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Newbie with a Kona Stuff '02

newstuff

Chimp
May 29, 2002
2
0
Alberta
hey people

I'm not new to biking, but I am new to doing jumps and hopping curbs and riding skinnies, etc. Well, here's the deal, i bought a cheap Sears bike about 2 years ago and have been riding it up untill about 3 days ago when I finally bought myself a Kona Stuff.

Anyhow, as life would have it, I think that I've already slightly (very slightly) bent my rims. I mean these are DitchWitch DH rims that are supposed to hold up to (what I think) more hardcore biking than what i've been doing. All I've tried is bunny hopping (which i still can't do), doing about 1 foot drops, and hopping up onto curbs (not bunny hopping, just kinda hopping the whole bike at once while going fast).

Is this normal for rims to lose their straightness so quickly? Just today I was readjusting how my front tire was in the fork, so that I could get the perfect alignment where my brakes weren't rubbing against it every turn or so. Oh, and my back tire seems outta wack too, but no biggie. Right now i'm thinking about the day that I first bought my bike and how straight the rims were...:(

I hope that i'm not the only one with this problem!

PS: Can anyone tell me what muscles i should work out in order to be able to bunny hop better? I'm 5'5'' with a 15'' frame and can't bunny hop.
 

FSU

Chimp
Mar 11, 2002
6
0
Park Ridge. The land of NO!
These are new rims? If they are new rims like to go out of true if there not hand built. Hand built ones last longer. it just sounds like your spoke tention is off or something, there probily just out of true which is no big deal if you get them straightend right they wont go out of true as fast.
 

mutasmurf

Chimp
Feb 16, 2002
58
0
Bellingham, WA
most of the time it's skill vs equipment. if you're just learning how to bunnyhop, it's sloppy and landings are a bit off...don't sweat, everyone has bent rims one time or another. with time and practice, you'll see less of those problems (a good true is required every-so-often however).
 

Boardride

Chimp
May 23, 2002
8
0
Federal Way
i ride on a 2001 kona stuff w/hayes hydos, and the stock rims (ditchwitch) are hella strong i just bent them, but its very, very small. but ive been hammering on them, 8ft wheelie drops, jumps, trials stuff. so i woundnt worry about their strengths. as for doing hops just keep doing them and you will get stronger.
 
Newstuff,

It definetly sounds like a "spoke tension" problem, take the rimse and get them trued, DO NOT attempt to "adjust their center" in the fork, as you are actually placing them in the fork on an angle to do so, and this causes alot of stress on both the fork and the wheel.
(I have hardly EVER been able to keep wheels true for very long, so I true them up often, but even then don't expect them to be perfect)

As far as bunnyhopping, you can see my post in this forum on the thread about DJing, (can't remember the thread name right now, but I posted on it today), and for DJing, look in the BMX forum and you will see some helpfull hints on the "Why do I suck...." thread.

As far as what muscles are involved and may need to be strengthened. The Lats and triceps do most of the work during a bunnyhop, and also when DJing, your back and arms control you the most when you are airborne..

At the gym, doing Rows and Pulldowns can strengthen your lats, but also do upright rows, tricep extensions, bench presses, etc. basically it is upper body strength...
but very strong abs help in getting alot of height.
I am also 5'5" tall, and I can bunnyhop quite well, but this height is a DISADVANTAGE in this discipline, as a taller person usually can go higher.
good luck.
 

Boardride

Chimp
May 23, 2002
8
0
Federal Way
rims are funny sometimes, my roomate just dropped the bike to the side and bent the rim, i mean he dropped it like an inch. so if you hit it at a sweat spot or just wierd it bends, well sometimes