I was watching Universe and thought I would try what I think is called seat out in front hopping. I have a 24" Sem XLW with a Gazz 2.6.
Do you hold the seat with the hand that is opposite of the direction you want to go? This assumes hopping to the left or right. i.e. Hold seat with left hand when hopping to the right.
Is this skill usually done laterally? What about forwards?
Kris Holm does this backwards on some rocks in the film so in some instances you could do it backwards.
When the seat is out in front do you press it up against your thigh (inner or outer?) for stability or keep it separated from your body?
What is a good tire pressure to have for practicing this skill?
For hopping in general, to learn the skill, should I start off with hopping in one place and keep the highth low initially and then increase the highth and lateral distance? I seem to be miss timing my jumps and it is puting a lot of stress on my wrist and lower arm. Any ideas?
Started hopping today. At first, I tried a couple of simple hops with one
hand on the wall to keep balance. After that, two hops and so on… 15
minutes later I was able to do it by myself and keep it for 10-12 jumps
though I surely must improve my technique… I read a lot of stuff on
hopping so I visualised it before I tried. Here’s a good reference that
covers hopping and a lot of other subjects :
> Hi, > > I was watching Universe and thought I would try what I think is called > seat out in front hopping. > > 1. Do you hold the seat with the hand that is opposite of the direction > you want to go? This assumes hopping to the left or right. i.e. Hold > seat with left hand when hopping to the right. > > 2. Is this skill usually done laterally? What about forwards? Kris Holm > does this backwards on some rocks in the film so in some instances > you could do it backwards. > > 3. When the seat is out in front do you press it up against your thigh > (inner or outer?) for stability or keep it separated from your body? > > 4. What is a good tire pressure to have for practicing this skill? > > 5. For hopping in general, to learn the skill, should I start off with > hopping in one place and keep the highth low initially and then > increase the highth and lateral distance? I seem to be miss timing my > jumps and it is puting a lot of stress on my wrist and lower arm. Any > ideas? > > Thanks again! > > – > teachndad Posted via the Unicyclist Community - > http://unicyclist.com/forums
— teachndad <forum.member@unicyclist.com> wrote: > Hi, > > I was watching Universe and thought I would try what I think is called > seat out in front hopping. > > 1. Do you hold the seat with the hand that is opposite of the direction > you want to go? This assumes hopping to the left or right. i.e. Hold > seat with left hand when hopping to the right.
It doesn’t really matter- I hop to the left or right while holding with my
right hand (although hopping to the left is my stronger side.
> > 2. Is this skill usually done laterally? What about forwards? Kris Holm > does this backwards on some rocks in the film so in some instances > you could do it backwards. >
It can be done in any direction. The most common is laterally at a slight
(~20 degree) diagonal (ie laterally but facing slightly towards the
obstacle).
> 3. When the seat is out in front do you press it up against your thigh > (inner or outer?) for stability or keep it separated from your body?
The seat is held quite close to you for stability when you initiate the
hop. When you land it is further away if you are hopping quite high (ends
up around your shoulders if you really hop high), but in general the
closer the seat is to you, the easier it is to maintain control. > > 4. What is a good tire pressure to have for practicing this skill?
As you get more “snappy” with hopping you can run higher pressures. This
is a big advantage because it reduces pinch flats, reduces tire-rollover,
and actually lets you hop higher (eventually) because a firmer tire has a
faster spring to it. A good idea is to bring a pump on your next ride and
experiment with this.
> > 5. For hopping in general, to learn the skill, should I start off with > hopping in one place and keep the highth low initially and then > increase the highth and lateral distance? I seem to be miss timing my > jumps and it is puting a lot of stress on my wrist and lower arm. Any > ideas? >
The best learning progression is to first become comfortable riding
forwards and backwards seat out in front (and ideally also learn seat
drag and ultimate wheel). Then try hopping up objects that would be easy
with the seat between the legs, such as a curb. Work on the control and
keeping your weight balanced over both feet. Eventually seat out in front
hopping may become more comfortable than “normal” hopping- certainly it
is less scary for big gaps because it’s easier to ditch the uni if you
don’t make it.
Hope this helps,
Kris.
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Being a person who hasn’t ridden even a year yet (not until December) I have my learning expiriences still fresh in my head. With that in mind, I started hopping not even a week into learning, and after a few weeks of using the wall to hop, I “took it to the streets”. I then started forcing my self to do bigger, better, and more hops in all directions. Not long after I found my self pushing me to do 10 inch hops on to man made trials obsticals.
I started learning about jumping, which in turn pushed me to do more and better. I noticed when I first started learning it (4 months into riding by now) my body wasn’t used to the sensation, so holding the seat out was difficult. The seat would jab at my body, and leave me with sore thighs. Now that I am fluent with jumping, this no longer occures. I have managed jumps of up to 15 inches or more, and learning pedal grabs in a day.
I guess I seem to learn a little fast, since MUni and Trials Uni are my sports and I want to pursue them with a very strong effort. Seeing people like Kris Holm ride, pumps me up to go bigger and better, which has resulted in me doing stuff that scares me in my dreams.
Just go for what you want to learn and don’t back down.
im good at hopping too. i was a fast learner, trying to ride over 2x4’s and curbs and soon was hopping over little rocks and things like that. now i can hop over 24" onto rocks and other obstacles. i guess my trials mountainbiking background helps for that. you will eventually get over the odd feeling of the seat out in front. for hopping i hop sideways kind of like turned a little my biggest gap was about 5 feet! just keep up the good work and you will be good in no time.
Kyle Grasso
i guess my trials mountainbiking background helps for that. you will eventually get over the odd feeling of the seat out in front. for hopping i hop sideways kind of like turned a little my biggest gap was about 5 feet! just keep up the good work and you will be good in no time.