Several people have asked me for help learning to bunny hop over the past month or two, so I thought I would put together a quick photo pictorial to help them out.
I apologize for the mediocre image quality, they were captured from a video clip.
Approach picture. I'm standing with my weight a little bit forward because I am preparing to lift the front tire by throwing my weight
back. Note that my pedals are flat, with my favored foot (left) forward. Note also that my seat is slammed as low as it can go; it is very difficult to bunny hop with the seat set at XC height.
Crouching, preparing to lift the front tire. I am doing this hop about as slowly as I can, so the timing was very important.
I am starting to lift the front of the bike. I do this by lunging my butt back and letting that sharp movement transfer to the handlebars through my straightened arms. Compared to the previous pic, you can see how I almost pushed the handlebars sharply forward. I don't use the drivetrain at all to lift the front of the bike (my feet are in the same position).
Weight all the way back, front starting to come up.
The wheel is still coming up, but note that the handlebars are being pulled closer to my body. Also note that as my weight came forward, my legs remained slightly flexed. This is because as the front wheel comes up, I am going to spring off the back wheel and I need to do so with my legs.
Now you can see that my legs have straightened and the bike is coming up into the air. The handlebars are very close to my waist, the wheel is up in the air, and I am looking at where I want to land. Also note that I pointed my toes forward to help control the bike in this position. A slight "smearing" motion with your feet helps control the rear of the bike.
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