I recently bought a Byclex Kicker ramp to help me improve my jumping skills. To be clear I am not talking a bout bike park jump lines here but natural or maybe trail builder features on natural forest trails. These tend to be relatively small, ever changing, all very different, and often not well built or placed! So the issue is being able to decide the best technique based on some basic criterea.
Already the kicker is helping me to make some of those decisions.
First, some details about the kicker. On its lowest setting it is 460 mm high and the ramp is linear. Its highest setting is 520mm and the ramp is then a mild kicker. My Whyte has a wheelbase of 1270mm and the kicker is 1600.
Linear v kicker:
I give those details because the first thing I noted using the kicker was the difference between it being linear and having a mild concave kicker shape. I found I needed to put a lot more rider input into the jump to gain any height when the ramp is linear ( ie straight with no concave).
Ramp length and timing:
The second thing I noted was that because the ramp is only marginally longer than the bike's wheelbase, the faster I hit the ramp the more critical the timing of my input becomes. Many of the small ramps I come across on forest trails are much shorter than the Kicker so timing is even more critical.
Speed v rider input
Over and a bove the relationship between speed, ramp length, and timing I played around with entry speed. There are some obvious conclusions but still worth recording if , like me, it helps you to fully understand the mechanics of a technique.
Starting at the beginning, if there is no ramp the only way to "jump" in order to clear a gap or ride over a fallen log etc is to bunny hop. At the other extreme if you hit a well designed ramp fast enough you really do not need to do a great deal to get air except focus on landing safely! That seems fairly normal in a bike park to me but a relative rareity on natural trails.
The scenario I am chasing falls between those 2 extremes but both are relevant. I rode the ramp at different speeds with little or no rider input. At the slower speeds the ramp is more like a drop. Quite often on natural trials it is impossible to gain enough speed so reverting to the drop technique is a solution to prevent the dreaded front wheel plant.! Once the speed is high enough the bike gets air but mostly forward and very little upward.
So then adding rider input to those variables......slower entry speed, the shorter the ramp, the more linear the ramp the stronger the rider input needs to be. I found it can actually be advantageous to use a slower approach speed in a number of ways. Timing is less critical, it promotes good technique, and landing speeds are lower meaning more control. Overall it does go to show that jumps have many variables and therefore opportunities to get them wrong!!
Input technique:
I use the "pop" technique ( credit Kyle of You Tube Kyle and April fame) albeit I went back to basics to better understand it. I did a video of me jumping over a low bar from a standing start on both feet. This essentially emulates the ready position with feet on level pedals, and the fact that you are not just jumping up but also forward. I noted there are 5 elements to the jump. Compress on bent legs, spring up on straight legs, bend the legs up and lastly project forward then back with arms ( row), all the while keeping my head up. ( I have excluded the landing stage........that's something I am still working on!!) . Looking up the whole time and "rowing" with the arms is something else I am still working on.
Another thing I am working on is implementing just the slightest hint of the bunny hop by starting a little behind the centre of the bike with dropped heels.
All of the a bove is in my head...not necessarilly implemented on the ramp as yet, but that is the point of continuing to practise on it!!
Another practise session planned for tomorrow.
Already the kicker is helping me to make some of those decisions.
First, some details about the kicker. On its lowest setting it is 460 mm high and the ramp is linear. Its highest setting is 520mm and the ramp is then a mild kicker. My Whyte has a wheelbase of 1270mm and the kicker is 1600.
Linear v kicker:
I give those details because the first thing I noted using the kicker was the difference between it being linear and having a mild concave kicker shape. I found I needed to put a lot more rider input into the jump to gain any height when the ramp is linear ( ie straight with no concave).
Ramp length and timing:
The second thing I noted was that because the ramp is only marginally longer than the bike's wheelbase, the faster I hit the ramp the more critical the timing of my input becomes. Many of the small ramps I come across on forest trails are much shorter than the Kicker so timing is even more critical.
Speed v rider input
Over and a bove the relationship between speed, ramp length, and timing I played around with entry speed. There are some obvious conclusions but still worth recording if , like me, it helps you to fully understand the mechanics of a technique.
Starting at the beginning, if there is no ramp the only way to "jump" in order to clear a gap or ride over a fallen log etc is to bunny hop. At the other extreme if you hit a well designed ramp fast enough you really do not need to do a great deal to get air except focus on landing safely! That seems fairly normal in a bike park to me but a relative rareity on natural trails.
The scenario I am chasing falls between those 2 extremes but both are relevant. I rode the ramp at different speeds with little or no rider input. At the slower speeds the ramp is more like a drop. Quite often on natural trials it is impossible to gain enough speed so reverting to the drop technique is a solution to prevent the dreaded front wheel plant.! Once the speed is high enough the bike gets air but mostly forward and very little upward.
So then adding rider input to those variables......slower entry speed, the shorter the ramp, the more linear the ramp the stronger the rider input needs to be. I found it can actually be advantageous to use a slower approach speed in a number of ways. Timing is less critical, it promotes good technique, and landing speeds are lower meaning more control. Overall it does go to show that jumps have many variables and therefore opportunities to get them wrong!!
Input technique:
I use the "pop" technique ( credit Kyle of You Tube Kyle and April fame) albeit I went back to basics to better understand it. I did a video of me jumping over a low bar from a standing start on both feet. This essentially emulates the ready position with feet on level pedals, and the fact that you are not just jumping up but also forward. I noted there are 5 elements to the jump. Compress on bent legs, spring up on straight legs, bend the legs up and lastly project forward then back with arms ( row), all the while keeping my head up. ( I have excluded the landing stage........that's something I am still working on!!) . Looking up the whole time and "rowing" with the arms is something else I am still working on.
Another thing I am working on is implementing just the slightest hint of the bunny hop by starting a little behind the centre of the bike with dropped heels.
All of the a bove is in my head...not necessarilly implemented on the ramp as yet, but that is the point of continuing to practise on it!!
Another practise session planned for tomorrow.
I made my own ramps and landings out of scrap timber.
