Apprendre le velo trial sur TrashZen: toutes les techniques de VTT trial expliquees en photo et en videos.
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Bunny hop to front


On a street bike, bunny hops are the norm when it comes to take-off and land onto obstacles, typically with a blunt reception on the rear wheel. But you can also bunny hop in such a way as to land directly onto your front wheel, a technique that requires very good timing and precise body control.


Not your regular bunny hop

trials riding tutorials It takes some commitment to land to front wheel.

As for any bunny hop, just cruise at a good pace to approach the obstacle. Crouch suddenly over the bike to compress both tyres and lean back to focus the compression on the rear tyre.

Arms stretched, spring up in extension to lift the front wheel up, but surge forward as you pull the handlebars to your abdomen (using the bike's cantilever effect to boost your jump). During this forward extension, start aiming your front wheel at the upper edge of the obstacle you want to climb onto.

It is really scary and feels counter intuitive at first, but reaching that edge with your front tyre is key. Right after take-off, actively aim your front wheel right at the obstacle's edge instead of trying to throw the rear wheel up at it.




Push the front wheel down in front of you to squash the front tyre onto the edge, brakes fully locked (also locking the rear brake does give you a bit more support on the front pedal as you land).

Upon impact, stay supple, lean over the handlebars and tuck your knees as much as you can to bring your hips closer to the stem. Keep your shoulders moving forward and use your momentum to level the bike up. All this helps you transfer your weight over the front wheel and lift the rear wheel further up.

Once the rear wheel is level with or higher than your front wheel, release the front brake and swing your arms up in front of you to finish with a wheel swap, swinging the bike beneath you to land your rear wheel in place of the front wheel. Lock the rear brake to secure your position.


Click on any photo and use the scroll-wheel to animate the move.

Bunny hop to front wheel

trials riding tutorials
1° As for any bunny hop, spring up in extension as explosively as you can after a compression phase, lifting the front wheel up.

trials riding tutorials
2° During take-off, actively aim your front wheel at the upper edge of the obstacle you want to climb onto, surging forward.

trials riding tutorials
3° In mid-air, push the front wheel down in front of you to squash the front tyre onto the edge, brakes fully locked.

trials riding tutorials
4° Upon impact, stay supple, flex your knees to bring your hips closer to the stem and lean your torso over the front wheel.

trials riding tutorials
5° Once the rear wheel is high up, unlock the front brake and perform a brisk wheel swap, pushing the handlebars in front of you.

trials riding tutorials
6° Terminate the wheel swap swinging the bike beneath you to land your rear wheel in place of the front wheel, ready for your next move.


Biketrial video Watch this move in slow-motion Biketrial video



Mental game

trials riding tutorials Tuck your knees to bring your hips closer to the stem.

This is a very different way to finish the move compared to a regular bunny hop to back wheel where you would just pull the rear wheel up, stretching your arms up. Instead, you should focus on transferring your weight over the front wheel as it hits the obstacle.

If that helps, imagine that you are trying to perform a vertical S motion with your centre of gravity, leaning forward as you approach the obstacle at speed, then crouching energetically, then pulling on the handlebars and finally surging forward to pick the front wheel onto the obstacle in an inverse scooping motion.

To get the right feel for it, start on small obstacles like a couple of pallets stacked together and learn your marks for the take-off and the downward scooping motion. A typical failure mode is to miss the edge with the front wheel, slipping the front tyre over the obstacle instead of locking it hard onto the edge (for fear of a face-plant).

You can compensate that mental drift by aiming your front wheel slightly below the edge of the obstacle but it will take a lot of commitment to reach that edge. Landing a bunny hop to front wheel will be easier to learn at a small angle (approaching at about 60° instead of perpendicularly), turning on your front foot side as you jump. As you get more confident, approach the wall more frontally.


You can also check out Jimmy Ertzer's tutorial video to get a different view
(French subtitled in English).


Combo with a 180° or 360° nose pick

trials riding tutorials Eject yourself from the nose-pick with spinning momentum.

An interesting variant of the bunny hop to front wheel is to carve a 45° turn as you take-off (typically to your back foot side) to land your front wheel at about 120° on top of the obstacle. If you follow the handlebars with your shoulders and regroup well-enough over the front wheel as you land, you can use your rotational inertial to spin further your front tyre over the obstacle.

Then you can drop-off the obstacle by swinging the rear wheel over to the other side before performing a brisk push-up with the front wheel to eject yourself, like for a typical 180° endo side-drop but performed much faster.



Click on any photo and use the scroll-wheel to animate the move.

With a 180° or 360° nose pick

trials riding tutorials
1° Start like for a 180° bunny hop, throwing your shoulders into the turn during your extension but also leaning sideways toward the obstacle.

trials riding tutorials
2° Since you want to land to front wheel, actively track your landing target, aiming your front wheel at the obstacle, at an angle.

trials riding tutorials
3° Push the front wheel down and lock the front brake to hit the obstacle at about 90°, flex your knees upon impact to regroup over the handlebars.

trials riding tutorials
4° Use the obstacle's support to further pivot on the front wheel and gain extra spinning momentum before dropping off onto the other side.

trials riding tutorials
5° Like for a 360° nose drop, perform a firm push-up to eject yourself with extra spinning momentum and force the bike into rotation.

trials riding tutorials
6° As the rear wheel touches down, hold tight to complete the turn without being thrown out of balance, and ride away.


Biketrial video Watch this move in slow-motion Biketrial video




Bunny hop to G-turn
If there is room for it, another exit strategy for the 180° variant of the bunny hop to front wheel is to complete a G-turn, since you can practically land to a fakie nose-wheelie. The only difference being that you perform the first 90° of the G-turn during take-off instead of launching a rolling stoppie in a turn.

You must hit the front wheel at about 90° or more onto the obstacle so you can regroup over the front hub as you keep turning, before releasing the front brake and pushing the front wheel down to force it into a fakie nose wheelie.
In order to make this work, you'll have to really lean into the turn as you take-off, approaching the obstacle at 45°. The difficult part is to regroup yourself over the stem as the bike's frame swings from the side to a more vertical position, spinning to the back.

You want to hold your balance over the front wheel long enough and carry on spinning until you can switch to a fakie nose wheelie (with your front wheel engaging into a reversal).
At this point, if you are familiar with fakie nose wheelies, then you'll feel when you reach the switch point. Let the front brake loose to engage in reversal and try to hold your balance for as long as possible going fakie before hopping off it.


Click on any photo and use the scroll-wheel to animate the move.

Bunny hop to G-turn

trials riding tutorials
1° Approach at 45°, throwing your shoulders into a sharp turn during your extension but also leaning sideways toward the obstacle.

trials riding tutorials
2° Since you want to land to front wheel, actively track your landing target, aiming your front wheel at the obstacle, at an angle.

trials riding tutorials
3° Push the front wheel down and lock it sideways at about 90° or more onto the obstacle.

trials riding tutorials
4° Flex your knees upon impact to regroup over the stem and pivot on the front wheel.

trials riding tutorials
5° Use your spinning momentum to swing the rear wheel up until you can switch to reversal.

trials riding tutorials
6° Let the front brake loose and push down the handlebars to engage the fakie nose wheelie.


Biketrial video Watch this move in slow-motion Biketrial video


Both exit strategies will call for tons of practise and commitment, but focusing your centre of gravity over the front hub is key.



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