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Teach my to scrub (seriously...)

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Ok, i know scrubs are pretty tough, and i can only get so much help over the internet if any at all, but i reached a problem; i cannot scrub! I am very good at dirt jumping and the "bmx" aspect of the sport, so i feel as if i have enough skill to do it, i just dont have the technique? Any help appreciated. I practiced on rollers today, they were mellow on a green circle trail, so no gnarly rox or drops, simple rollers that you can fly into(and off of)

I tried doing "tabletops" on them, and while it "worked" its alot of effort and cant be done very quickly, while i stay low, i end up getting more air doing the table than just rolling off of it.

this was my next idea, that was to "squat" and table, worked slightly better, but sketchy when i land.


This last one is the most "correct"I basically "whip" but keep the bike tucked inside me and infront of me as opposed to below me. This works really well on jumps, because i can stay very low this way (the lowest for me) and on a jump i can bring the whip back and get a very good pump, it is GREAT for tabletops and doubles, but useless for anything else, as i land in a 75 degree whip (no time to bring it back on a 3 foot roller or G out) Theoritically if i could manage to bring the whip back, i probably would keep it this way.


Lastly is the basic squat, which works ok, but is very limited
 

SCARY

Not long enough
My personal opinion is that you are going to be somewhat limited because your feet always have to be perfectly forward because of your clips.With flats,you can roll your ankle ,or shift your foot in a more natural way in relation to your body,not your bike.
I think if you kept what you did in the second to last photo and added more of the face in the last photo,you'd be golden.
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
My personal opinion is that you are going to be somewhat limited because your feet always have to be perfectly forward because of your clips.With flats,you can roll your ankle ,or shift your foot in a more natural way in relation to your body,not your bike.
I think if you kept what you did in the second to last photo and added more of the face in the last photo,you'd be golden.
i am on flats, tell me more, i am 510s and straitline flats.
 

SCARY

Not long enough
Oh,my bad.I know it's different sport ,but try to look at stills of moto guys doing it.It's really fun,but scary when you do it right.The difference is you can't bring it back with a throttle.

Generally,your side down foot is gonna want to roll "heal in" and your outside knee and hip are gonna want roll in towards the frame.

After relooking at your pics ,I noticed that you are right foot forward,which is how I jump too,but is the wrong foot forward for the way you are leaning.I can't ride switch, so I don't even bother if I can't lay it to the left,right foot forward.The foot forward helps the bike roll more down and forward/side.Then when you start your roll back,your bodyweight is more in the position to bring it back without flaring out the rear as much and you reverse the motion by pulling the bike back with your downside leg.Also, try keeping or getting your weight center/forward or you can't bring it back as well.

You look like you know enough to know that you can't really scrub off every type of jump.It has to be a specific kind of jump that will work with a bicycle doing it.But some of your other techniques are perfectly valid too.If your just trying to look cool is one thing.If it's race situation it depends on the jump and speed.

The trick in moto to really flat ones is getting the front tire to break loose and slide just before the lip of the jump face.I haven't nutted up to try it on a bike,cuz I don't think it would work out well for me.
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Help appreciated, i ride right forwards, but i can whip and table both ways and all four 90 degs, The reason i adapted the left whips for this, is because it helps me face forwards (if that makes sense) I figure for scrubs, which im not good at, that it would help to be fowards. I try to use the argument that RIGHT FORWARDS a back wheel to the left whip faces you 45 degrees where as a back wheel to the right faces you 135 (technically backwards) I found that im pretty comfortable with the sideways whips on jumps-and i think ill end up sticking with that, since i can get them <1 foot on most tables, and a great pump on the side, its just that most DH tracks dont have perfect tabletops, so i try to learn the "real" way. Should i feel awkward and whatnot doing this? I originally tried them towards my LEFT shoulder, but the being "blind" and weighted down scared me. I only started left tables/whips this year, and doing them correct is VERY easy and proper for dirt jumping, so that is another reason i started the scrubs that direction.
 

illnotsick

Monkey
Jun 3, 2009
257
0
A little off topic, but do you want to help me learn how to whip? Like a normal whip? I can get the out there, all the way out, but have trouble bringing it back. I ride clips, but after my recent knee injury i've been thinking about giving flats another shot. I ride right foot forward, and usually whip left
 

DHPeteinSC

Monkey
Nov 17, 2006
484
0
In the KY (jelly) E-town
Demo, try rolling your wrists. Outside wrist away from you while turning into the face of the jump. Its almost as if youre laying the bike down on the face of the jump and then standing it back up as you land. Youre turning the wheel into the ground and leaning the bike almost as if you were doing a fast flat turn. Your table top pic looks good, body position wise, just need to get the wheel and nose pointed down. This may not be the correct form, but works for me. Thing is, I cant jump for sh*t! but I can scrub and squash like a mutha!! Check out the Fluidride like a Pro video. Simon and Lars give some good tips in the jumping section. Good luck dude!!
 

SCARY

Not long enough
Tell that to Bryn, Brian Lopes, or anyone who races world cups on clips for that matter...
Why does it always have to be a damn flats vs.clips?Both have their dominate aspects over the other in certain situations.I will tell that to Brian and Bryn,got their number?Or any WC racer?They're not stupid,so they maximize their riding style and strengths with their equipment choices,don't you?

If one were clearly superior in EVERY situation,everybody would be using that one thing.If he was asking about"Help me become a more efficient sprinter"I would tell him to use clips.

It's a stupid argument with an easy answer.You're PROBABLY gonna get more outta 5 hard pedal strokes in clips than two perfect scrubs in flats.But what kind of rider are you?Ragged edge or more controlled ?Where do you make up YOUR time?Cuz Lopes wasn't makin up his by scrubbing those same jumps in that video.

If anybody does know a WC rider that throws the perfect scrub,better than you can on flats,I'd love to hear the arguement.They probably have some freakshow,360 deg,ambidextrous ankles though.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Ah, relax man. He's just saying your point about clips limiting scrubs isn't really completely valid. If you've ridden 5.10s you know your feet aren't really moving around to different positions on those either. Lots of guys scrub the shlt out of things with clips on. It's a non issue.

Either way the hardest thing for me do on anything but a bike straight, suck up kind of scrub into something resembling those sick whip scrubs that elliot does in the clip is that you have to force your bike over sideways and break that rear tire loose. It's definitely a little weird at first and is kind of one of those leap of faith things. But if you commit to it, it works. Just lead your bike over sideways with your shoulders and push that rear tire. You'll probably half ass it a few times and feel like you're going to get bucked, but just grit your teeth and force it. You'll know once you've really slid your tires off because your bike will be sideways and it's actually a very controlled movement if you commit to it. You should definitely be comfortable just doing regular whips though, because the snap back to straight is the same.

But yeah......that clip of elliot is the shlt. Made me want to do them better too. :D
 
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TheMontashu

Pourly Tatteued Jeu
Mar 15, 2004
5,549
0
I'm homeless
I think the idea is to scrub the lip, it's not something you do in the air. Like DHPeteinSC said, sort of like doing a really hard flat corner of the edge of the lip. The idea is to use the lip to slow down and keep you low, so you can come into it faster.
 

SCARY

Not long enough
I wasn't unrelaxed.I'm not making definitive statements about any technique or anything.There's always exceptions to any rule.I wasn't talking exceptions ,I was talking practicality and what is easiest .

I just knew somebody had to start some clips vs flats thing.Whatever you like more, use that.How's that?I've used both for long periods of time,and use what works best for me.

In all seriousness if anybody has video of somebody throwing as good a scrub as Eliot in clips ,I would really like to see it.Scrub,not a whip.

I would actually say you could probably throw better whips with clips than flats.You could go farther out and pull back with the feet.Watch, now flat guys will be ticked...
 

AceHayden

Chimp
Dec 26, 2009
2
0
take your leading foot off and you can stay way lower to the ground, almost like a one foot downside but do it while scrubbing and you can stay way lower, just like how moto riders do it. Thats how i do it anyways
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Is there a way to do that, i was messing around with them trying them that way, and i was 3/3 with the front catching and throwing me over. Is there a technique to making good tires (that dont want to slide) slide?
 

buildyourown

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2004
4,832
0
South Seattle
Fluidride: Like a pro.

There is a section where Lars demonstrates how to blow the jump energy out to the side vs up. It sounds cheesy, but in slow mo, it's pretty clear. You have to hit the lip with the bike layed over a bit, but you can let the wheel pop out to the side as you body stays level and moving forward.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Is there a way to do that, i was messing around with them trying them that way, and i was 3/3 with the front catching and throwing me over. Is there a technique to making good tires (that dont want to slide) slide?
This right here VVV

Fluidride: Like a pro.

There is a section where Lars demonstrates how to blow the jump energy out to the side vs up. It sounds cheesy, but in slow mo, it's pretty clear. You have to hit the lip with the bike layed over a bit, but you can let the wheel pop out to the side as you body stays level and moving forward.
Seriously.....just throw that bltch over. I told you it's kind of a leap of faith thing your first few times. Just do it like a man. You'll mess up a few times but once you get one, you'll know it.........and it'll be the result of you absolutely forcing the bike where you want it. It's not a passive move.
 

primo661

Monkey
Jun 16, 2008
412
0
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Personally, I scrub jumps but you don't need to lay it flat like elliot does to get good results. I'm assuming you want to minimise your vertical velocity and maximise your horizontal velocity and not actually get a bubba scrub dialed just for the visual results. This can be achieved without doing a bubba scrub. Mine are not even half as pronounced as elliots but I still keep it super low to the point that I have to force the bike down from a crouched position to get any backside at all, otherwise it can become a huck to flat. BMXers are masters at sucking up a jump, maybe look at a few videos or ride with one of them. A good friend of mine who races cruisers gave me a few tips that helped alot.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Oh damn.....I didn't realize the vid that zaphoid posted was something different that what I'd already seen (some guys in socal NOT doing scrub whips). That was a different 'support the whip' vid.

We're all posting the same guy now! :D



But yeah.....that's it.
 

bobsten

Monkey
Oct 23, 2008
240
0
rain rain go away
BMXers are masters at sucking up a jump, maybe look at a few videos or ride with one of them. A good friend of mine who races cruisers gave me a few tips that helped alot.
the problem with this is that a bmx is 1/3 the weight and size of a dh bike. I can throw over my 20 and dial in backside but on a dh bike its a little harder to do that. as kidwoo said, just throw it over, I've done it once and carved a "C" into the lip. gotta break the comfort level I guess..
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Worked on them today, HUGE improvements since last time, For anybody else that has/is having trouble, find a lip that is really nice in the middle but kinda ****ty and beat up on the sides, and just turn off it, makes it easier to break the rear wheel free. I found jumps at diablo that were about 6 feet wide, but as far as poppy lippy jumps, only the middle 2 feet were, the sides were "worn" which made it easier to learn! Best part is when u do it right and land, its the best feeling in the world. Fast learning curve on these, after the 5th or 6th one they just came together like i been doing them forever.



 

mccdh

Monkey
Sep 9, 2008
181
0
Comox
i find its almost like leaning the whole bike/body into a lean or "table" before you take off the lip, and like what fluidride says, push your energy out through the rear wheel because when your mass inertia hits the lip of the jump it wants to go somewhere, but you want to stay low. i ride with my right foot forwards and have found it more comfortable to 'scrub' by leaning to my left, using my left (back foot) foot to whip the bike sideways at the end of the 'scrub' im no bubba but im trying. haha