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In this answer, Mσᶎ mentioned a bunny hop.

I agreed, and wrote about How to Bunny Hop.

But it soon became clear that different people have slightly different definitions of a bunny hop. For example, Blam talks about different bunny hops, this answer links to a Danny MacAskill video showing bunny hops, and this BillyNair answer describes similar bunny hops. Most of them are different to what I described - at speed, clipped in, both wheels of the ground.

Where did I get my definition from? Err, that would be 40 (or is it 50?) years ago, before BMX was heard of, when a bunch of us kids would do whatever came to mind on our road bikes. We did the normal stupid stuff kids do: jumps, jousting, riding down stairs, along the top of fences, picking up stuff, yadda yadda, etc, etc. We called getting both wheels off the ground at speed without the help of a ramp, a bunny hop. Everyone else seemed to call it the same thing.

Until now.

I look forward to hearing about the different jumps you do, on what bike, and what they're called.

I'd like to add a definition to our Terminology index.

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    I'm in favor of adding a definition to the Index, but this discussion is likely to generate several opinionated answers and is better suited for Chat or Meta than the main site.
    – Gary.Ray
    Jul 30, 2014 at 12:55
  • I'm hoping that people will provide evidence to support their opinion, such as references.
    – andy256
    Jul 30, 2014 at 13:03
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    The problem you are going to have here is different disciplines will use the term differently. A BMX rider will use different terms than a trials rider and due to different styles of bikes will have different techniques.
    – paparazzo
    Jul 30, 2014 at 16:38
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    That may well be the case. So what are those different uses? It's not a matter of opinion: if those different definitions exist then they should be able to be stated in a well supported factual way.
    – andy256
    Jul 30, 2014 at 17:28

1 Answer 1

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I see that the definition of a bunny hop is subject to the kind of cycling we're talking about. I doubt you'll find a specific definition that everyone will agree with.

However, what's common with (almost) everyone's concept of a bunny hop is that the front wheel elevates first and and the rear follows — just like a bunny hops — front paws first. Whether you and your bike are airborne due to clip pedals, upward pull from the handlebar or black magic, doesn't matter in my opinnion.

Where my definition came from? 20 years of BMX, urban and dirt biking, occasional downhill and aggressive trails. Last 5 years mostly just commuting with a cyclocross. Still feels good to bunny hop over curbs and branches.

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  • I like the image of the bunny hopping with front paws first. And yes, a bunny hop does feel good. Hopefully someone will suggest what my idea of a bunny hop is commonly called.
    – andy256
    Jul 30, 2014 at 12:11
  • I'll add my research results as an edit to the OP. Looks like I'll have fun learning some new techniques :-)
    – andy256
    Aug 4, 2014 at 0:24

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