Sidehops, Pedal Kicks And Gaps

[krazykid009]

Hey all,

I have been riding now for around a month or so properly, and have managed to learn the basics such as hopping on my back wheel and can sidehop up to around the 15" mark, but cannot pedal ick or gap to save my life. By this I mean I cannot do it FULL STOP. :$ Does anyone have any tips or tricks on how I ca do these. I have watched Mastering The Art Of Trials, but no matter what I do from there I cannot do it. I may go out and film a few things in a minute so I'll post that up. Maybe there's something wrong in my techniue I haven't spotted.

Thanks

James

[onza1]

well ive been riding for 10 months and cant pedal kick< gap either can just about do 3 backhops can anyone help me please

[krazykid009]

well ive been riding for 10 months and cant pedal kick< gap either can just about do 3 backhops can anyone help me please

What you riding mate?

James

[Endohopper]

A helpful way to learn gaps is to do so without hopping . Simply get into a comfortable backhop ,open your rear brake, roll forwards on the back wheel , stop and do it again , like a sequence of short manuals . Should help with the timing of opening the rear brake , pedalling and locking up again .

[Azarathal]

I'm the opposite, riding mod for just over 2weeks and I can pedal up about 25" or so. Can only sidehop onto benches and other low things

[forteh]

Practise by getting up on the rear wheel and scooting forwards, stopping, balancing and scooting forwards again; once you have that sorted you just need to add the hop to start gapping. As you progress you can put more pedal and preload into the hop to increase the gap size. Its all about balance and pedal/brake coordination. With a little practise you should be able to stand the bike up on the back wheel and hold it in position without needing to do correctional hops, this helps when setting up to preload a sidehop.

If you keep your front wheel high and arms bent (bars closer to your chest) it will be easier to control and keep the front wheel up when you come to a stop, but make sure your brake is holding though otherwise expect to land on your arse and crack your head on the floor

edit: dammit, endohopper beat me

Edited October 28, 2010 by forteh

[krazykid009]

A helpful way to learn gaps is to do so without hopping . Simply get into a comfortable backhop ,open your rear brake, roll forwards on the back wheel , stop and do it again , like a sequence of short manuals . Should help with the timing of opening the rear brake , pedalling and locking up again .

I shall do this!

Practise by getting up on the rear wheel and scooting forwards, stopping, balancing and scooting forwards again; once you have that sorted you just need to add the hop to start gapping. As you progress you can put more pedal and preload into the hop to increase the gap size. Its all about balance and pedal/brake coordination. With a little practise you should be able to stand the bike up on the back wheel and hold it in position without needing to do correctional hops, this helps when setting up to preload a sidehop.

If you keep your front wheel high and arms bent (bars closer to your chest) it will be easier to control and keep the front wheel up when you come to a stop, but make sure your brake is holding though otherwise expect to land on your arse and crack your head on the floor

edit: dammit, endohopper beat me

Thanks guys. I will try. I am going to go out for haf an hour or so now and see if I can get it lke you said.

Thanks

James

[JD™]

A helpful way to learn gaps is to do so without hopping . Simply get into a comfortable backhop ,open your rear brake, roll forwards on the back wheel , stop and do it again , like a sequence of short manuals . Should help with the timing of opening the rear brake , pedalling and locking up again .

"Pedalling Braking Pedalling Braking Pedalling Braking Pedalling Braking" as a famous trials rider putting on a silly accent once said.

[Luke Dunstan]

When I first learnt about 7-8 years ago, (on a Raleigh Urban Swamp)I could do about 3 back hops at the time, I put it into the highest gear, and started by doing just one, which was about 1" in length. Maybe the completely wrong way to learn, but it's how I did it.

[Endohopper]

"Pedalling Braking Pedalling Braking Pedalling Braking Pedalling Braking" as a famous trials rider putting on a silly accent once said.

I was gonna write exactly that , but thought Hawziee's faux Welsh accent would be too obscure a refference . I only hope the topic starter doesn't expect any advice from me about sidehoppin' . :$

[krazykid009]

Hey again.

I just went out for 45 minutes or so to try out some of the techniques mentioned. Fook me it's hard! Oh well. Guess I'll just have to give it more time and effort. I managed to roll forward and stop twice in a row, so I guess three is my next target.

Thanks All

James

[onza1]

What you riding mate?

James

riding a onza only a rip me first bike and i was on a budget. has anyone else got a rip can you just as much as anyone else or am i peeing in the wind

[forteh]

A good start, just need to keep at it, back wheel control is one of the major skill building blocks and will prove usefull for just about everything

[krazykid009]

riding a onza only a rip me first bike and i was on a budget. has anyone else got a rip can you just as much as anyone else or am i peeing in the wind

Fair enough mate. I'm riding a Diamondback Kabuki but i do have a 09 Onza Bird coming for my birthday in late November. I've seen some nice stuff done on the Rip, in fact there was a video done not long ago on a Rip.

James

[onza1]

Fair enough mate. I'm riding a Diamondback Kabuki but i do have a 09 Onza Bird coming for my birthday in late November. I've seen some nice stuff done on the Rip, in fact there was a video done not long ago on a Rip.

James

cheers bud, i was just thinking as its got a 20" rear wheel instead of a 19" i will do 5 backhops befor christmas hopefully

[krazykid009]

Just to give you some idea as to how bad I really am, I made this in about half an hour this morning. It was shot on a 35quid point and shoot camera so the quality is REALLY bad. Just so you know whilst waiting for it to upload I had a little play one the bike and managed four pedal kicks including hops each one about 12" so I am slowly getting there and it just goes to show how little it takes to learn something new. Brace yourself for the awful riding below:

http://vimeo.com/16277476

Thanks for all your help guys

James

[chris4stars]

to me, it looks like you are leaning forward far to much at the point you are doing the pedal kick. this then causes you to land off balance and go straight down onto your front wheel.

have faith in your rear brake!! you can land the hop leaning back a fair amount - the forward momentum will then bring you back to your balance point.

[krazykid009]

to me, it looks like you are leaning forward far to much at the point you are doing the pedal kick. this then causes you to land off balance and go straight down onto your front wheel.

have faith in your rear brake!! you can land the hop leaning back a fair amount - the forward momentum will then bring you back to your balance point.

Thanks. I think I just need to work on it a bit more. I realized I have forgotten to put the clip of my pedal kicking in :$ , so here it is along with some others.

http://vimeo.com/16279306

James

[forteh]

to me, it looks like you are leaning forward far to much at the point you are doing the pedal kick. this then causes you to land off balance and go straight down onto your front wheel.

have faith in your rear brake!! you can land the hop leaning back a fair amount - the forward momentum will then bring you back to your balance point.

Pretty much what he said, youre arms are too straight, try bending your knees more aswell as this will allow you to pull the bars closer to your chest. You must have a break that holds though, trying to learn gaps without one is asking to be hurt imho. At first it will probably really hurt your biceps and inside your elbows if youre not used to using them, it will soon stop though and wont be an issue again

edit: watching your second video, you could do with getting your weight a little further back, you need it to be above and just behind the rear axle, pulling the bars up will achieve this. Practise kicking the front wheel up and see if you can balance on the rear wheel, make adjustments with your knees, elbows and hips to keep the front up.

Edited October 28, 2010 by forteh

[krazykid009]

Pretty much what he said, youre arms are too straight, try bending your knees more aswell as this will allow you to pull the bars closer to your chest. You must have a break that holds though, trying to learn gaps without one is asking to be hurt imho. At first it will probably really hurt your biceps and inside your elbows if youre not used to using them, it will soon stop though and wont be an issue again

edit: watching your second video, you could do with getting your weight a little further back, you need it to be above and just behind the rear axle, pulling the bars up will achieve this. Practise kicking the front wheel up and see if you can balance on the rear wheel, make adjustments with your knees, elbows and hips to keep the front up.

Thanks for that. As I say this morning was the first time I managed them, so I guess I have a long road of learning ahead of me. Just out of interest, will it be any easier on a mod? I have one coming in late November so I am wondering if that will help. Does the bike your on affect it as well? I am on a long Damondback Kabuki which has a wheelbase of 1150 iirc so I was wondering are shorter frames easier/harder than longer ones.

Thanks

James

[forteh]

You will probably find your wheelbase is closer to 1050, longer than 1090 is long for a stock, let alone 1150

I couldnt say if it would be easier on a mod or not, once learned on one bike its the same on the other. One advantage a mod has over your bike is BB height, a higher BB and relatively shorter stays will make the bike easier to balance on the rear wheel.

[krazykid009]

You will probably find your wheelbase is closer to 1050, longer than 1090 is long for a stock, let alone 1150

I couldnt say if it would be easier on a mod or not, once learned on one bike its the same on the other. One advantage a mod has over your bike is BB height, a higher BB and relatively shorter stays will make the bike easier to balance on the rear wheel.

Surprisingly it actually is! i ride a Diamondback Kabuki Mono, which has a wheelbase of 1150. It also has a BB height of 350mm which is roughly +20mm so it is propbably the least suitable from what you're saying with long stays and low BB.

I'll see if it makes much difference when I get my mod. Just got to practice until then!

Thanks

James

[Matt Vandart]

"Pedalling Braking Pedalling Braking Pedalling Braking Pedalling Braking" as a famous trials rider putting on a silly accent once said.

lolz i was doing that today on the way home from the shop, only WITH a real welsh accent.

to the topic starter, you just are not dropping your arse back at all, do this and you wil succeed.

find yerself a guy called drew mcabe, has just moved up to bristol recently from down this way., he is a top bloke and will take any amount of time out to help people to learn stuff, i learned loads riding with drew.

Edited October 28, 2010 by Matt Vandart

[ellingtj]

When I learnt years ago I used to practice two element seperately:

1. Hopping on the back wheel (could do 70 odd before attempting going forwards)

2. Half pedal wheelies, at first no brake and then in the words of Hawsee, "pedaling braking pedaling braking"

No.1 will improve your body positioning with respect to you not being far enough back - you should be able to see your feet and bottom bracket infront of you and not straight underneath. No.2 will teach you the coordination of pedal power and timing to braking action. The next step is putting it together - which I did find hard until someone from Canada told me to adopt an arm chair postion before hitting the pedals - i.e. before pedalling, lower your body like you're stiing in a chair then as you pedal, throw your weight up and forwards at the same time. When you start off you'll over emphasise this action and over time the amount you move the body will reduce as you become more efficient.