Pump Track Build - 2003 Saracen XESS XTREME

[hawkhill97]

There's a fun little line on this track that I'd really like to get good at. The trickiest bit for me is transitioning out of one of the berms onto a different bit of the track. Doesn't look like much, until you roll up to it at speed at which point it has a nasty habit of getting bigger and steeper

Sessioned this feature a little today, and went from barely rolling over the top of it to almost clearing it clean, although still lacking much in the way of style.

Might make nailing this one a goal for 2025

 

[hawkhill97]

 

[hawkhill97]

Loving this little bike. Never fancied doing stair drops on a rigid fork, but this feels rock solid and surprisingly smooth

 

[novocaine]

your letting your weight up at the bottom of the transition into the jump instead of pushing it downwards in to it. push in then lift (note, lift not pull up) as the front wheel just makes the top of the lip (or in this case roller), as the wheels comes of the floor shift your weight forwards slight to squash the jump or slight less to let the back wheel come up behind you, then forwards to make the nose dip in to the other side of the jump and down you go, ready for the next one. think little bunny hop at the lip, front then back.

as to the stairs, bitch crank as you lift the front wheel and then settle it back as you sail down so you land on both wheels.



I can say all of this. These days I can't put it into practice, I've lost the knack of jumping, I don't do enough of it. Last time I tried I looked like a right old man.

 

[hawkhill97]

your letting your weight up at the bottom of the transition into the jump instead of pushing it downwards in to it. push in then lift (note, lift not pull up) as the front wheel just makes the top of the lip (or in this case roller), as the wheels comes of the floor shift your weight forwards slight to squash the jump or slight less to let the back wheel come up behind you, then forwards to make the nose dip in to the other side of the jump and down you go, ready for the next one. think little bunny hop at the lip, front then back.

as to the stairs, bitch crank as you lift the front wheel and then settle it back as you sail down so you land on both wheels.



I can say all of this. These days I can't put it into practice, I've lost the knack of jumping, I don't do enough of it. Last time I tried I looked like a right old man.

Cheers for the tips!

Sounds like I'm more or less on the right track with what I'm *trying* to do on the little transition jump. Just need to get enough reps in that it's no longer intimidating to give it a bit of pop rather than sucking it up.

If I manage to find a slightly bigger stair set the crank on take off sounds like a good shout too. Don't normally ever need to do that when trail riding!

Would absolutely love to be able to air out on a quarter but that honestly feels a very long way off indeed

 

[hawkhill97]

Another little edit from a session at one of the Bristol pump tracks. Pretty pleased with how it all looks on the pump track, the less said about the jump line the better. I know what I should be doing, but my lizard brain kicks in and tells my firmly that I'm not doing that in case I get too much air

 

[novocaine]

Another little edit from a session at one of the Bristol pump tracks. Pretty pleased with how it all looks on the pump track, the less said about the jump line the better. I know what I should be doing, but my lizard brain kicks in and tells my firmly that I'm not doing that in case I get too much air

your pump run looks good but you go all rigid when you jump and try to bring the bike up without bringing your body up, so you'll only ever go as high as your at the top of the jump. Lizard brains suck, mine is a ****. stand up, lift the bike from your shoulders not your hips so your legs don't bend as much and you don't squash the jump.

like you say, easier said than done and something I can't do anymore either.

we don't have a pump track in ridable distance from me, best we get is a little box section skate park. no way am I brave enough to right anything with coping these days, it all feels wrong.

bike looks good, but my god I forgot how short they are.

 

[hawkhill97]

lift the bike from your shoulders not your hips so your legs don't bend as much and you don't squash the jump

Never heard it explained quite that way before but makes total sense. Cheers for the tip, I'll have a play with that.

There is a small double on one of the XC trails I ride regularly that I can clear on a good day - it takes a good bit of physical oomph as well as mental commitment. On steep lippy jumps like these, I can muster neither!

Agreed that coping can go do one there are a couple of biggish quarters in skate parks around me that I would be happy to drop into except for how easily the front wheel can slip on coping (yes I know, hop into it and all that, but I once overshot badly doing that and broke my cheek bone landing flat to concrete on my face - talk about a steep learning curve )

 

[hawkhill97]

Really appreciate the advice @novocaine btw!

 

[novocaine]

Really appreciate the advice @novocaine btw!

can't say it's good advice, but it's what got me in the air a long time ago.
these day's I struggle not to hit the deck on flat ground.