Jump action: leaning to one side

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hey lee,
When I jump my bike always pulls to one side (leans). any ideas oh master of flight???
John

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Steve Wentz sucks up a little table at Mach 3. Note the utter lack of tension in his arms.

Hey John,

Yeah, I have some ideas. Always with the ideas …

What you’re doing

1. Pulling with your arms. One arm is stronger, and that’s pulling your bike to one side.

2. Remaining tense in the air. You take off crooked. You stay crooked. If you’re in the air long enough, you land crooked. Ka-blooey.

What you should be doing

1. As always, ride with your feet. Push your pedals into the lip. Let your bike rebound into the air. No pulling!

2. Relax. Stay supple, especially with your upper body. Let your innate sense of balance adjust for the inevitable funny business.

Read this: Controlling mid-air rotation

5 replies
  1. Ed says:

    One other thing that falls into the ‘almost too obvious’ category- make sure your pedals are level. I remember early in my jumping career being caught out by that; I couldn’t really believe that I was doing it until someone pointed it out to me, but once I levelled my feet out things started to make a lot more sense.

  2. Daryl King says:

    Lee,

    how do you hit high speed jumps on downhill courses – the tables with the little lips, without getting bucked into oblivion? I want to be able to hit these faster

  3. leelikesbikes says:

    It’s all about body posiiton. Search the archives on this site.

    And click an ad while you’re at it!

  5. leelikesbikes says:

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