- There's no denying the E-mountain bike
is pretty heavy.
Some people think you need the arms of Arnold Schwarzenegger
to perform such basic moves
as a bunny hop.
Well you don't need the arms of Arnie,
all you need is good technique.
I'm going to be showing you exactly that today.
I'm going to teach you how to bunny hop
your E-mountain bike.
(electric music)
So what actually is a bunny hop?
Well a bunny hop is the explosive movement
on the bike where you compress down into the bike
and lift the front and the back wheels simultaneously
to achieve a hop together
to get over an object on the trail.
But why would you want to bunny hop?
Well, exactly that, you're going to hop trail bridges,
it's going to give you a little bit more pop in your jumps
and maybe on the drops too.
It's a real cool one to learn,
definitely going to help you out on the trail.
(upbeat music)
Where you are learning to bunny hop
is definitely a really important part of it too.
You want to find an area nice and open.
Maybe some markers on the ground,
maybe a few little up slopes you can bump off of.
Things like that's going to make bunny hopping
a little bit easier,
but it's really important not to be doing it
on bumpy or soft ground
because soft ground,
all that energy you're going to put into the bike
is going to disappear into the ground
rather than coming back through into the bike.
So a nice firm surface, nice and smooth.
Nice and open without any people in your way,
it's going to be perfect.
Now the bunny hop isn't as daunting
as it actually sounds. Now a lot of us are used to doing
a car park basic suspension test on our bike,
where we ride round compressing the suspension,
front and rear.
Well, it's exactly that, you really need to be in time
and in tune with your suspension.
As it compresses and rises, so do you.
So, just ride round on the flat,
compressing your suspension
and feeling the bike going light.
And when it goes light,
that's when you need to add
a little bit of energy into the bike
to raise those wheels off the ground.
So, there's two style of bunny hops.
One is the two wheels together,
which is kind of like a basic beginner bunny hop,
which is more using suspension
where you squash down and both wheels rise
together at the same point.
But then there's the American bunny hop
or the traditional bunny hop,
I can't quite remember the actual name.
It's more of like a manual,
so you lift the front wheel up
and then you scoop the back wheel up.
Something you're probably used
a lot more out on the trail
rather than the two wheels together kind of hop.
(upbeat music)
Right, so let's get the bunny hop dialed in.
So you're going to come in with good forward speed,
you need your seat slammed out the way.
Get the pedals nice and level.
And you start loading up you suspension,
so you need to start from your head,
all the way down to the tires.
So imagine you're a big spring
and your bike's a spring too.
So squash that suspension down
and squash yourself down into the bike.
Then it's a big weight shift
towards the mid section of the bike
whilst pulling the handlebars upward
as your suspension is rising.
So you're kind of performing a mini-manual shape.
Then it's a case of getting
that back wheel into the air.
So, what you're going to do for that
is to keep your weight back,
you push down into the pedals
and kind of pull up with your feet,
whilst moving your weight forward,
again into the middle of the bike.
So you're kind of performing a kind of circle
with your hips for the rear to lift.
It's really important to push down, back
and up to create that rear wheel lift.
Then it's a case of pulling up on the bars
to keep the bars up nice and high,
whilst the bike's flying through the air nice and level.
And then you just hop over the obstacle,
then as you come into land,
extend your feet, push down on the back wheel
to try and land that back wheel first
for the smoothest landing.
(upbeat music)
So a couple of reasons you might not be
able to get the bunny hop dialed in
on your E-mountian bike is one,
is you're not using the suspensions correctly.
The suspension is a massive part of doing
the hop on your E-bike.
So, you really need to be in tune with that
and using that as a massive springboard to help get
that big heavy bike up into the air.
Another reason is that you're not putting enough effort in.
As I say, it's a real heavy bike,
you've got a motor down low
and the battery as well.
So you really need to use the suspension
to pop that bike up into the air.
As well as a big body of movement from yourself.
So, if you're trying to get
a little bit more pop in your hop,
you might want to look out for features such as this.
A little drain cover, any little ups
that's going to assist that lift of the bike,
is going to be working wonders.
It really helps with the timing of the bike as well,
so if you can time to pop off a little lift like this,
it's a really handy way of gaining those few inches.
And that applies to the trail as well,
you might find a route
that you can hit to accentuate that hop
and make it a little bit more higher,
therefore gaining distance
and maybe clearing that obstacle with ease.
So, there you go, I really hope today's video
has taught you how to bunny hop your E-mountian bike
and to prove you don't need
arms like Arnie Schwarzenegger.
You just need to use your suspension
to get a bit more pop in that hop.
If you've enjoyed today's video,
be sure to check out Manual Mistakes,
that ones playing down here,
give that one a watch if you can't manual yet.
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about how you learnt to bunny hop as well.
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