Big Dip: Start in freefall position.No brakes, body over seat. | Nearing the bottom: Butt risesoff of seat. | Transition: Body extended, rocks forward, bike rises up in front. |
Ramp: Body vertical over crank, pressure on handlebars.
Finish: Weight on handlebars, rear of bike rises up under butt.
Difference between dip "freefall" descent versus controlled descent: On the left, note the butt is over the seat and the body is centered -- freefall. On the right, a "controlled" descent puts the seat in front of the legs, and the butt is back over the tire. |
Small dip (Endo Invitation):Let the front of the bike fall awayfrom you into the dip. | As the bike falls into the dip, let your body rise off the seat (your body travels straight forward). | During the transition, your body is fully raised as the bike bucks under you. |
As the rear wheel falls down, your body stays upright, so your body moves forward relative to the seat. | As the front wheel rises, transfer your weight onto the handlebars to unload the rear wheel. | As the front wheel reaches level ground, push hard on the handlebars as the seat rises to meet you. |
Dip with a tire trap: As the bike drops into the dip, let your body rise off the seat higher than you usually would. Keep your body over the seat -- in "freefall" position.
As the front wheel approaches the bottom of the dip and tire trap, pull the front of the bike up hard under you. (Don't hang back and "wheelie" -- you need to pull the bike up and a bit back.)
As the front tire approaches the far side, your body is actually moving forward of the seat. As the tire touches, put your weight on the handlebars to unload the rear wheel. (Rear tire can lift off the ground.)
As the rear wheel hits the far side, your body continues forward relative to the bike as it climbs the far wall of the dip, with weight on the handlebars.
A side-hop works well for an angle of approach of 30 degrees or less, and can be done at slower
speeds than a standard bunny hop. Begin the bunny hop as above, but make a slight lean towards
the root or obstacle as you start the jump. As the bike comes up into the air, swing the rear
end around towards the root. Let the bike come sideways a bit past your center of gravity.
(This takes a bit of parking-lot practice.) The bike will land on the far side, aiming in a
direction of travel more parallel to the root than before.
NOTE: The crank grind is VERY hard on chains and chainrings. Chain-ring guards are available
that have teeth, so you can chew your way over a log without injuring the teeth in your big
chain ring. If you're serious about learning log-hopping using the crank-grind, you should
invest in one.This is a "tooth fairy." It has teeth to propel you over the log. It's made of aluminum, and
doesn't add much weight to the bike. It's installed onto your chainrings, using spacers and
longer versions of your chainring bolts.