you asked for it and we're stoked to deliver today we're going to teach you how to jump your bike we've broken this skill down into easy to understand and more importantly simplet to practice steps that are going to help you take your riding to new heights literally and the best part the steps that we cover in this video to teach you how to jump will translate to any bike and you can apply them to any obstacle you wish to jump I'm Mike welcome back to Joy of bike and in this video I'm joined by Chase Willie and Matt Cordova to teach you guys how to jump and uh you guys are in luck because this guy right here is one of the best dirt jumpers in the world so what do you need to learn this skill well first off is your bike of choice and in true Joy bike fashion we brought out the whole collection of bikes that we have we really want to show that this is a skill that can be learned on any type of bike that you have and you can have just as much fun with it one thing we recommend while learning how to jump is riding with flat pedals just as with learning any new skill we also recommend wearing a helmet just so you can protect yourself if anything goes wrong and lastly we need a jump to jump so with with that we recommend something flat or something you can roll on top of so the way we see it is there's two ways to leave the ground on a bike launching and jumping so what's the difference between the two we're identifying launching as just passively riding into the jump roller feature and relying on speed and that feature to do all of the work for you whereas jumping is actively applying Force into the obstacle to create momentum that will help us jump in a controlled and repeatable manner so is one of these techniques better than the other kind of the dangers of launching is since we're passively riding into the jump we're really not in control over our bike when we're approaching the jump in the air or Landing however when it comes to Jumping since we're being active and our body is fully engaged we're directing the bicycle and it's going to behave as we tell it to because a bike is an inanimate object so with all of that out of the way let's talk about the three things we're going to cover to teach you how to jump step one applying force and accurate speed in the lip step two leaving the lip and leveling the bike step three identifying The Landing Zone and practicing before we start leaving the ground let's identify a few parts of the jump itself we've chosen to teach this tutorial at a bike park and for a good reason most of the jumps you find at a bike park are built very well and with proper technique you're going to be able to get over these things with no problems at all so to kick it off where I'm standing is called the flat bottom and we want to do a few things here before we get to the jump first off we want to make sure that we are riding in a very neutral riding position which means most of our weight is on our feet over our bottom bracket not over our hands and not way off the back behind the back wheel second if we are taking a few pedal cranks into the jump we want to make sure that at least 5 ft before the jump we stop pedaling and have our feet level and parallel with the ground after the flat bottom we have the loading zone which is on the lip itself this is the section where we're going to apply for for or pump into the lip and this is going to help us jump further or jump higher at the top of the lip we have the pop point this zone is where we want our torso to be perpendicular with the ground and we'll begin to leave the lip to make jumping as easy as possible we want to make sure you use the entire lip making sure both tires leave the top next up is the case pad so we've chosen this particular jump because it has this nice flat surface on top of the jump that we can land on so when you're identifying a jump to practice on look for something similar like this where there's no repercussions if you come up a little short one of the most important parts of the jump itself is going to be the Gap if you're not familiar with what that term is it's basically the distance between the top of the lip and the top of the landing this is the area that we need to clear to successfully jump the jump last but certainly not least the landing so we picked this jump to learn on because the landing is nice and mellow which will make practicing way more enjoyable first things first as a beginner in jumping we want to start to identify the speed and the force necessary to clear the jump and we're going to do this by actually riding over the jump without jumping it so we want you to take a few Laps on the jump that you've chosen and just ride over it don't try to jump it yet just start to identify that loading zone and just roll over the top and down the backside so what this is going to do is give us a really safe way to start identifying where where in the lip we want to start applying Force so we can start feeling where the lip is going to start pushing back on us which is right where we want to start pushing back on the lip which is a skill called pump we've identified pump and covered that in its own little video that you can watch right here if you need to brush up on that or if it's a new skill for you but here applying it to Jumping it's really going to be a skill that's going to take our jumping to that next level so where does the loading zone start well if you've taken a few laps over it you can probably start to feel it but it's right around here right where you can start feeling the lip pushing force back into you and what we want to do here is push Force back into it with our arms and legs Mike actually brought up a really good point that this is kind of like a game of tug ofar but instead of pulling with the opponent we're pushing back into the opponent so if you can apply equal amount of force into the lip that the lip is pushing into you you're going to have a really nice balanced ride that's going to send you exactly how you want to off of the top of the jump so our body position When approaching the loading zone shouldn't be very surprising if you've watched any of our other videos we're going to stay very neutral on the bike with most of our weight over the bottom bracket and as we feel that Force start to be applied to us we're just going to use our arms and legs to apply that Force back into the jump if you're doing this correctly you're really going to feel most of the weight in the force going through your feet it'll start to go wrong if you're leaning too far forward on the bike and you feel all of the weight in your hands or if you're leaning too far back and you feel like you're pulling back on the handlebars this neutral riding position over the bottom bracket is going to be that sweet spot not just for jumping but for literally any other bike skill as we begin to reach the top of the jump as we're applying Force into the lip from that Central position on the bike we're going to find ourselves in essentially a standing position with our torso perpendicular to the ground our main goal while we're applying force and reaching the pop point of the jump is to try to use the entirety of the ellip by this I mean we want our front tire and back tire to ride all the way to the top of the lip and the reason for this is because if we're not doing that we're going to be exiting lower and making jumping that Gap way more difficult for ourselves now as you start leaving the top of the lip exiting that pop point if you find yourself getting pitched forward it's probably due to a couple of reasons the first one being you're leaving the lip a little too early and the back end is staying on and kicking you forward the second one being you may be trying to level the bike out while your back end is still on the lip but if you're find yourself getting pitched backwards on the bike there's a couple of reasons for that as well first one being you may not be putting enough pump or Force into the lip as you're traveling up it and the second thing being your body weight may be too far backwards as you begin to travel up the lip after both of your tires have cleared the top of the lip this is where we're going to begin to start leveling the bike out this is the same fundamental motion that is applied to the Bunny Hop when you reach the peak we're going to start bringing our knees to our chest and pushing the handlebars out in unison nailing this timing can take a lot of practice so don't get discouraged and knowing how to Bunny Hop isn't necessarily required but it's certainly going to help when it comes to leveling out the bike in the air so if you're curious or looking to learn how to Bunny Hop or just want to brush up on your skills we've got a video on that that really details how to Bunny Hop and we'll put that down in the description below quick Pro tip but before we get to that this episode's brought to you by traction [Applause] coffee if you're looking to get more boost or height out of your jump this is where it happens so the secret here is to get a nice pump going into the lip use the entirety of the lip and as you're exiting pull the bars into your lap and it's going to keep your bike vertical for as long as possible this movement will direct your momentum up instead of out however before you apply this skill you definitely want to make sure you have covered the fundamentals of jumping and being comfortable and secure in the air so what happens after we've leveled out the bike well we need to prepare to land by dropping the landing gear or re extending our legs to absorb the impact of the landing now the goal here is to create a really nice smooth continuous Arc through the entire time we're in the air and land with both tires on the ground at the same time as always please remember that there is no easy button here the only thing that's going to make this easier is good oldfashioned practice so the reason why we're trying to land with both tires at the same time time is going to help us pump the landing and pumping The Landing is very important because after we evolve into jumping more than one jump and going into a jump Line This is going to eliminate us having to Pedal between jumps at this point I think it's also important to note that while you're learning how to jump you're probably going to land back tire first in the beginning as long as you're riding the bike in a central position and staying there while you're Landing you're going to be more than okay learning how to land both tires at the same time takes a lot of practice so don't beat yourself up while you're learning you may notice more advanced Riders Landing front tire first and the reason that they're doing this is to maximize pump for the next obstacle to come keep in mind while you're watching these guys that this is a byproduct of thousands and thousands of hours of practice well that's that we had an absolute blast hanging out with you guys talking about jumping and hopefully helping you guys begin to master the skill of jumping but the most important thing with this skill aside from safety is is making sure that you're having fun with it because that's what this is all about as you begin to approach your newfound love of jumping at your local bike park the skate park or at your local Trail remember to approach new obstacles with a level head and a sense of respect because this stuff can get pretty gnarly so just take your time be patient with it and again have as much fun as you can now with all that being said please let us know down in the comments if you guys have any other questions regarding jumping or if there's any other types of jumping skills skills that you would like us to cover here on the channel if you enjoyed hanging out with us today or learned something new in this video cruise down and hit that like button if you want to see more content just like this make sure you subscribe to the channel and ring that notification Bell and before you go I would love to hear what your goal for jumping is down in the comments below as always thank you guys so much for riding with us it's always an incredible time we'll catch you on the next one later and if you're looking to brush up on some skills that will really help with jumping check out this video right here to learn a little bit more on how to pump your bike and check out right here to learn how to Bunny Hop effectively these are two great skills that apply directly into jumping see you guys next time and until then enjoy this little Montage of us jumping all of our bikes what