Adding spin to a back hop
Step-by-step
Pull the bike into spinning as you jump off the obstacle.
Start from a trackstand position, your wheels aligned along the edge of the obstacle with the drop on your front foot side. The tyres should be virtually on the edge, or standing on the last two inches of the border so that nothing gets in the way.Drop with a 360° back spin
1° Start from a trackstand position, your wheels aligned along the edge of the obstacle with the drop on your front foot side.
2° Flex, push up on the front wheel and spin the handlebars to your back foot side to thrust your centre of gravity off-balance over the drop.
3° As you move backwards, pull the bars further to your back foot side, initiating a rotation with your shoulders.
4° Pull on the bars and launch a back hop while trying to look over your shoulders, this sends you spinning off the edge.
5° In mid-air, carry on with your momentum and swing the bike in front of you to re-align it with your shoulders.
6° Force the bike past its alignment with your upper body to complete the full turn. As in any drop-off technique, let the rear wheel drop first.
Turning with a pedal kick
Another way to launch these sweet 360 degrees drop-offs is to use a pedal kick while thrusting your hips on the opposite side from your driving pedal.
That feels a bit odd at first, but the pedal kick gives you extra power as you drive the spinning motion with shoulders.
This variation relies on the same technique you would use for a 180° pedal hop over a gap, since you can control the kick (in a back hop turn, you mostly pull back, with less control).
Give a good swing to the handlebars (from your back foot side to you strong foot side) to initiate the rotation.