Let's talk Step-Ups....

[THRILLSEEKA]

My crew and I are getting hungry for bigger and bigger step-ups. This is our best one to date, just can't find any larger ledges yet. 12' ledge, 22' gap. Tasty! Ramp is a bit on the large side, however, we were planning for a bigger loft. This one will put us 4' plus over the top, but we're juuuust about topped out as far as the gap is concerned.

I wanna see a BIG one.

[biggins]

step ups rule for learning tricks on and they are also lots of fun to hit.

as far as them being the same as drops to flat, that is incorrect. on a stepup you are ideally landing at the peak of the jumping arc instead of really beginning any downward momentum.

[Toshi]

i wasn't saying they're the same. i was saying that they're much better.

[biggins]

i wasn't saying they're the same. i was saying that they're much better.

oh,sorry about that toshi, i am a douche. :o:

[offdawalley]

that gap is monsterous, noice, how did you get speed for that?

[ito]

Those are wicked! Huge gap. I've done some larger step ups, but nothing that long, tow-in or just massive run up? Either way, very sick.

The Ito

[DH biker]

Wowo that is huge! Did you get pulled in by a dirtbike or something? Man that would look so sick on video!

[losttrailsfound]

thats an uber nice step up man! you gotta tell us how you get speed for that thing :drool:

looks like where you land could be used as a fun little drop too

[escapeartist]

How'd you get speed for that thjng? (sorry i'm insecure and figured that since everyone was asking I needed to as well)

[THRILLSEEKA]

I've got some digi-cam video, I'll see if my brain will allow me to download, then post it. I'm technilogicalololy challenged!
The speed... Well, it's definately a haul-ass assault! The approach is a wicked nasty downhill screamer, so rough the bike only touches ground like 4 times on the way down. And on top of that, it is COVERED in baseball sized rollers(round rocks). Can only kick out so many before they hopefully start to settle in. No idea on the speed, I would say it's a 200' long, 45+ degree slope and we pedal our butts off the first 3rd of it, which is about as much as possible before losing pedals becomes a serious issue.
The whole step-up idea is killer because you land with zero momentum. Could pretty much lock up the brakes and stop where you land, even though we're probably ticking off 30-35mph(guess) on the way down.

And Toshi, it does sound like you're being a dick, still not sure what "step-ups > > drops to flat" means...help me out here?

And as far as that ledge being used for a drop? With a respectable amount of speed it's a nice little 8 footer, I suppose. But we have some better options there. 500 feet to the left of that step-up is this: 30' canyon jump. Broke both my pinkies on it 2 weeks ago.... moron...

[Toshi]

And Toshi, it does sound like you're being a dick, still not sure what "step-ups > > drops to flat" means...help me out here?
math notation: > is "greater than", >> is "much greater than", as in an order of magnitude or more. therefore my statement means that step ups are much cooler than drops to flat. not being a dick. sheesh.

[THRILLSEEKA]

OK, cool. And stop rolling your eyes at me! Sheesh.... :)

[THRILLSEEKA]

OK, here's a shot of some of the run-up. This was my 3rd attempt at it before I tried GOING FASTER. Actually, this was me finding one of those delightful "baseballs" with my front tire about 4 feet from the ramp! Shot off the side of the ramp about 3 feet up and in this pic, I am about to PILE UP into the ledge face. I was laughing before impact! It got me motivated(pronounced PISSED) enough to finally clean it. Can kinda get a better idea of the height on it from this shot...only the landing is SUPPSED to be about 5' to the right!

[LeRoy]

step ups >> drops to flat. congratulations. how are you getting the speed, just pedaling like mad?

Math notation taken into account, I do see why these guys reckoned you were being a dick... I am not sure if I am way off base here but I thought it was univerally accepted that drops to flat were incredibly lame. (save the exception of the trials boys with dyno slow-speed skills)

I liken your statement to this: coors light >> getting your mouth pissed in. good choice.

Not attempting to stir up ****... I just find your statement curious.

[Toshi]

I liken your statement to this: coors light >> getting your mouth pissed in. good choice.
fair enough. next time i will attempt to compare two more similar styles of stunts :oink:

[skajumper]

Call me lame, but i quite enjoy a good drop to flat if done smoothly. And i ride a hardtail with 100mm tavel :o:

[THRILLSEEKA]

I think drops to flat suck... I can't pedal off to save my ass! So technically, for me anyways, I shouldn't have been bothered by that statement as I find DTFs to be incredibly challenging! If I can go like 70mph, however.... nothing is challenging, it's just a speed bump!
I'm a hack....

[offdawalley]

oh shizzle that canyon gap is huge, and doing step-ups like that with 2 broken pinkies is even more gnar cor

[THRILLSEEKA]

Nuthin' badass about walkin' around with two "pinkie casts" though! Feel like a total dork! What's even dumber is that I pull the casts off each weekend, tape them to my ring fingers and pray I don't eat it again! Yeah...I'm SURE they'll grow straight....
:eyeroll:
Man, can't even impress the gurlz with broken pinkies..it's just not kewl!

Now... back to our previously scheduled step-ups...
Further downhill in that same canyon(toward the cameraman) as the canyon jump is a possible step-up canyon jump that I am reeealy starting to see as do-able. About a 30' gap, but only about 10' rise. Two major issues with it, though, are that the bottom of the gully/ravine is FULL of very sharp, LARGE, jagged boulders, and the 2nd issue is that the "landing" is a steep uphill and it is very loose. What I'm hoping will happen is that I can shoot myself straight up that landing, rather than land down onto it, and use the momentum to take a quick turn to the right down a cowpath before I slide back into the canyon! Seems simple enough...If I knew how to ride! What will probably happen is that I bounce, fall over then slide 20' to the rocks below. Guess I should think it over atleast twice before I try it anyway! Someone HAS to try it, it's there for the taking!

[OGRipper]

Sweet step up yo. I agree that step ups are way fun, there's something very cool about landing right at the point where a big air would stall out.

As for this:
What I'm hoping will happen is that I can shoot myself straight up that landing, rather than land down onto it, and use the momentum to take a quick turn to the right down a cowpath before I slide back into the canyon! Seems simple enough...If I knew how to ride! What will probably happen is that I bounce, fall over then slide 20' to the rocks below. Guess I should think it over atleast twice before I try it anyway! Someone HAS to try it, it's there for the taking!

Video please!