How to Bunny Hop a Bike: Technique, Drills & Mistakes

Learning how to bunny hop a bike is the single most useful skill upgrade for any rider who wants to clear roots, curbs, potholes, and trail debris without slowing down. In this guide, you’ll learn the two-stage technique the pros use, the exact body movements behind each stage, and a drill progression that takes you from flat-ground hops to clearing real obstacles safely.

What Is a Bunny Hop (and Why Learn It)?

A bunny hop is a technique for lifting both wheels of your bike off the ground without a ramp or jump. The proper version — sometimes called the “pro hop” — lifts the front wheel first, then the rear, in one flowing movement. This is different from the “English hop,” where both wheels leave the ground at the same time by simply crouching and jumping upward.

The front-then-rear sequence matters because it generates far more height and works with flat pedals. Riders who learn the both-wheels-together version usually plateau at a few inches of height and rely on being clipped in, which builds a bad habit: pulling up with your feet instead of using proper technique.

Beyond looking good, the bunny hop is a genuinely practical skill. On the road it gets you over potholes and drainage grates you spot too late to steer around. On the trail it carries you over roots, rocks, and logs while holding your momentum. It also builds the foundational front-wheel and rear-wheel control that underpins almost every other bike trick worth learning, from manuals to drops.

Before You Start: Bike Setup and Safety

You can bunny hop almost any bike, but setup makes a real difference while you’re learning:

• Use flat pedals. Clipless pedals let you cheat by pulling the bike up with your feet, which masks poor technique and causes ugly crashes when you eventually ride flats. Learn on flats; the skill transfers everywhere.
• Check your tire pressure. Slightly firmer than your usual trail pressure helps the tires rebound and protects your rims from pinch flats during botched landings. If you do burp or flat a tire mid-session, here’s how to fix a flat quickly and get back to practicing.
• Lower your saddle. Drop it well out of the way — you need room to move the bike beneath you. A dropper post is ideal.
• Pick a forgiving surface. Short grass or smooth dirt is kinder than tarmac for your first sessions. Wear gloves at minimum; knee pads are a smart addition.

Smaller, more nimble bikes are generally easier to hop. If you ride a big 29er, expect the movement to feel slightly slower and more deliberate — wheel size changes the feel of every lift, as we cover in our 27.5 vs 29er comparison — but the technique is identical.

Step 1: Master the Front Wheel Lift

The bunny hop starts with getting the front wheel up — and this is where most riders go wrong. The lift does not come from yanking the bars with your arms. It comes from shifting your weight backward and letting the bike rotate up beneath you.

The movement

1. Roll at walking pace in a neutral “attack” position: cranks level, elbows and knees bent, eyes ahead.
2. Load: compress your body down and slightly forward, pressing both wheels into the ground like you’re squashing a spring.
3. Explode back: drive your hips back and down behind the saddle while straightening your arms. Your weight moving rearward is what lifts the wheel — think “push the bars away,” not “pull the bars up.”
4. Let the front wheel rise to at least mid-thigh height, then bring it down under control.

Practice cue

Lay a stick or a line of chalk on the ground and practice lifting the front wheel over it from a slow roll. Aim for 10 clean lifts in a row where the lift comes from your hips, not your arms. If your backside isn’t moving behind the saddle on every rep, you’re arm-pulling.

Step 2: Master the Rear Wheel Lift

Stage two is lifting the rear wheel — and on flat pedals this feels like witchcraft the first time it works. The secret is a “scoop”: with the front wheel up, you shift your weight forward over the bars and point your toes down, pressing back and down into the pedals. Friction between shoe and pedal lets you drag the bike up and forward beneath you.

The movement

1. From a slow roll, stand tall with level cranks.
2. Shift your weight forward, chest moving toward the bars.
3. Point your toes down and press your feet back into the pedals, like scraping mud off your soles.
4. Spring upward with your legs and let the rear wheel come up behind you. Even a few inches is a win at first.

Practice cue

Do rear lifts on their own until you can pop the back wheel 10–15 cm on demand. Riders who skip this step end up with a “dead sailor” hop: front wheel up, rear wheel dragging limply behind. Efficient foot mechanics here share DNA with a smooth pedal stroke — if you’ve worked on pedaling technique, the toes-down scoop will feel familiar.

Step 3: Putting It Together — the Full Bunny Hop

Now you chain the two lifts into one movement. The rhythm is a fast one-two, like an “L” shape traced by your hips: back, then up-and-forward.

1. Approach at a brisk walking-to-jogging pace, standing, cranks level.
2. Compress down into the bike.
3. Lift the front: hips back, arms extending, front wheel rising.
4. The switch: as the front wheel reaches its peak, drive your hips up and forward over the bars.
5. Scoop the rear: toes down, press back into the pedals, and pull your knees toward your chest. Both wheels are now airborne.
6. Level out and land: push the bars slightly forward so the bike levels beneath you, and land both wheels together (or rear wheel a fraction first), knees and elbows bent to absorb the impact.

Expect the timing to feel wrong for the first few sessions. Almost everyone rushes the switch and hops front-and-rear together. Slow it down: exaggerate the front lift, pause a beat, then scoop. Speed comes later; sequence comes first.

Drills to Build Height and Consistency

The stick progression

Place a small stick or piece of foam pipe insulation on the ground. Hop it 10 times cleanly, then raise the target: stack two sticks, then use a small log or a foam block. Foam and sticks punish mistakes gently — save the concrete curb until you’re landing 9 out of 10.

The slow-motion hop

Do bunny hops at barely-walking pace. Slow speed exposes every timing flaw and forces genuine technique, because you can’t use momentum to fake it. Three sets of five slow hops at the start of every practice session builds precision fast.

The curb ladder

Once you clear 15–20 cm consistently, take it to the street: hop up a curb, then off it, then up-and-off in sequence down a quiet road. This teaches you to judge take-off distance — roughly one bike length before the obstacle at moderate speed — which is the judgment you’ll use on real trails.

Session structure

Keep sessions to 20–30 minutes. Bunny hopping is explosive, and technique collapses when your legs tire — that’s when sloppy, habit-forming reps (and pinch flats) happen. Two short sessions a week beats one exhausting marathon.

Common Bunny Hop Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

• Pulling up with your arms. The classic. Fix: practice front wheel lifts with one finger hooked loosely over each grip — if the wheel still rises, your hips are doing the work.
• Hopping both wheels together. You’re skipping the sequence. Fix: return to the slow-motion drill and exaggerate the front-lift pause.
• Dead rear wheel. Front comes up, rear barely leaves the ground. Fix: isolated rear-lift practice, focusing on toes-down scoop.
• Leaning back on landing. Landing rear-heavy with straight arms is how riders loop out or case obstacles. Fix: push the bars forward at the peak so the bike levels, and land centered.
• Looking down at the front wheel. Your bike goes where your eyes go. Fix: pick a spot 3–5 meters past the obstacle and stare at it through the whole hop.

One more subtle fault: braking mid-approach. Committing to an obstacle takes the same confidence as committing to a corner at speed — the body positioning principles in our guide to descending on a road bike (heavy feet, light hands, eyes up) apply directly here.

How Long Does It Take to Learn?

With two or three focused sessions a week, most riders get a recognizable bunny hop in 2–4 weeks and a genuinely useful 20–30 cm hop within a couple of months. The riders who learn fastest are the ones who resist the urge to skip stages: a week spent purely on front and rear wheel lifts saves a month of frustrated flailing at the full movement.

Measure progress by consistency, not peak height. A rider who clears 20 cm ten times out of ten is far better equipped for real-world riding than one who clears 40 cm once in a while. Keep the sessions short, keep the sequence honest — hips back, then scoop — and the height takes care of itself.