Basic Bike tricks and Skills

Ok this is my instructable about your basic bike tricks, so far I'm covering:

*Slides
*Wheelies
*Stoppies or Endos
*Bunnyhops
*Jumping
*Other bits and pieces.

This instructable is likely to be added to from time to time, however since I had such a good day today I wanted to get photos and start writing away...

Written as a follow up to My guide to urban cycling

Also this is entered in the Bike month contest, please do vote or rate this 'ible if you like it...

Another Also, it is best advised to wear a helmet for cycling, was being naughty and arrogant by not, even though most of these were performed at low speed, to help the camera, I know I have no excuse at all for the jumping and I would like to make it clear that a helmet is the most important accesory a person can have for their bicycle...

Step 1 The slide...

Ok we're starting with the most basic showing off you can do, alway fun on loose ground and wet days, also it's the easiest trick to pull off.

Basically the plan is to lock the back wheel up and get the back end to step out by turning like that so.

Going at moderate speed on loose ground or on wet ground, you can do it on any surface but it'll wreck your tyres...

See a turn you'd like to slide around...

Pull the back brake hard, once the wheel locks up you'r e free to turn whenever...

When you're turning allow the end to step out and if you get uncomfortable you simply let go of the brake and go on as normal.

You can either skid to a halt or slide around a turn and let off the back brake and continue on.

If you don't know this one already you can get more comfortable by starting on slippy ground and just going at medium speed, lock the back wheel and make small turning movements to get used to the feeling of it.

Once you get better you can start fishtailing etc. this is where you add turns in the opposite direction to eachother and swing the end about.

Sliding can come in handy in lots of situations, on forest trails when you seriously misjudge a turn sliding around it at high speed can be alot easier than attempting to brake and turn with the front which leads to washing out...

If you go too low and start to fall you can kick the ground with the inside leg to lean up or just drop down and slide to a halt, in most cases I find falling from a badly judged slide far less painful than when you wash out.

Comments

[TheEvilFrog]

:O no helmet!

[Aron313]

That is a mountain top not bunny hop!!!!!!!!! :P

[the stig06]

what jump? ya cant call that a jump... u guys need to check out a real bike...
http://www.norco.com/bikes/mountain/dirt_and_street/

[struckbyanarrow]

You call a norco a "real" bike? you should check out a

cove foreplay
cove shocker
NS suburban
NS majesty
BLKMRKT Mob
BLKMRKT killswitch

those are real bikes

[That Weasel]

yes! thts wat ive been tellin thm! to get a REAL bmx bike

[monkeybiker24]

ye and you have to go BIGGER. I think anybody can do those. Basic tricks are tables, one handers, tweeks, etc. I second what stig06 said, that isn't a jump. This is a SMALL jump

[killerjackalope]

Why is it people don't understand basic, no that's not a big jump, the fact that I couldn't even get a good photo of some stuff because at the time I was using a very old camera and my brother as a cameraman doesn't help but starting small, I was considering doing a second instructable about more advanced stuff.

[the stig06]

(removed by author or community request)

[bumpus]

Might want to make a few instructables before calling out a seasoned member.. I think you just suck too much to be able to post one, get a better attitude to start with!

[Bike Master]

if your bike is to heavy to lift up the front wheel i go off curbs and pull up as i go off the curb it works pretty good.

[3d60]

for what its worth? I tried for ages, to bunny hop by chance wobbling home drunk on me bike, i did one..... took me ages to get there again, until I realised its about shifting weight, Stand up on your pedals as you roll slowly, you have to push down with both your arms and feet like compressing a spring, then push up on the handlebars and pedals, releasing explosively your body mass upwards, as your body weight reaches the top of its travel, pull your legs and arms closer in to you, effectively recompressing your body like a spring again, you will find the the mass of the bike rises off the ground. Now either hang in the air and land in this compressed manner or push down again so the bike touches down with your arms and legs bent to absorb it. This with practice makes a flat horizontal bunny hop, pulling up on the bars and then your feet makes the bikes front wheel get up quickly followed by the back, I call this an American bunny hop or up and over as I use to clear obstacles

[Bike Master]

lol 3d60 i was 8 when i learned it

[killerjackalope]

I use the technique of shifting my feet up directly aswell, I can do a bunnyhop, my brother just can't take a photo of one... No he can't do one, which made the whole thing more difficult because he's an ok photographer but our camera is awful, need to get my new one...

[lincer556]

The slide is nice, but dont do it often! Or you'll regret the damage you do to the weells.

My bike is BRAND NEW, well i've got it since 3 months ago, and thanks to the slide now i need to change weels XD

[PeachyPete]

The WHEELS or the tires?? Because if you damaged the actual wheels just from doing some slides, then they were not strong enough to start with, which can usually / also mean they were not well built enough / not adjusted well (specifically, the spoke tension, and possibly the dish at the rear). Factory built wheels on bikes cheaper than $500 are built pretty badly in most cases, in addition to being made with cheap, weak rims.

If it was the actual rims that damaged, either look at getting stronger rims and possibly hubs with more holes for more spokes, particularly if you are a heavier rider - you should have 32 at the back, or 36 if you're a heavy rider, and 28 at the front if you're of average weight, 32 if you're heavy.

Your best bet is to get a pair of hand-built rims from your local friendly bike shop, even with mid-range rims and basic butted spokes, these will outlast all cheap factory built wheels by years if the builder knows his craft and will not cost much more.
You can re-use the hubs from your old wheels if they are not super-nasty, cheap ones and they are not showing signs of roughness, or get some Shimano XT ones 2nd hand from ebay, which will be very good value if you hunt around and don't overbid and will be bomb-proof - nothing below XT from Shimano, the bearing races (the surfaces) are like cheese on the LX and below. Or get hubs with cartridge (replaceable) bearings,from the likes of the excellent UK makers Hope.

Remember, after the frame, the MOST IMPORTANT part of a bke is the wheels, and if you are planning on doing all sorts of air tricks like bunny hops, you might even say a well-built pair of wheels is even a little bit MORE important.

[natlovessnow]

a bunny hop is when you pull up both tires at the SAME time. A J-hop is where you need to shift your weight and start with a manual and then lift up. good instructions but put in some harder things like tricks in the air etc.

[getthim]

he probaly said it wrong but you lift your front wheel up as high as you want, keeping your arms straight and most of your body weight right above the back wheel and then you quickly lean forward, bending your arms in and your legs to level out (make sure your foot is pushing near vertical on the pedals) then land, bending your legs at the same time to absorb the impact. if you don't believe me then you can look up "bunnyhop" on youtube.
plus if you do it this way you get way higher.

[kimithy]

These are great! Realized how much I need to practice bunnyhopping when I came to a curb, stopped, got off the bike, lifted it up the curb, got back on, pedaled away in shame. Not efficient! Also, kudos for "to avoid the seat invading you".

[Nangiyal Ahmed]

Plz can anyone teach me how 2 balance on a cycle while doing single whealing.

[radjadd]

hey this instructible is pretty tight you should look at mine on bmx tricks

[stoppie]

awesome but my cycle is not so small! its full sized ,when I put the breaks in my cycle stops and I fail to do the stopie! so what should i do???

[wardog]

 two ways.. 1.) adjust your brakes. and 2.) when you brake, try to shift your weight to the front(handle bar)

[C chord]

on how to do a stopie with out a brake is just stap your foot in the fornt in the tire and the end of the handle bar.

[Wesley666]

Not a Wheelie.  Its a Cat Walk.  A Wheelie you stay seated and ride on your back tire.  If I am correct you actually stand up and pedal up and keep pedaling, which is a Cat Walk.  Also your Bunny-hop is incorrect.  Your doing a Curb Hop.  Curb hop you bring the front wheel up first before raising the back tire.  A Bunny-hop is bring both up at the same time.

Other then that good Instructable.

[airsoft1017]

all the books and websites ive read have said it is to get more height but call it what ever you want

[Wesley666]

You haven't read enough...  He describes a Curb Hop or J-Hop.  Bunny hop is still a different trick.  So you get more height of a curb hop then a bunny hop.

[airsoft1017]

the way he is saying to do it is to get more height out of you bunny hop it is still a bunny hop

[Wesley666]

Bunny hop is both wheels up at the same time.  Curb hop or J-hop is where your front wheel comes up first before bring the rear wheel up.  They seem very similar but they are in fact two different tricks.

[BMXMatt]

Ok you are correct on the bunny hop but youre wrong on the curb hop or not but I went to the park the other day and people were calling it a J-hop. You could also do a wheelie while pedaling but I guess it doesnt really matter what you call it. 

[Wesley666]

J-hop is another name for curb hop, I have heard it called both.  With the wheelie, some stuff is a bit wishy washy.  Depends where your from sometimes.  Its like Americans and British, Americans say Aluminum and British say Aluminium, Americans say Caterpillar, British say Caterpillar.

[BMXMatt]

yeah I asked my friend yesterday about that he said J hop is another name for a curb hop so either way works.

[mrdepo96]

 naw, sorry but your wrong. A bunny hop is when you bring front, then back tires off the ground. It helps you clear obstacles and fly higher. And also a "Cat walk" is actually a Manuel 
bmx.transworld.net/features/foundations-bunnyhop/

[PeachyPete]

Wesley is correct: a bunny hop is when you bring both wheels up at the same time, however, where you may be getting confused is that when some people do a bunny hop, IF their technique is not super-clean, the biker will indeed FIRST lift the front wheel, then (but VERY shortly after, maybe 2 tenths of a second) will bring up the rear, but the essence of the bunny hop is that BOTH wheels should be off the ground at the same time, and for most of the duration of the hop.
I hope that clears it up.

[mrdepo96]

Well, i think there is a difference in style here...
the point of raising the front wheel first is to actually hop higher, as you can lift the front wheel off the ground, above the obstacle and then push off with your back wheel to the level of your front wheel and over the obstacle. If that makes any sense, you will understand what i am saying.
But, then again, as long as it works, who cares? I certainly stopped in March of 2010.

[Wesley666]

I am 100% sure about this, I would even put my buddies life on the line for this.

[Wesley666]

No, I'm 100% sure a bunny hop you bring both up at the same time, Curb Hop is bring front up then the back.  You also should note that the internet isn't a very good source.  80% of the internet is porn, 15% is incorrect and only 5% is actually correct, factual information.  And I am also correct about the Cat Walk.  Wheelie you stay seated while coasting or pedaling, a Cat Walk is a standing position while pedaling.

[mrdepo96]

 alright, but anyway the top bmx MAGAZINE and web site says otherwise. i haven't heard the term "cat walk"... Ever. 

[Wesley666]

Really?  Wow!  I live on my bike and I have always heard them called that. 

[mrdepo96]

 Well, two different areas i guess... still cool names though!

[Wesley666]

I'm Canadian that explains everything...I'm talking polar bears, your talking bikes, makes complete sense!  LOL! : )