Building wooden jumps

[DMan]

I want to build 2 wooden jumps that are movable around the back yard for a pump track style thing I want to start. The aim is to put them together as a "bridge" so to speak but then slowly separate them into a gap as my partner, mates and I get more confident. My thought on the upramp is something mellow. 30 degree takeoff with a height of about 70cm and a 2m ramp surface that's 1.2 wide. Can I build the same for the down? Except I'll make it 2.4m wide. Or should I make it longer or different in some way? Or should I make the down ramp a permanent dirt ramp?
If there's a link here because it's all been discussed can someone throw it up for me??

 

[Flow-Rider]

I think the best angle for a kicker is 45 and make your lander about 40~30 degrees at the same height as your kicker. Add an extra flat bit in front of your lander in case somebody comes up short. If you're worried about getting too much height go to about 400mm high. There is no real written rule just look at all different jumps on the trails.

 

[DMan]

I think the best angle for a kicker is 45 and make your lander about 40~30 degrees at the same height as your kicker. Add an extra flat bit in front of your lander in case somebody comes up short. If you're worried about getting too much height go to about 400mm high. There is no real written rule just look at all different jumps on the trails.

I looked at 45 but it's still a fair bit of angle for people with no experience. We built a wooden jump a couple of years ago 1.2m high at 30 degrees and that was scary enough by the time you added speed. I might make the lander the same height but a bit longer then. Maybe 2m not 2.4.

 

[Flow-Rider]

I looked at 45 but it's still a fair bit of angle for people with no experience. We built a wooden jump a couple of years ago 1.2m high at 30 degrees and that was scary enough by the time you added speed. I might make the lander the same height but a bit longer then. Maybe 2m not 2.4.

Start small then go big, 1.2m is way too high for a beginner. You want to learn how to jump properly first and learning how to "pop", squashing to get length and adjusting the angle of the bike in the air for a lander is more important.

If you come complacent with a low angle, you'll have trouble on the trails because most gap jumps around Brisbane are 45~60 on the kicker and they will tip you arse up if you roll them. Rolling a gap jump with speed isn't the best way of teaching someone how to jump in my opinion. Jumping is a progression of skills and if you don't have good basics, the poor form seems to travel through to the bigger jumps and you'll end up in a lot of hurt.

 

[DMan]

Start small then go big, 1.2m is way too high for a beginner. You want to learn how to jump properly first and learning how to "pop", squashing to get length and adjusting the angle of the bike in the air for a lander is more important.

If you come complacent with a low angle, you'll have trouble on the trails because most gap jumps around Brisbane are 45~60 on the kicker and they will tip you arse up if you roll them. Rolling a gap jump with speed isn't the best way of teaching someone how to jump in my opinion. Jumping is a progression of skills and if you don't have good basics, the poor form seems to travel through to the bigger jumps and you'll end up in a lot of hurt.

Mate, wise advice. Might have to get a little serious then and look at 45. Still ok to go flat or should it have a slight curve then?

 

[Flow-Rider]

I made this little jump so I was able to learn how to boost higher and longer, it's just under 400mm high. A lot of jumps have sharp lips of the face and you got to learn how to let the bike pop and climb into the air. It's easier to boost on a hard tail with the seat post down low too.

 

[DMan]

I migh

I made this little jump so I was able to learn how to boost higher and longer, it's just under 400mm high. A lot of jumps have sharp lips of the face and you got to learn how to let the bike pop and climb into the air. It's easier to boost on a hard tail with the seat post down low too.


View attachment 344668

Cool. Maybe I'll make a table top at a 45 degree then. And something somewhere with a little less angle. I understand completely where you're coming from but my partner won't like that booster. Maybe a small dirt gap jump

 

[Flow-Rider]

I migh


Cool. Maybe I'll make a table top at a 45 degree then. And something somewhere with a little less angle. I understand completely where you're coming from but my partner won't like that booster. Maybe a small dirt gap jump

Yeah, if she hurts herself she might lose all confidence in jumps and not want to go near them again.
One step at a time, you do need a lot of upper body strength. Bunny hopping skills helps too.

 

[pink poodle]

Radius man...radius...that way you get a smooth progressive curve to the ramp rather than risk something that dog legs last minute which runs the risk of throwing you over the cars. It's been a while but I've built a few ramps over the years (back in the old youth centre days). I've done flat ramps and curved ones. Both work well enough, but curved gives a much better result if you want a true jump feel.

For curved measure and cut your arc onto form ply (thick stuff), join with some timber bits, top sheet it (maybe like 10mm or a little more if you feel it will curve into place, don't go too thin it will split). Also put some grip tape on it as this helps reduce slips. I've done a few this way including a roughly 2.5m high quarter pipe in a warehouse which was a lot of fun.

For flat it's just like all the old school north shore. This is the stuff you will be able to accurately measure based on angles as it is all ye olde triangles. If you need a little up lift you can tack extra slats onto the last metre or so and make it raise. 2 of the biggest jumps around here are made like this and it's not difficult to gap about ~25 feet off them and you feel like a king! You can also just make the ladder section and have different height bases to attach it to for different riders.

For the lander I'd build it flat rather than curved. It is less intimidating for less experienced riders and it doesn't sound like you're going to have a run of them that you need to pump some serious rhythm out of.

If you have a helper, drop saw, and nail gun you can whip the shore ladder style stuff out really fast too.

 

[Flow-Rider]

Radius man...radius...that way you get a smooth progressive curve to the ramp rather than risk something that dog legs last minute which runs the risk of throwing you over the cars. It's been a while but I've built a few ramps over the years (back in the old youth centre days). I've done flat ramps and curved ones. Both work well enough, but curved gives a much better result if you want a true jump feel.

For curved measure and cut your arc onto form ply (thick stuff), join with some timber bits, top sheet it (maybe like 10mm or a little more if you feel it will curve into place, don't go too thin it will split). Also put some grip tape on it as this helps reduce slips. I've done a few this way including a roughly 2.5m high quarter pipe in a warehouse which was a lot of fun.

For flat it's just like all the old school north shore. This is the stuff you will be able to accurately measure based on angles as it is all ye olde triangles. If you need a little up lift you can tack extra slats onto the last metre or so and make it raise. 2 of the biggest jumps around here are made like this and it's not difficult to gap about ~25 feet off them and you feel like a king! You can also just make the ladder section and have different height bases to attach it to for different riders.

For the lander I'd build it flat rather than curved. It is less intimidating for less experienced riders and it doesn't sound like you're going to have a run of them that you need to pump some serious rhythm out of.

If you have a helper, drop saw, and nail gun you can whip the shore ladder style stuff out really fast too.

Large curves are for height like dirt jumps but most stuff here on the public trails is small with largish gaps for the speed you can carry. Brisbane has bugger all elevation.

 

[pink poodle]

They don't need to be high. I've used that arc on a ramp not much more than knee height with a base length around 1.8m. That was a fun jump, gave it away last year when I moved. It's still kicking it around my old 'hood. You can. Use a smaller/bigger arc if you like. It my experience a smooth arc is important as it results in less bucking, which is something that spooks rookies.

 

[pink poodle]

The wooden section of the lander in this pic is how I'd be making the lander for your modular jump. The jump after this a long timber launch ramp and similar lander. On the launch ramp the artists have added slats on top of each other progressively to make a bit of a lip - 2, then 3, then 4 and so on so you don't have to try and bunny hop the monster gap. I can't find any pics of it though.






The other thing to consider with this kind of thing is stability. You don't want them wobbling around under pressure.

 

[DMan]

Radius man...radius...that way you get a smooth progressive curve to the ramp rather than risk something that dog legs last minute which runs the risk of throwing you over the cars. It's been a while but I've built a few ramps over the years (back in the old youth centre days). I've done flat ramps and curved ones. Both work well enough, but curved gives a much better result if you want a true jump feel.

For curved measure and cut your arc onto form ply (thick stuff), join with some timber bits, top sheet it (maybe like 10mm or a little more if you feel it will curve into place, don't go too thin it will split). Also put some grip tape on it as this helps reduce slips. I've done a few this way including a roughly 2.5m high quarter pipe in a warehouse which was a lot of fun.

For flat it's just like all the old school north shore. This is the stuff you will be able to accurately measure based on angles as it is all ye olde triangles. If you need a little up lift you can tack extra slats onto the last metre or so and make it raise. 2 of the biggest jumps around here are made like this and it's not difficult to gap about ~25 feet off them and you feel like a king! You can also just make the ladder section and have different height bases to attach it to for different riders.

For the lander I'd build it flat rather than curved. It is less intimidating for less experienced riders and it doesn't sound like you're going to have a run of them that you need to pump some serious rhythm out of.

If you have a helper, drop saw, and nail gun you can whip the shore ladder style stuff out really fast too.

I like the idea of flat to start. It's more for fun than anything else and easier to calculate lengths and angles. I got the measuring tape out and 45 degrees is just too much to start. Like you said Flow, I don't want to scare her. I'm thinking about 30 degrees with a ramp face length of about 1.4m. Should bring the height out at 700mm. The lander I'll keep flat too and make it 2m long? What's the minimum width I could make the takeoff and lander to be comfortable do you think?

 

[pink poodle]

Take off can be pretty narrow, like 30-60cm without any issue. I use a wide lander to allow for a lot of margin for error and also getting funky. A standard pallet width is usually good.

 

[DMan]

Take off can be pretty narrow, like 30-60cm without any issue. I use a wide lander to allow for a lot of margin for error and also getting funky. A standard pallet width is usually good.

Sounds good as I have some pallets here at work that I was planning on using for the project

 

[Flow-Rider]

They don't need to be high. I've used that arc on a ramp not much more than knee height with a base length around 1.8m. That was a fun jump, gave it away last year when I moved. It's still kicking it around my old 'hood. You can. Use a smaller/bigger arc if you like. It my experience a smooth arc is important as it results in less bucking, which is something that spooks rookies.

Transition is important to be smooth but those small ramps crack if you go to thin at the start. It's been tested a fair bit that 45 deg. exit angle is the best angle for gaps as you get the most length. Most people run duel suspension bikes really soft and heaps of rebound so they swallow up most lips in a lot of cases.

What happens here is that trail care builds shitty double roll overs and then someone goes back and adds kickers to them so if you don't know how to ride a kicker and clear a gap you're in all sorts of trouble. Also you can't really cheat with skills on a kicker because it forces you to everything right rather than getting away with rolling over it.

No real rules to making jumps, I find all sorts around on the trails.

 

[DMan]

Transition is important to be smooth but those small ramps crack if you go to thin at the start.

What do you mean by small jumps crack? I agree with your comments about 45 degrees. It is the best angle for height vs length jumped. But it's still quite an angle so if you make the jump face long, your jump height gets big quick.

 

[pink poodle]

Sounds good as I have some pallets here at work that I was planning on using for the project

Well...1 pallet wide and 2 pallets long should be easy to achieve. Get some 2x4 pieces and run them the full length to keep it structurally sound.

Transition is important to be smooth but those small ramps crack if you go to thin at the start. It's been tested a fair bit that 45 deg. exit angle is the best angle for gaps as you get the most length. Most people run duel suspension bikes really soft and heaps of rebound so they swallow up most lips in a lot of cases.

What happens here is that trail care builds shitty double roll overs and then someone goes back and adds kickers to them so if you don't know how to ride a kicker and clear a gap you're in all sorts of trouble. Also you can't really cheat with skills on a kicker because it forces you to everything right rather than getting away with rolling over it.

No real rules to making jumps, I find all sorts around on the trails.

I love roll overs...last trail building day here was all "people need to be able to roll over these..." fuck me. That shit just results in features that nobody enjoys - too steep, too flat, eroded, chunked, and poorly maintained. But common sense wasn't the order of the day - build the rookie line "on line" with the direction of the trail, put up a sign or three, and put the expert line in a position that you have to go out of your way to hit it...The dirt jumps at hornsby (old man's Valley) have really nailed this concept well.

 

[DMan]

Well...1 pallet wide and 2 pallets long should be easy to achieve. Get some 2x4 pieces and run them the full length to keep it structurally sound.

Just what I was thinking. 700mm high a good start?

 

[Flow-Rider]

What do you mean by small jumps crack? I agree with your comments about 45 degrees. It is the best angle for height vs length jumped. But it's still quite an angle so if you make the jump face long, your jump height gets big quick.

The plywood splits when you place them on the grass, I actually put another piece of timbre under the ramp at the start to make it stronger and cut it at an angle.