How to Do a Mountain Bike Bunny Hop

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: April 8, 2021

The bunny hop is a very useful mountain bike move that allows you to lift both tires into the air to avoid obstacles. Not only can you impress friends with it, but you may need to use it to get over obstacles on biking trails. While the bunny hop is challenging, it should be very fun to learn. To do a mountain bike bunny hop, you need to position yourself on your bike, execute the hop, and practice hopping until you perfect it.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Positioning Yourself

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Accelerate to a moderate but steady pace. When learning how to bunny hop on a mountain bike, you should start at a moderate pace. If you go too fast, you probably won’t be able to execute the hop the way it needs to be done. As a result, avoid peddling too hard when learning to hop.
- While you can eventually increase your pace, start at 4 to 6 miles per hour (6.5 to 9.5 kilometers per hour).^{[1]
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Keep your forearms low. As you ride along at a steady pace, hold your forearms are low. This will give you the control and position you need to execute the bunny hop. If your arms are too high, you may not be able to generate the force and you could lose balance.^{[2]
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3
Dip your heels and bend your knees. Dipping your heels and bending your knees puts you in position to accelerate and control the bike. In addition, this position allows you to adjust as you execute the hop.
- Your positioning should resemble the crouching position of a sprinter.^{[3]
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4
Lean slightly toward and over the handlebars. Keep your weight centered to maintain good balance. Leaning over the handlebars gives you the momentum needed to perform a bunny hop.^{[4]
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- If you do not stay centered, you could wind up falling off your bike.
5
Accelerate slightly and push your feet down and back quickly. Move your legs and feet into the correct position as you accelerate. Without positioning your feet correctly before the bunny hop, you won’t be able to execute it properly.^{[5]
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Crouch down. While you already put yourself in a crouching position, you’ll want to retract this position even more before you execute the hop. Being in the crouching position is safer and gives you more control.^{[6]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Hopping Upward

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Pull upward on your handle bars. Pull upward, then push down and firmly grip your pedals. In combination with your acceleration, pulling up and back on your handles should lift the front tire of the bike into the air. If you’re riding on a hill or on mountainous terrain, you may gain substantial air.^{[7]
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2
Avoid allowing your weight to shift backwards. Leaning back could lead you to fall back and hurt yourself. Instead, make sure you push down with your feet and stand with a slight forward lean.
- If you lean back or sit back, you won’t be able to get the back wheel into the air.^{[8]
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Push into the handle bars. Immediately after pulling up on your handlebars, you need to ease back into a crouching position. Then, push your weight into the handle bars. In addition, slightly rotate the handle bars. This will create momentum that will help bring your back wheel off the ground.^{[9]
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Retract your feet upward. Point your toes down and sweep your feet backward above the peddles. This will help you adjust to the bike moving into the air.^{[10]
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Bend your knees before landing. While how much you bend your knees depends on your body and height, consider bending them at about a 60 degree angle. This is important, as the impact of landing could injure you if your legs are straight or tense.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Practicing

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Start on a completely flat surface with no obstacles. Find a patch of grass, either your backyard, a field, a meadow, or something similar. Complete practice drills where you try to perfect each part of the bunny hop. Feel free to experiment and change up anything that does not work for you.^{[11]
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- Watch to see which wheel tends to land first. After watching this, you can alter your technique so you get either the back or front wheel to land first.
- Don’t move on from a flat surface until you can comfortably hop over six inches of ground.
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Move to a gently rolling trail with small obstacles. After you’ve built confidence, try doing a bunny hop on a trail over gently rolling terrain. Use small obstacles, like small rocks, tree limbs, or roots to hop over.^{[12]
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Try hopping on a tough trail with large obstacles. After you’ve mastered small obstacles on intermediate trails, it’ll be time for you to move on to serious trails. On these trails, you’ll find a variety of obstacles – under different conditions – that you may need to hop over.
4
Practice with friends. Watch how your friends execute a bunny hop. Then, have them watch you. Give each other feedback. Ultimately, you and your friends will be able to do better bunny hops.
- In addition, consider joining a club where you can learn from people with more experience. Consider clubs like the Overland Mountain Bike Club in Colorado, the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club in North Carolina, or other clubs around the country.
- Set up times to bike and practice biking with friends on the weekend.

Community Q&A

Question

I can't lift my back tire up. Any tips on how?

Community Answer

Use your feet to push the bike up and move your body weight forward after you lift the front wheel.
Question

I tried, but it's not working. Any other tips how to do it?

Stewie Griffin

Community Answer

First, try lifting your front wheel and don't just rely on pulling the bars toward you. Second, try pointing your foot down on the pedals to lift the back wheel up. Then combine the two motions simultaneously.
Question

Can I hop with the Hero Sprint RX2?

Stewie Griffin

Community Answer

The answer is yes. The bike doesn't matter much, as any bike could do a bunny hop; with the Hero Sprint RX2, you have to preload both the front and rear suspension to get a higher jump. But most importantly, you would need the practice to get a good bunny hop every time.

Warnings

Avoid shoes with no grip, flip flops, or sandals

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Never try to jump something too tall

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Always wear a helmet for your safety

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