the demo Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 watch stan!over 9ft flat to flat with no effort and no noise when landing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaRtZ Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 watch stan!over 9ftwow stan must have had another growth spurt since I last saw him then hehepinch gaps are cool. cant describe how to do them except go right to the edge and go upwards rather than forward. works for me atleast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrashZen Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 How do you do big gaps without doing a massive pedal kick and looping out? ie: Tunni's massive gaps / gapping of a rail etc. I watch a lot of vids and sometimes it seems like the rider isn't even putting a pedal kick in... which obviously he is!When I try, I lower the front end and power down as hard as I can while pulling the bars in towards me, resulting in the rear wheel rolling quite a bit. If I tried to do this on the edge of a big gap or on a rail I'm sure I'd kill myself!Help! Actually, you need to take that rolling (about a foot) into account to optimise your rear wheel position before the kick/extension... especially on a rail. To get the maximum of your kick, the correct rear wheel position "when you have lowered the front wheel" is key! It's just plain physics. I added up some theory at the end of the pedal kick page... Let me know if this helps at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Arnold Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 i find that if your taking off a rail, then a pinch gap is best, but if your jumping off a wall or something a bit bigger, then taking off a bit further back can send you REALLY far, much futher than the distance lost by taking off further back, if you get me!just keep trying lots! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Jonny MC is a great example of a huge gapper as far as i'm concerned, possibly because i ride with him a lot so have had a lot of time to watch how he gaps. Hope it helps somewhat.Cheers for that! Everything there makes sense, hopefully going to try and change my technique later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concussion Posted September 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Wow, thanks for all the advise guys, there is a lot of good info here! I will get practising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manuel Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Christ - its almost as sideways as mine !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krisboats Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Christ - its almost as sideways as mine !!Seems to be a trend round here. Boumsong pulled off a drop gap and landed fully 90 the other day anihalating his rear wheel and the spokes inside it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greetings Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 (edited) I've probably totally missed the point after seeing what Kris has written examples of big gaps that look effortless: [3:20, 3:36, 6:16]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcQAX3ZY5D8 [2:05 onwards]edit:one morehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbKswozZi_o Edited September 11, 2007 by Inur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilikeriding Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 OMFG that tra vid is just ridiculous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hI-OOPS-CAPS Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 if you get wheel spin it sounds like your timings a little outive learnt if all else fails, preload more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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