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Am I Landing Drops Properly?


Rob Brodie

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hey,
oki this may of been a topic posted many times before so im sorry if it has.

oki well here goes...

...everytime i do a drop, the higher it is, the more vertical i seem to get my bike.
is this a good thing?

...another way to explain it is the higher i get the more over the back i go :S

ive never done a drop and thought that i was actually going to loop out it just feels sorta taty :unsure:
it could be that i havent quite got used to droping yet but ive been dropping for a good 3 months

please help
..rob..


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A video would be best.

Only thing i can say is that when you do a drop you dont want to be gapping off the drop, you dont want to be hopping off. Get as close as you can to the edge drop your frontwheel down and lean over the back end, the bigger the drop usually the more you drop the fornt. Then when you drop off it bring the bars into you and when your back wheel hit the ground left your arms out and knees and legs soak up the impact. Try not to be to ridgid.

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Sounds like you are kicking the rear out too far. Try dropping the nose before you go...It will seem strange to do at first. When the bike is about level then lightly kick off the top.

Drops aren't important anyway. I'd stick with something small for a while until you get the right technique.

How high are you going at the moment? Going on what you have said I wouldn't bother trying anything higher cause you will just kill you/your bike.

A video would be helpful as well.

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With higher drops (5+foot) i try and let my front drop to horizontal/sub-horizontal, then as i land use the front to absorb a little more of the shock than usual. So say 70% rear, 30% front.

This helps spread the impact, so its not all going through the rear wheel.

EDIT: Thats after like 6 years of riding though, don't try this if you've only been riding a little while, could end up nasty!

Edited by N.Wood
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You should be landing on your backwheel but not to vertical other wise you wil be on your back on the floor in pain, also when gettin to the edge of a big drop, drop the front end a little and put you weight over the back of the rear wheel and put a small kick into it u should be alryt (Y)

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just let a bit of air out of your tyres that might help,

I dissagree with that. You'd probably want to put more in.

I really really helps videoing yourself, it's the only way you can see what your doing. Watch it and then watch a vid of a pro dropping and you'll easily see what your doing wrong.

(Y)

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Only thing i can say is that when you do a drop you dont want to be gapping off the drop...


i no for a fact that i am not actually gaping off of the drop i am doing it properly it just doest feel right to land.
i think maybe i just need to get used to dropping a bit more?!...:S

...i was wondering if anyone else had this problem as a "intermediate"?...




thanks for all your help so far anyway
..rob.. Edited by sponge rob fat head
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Thinking about it is half the battle :)

A video really helps. I remember many years ago (7?) we were watching a video of ourselves for the first time, and didn't realise exactly how much we lowered our bikes before the drop. You'll find sometimes that your front goes so low that it actually goes below the edge of the drop you are kicking off.

I find when I drop off stuff, I tend to drop the front almost straight away as my back wheel hits and roll out of it - so that both the wheels absorb some of the shock (as someone said earlier with the 70/30).

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I had the exact same problem as you, my landings were awful. What I did was just practice like everyone else. Find your self a drop that you are'nt scared of but which you feel comfortable with and just keep dropping and dropping. Dont just kick when you're at the edge, drop and crouch down and keep your weight to the back. DONT BE SCARED and Panic just stay calm. Practice makes perfect =). I find when dropping crouching more makes the drop smaller and the landing more dampened.

Oli
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Find a wall that has a linear increase in height.

Start small and work your way up. Then you can think to yourself "its only a couple of inches higher than the one i just did" then before you know it you're a pro at dropping and riding for Koxx bikes or team Nick Wood.

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