Quantcast

Building the first dirt jump

Mutt

Monkey
Jun 14, 2003
283
8
Lost on Long Island
Yowsa!, that landing looks i bit small and tight. Big landings are your friend.

Also, it looks like you've got a whole area cleared out for your digging. I'd suggest making things either much bigger than you think you need, but easy or space them out. That way, if they are big you can always change them to be steeper as you improve (and I feel like bigger = safer). Or if you space them out, as you improve and want bigger, you don't need to re-space your whole line.

I'd suggest, if no one has yet, perusing this thread and take note of the size and spacing of stuff. Note that bigger doesn't necessarily mean burlier.

http://ridemonkey.com/threads/what-is-trails.225841/
 

cmc

Turbo Monkey
Nov 17, 2006
2,052
6
austin
Yowsa!, that landing looks i bit small and tight. Big landings are your friend.

Also, it looks like you've got a whole area cleared out for your digging. I'd suggest making things either much bigger than you think you need, but easy or space them out. That way, if they are big you can always change them to be steeper as you improve (and I feel like bigger = safer). Or if you space them out, as you improve and want bigger, you don't need to re-space your whole line.

I'd suggest, if no one has yet, perusing this thread and take note of the size and spacing of stuff. Note that bigger doesn't necessarily mean burlier.

http://ridemonkey.com/threads/what-is-trails.225841/
Yep. A lot of people think a steep landing is cool. But a landing can only be steep if it is also really tall. A short landing cannot be steep, because there will not be enough wheelbase for your bike to land on.

This is the basic starting point (although the face of the landing can be transitioned, i.e. not totally flat):


You can have a little bit of transition in it, but bascially you need at least a 5 foot tall landing and at least 12-13 feet of space to land on. Basically, that's a little over two bike lengths.



More advanced steepness:



Beginners usually overestimate the steepness. The lip should not go to vert and the landing shouldn't look like a lip.

Some BMX-trails have a very steep-transition style.... But, that's not a good way to start out. Start out mellow and big, and maybe make them tight/steep later.




This landing looks like 30 degrees blended up to maybe 45 degrees at the top:

 
Last edited: