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I've been watching and trying out Seth's tips on bunny hopping by doing the meerkat position first. I was able to get the feel of actually pulling with my weight and it kinda feels like floating a bit.

I was just wondering when getting to the meerkat position, does it really suddenly get "lighter" halfway towards the peek? I was able to do it but was shocked that it suddenly started pulling to my waist faster as it got higher. I'm not sure if I was about to loop out at that point but I don't think I do because I was standing up and my weight was probably a bit ahead of the rear axle.

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  • You should mention what kind of bike you're using. For example if you have rear suspension all kinds of funny things could happen halfway the hop. Sidenote: a problem with how-to's focusing on almost one particular thing only (meerkat in this case, which I'm not sure is a good starting point) is that it doesn't 'click' for everybody. As a consequence people having problems with the trick might start overthinking it and progress slows down. I recommend watching multiple videos, e.g. I'd recommend this one as well youtube.com/watch?v=lPfNagf1Yl8
    – stijn
    Jun 25, 2018 at 8:51
  • Thanks! I'm using a hardtail. I agree with you on your sidenote entirely! I've watched a whole bunch of videos on how to bunny hop; each one focusing on a different aspect of the hop. The reason I like this one from Seth in particular is that the meerkat position is one thing that you'll see on every video tutorial but not mentioned. I've been practicing for more than 2 weeks now "trying" to pull with my weight but ended up with bad elbow pain afterwards. After reviewing again and again, I realized I was bending my elbows and the aiming for the meerkat position helped me address that.
    – Rey Pader
    Jun 25, 2018 at 9:39
  • Ah it's good it helps you then. I never actively thought about it but at one point I saw a picture of me mid-hop and I was in the correct position. That would actually be an idea as well: take a video of yourself and look at your body position, maybe that shines some light on why exactly you feel what you feel.
    – stijn
    Jun 25, 2018 at 10:31
  • Just guessing but what you might be feeling is basic action-reaction: you start with pushing down on the ground with elbows and knees. So when you're getting in the meerkat position at one point the reaction takes place, so you're pushed away from the ground and feel light? Or maybe it's because you're preparing to take off and starting to bend your knees which would make the back wheel leave the ground. Kinda hard to tell, it all goes fast..
    – stijn
    Jun 25, 2018 at 10:32
  • Trigonometry: as the front wheel starts to lift, the bike is oriented (more or less) horizontally and the wheel is moving vertically. Near the apex of the rotation, the bike is nearly vertical and continued rotation means the wheels is moving about horizontally.
    – Paul H
    Jun 28, 2018 at 13:51

2 Answers 2

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According to my experience the bike does tend to feel a bit lighter, usually when nearing the apex of the movement (manual-type movement) so I have to compensate and move my hips toward the bars - I compensate for the lifting of the bikes front end (put the bars in my lap)bhop 1bhop 2Bhop 3at the same time I stand up explosivly (read-jump). At this stage the bike does get ligter. After this do not forget to scoop the rear wheel off the groundbhop 4 and push the arms forward.bhop 5 After this relax and straighten your arms and "brace for impact".

I hope that this helps you in any way...I am not in any way a professional of a teacher of mtb-ing for that matter although I helped a few of my friends lift their wheels off the first time :)

P.s. the images for this answer were from Phil Kmetzs video on bunnyhopping (

). I do not claim the ownership of this video and/or images that I used.

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Well, when I first started learning a bunny hop, It felt hard and heavy to do. However, with more practice, it became lighter to do and I found myself able to pull the handlbars closer to my waist and I could jump higher. it does get lighter as you get closer to the peak. I think everything that is happening now with you is normal. Don't worry about looping out and just keep going.

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