How The Hell Do You Side Hop!?

Party boy23 · August 16, 2006

Ive been trying to side hop for ages, I can get the bike to the side but the frame always goes under me the opposite way i hop. :$

please help.... :bow:

Mark W · August 16, 2006

Quoted from a post a fair while back...

Sidehops - I'm not great at these, so it might be a little off...
Trackstand next to the object, and focus on what you want to do. You need to be focussing precisely where you want your front wheel to go (if you're upping to front or 2 wheels), or the back if you're doing it straight to back wheel. Keep focussing on that spot. Make sure you're set up properly, and then just kick to the back wheel.
Do little hops around just to make sure that you're going to get traction and grip, and that it's as good a take-off as it can be, basically. All this time, keep focussing on your landing.
Do a larger hop (just like a backhop, but lift it slightly more so you can drop into the preload). Crouch down, keeping your weight near the back wheel. As you do this, 'cock' the pedal by bringing it back up through the stroke a little. I've also found that keeping your arms a little straighter during the preload seems to work pretty well. If you watch the AndyT vids of Vince, check the technique there. Arms are fairly straight, and he f**king sends sidehops...
Let go of the back brake, whilst again focussing on where you want the front (or rear to backwheel) to go. You give a kick on the pedals as you do this. I've always found it hard explaining when, but most people seem to just know when to do it anyway. Just one of those intuitive things... But yeah, as you start to leave the floor, move your body weight upwards, and slightly forwards. This is so you commit more to the front wheel. Typically, if you focus on getting the front end on, you can kick the back over and onto the wall a little easier. If you look at my head and upper body in the pic, you can already see me starting to move myself more over the landing spot for the front wheel.
Once you've got the momentum pushing your bike over the wall, tuck the back end up, and suck it up with your knees and ankles, whilst pushing it over the top of the wall too. This makes sure that it doesn't just batter into the side of the wall, which isn't too pretty. If you're well into the fashions now, this is the time to initiate that well ott super-tuck pose.
Try as much as is possible to slightly absorb the impact upon landing, just to keep your balance as much as anything, basically. It just helps you keep steady when you land.
You can also turn your front wheel in the direction of the wall too just before you land. Some people find this is useful to tuck the back end in and get their tuck on, and it can also mean you've got more chance of getting some grip on the wall if it's a bit of a sketchy surface (i.e. a non-flat-topped rock, or whatever).
Like I said, I'm not shit-hot at sidehops, but Benito Ros and Vincent Hermance are, so just watch vids of them doing them to get the idea of doing the mahoosive sidehops