A few beginner issues... :(

[airmj]

i've been riding for around 5 months now, and i can pedal kick about 8 times? hop on the rear for near 10 times, trackstand, pivot, japslap a little bit, side hop a little bit too.

There're a few things that i just can't get down, i've been stuck at them for a few weeks now, hope u guys could help :)


1. Why can't i go up? I can gap maybe a wheel's length, but i just can't go up. I can pedal kick up a curb, but once i'm up i'm already all stretched out :( What am i missing? I did preload a fair bit.

I feel like i'm not actually jumping up with the bike but putting the bike up there instead.


2. I find it incredibly difficult to backhop on the spot. As in my arms keep going straight. I need to like use incredible force to bring the bars close to me. Do i need a longer stem? I'm about 170cm, ride a zebdi with i think a 70mm stem.

A lot of other riders have tried my bike and mentioned they feel compressed or something... i was thinking of getting a longer stem, maybe a 100mm 5 deg.

Also sometimes i hop in a v shaped way, like, bike in front, and body behind, just bouncing in a \ / way all over the place, unlike some of the other riders, they seem to use their calf muscles to hop, and they're crunched over the bike, unlike me all stretched out.


3. I can't get that kick in when i sidehop, and i always end up further backwards from where i jumped from. When ever i try to up just straight up onto something, i slip off all over the place. :(


Thats about it for the moment, thanks in advance for any much needed advice :D

[AgrAde]

i'd get a longer stem for trials on the zebdi. 100-120 or so - not sure as i've never actually ridden one.

backhopping:
bend your legs. bend your arms - elbows close to your sides. back straight. bike reasonably vertical, although that all may be hard because of the short bike/stem.
i used to rear wheel like this, and it sounds like what you're doing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/AgrAde/wheelhop.jpg

this is definitely not a good stance. i later re-learned my technique, and it came out like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/AgrAde/mountdemo.jpg

and it's the way to go. keep practicing. try to get a photo of yourself in your backwheel stance and compare it to a picture (or video) of someone who knows what they're doing. it really does help.
i know a guy who is 6'3" and is on an echo ES1 (really short) and he can backhop with proper technique easily so don't worry *too* much about the stem, although i'm sure it will help a bit. you'll probably kill your forearms in the first while, but you'll get used to it. what are your brake lever angles like?

sidehopping:
when you say you can't get the kick in, do you mean you kick and not much happens or do you not kick at all? are you landing back wheel first/both at the same time/front wheel first?
practice vertical hopping. just a sidehop but straight up.
start in a trackstand and lean back and down. then all at the same time, jump up, straighten your whole body like you're spearing the sky or some shit, pull the bars into your legs and give the pedals a big of a kick. pull the bike up and level it off, then land.
you'll soon figure out how much you need to lean back, how much you need to kick and how much you need to pull on the bars to get a higher hop where you don't move backwards. practice on things as you work your height up, otherwise you'll get used to going straight up and freak out when you try to sidehop.

hope that helps, the info i gave worked well for me.

[airmj]

yes thats exactly how i'm hopping right now, in the first picture. Now i get it. Gonna go try again later tonight. ^-^

Yea seems i ought to get a longer stem too. :D

On the sidehop, yea i read that paragraph 3 times and it made sense. I can visualise it, but i just can't get it down.

I try to kick, but i just slip off or don't gain any height at all. I'm not launching up, it seems. Whenever i try to hop on the spot straight up, i end up doing a huge back hop lolz.

Thanks for the excellent advice! will try out the steps u mentioned and post later when i get the chance to ride.

[CRAK_BOT]

Hello,

I have a NewJackFlash which I think is a hair longer than a Zebdi. When I used my short dirt jumping stem (60mm) I had all the problems you mentioned above, although it manualed great. I put a 100 MM stem on it and instantly all my back wheel moves got way better and easier.

I can't say for sure that a longer stem would help you but it sounds alot like what happened to me when I was having problems like that.

Agrade also mentioned the brake levers. Don't be afraid to adjust the angle until it really feels comfortable.

Good Luck,
Jim

[rush]

Ive been riding for over 3 years and I'm still having trouble with my arm position. Because I learned to backhop with my arms almost straight, I now fiind it hard to get them in close, although its getting easier, and is far less stressful on your body during comps.

Just try to get more vertical, and do exactly what Agrade has said. I personally wouldnt worry about the stem for the moment.

[airmj]

Yes it does feel smoother and easier backhopping with the bars closer and bike more verticle... but my arms are killing me man`~ all the effort needed to bring it close. man~~

One more thing though, do u hop on the rear with your calfs or your entire leg? i see people hopping using like their calf muscles only, using their toes to bounce up and down with their legs hardly moving, while there're also others that don't really move their toes much but use the legs to bounce instead... weird.

I'm alternating between the 2 now... lolz. i can't get either one right. Which one is a better technique? or is it a case of personal preference? :(

[rush]

Im pretty sure its a case of experience. There arent many top riders that hop with their 'legs' so to speak. I think it has to do with the smaller adjustments better riders have to make of their bike.

Dont worry too much about it if you can help it, I dont even think about it anymore. If you can find a video with Joe Brewer from Australia in it, he basically sits on his rear wheel before sidehopping and doesnt even move his bike, its insane.

There should be a video out in the next week or two by PaulG from http://trials.caffeen.org that will show you what I mean.

So to finish, I think the better technique is the one that takes less energy and means less movement of your bike from its original position: the calf muscle style.

If you dont understand this, or want a better more detailed explanation you can send me a PM.

Good luck :bigthumb:

[airmj]

yea i've been trying to balance using as little upper leg movements as possible the last few rides, and it does require less effort, it's not as tiring rocking or trackstanding as before. Amazing how these little keywords affect one's riding so much. ^-^

And i've also realized the most important thing to do when kicking up or gapping is to bring the bars to ur thighs or hip area, and this pushes the rear wheel much further infront ^-^. i nearly got a heart attack when i did this lolz~ i thought i was going to do a back flip or something. haha~

One problem i'm having difficulty with is the full pedal stroke japslap. I can do half stroke ones quite nicely i think. But i can't go far. So i thought maybe if i roll faster i can go further, but when i start the half stroke while rolling faster i dun get enough power through the cranks. I'm using singlespeed 22-19 175mm cranks. Maybe i'm pedaling too slow?

Anyways I tried doing the full rotation japslap the other day and i just can't coordinate lolz~ do u lift the front wheel with ur good foot?

For halfstroke i do - badfoot - lift front wheel then use the good foot to kick off.
How does the fullstroke work? - good foot - gain speed - badfoot lift - good foot kick off?

i just find it so weird...

[RT Wolf]

Are you talking about moving the knee around a little bit? or is there something else I'm missing?

[Elan]

jpslaping makes you go high, not far. im thinking youre talking about pedal gaps.

[airmj]

ok now i'm confused... isn't japslap the same as pedal gap...

[rush]

Jap-slap you'll probably hear referred to as a tap on here. Its when a rider heads toward an object and taps the front wheel against the face of it to gain more height.

A pedal gap is (i think), what you're describing. A pedal gap is when you pedal towards the edge of something with a bit more speed, then use your last pedal stroke(s) to bring the front wheel up, and the back with you.

When people refer to a 'static' gap, it means getting onto back wheel, then launching from that spot to the next.