How to Bunny Hop an MTB: A 5-Step Parking-Lot Progression for More Trail Clearance and Control

A proper MTB bunny hop isn’t a yank-and-hope. It’s a two-part weight shift: front wheel first, then rear. Get the timing right and you’ll clear roots, water bars, and surprise logs without slowing down, without clipping a pedal, and without that panicked nose-dive. Get it wrong and you’re just doing a heavy English hop that tops out at curb height.

This is the progression I use with riders who can already manual-lift the front wheel. Five steps, one parking lot, about 45 minutes. Start with flat shoes/flats if you have them – it forces real technique.

Setup: Get the bike ready to lift

You don’t need a special bike, but a few tweaks help:

Saddle down. Full dropper down, or at least 50mm below climbing height. You need room to move.
Medium gear. Something you can pedal at 8–10 km/h. Too easy and you’ll spin; too hard and you can’t accelerate into the hop.
Level pedals, heels down. Your feet are hooks, not clamps. Heels slightly dropped keeps you planted when you scoop.
Brake levers flat enough to reach with one finger. If you’re still fighting lever angle, run through the 15-minute brake lever angle test first – you want a relaxed grip for the lift.

Find a flat parking lot with a painted line or a crack you can use as a marker. Later you’ll add a stick, then a small cardboard box.

Step 1 – The front-wheel lift: manual pop, not a pull

Roll at walking speed. Arms bent, chest low, eyes forward.

Preload: push the bars down and load your feet for half a second.
Explode back: drive your hips rearward, straighten your arms, and let the front wheel come up. Think “hips to the rear axle”, not “pull the bars to your chest”.
Hold it for one bike length, then set it down softly.

Do 10 reps. You’re looking for a lift that comes from body weight, not biceps. If your elbows are bent at the top, you’re pulling too early. If you stall out, add 1–2 km/h of entry speed.

Step 2 – The rear-wheel scoop: feet first

Now the part most riders skip. With the front wheel on the ground, practice scooping the rear:

Roll slowly, level pedals.
Point your toes slightly down, then rapidly “scoop” back and up – like scraping mud off your sole.
As your feet scoop, push the bars forward and let your hips drive forward over the bottom bracket.

The rear wheel should unweight and tap the ground lightly. 15 reps. On flats you can’t cheat – if the bike leaves your feet, your scoop was too vertical. Angle it back and up at about 45°.

This scoop is the same timing you use when pumping through rollers. If pumping still feels vague, the 4-pass flow drill for pumping trail features is a great warm-up for weight shift.

Step 3 – Link them: front, then rear, one second apart

This is the bunny hop. Not both wheels together – that’s the English hop ceiling.

Roll at 8–10 km/h toward your painted line.
Lift the front as in Step 1. As soon as the front peaks, immediately scoop the rear as in Step 2.
Say it out loud: “front – rear”. That half-beat pause is the whole trick.

Start by just clearing the line. 20 reps. Common fixes:

Front lands before the rear leaves: You’re pausing too long. Tighten the “front-rear” cadence.
Rear won’t come up: You’re still leaning back. Drive your chest forward as you scoop. Nose over stem.
Looping out: You’re staying back too long. Push the bars forward hard during the scoop.

Once you can consistently clear the line with both wheels, tape a thin stick down. Same drill, 10 clean clears before moving on.

Step 4 – Add height: compress, explode, tuck

Height comes from three things: more preload, faster timing, and a tuck.

Deeper preload. Drop your chest 10 cm lower before the lift. Load the fork and tires, then release.
Faster link. Shrink “front – rear” to “front-rear”. At speed the gap is about 0.2s.
Tuck. Once both wheels are airborne, bend your arms and knees and pull the bike up into you. Knees out, heels up. Land both wheels together, level.

Swap the stick for a 15 cm tall cardboard box. Roll in at 10–12 km/h. Aim to clear it with 5 cm to spare. Crash the box – it’s cardboard for a reason. 3 sets of 8 reps, with a minute rest between sets. Stop when your timing gets sloppy; fatigue is when bad habits stick.

A clean hop at this height will get you over 90% of trail junk: roots, water bars, small logs. For bigger drop-offs where you need to carry speed off a ledge, use the full 4-week drop progression instead – different weight shift, different landing.

Step 5 – Take it to trail speed

The parking lot is honest, the trail is messy. Final session:

Find a green/blue flow trail with small root sections or rollers.
Pick one obstacle per lap. Pre-ride it, pick your takeoff spot 2–3 bike lengths before.
Three laps, same obstacle: Lap 1 – slow hop, focus on timing. Lap 2 – trail speed, focus on the tuck. Lap 3 – carry speed out, land and pedal.
Move to the next obstacle.

Two rules on trail: eyes up, and never hop what you haven’t scouted. A bunny hop buys you 30–40 cm of clean air at trail speed once this clicks – enough to float a root ball instead of smashing through it. That saves rims, saves momentum, and saves hands. If rock gardens are where you’re losing speed, pair this with the rock garden line-choice session plan – hop the first rock, pump the rest.

Common bunny hop mistakes – quick checklist

Pulling with your arms only. Fix: hips back first, arms are cables, not winches.
Both wheels at once. That’s an English hop, ~15 cm max. Fix: say “front – rear” out loud.
Clipped-in yank. Clips hide a bad scoop. Fix: 10 minutes on flats once a month.
Looking down. Bike follows eyes. Fix: pick a landing spot 3 m past the obstacle.
Saddle too high. You can’t move. Fix: dropper down, every time.

How often to practice

Two 20-minute parking-lot blocks per week for three weeks, then maintenance once a week. Five good reps beat fifty sloppy ones. Film yourself from the side on your phone – you’ll spot the “both wheels together” mistake in two seconds.

Once you can clear a 20 cm box consistently on flat ground, you’ve got a real American bunny hop. On trail at 18–22 km/h that translates to floating a 30 cm log without touching the brakes. That’s free speed, fewer pinch flats, and a lot more confidence when the trail throws something at you mid-corner.

FAQ

Do I need flat pedals to learn to bunny hop?

No, but they help a lot at first. Flats force a proper rear-wheel scoop instead of just pulling up with clipless pedals. Learn it on flats, then transfer to clips – your hop will be higher and more controlled.

Why can I lift the front wheel but not the rear?

You’re probably staying too far back after the front lift. Drive your chest forward over the stem as you scoop with your feet. The rear comes up when your weight moves forward, not when you pull harder.

How high should a trail bunny hop be?

For most trail riding, 25–35 cm of clearance is plenty – enough for roots, water bars, and small logs. Race-level riders hit 50–60 cm, but that takes months of practice. Focus on clean timing first; height follows.

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