[abbike18]

does anyone have any advice for someone who wants to start hitting doubles? I'm comfortable on drops up to 6 feet and I can handle my bike in the air after being launched off a small lip at the top of a steep section. But i want to learn how to hit a double, where you actually go up before you go down...anyone have any advice or know where a good instructional video is?

i'm a pretty strong believer in the fact that eating dirt can be the best teacher. so if the best option is to build a tabletop, put on a full face and pads and go at it, just say so.

 

[Dox]

i'm a pretty strong believer in the fact that eating dirt can be the best teacher. so if the best option is to build a tabletop, put on a full face and pads and go at it, just say so.

Go for it. If you build your own jump you can start up small and get things bigger and bigger. The best way to learn imo.

 

[Mr Lahey]

Think in your head about building the smoothest bridge you can from take off to landing

 

[sundaydoug]

Ride behind people that are comfortable hitting doubles and start small.

 

[cecil]

u r going to need a forgiving jump like a table top, cause coming up short on a gap is no fun. jump on, jump off other side keep hitting it faster and faster till u clear. i can air time doubles, but i choke on 6' drops. for me when i think im going fast enough i give it a few more pedal strokes and clear everytime.

 

[abbike18]

cool, thanks for the advice. I think im going to build a nice tabletop tomorrow, ive got just the spot ready with a nice big natural landing

 

[davec113]

It's actually tough to find a good place to learn to jump on a dh bike. Djs are built for dj bikes, although you can probably find some that are ok on a dh bike. A lot of times the easier lines are built small, which isn't good either, you'll never really get a feel for it on really short jumps and they are just janky on a dh bike. I think the easiest jumps to learn on are something like a 4' tall table without a steep lip, and maybe start with the table 6-8' long or so. Seems like you'd be able to clear it without trying too many times, but the key is consistancy, and this takes practice. What I've observed is that riders who try to progress too quickly hurt themselves because they lack experience and consistency. Best to get a feel for it on a smallish, well built jump, and do it until you can nail the tranny at a wide variety of speeds. You should be able to go slow and pop the lip and hit the tranny, and you should be able to go fast, suck up the lip and still hit the tranny. One of the hardest things to get down (I still suck at it) is being able to look at a jump and hit it just right the first time.... and having this kind of skill and experience is good to have for hitting gaps. Casing obviously sucks, but overshooting the tranny can be big trouble too.

 

[djjohnr]

Ride behind people that are comfortable hitting doubles and start small.

What he said. Following people is by far the easiest way to learn. They can help you with the body/bike movements necessary and most importantly you'll know how fast to go.

 

[gemini2k]

i'm a pretty strong believer in the fact that eating dirt can be the best teacher. so if the best option is to build a tabletop, put on a full face and pads and go at it, just say so.

Ride behind people that are comfortable hitting doubles

Don't start small. How old are you? 20 or under? Just do what I did my first day on MTB's:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6GkOePMHO5o&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6GkOePMHO5o&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

I'm the second one, also keep in mind i hit it clean my first 2 times, I believe it was 18ft lip to lip at the time, not including those hay things thrown on the end

 

[rigidhack]

Oh man! You totally stopped that vid right before it got entertaining! (JK, hope you made it out OK)

This might sound really flippant, but it works. Train someone into a small gap and just give'r.

 

[demo 9]

just a quick pointer, although not guaranteed, try to avoid leaning back on the lip because USUALLY that will cause you to buck.

 

[Kanye West]

Pump the takeoff more with your legs than your arms on a DH bike. Don't look down and keep your eyes on the horizon.

 

[chillindrdude]

i probably over think them but....

i try to visualize myself arcing from the take off lip to the landing lip. my focus is on my front wheel, matching the loft at take off, hitting the apex and nosing down at transition (but trying to match the transition angle). the nosing down for landing, for me, is the most anxiety producing part. and i make damn sure that when i am nosing down, that my front wheel will/have cleared the landing lip. as i'm hitting the takeoff, i'll compress myself and (my suspension). i then unload as i take off.


really radiused (bmx style) jumps and doubles close together still give me problems, but i'm still learning. and i DJ with my full suspension 4X bike, so it does tend to be more forgiving than a hardtail if i case. but i feel like because of the suspension, i have to hit the jumps with alittle more speed to clear them when compared to a hardtail.

 

[JimLad]

Start on tables, and imagine doubles as the same thing. A tiny gap looks gnarlier than a big table when really they are the same just missing a little dirt. It's all in the mind

 

[slyfink]

go to Whistler for a day!

jk but not really, that place helps you progress faster than anything else on the planet...

 

[abbike18]

You should be able to go slow and pop the lip and hit the tranny, and you should be able to go fast, suck up the lip and still hit the tranny.

Yeah that makes a lot of sense - for the slow case are you almost doing a j hop off the lip?

Don't start small. How old are you? 20 or under? Just do what I did my first day on MTB's:

I'm 22, but man did that vid stop at the wrong time haha. how did you fare after that?

Just to clarify: while I have a devinci wilson sitting in my basement, I'll be learning to jump on my Spec Pitch Pro custom build. 5.9 rear 5.5 front. I was going to put some compression damping on her to give me more feel for the jump too. After I get it on the trail/am bike Ill try it with the big heavy dh bike. While it will be more forgiving on the landing, I also feel like a 45 lb bike isnt going to be fun to try to move around in the air. I'm off to build my tabletop, maybe ill take some pics when im done.

 

[gemini2k]

I'm 22, but man did that vid stop at the wrong time haha. how did you fare after that?

Ya unfortunately my friend filming stopped the camera right then for whatever reason.


Luckily I was only 19 at the time. I tumbled down the landing and moved out of the way before the guy behind me landed. Couldn't walk right for a week, tacoed my front rim, giant bruise on my stomach/side but have been hooked ever since! Also, never front wheel cased a jump since then.

 

[slowmtb]

If you are lucky then go to the local BMX track and hit up the table tops there ( assuming they have some ). You will get dialled in no time