*Bar-turn-
Simply turn your bars to the left or the right. Turning your bars the full 90 degrees gets you extra style points, as does twisting your head & upper body either direction. Difficulty rating: 1
*Kickout-
As soon as your back wheel leaves the jump, swing the rear of your bike around to the right or the left by using your hip and legs. Swing the rear of your bike way out, and then right back in. Don't stay sideways very long. You can get away with landing a little crooked, but too much of a sideways landing will cause you to crash. Gradually swing the rear of your bike out farther each time you jump. Try to eventually reach a "full swing" of about 80 degrees. Difficulty rating: 1
*One-footer-
There really isn't any explaining to this one. You simply take your "preferred foot" off your pedal, kick it out to the side, and stick it back on before you land. Your cranks will rotate downward when your foot comes off, so be sure to get it back on in time to return your cranks to a level position. That's it... it's pretty much self-explanatory. As with most tricks, start out small and gradually go bigger each and every time. Practice makes perfect. Difficulty rating: 1
*One-hander-
There isn't much explaining to this one either. Although not necessary, it may be easier to learn this trick by pulling up hard on your bars, getting your bike into a near-vertical position (with your bars in your lap), and then taking a hand off (just a little at first). Try to keep your bars straight the whole time. After you get them fully extended consistently, you can work on various variations, like a tire-grab or a seat-grab, which will help you out later on in trying different tricks. That's it. Difficulty rating: 1
*Can-can-
Same as a one-footer except you take your leg across the top tube of your bike. Example: Take your left leg and stretch it way out over your top tube to the right of your bike. Then, of course, pull it back over before landing. Difficulty rating: 2
*Cross-up (X-up)-
First, before you jump, make sure you can spin your handlebars all the way around without the seat getting in the way. Lean back and spread your legs apart in the air (to give room for the handlebars to spin). Turn your bars a full 180 degrees (again - to the left or right, whichever you prefer), and then "whip" them back in the opposite direction (if you turn your bars to the left when you "cross up", then turn them back to the right before landing, and vice versa). Don't get discouraged if you can't get a full 180 rotation at first. You have to kind of "stretch" your shoulders and arms a bit to get it fully extended. Difficulty rating: 2
*Tabletop-
This is another trick you can do to the right or left. For this example, I'll use right. Push down on your handlebars to the right and turn them down to the left at the same time, while using your right leg and lower body to push the rear of your bike up and to the left into a horizontal position. Gradually level your bike out more and more each jump, until you achieve a perfectly flat position. Flat like a table - hence the name tabletop - SUPRISE! Note: simply reverse right and left if you feel more comfortable trying this trick in the other direction. Difficulty rating: 3
*Nac-nac-
Kind of the opposite of a can-can. Basically a one-footer, but you swing the rear of your bike to the right and take your right foot and swing it way back around your back wheel (to the left side of your bike). Again, reverse the directions if you feel more comfortable doing this trick the other way. Difficulty rating: 3
*No-footer-
First of all, I strongly suggest wearing shin pads when attempting this trick. Also, you need a little air time to get this one extended good. It is also helpful to have your cranks tightened up, so they won't spin around when your feet come off. Start by taking your feet off just a few inches and then pulling them right back in, well before landing. Make sure you land with your pedals level. As you gradually spread your legs further apart each jump, you may notice the rear end of your bike drop down some. This is natural, but try to keep the bike fairly level; doing a no-footer with the bike in a vertical position is not a good thing. If you mess up, you can usually get away with landing one-footed, but higher speeds and bigger jumps will be less forgiving. In most cases, if it just doesn't feel right, and you don't think you are going to pull it off, you should just bail. Toss, the bike and crash. It's better than slipping your pedals and having your legs scarred for life. There is an art to crashing - seriously. With practice, you can minimize injuries by knowing when and how to bail. Difficulty rating: 4
*No-hander-
Pull your front end up hard as you leave the lip of the jump. Get your bike in a near-vertical position. Your bars should be in your lap before you take your hands off. This will keep you from losing control; your legs will actually be holding the bike up while your hands are off. Little by little, take your hands off more each jump. Start to level your bike out as you put your hands back on the bars. Make sure the bars are straight and your hands are securely back on the handlebars before landing. Difficulty rating: 5
*"Straight-out" No-hander-
This no-hander method is very different from the regular (above) one. Instead of lifting your arms straight up with the bike in a vertical position, you take your arms straight out to the sides with the bike in a horizontal position. This method is a bit more difficult, because the bike tends to nose-dive when you take your arms off in this manner. So, when you take off, lean back and pinch the seat with your knees. Leaning back will shift your weight to the rear of the bike, balancing things out nicely. Pinching the seat with your knees keeps the bike straight and controllable. Next, take both arms off evenly, at the same time. Hopefully, that will keep your bars from rotating too much when you let go. Finally, after you get your arms stretched straight out, pull them in, grab & straighten the bars, let go of the seat, and prepare for landing. Difficulty rating: 6
*No-footed Can-can-
Same as a can-can except you take both legs over and across your top tube. There's not much explaining to this one; just takes practice to learn. Difficulty rating: 6
*360-
First of all, I'd suggest learning this trick on a tabletop or a small double. You don't really need much air to do a 360. Before you jump, it would be best to practice on flat ground. Simply try to do a bunnyhop 360. You probably won't come anywhere close to a 360 on flat ground, but try to at least do a 180. When you go to bunnyhop, start turning before your bike leaves the ground. Turn your head and handlebars hard to the left (or right, whichever you prefer) and turn with everything you've got. Remember - where your head leads, your body follows. This bunnyhopping is not necessary; it merely helps you some by practicing the rotation on flat ground first. When you go to jump, you need to start the rotation before the bike completely leaves the jump. Don't go too fast at first. Going slow, you can usually get away with an under-rotation (like a 270 or so), but at full speed, things are less forgiving. Once you can pull a clean 360 consistently, then you can begin the real fun; 360s at high speeds over big doubles. That's where the difficulty comes in; it takes some guts. Difficulty rating: 6 (increases with height, jump size, speed, etc.)
*Toboggan-
When you leave the jump, push down on your front end and hit the rear brakes (to bring the front end down). Turn the handlebars 90 degrees as you are pushing down the front end. Simultaneously, take your left hand off the bars and grab the seat. If you turned the bars to the left, then take off your right hand; conversely, if you turned the bars right, then take off your left hand. While you are doing all this, you also need to be leaning way back to the back of your bike. Your butt needs to be behind your seat and right there at your rear wheel. When fully extended, the bike will be in a near vertical position (in an endo - with the front wheel well below the rear), you will be at the very back of the bike with one hand grabbing the nose of the seat, the other hand will be on your bars - squeezing the rear brake lever in, and the bars will be turned 90 degrees in a "straight line" with the seat. Gosh, this one is hard to explain. When it's time to return to Earth, let go of the brakes, then the seat. Grab your bars, straighten them out and get your bike level for landing. For a challenge and for extra style points, throw in a no-footer during all of this. Difficulty rating: 6
*Backflip-
Gather as much speed as you can. Jump off a ramp pull hard on the bars, make sure your back is straight. And simply land with an endo. Difficulty Rating: 9
*Flair-
Simply do a backflip and at halfpoint spin around at a 180 degree angle. Difficulty Rating: 10
*Bar-spin-
It's best to practice this trick on flat ground first. Pop your front end up, lean back slightly, spread your legs, and spin your bars around 180 degrees. Try to catch the bars before or right as your front wheel hits the ground. Next try a full bar-spin. You'll have to get your front end up a little higher and spin the bars a little faster for this one. Then, try this in a manual. Manual along (at slow - medium speeds) and then spin the bars hard. The front end of your bike will drop quickly; be prepared to grab the bars. Go for just a half bar-spin at first, then build up to a full. Apply this to jumping as well; a half bar-spin, then a full. I'd suggest learning this on a small jump, preferably a tabletop. You really don't need a whole lot of air time to pull off a bar-spin. Simply lean back (to balance out the bike), pinch the seat with your knees, and spin the bars. Now that sounds simple, but it's easier said than done. Just make sure that you are familiar with spinning the bars and catching them before jumping. Get it wired first. Note: If you don't have a gyro, make sure your brake cable is long enough and that your bars clear the seat. Difficulty rating: 7
 
 
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