Even on large steep rocks, performing a wall ride will optimize your grip transversally for a quick ride, up an obstacle that would be too steep if you tried with a frontal approach. A curved wall ride can also boost your speed on a short run-up distance. Learn this on a slanted wall, something that lets you ride up progressively, before you move on to steeper walls.
Go fast but stay smooth
Janos Boudet exits a short wall ride.
Approach the wall at a good pace, at an angle of about 45° to its base. The farther and higher you want to ride while cheating gravity, the more momentum you need hence the faster you must go. Your momentum will help you build pressure against the wall and increase tyre friction.Click on any step below and use the scroll-wheel to move through the animation.
Riding up slanted grounds
1° Approach the wall at a good pace, at an angle of about 45° to its base. Your momentum will help you build pressure and friction.
2° Launch a bunny hop and tilt the bike on its side to position the tyres as perpendicular as possible to the surface as you touch-down.
3° Leave the brakes loose and start crouching progressively as you roll higher and slower to maintain pressure and grip on the slanted surface.
4° From the highest point in the wall ride, or on your way down, extend your arms and legs progressively from your crouching position.
5° If the wall is too steep to simply ride down to the ground, spring back into a full jump, pulling on the bars to take-off the front wheel.
6° As soon as the rear wheel loses touch, re-adjust the tilt of the bike to the vertical and re-align the bike beneath you to face the ground.
Watch all the slow-motion video clips for this move
Maximize your grip
Exiting a wall ride into manual.
Try to visualize your path as a curve on the wall, as if you were riding up a curved BMX track with a high lip. You must build enough momentum towards the wall to feel like you would fall against it if it weren't there.
Why a parabolic path?
In any free jump, you would follow a natural parabolic curve (that's gravity law). When you are riding on a wall after a bunny hop, you are merely using tyre friction to assist your jump and
cheat on gravity. But you are only "assisted" and the grip alone is too weak for you to stay up there.
So to make the transition as smooth as possible, follow the nearest path to what would be a non-assisted jump: that natural parabolic curve.
Without securing some grip with your tyres, you won't be able to roll and control the curved path. Gravity will simply drag you down too quickly and crash you to earth before you get a chance to
ride along.
Grip or no grip
Some wall rides require full control over the rear wheel.
Depending on the texture and grip of the wall, you will be able to cheat a bit, but turn down and push back into extension again as soon as you lose grip. When you exit the wall ride, pull on the bars and tilt the bike vertical or to the best standing position you can. As you leave the wall ride, gravity comes back in full control and you should land properly.
The vertical stuff
No exit except a controlled back-hop.
Vertical wall rides are tricky and risky. You must tilt the bike nearly horizontally to bring your tyres properly into contact with the wall and ride up. Practise your bunny hops with that in mind. If you approach too frontally and you slam your wheels too vertically, you won't be able to ride a curve either.Large curved berms offer a nice playground.
Once you manage a slanted bunny hop, use the same progressive grip-in, grip-out approach as described above. Remember, no grip = no ride. With their higher gear ratios, free riders and dirt jumpers can go much faster and often use a small ramp or bump to launch a massive jump.Click on any step below and use the scroll-wheel to move through the animation.
Vertical wall rides
1° Riding at about 45° from its base, launch a bunny hop to get up to the vertical part of the wall.
2° Before touch-down, tilt the bike on its side to position the tyres as perpendicular as possible to the vertical surface.
3° Follow a natural parabolic curve and try to stay smooth on your legs to maintain as much grip and direction control.
4° Spring back into a full jump, pulling on the bars to take-off the front wheel as you exit the wall.