Dirt Jumping
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dirt Jumping is one of the names given to the practice of riding bikes over shaped mounds of dirt/soil. The idea is that after riding over the 'take off' the rider will become momentarily airborne, and aim to land on the 'landing'. Dirt jumping can be done on almost anything with wheels, but it usually involves bikes. The dirt jumping sport is centered on the riding of:
- BMXs (with 20 inch wheels A photo of some BMX trails courtesy of barendbmx.co.uk )
- Cruisers (big BMXs with 24 inch wheels)
- Mountain bikes - 24/26 inch with either rigid forks or forks with short front end suspension (usually 80-100 mm travel but can be up to 150mm+ depending on what sort of mountain bike you ride)
- Freestyle Motocross(FMX, Moto-X) of various sizes & CC's
A BMX built for dirt jumping tends to have a longer top tube than other BMXs, and may well be more reinforced. They will rarely have pegs fitted (unless they are also used for street riding), and will generally run only the rear brake. Also, the tires will be semi-slicks, as opposed to the slicks used for park riding. Large, padded saddles are also popular as something to land on when it all goes wrong - they are also easier to hold for in-flight tricks. the gear ratio is generally something in the region of 44:16.
A mountain bike built for dirt jumping tends to be a smaller frame than is used for other disciplines. Running singlespeed is very common, as is using only a rear brake. The forks are generally either rigid or short travel (up to 100mm). Wheel size is either 26" or 24". In general, a mountain bike dedicated to dirt jumping will have 24" wheels, a gear ratio of 1:2 (32:16, 36:18 and 24:12 being its most popular incarnations) and rigid forks. An 'all-round' bike used for dirt jumping will more likely have 26" wheels, a 30-36t chainring with a wide-ratio cassette and a short to mid-travel fork. In general mountain bike dirt jumpers are split on the basis of wheel size: 20", 24" and 26", because the wheel size dictates the shape of the takeoff to an extent.
Contents |
[edit] Culture
Dirt jumping is a 'freesport', in that most riders participate for fun, rather than competition. More recently, dirt jumping contests have begun to be organised, with the King of Dirt(USA) and Duke of Dirt(UK) series becoming large, and viewed as the more definitive series. In these competitions, points are awarded by judges on the basis of style and complexity. Although cash prizes are becoming more common, most prizes are still bike parts, usually supplied by the major sponsors of the series.
Dirt jumpers see themselves as participating in a very underground sport, and go to some distance to prolong this - the majority of bikes and components are made by smaller companies, and most companies push a 'by riders for riders' image, to a greater extent than in most other bicycle disciplines.
[edit] History
Dirt Jumping evolved alongside bmx racing from its birth. Dirt Jumping is similar to BMX or Mountain bike racing in that the rider jumps mounds of dirt. It differs in that the jumps are usually much larger and designed to lift the rider higher into the air. Additionally, the goal is not to complete the course with the fastest time, but rather to perform the best tricks with the best style. Trails are most often hand built, with attention to detail.
Dirt jumping is a freesport, with most riders jumping for fun. There are some dirt jumping competitions judged on style, difficulty and interesting riding and tricks. Competitions have become more popular in parallel to the increased interest of big (and small) bike companies, particularly to help sell their range of dirt jumping bikes. Although popular competitions have only been sponsored in recent years riders have been jumping bikes for decades.
[edit] Types of jumps
Double the most common form of Dirt Jumps. This consists of two separate earthworks, one acting as a takeoff(lip), and the other as a landing.
Tabletops are more common among those new to the sport, they are a single earthwork with a takeoff at one end, and a landing at the other, with a flat 'table' on the top. These are favoured by new riders because when the rider comes up short they can still easily ride out of it.
Ski jumps consist of just a takeoff, they're usually longer and flatter than other jumps, and tend to be situated on downhills, so the slope of the hill can serve as a landing. They're used mostly in competitions on jump length.
Roller a small tabletop that gives you extra speed by 'pumping' the jump. you usually find these at the beginning of a trail.
[edit] Tricks commonly performed
| Name | Description |
| Tabletop | While in the air turning the bike on its side to a 90' angle or further up. |
| Whip | Keeping the front of your bike straight whilst flicking the back to one side |
| No hander | Both hand off the handlebars |
| Suicide | Similar to a no hander except hands are stretched back and knees are pintching the seat |
| Toboggan | one hand off handlebars touching the seat or top tube, one hand turning bars 90'. Tilt front down for extra style. |
| No footer | both feet off pedals |
| Cancan | one foot taken off and put over top tube to the other side of bike |
| No footed Cancan | similar to Cancan/Stepthrough except done on both sides so that both legs are together, off the pedals and on the same side of the top tube |
| Backflip | rotating bike and rider completely upside down & continuting to rotate 360' of vertical rotation until facing original angle/direction |
| 360 | rotating the bike and rider completely round 360' until facing original direction. |
| Tailwhip | spinning the complete bike underneath you 360' with the handlebars remaining static. |
| Front flip | inverse of a back flip head tucked into handlebars and body in the fetus position |
| Bike flip | Jumping off the side of the bike and letting the bike spin a complete 360' backwards before getting back on the bike. |
| Heelclicker | A no footer but touching the heels together over the top of the handlebars |
| X-up | turning the bars 180' or further without releasing the handle bars to make the riders arms form an X shape |
| Barspin | releasing & spinning handlebars one full rotation before catching them again |
| Truckdriver | A 360' while doing a barspin |
| Turndown | Similar to an x-up but turn your body round with the bars |
super man no footer with feet extended out to the back and 1 hand grabbing the seat
[edit] Noted Riders
BMX dirt jumpers
- Ryan Nyquist
- Ryan Guettler
- TJ Lavin
- Corey Bohan
- Neil Wood
- Kye Forte
- Cory Nastazio
- Mike Aitken
- Marcus Blengsli
- Chris Doyle
- Luke Parslow
- Thomas Martin
- Andy Williams
- Reuel Erickson
- [Joe Lawlor]
- Pete Warren
- Joe Eley
- Dan Brown
- Scotty Cranmer
Mountain bike dirt jumpers
- Aaron Chase
- Alex Morgan
- Trond G. Hansen
- Timo Pritzel
- Eric Porter
- Grant Fielder
- Chris Smith
- John Cowan
- Paul Basagoitia
- Lance McDermott
- Luke Stevenson
- Glen Coe
- Steven Bafus
- Ollie Fielder
- Ollie Wilkins
- Cam McCaul
- Jeff Lenosky
- Mike Smith
- Simon 'Jimmy' Pratt
- Jim Davage
- Matt Beard
- Tyler Paksi
- Ashley Perrin
- Greg Shaw
- Matthew Swain
- Sam Nicholson
- Patt Campbell-jenner
[edit] Noted trails
Most trails are kept very private, in order to prevent them being damaged or ridden by those who the original builders do not approve of. Also, a sizeable proportion of dirt jumps are built on private land, and for liability reasons, are usually kept quiet. Wisley(UK) is an example of trails that have had to acquire insurance and become a private club to protect themselves against liability.
Some public, commercial, trails of note exist at Esher Shore(UK), Chicksands(UK) and Woodward PA(USA).
[edit] External links
- My Bmx.com's Bmx Dirt jump database
- picture of BMX Dirtjumping
- Bike site from Gloucester
- [http//:www.mtbr.com Guide to all things mountain biking, delivering user-provided reviews of mountain bike products, news and tips.]
