Wheel truing is actually something that is very easy to do.  Even if you have no experience with mountain biking or truing a wheel, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to accomplish it.

The first thing to do is make sure that none of your spokes are loose.  To check, grab each spoke in turn and try to shake it back and forth.  If the spoke wobbles, or makes pinging and grating noises, it’s loose.  If it’s loose, add tension to the spoke by turning the spokey anti-clockwise with your finger and thumb pressure.

Keep turning and shaking until the noise is gone and the spoke doesn’t wobble or move.  Move on to the next spoke until you’ve gone all the way around the wheel and checked them all.

Now, it’s time to see just how true the wheel actually is.  Turn your bike upside down then spin the wheel to see where it comes closest to rubbing on the brake.

You may need to rotate the wheel backwards then forwards to locate the middle of the bulge on the wheel.  Tighten the spokes which run on to the other side of the rim.  If those spokes are already tight, you’ll need to loosen a few of the spokes which run to the bulge side of the hub.

Truing a wheel is easier than you may think, although it can be a little tough with some wheels.  If you need to loosen spokes, be very careful that you don’t break them.  They can be very tough to loosen on older mountain bikes.

In mountain biking and even BMX riding, the bunny hop is a bike trick that involved the rider lifting the bike up and over an obstacle while remaining in motion on the bike.  Experienced bikers can lift their bikes in excess of a meter or one and a half feet.  The world record for the bunny hop stands at 4 feet.

The bunny hop is executed by approaching an obstacle with speed, lifting the front of the bike then leveling the pedals.  If the bike has full or front suspension, pre-load the shocks by pressing down on the bike just before you reach the obstacle.

Once the shocks have been pre-loaded, the rider will spring upwards, pulling up with the hands and feet at the same time.  Toe straps or clipless pedals help with this, although if plain platform pedals are used, it’s still possible.  As the biker lifts, the hands will roll through twisting the throttle.  After the object is cleared, push down on the bike then absorb the impact with the arms and the legs.

It’s often times a misconception that a bunny hop without toe clips is achieved by rotating forward on the handlebars.  Lifting up on a mountain bike while standing next to it is quite difficult to hold on to the handle bars.

The bunny hop is very popular with mountain biking, as experienced riders can make it look a lot easier than it actually is.  New mountain bikers should practice a lot before they actually attempt the hop, as doing it on a bigger obstacle can easily be quite dangerous.

With proper practice, the bunny hop can be achieved, even for beginners.  All you have to do is give it some time and effort, and you’ll be pulling off the bunny hop just like the pro’s do it.

By:Alison Addy

If you take part in mountain biking, especially the extreme kind, then it is inevitable at some point that you will have a crash. You can see mountain bike crashes on DVDs around the world, some are lucky as they have the right safety equipment, whilst others are not. Stunt crashes can be fascinating to watch, but the real life ones can be horrific and they can cause serious injury.

The potential injuries that can occur with mountain bike crashes are endless. Many bikers have been impaled on their bikes handlebars, they have broken their arm after falling off and some have even been paralyzed after a bad fall. So the injuries that you can sustain are quite severe. Crashes don’t just occur when you take part in extreme mountain biking. They can also occur when you take part in casual riding too. However obviously there is more of a risk involved with extreme downhill riding where jumps and tricks are involved.

Protecting Yourself against Crashes

The only way to truly protect yourself against a crash is to ensure that you have the correct safety equipment. You cannot always predict a crash when you are out riding on your mountain bike, but if you wear the appropriate safety equipment then you can at least protect yourself from serious injury. It doesn’t matter whether you are a beginner or an expert rider, you will have a crash at some point. So what protection should you have to keep you as safe as possible?

When you hit the ground after a fall, usually the first things to get hurt are your hands. Many people do not think to protect their hands whilst they are out riding and unfortunately that can cause problems if you do fall off the bike. The wrists ad our fingers are most sensitive to injury after a fall and it only takes a minor knock for them to get seriously injured. So wearing gloves is definitely a good idea as if you do fall off, the skin will be kept in place because of the gloves.

Essentially however the most important safety equipment you will need is a helmet. You should never go anywhere without your helmet, even if you are just going on a leisurely ride along a field! Anything can happen and the accident may not be your fault but if you fall and hit your head you could potentially suffer a serious injury. The way that helmets are designed these days makes them extremely comfortable to wear. They really can make the difference between life and death and so if there’s one piece of safety equipment you will not go without, make sure that it is the helmet.

Overall the helmet, gloves and eye protection are generally the only safety equipment you need when out cycling. You will definitely suffer from at least one crash on your bike so it is always better to be prepared for the inevitable.

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Alison Addy loves writing for www.bikecyclingreviews.com .Keep reading about mountain bikes reviews and mountain bike parts at his web.