[Closed] (Jumping) How to consciously practice “heavy feet” during take off?

heels down / toes up?

learn to bunny hop properly for a start. Bunnyhopping does not involve pulling up on the bars

then get the hang of pumping small bowls/berms

then get the timing correct for pumping lips.

that's it.

"heavy feet" is bollocks skills coaching jargon. as is "heels down" and many other gems

Where in the country are you? Not that it changes the technique but it's easier to see this sort of stuff than read it.

You and the bike took off together, and gravity is the same for the both of you.

If the bike is falling away from you, then you pushed it 😀

Bunnyhopping does not involve pulling up on the bars

True fact what you do is just will the earth away from you and levitate on your own personal awesomeness.

Mtbel doesn't pull the bike up, he pushes the earth down...

Mtbel should be a coach, learn to bunny hop > learn to pump > learn to jump, sounds easy.

it is.

I would just push into the lip with my legs and that's it. The rest is a result of physics.

You have already realised you don't pull with your arms, so its just the push with your legs that's left. Perhaps body position in the air may help. I tend to squat and pump and the bike comes up under me if I get it right.

Find a pump track or BMX track near you, take your chain off and try and get round. You'll figure out how to pump the jumps then its just a case of picking up speed untill you clear the jumps, the pumping motion is just the same for jumping.

I found it easiest to imagine a solid mound between takeoff and landing, not a flat tabletop. The idea is to be weightless over that mound. So if the takeoff and landing are both 1/4 circles then draw an imaginary 1/2 circle linking their lips, obviously the flatter the takeoff the flatter the ark to the landing.

The other thing to try is riding up a bit of concrete banking, gives a better idea of how fast you need to be going to transfer that to a given height, i always found the speed needed was much higher than imagined as other people always look slower than it feels when you follow them.

Just forget this obsession with flats and clip in!

"heavy feet" is bollocks skills coaching jargon. as is "heels down" and many other gems

You do realise that coaches (in any sport) use what you call "bollocks jargon" as a device to explain something that can be quite technical otherwise.

A good coach can explain a technical manoeuvre to someone with a simple explanation that's easy to visualise.

Whereas you just say "learn how to pump" with no further info as to how that is done, or how it will help.

which is about as helpful as a slap in the knackers.

You might as well have responded with "just jump, once you've done it, you will know how to do it"

This..
[img] [/img]

learn to bunny hop properly for a start. Bunnyhopping does not involve pulling up on the bars

Could you explain that one?

I would just push into the lip with my legs and that's it. The rest is a result of physics.

You have already realised you don't pull with your arms, so its just the push with your legs that's left. Perhaps body position in the air may help. I tend to squat and pump and the bike comes up under me if I get it right.

So, i was thinking after I posted, do I need to be doing a sort of "undulating pump", like a wave... arms and then legs... this is really hard to explain in text.

You and the bike took off together, and gravity is the same for the both of you.

If the bike is falling away from you, then you pushed it

With all this talk of pushing with your legs... this is what im afraid of!

True fact what you do is just will the earth away from you and levitate on your own personal awesomeness.

With all this talk of pushing with your legs... this is what im afraid of!

EDIT:

Notice no leaping about, all quite controlled. If you have the time and money go and see Tony or do a public session. Best money you will spend on biking full stop

[url= http://ukbikeskills.co.uk/blog-2/ ]UK Bike Skills Blog[/url]

Sample Nirvana / Dan H video

You're overthinking it. Find a medium sized jump and practise it until you're comfortable. Jumps are fun, keep practising and you'll soon get a feel for what you should be doing.

learn to bunny hop properly for a start. Bunnyhopping does not involve pulling up on the bars

Could you explain that one?

so pay me neal and I'll happily meet you and show you.
or simply come over and I can give you that slap in the knackers so you can get some real perspective on which is moar helpful

forgive me for not embracing modern life but I learned all of the above before any of the jargon was dreamed up, before there were mtb coaches and indeed before there was an internet to ask for advice on. it's really not very difficult to figure out if you simply ride your bike enough.

Could you explain that one?

*Push by weight shift as Steve explained above.

I learned all of the above before any of the jargon was dreamed up, before there were mtb coaches and indeed before there was an internet to ask for advice on.

LUXURY! We had one mtb wheel between five, and if father beat us with it we were grateful.

didn't learn any of it on an mtb. hadn't even heard of one.

forgive me for not embracing modern life but I learned all of the above before any of the jargon was dreamed up, before there were mtb coaches and indeed before there was an internet to ask for advice on. it's really not very difficult to figure out if you simply ride your bike enough

(X and Y being entirely subjective and will vary wildly for each person)

Also if you want paying for coaching it's fair enough you can either keep quiet or do some forum based soliciting if that abides by the forum rules, saying "just learn it" is just...
well it's classic mtbel I guess.

forgive me for not embracing modern life

Could you explain that one?

If you are pulling on the bars when bunnyhopping you are doing it wrong, end of story. Weight transfer lifts the front not your arms.

The ideal steps to learn are manual > bunny hop > pump > jump

But really in order to jump all you need is to learn how to pump and this:

I would just push into the lip with my legs and that's it. The rest is a result of physics.

You have already realised you don't pull with your arms, so its just the push with your legs that's left. Perhaps body position in the air may help. I tend to squat and pump and the bike comes up under me if I get it right.

You push with your legs and the opposite of what you expect happens. Rather than the bike falling away from you it sticks to your feet. It is counter-intuitive, but it is what works due to kinetic energy.

Think about jumping off the ground as high as possible on your feet. You don't pull up, you squat down and push. Similar concept on a bike.

so he can spend X amount of hours figuring it out for himself or he can ask for advice and manage it in X - Y hours. So who's the daft one here?

You simply need to actually spend time riding your bike, you know... for fun instead of talking about it in algebraic terms and then worrying about wasting your time. You might even meet other riders in real life and learn from each other.

"Trolling" is just another new a bullshit concept too Junkyard. I just call a spade a spade. always have. always will.

Weight transfer lifts the front not your arms.

You simply need to actually spend time riding your bike, you know... for fun instead of talking about it in algebraic terms and then worrying about wasting your time

I mean I'm sure it's possible to throw a bunch of books at a group of kids and tell them to just learn to read and let them get on with it, eventually they'll probably manage it. However I reckon schools, teachers and a well thought curriculum are probably a better idea.

*look it up

Until everything 'clicks' the relationship between (often very, very boring when you're told to do it as a drill in a coaching session) bunnyhopping and jumping can seem tenuous. But it's not.

Scour t'web for how-to videos on bunnyhopping and then jumping and practice. As others have said, keep it fun and try to session a jump you are comfortable with to build up skill and experience and then progress to another.

Threads like this always confuse the hell out of me. There are no words that will teach you to jump a bike.

I was jumping 20 foot doubles before I learned how to kiss girls. Time well spent in my opinion 😉

Learning as an adult must suck. Especially when you read all the bollocks in a thread like this as a learning tool. Hit your local BMX track.

I actually happen to understand empathy better than most DONK. As you seem to have noticed I have a huge gap in the ability empathise with whiney people who don't really deserve it. Once upon a time I thought there was something important missing from my personality/social skills but weighing up the evidence and looking at it subjectively I came to realise it wasn't worth worrying about. not one bit.

and No. there is no pulling up of bars required. think about how one "ollies" a skateboard. it's the same basic procedure.

kissing girls is for when it's too dark/wet to jump 20ft doubles.

my first kiss was age 4, funnily enough the same summer I first jumped my bike off a ropey wooden ramp.

my first kiss was age 4,

Pregnant

mtbel so can you do a bunny-hop without holding your bars? Assuming you are riding flats. What sort of bunny-hop are you referring to? If you want to bunny-hop over a big obstacle or on to a ledge you will be pulling on your bars

Pulling back not up is the point.

Pulling back not up is the point.

no handed bunny hops ware where it's at 🙂

my first kiss was age 4

Your mum doesn't count! 🙄

kissing girls is for when it's too dark/wet to jump 20ft doubles.

Totally. I've got a t-shirt that says this. I also say it to my wife every morning.

Steady there tiger I nailed it with levitate on your own personal awesomeness.

clealry [s]you [/s] he can do this no handed

so pay me neal and I'll happily meet you and show you.

I'll leave it thanks, I'm perfectly happy with my riding. Also, you seem like a complete bellend to be honest.

The thought of spending money to learn some of the crap you come out with, AND having to spend time with such a tool really doesn't appeal.

Not being rude though, just "calling a spade a spade"

[img] /revision/latest?cb=20131225161738[/img]

Thanks you neal I did laugh out loud at that reply

When learning, to pull up like a bunny hop will more than likely give you a bad weight shift just as you getting airborne, best to learn by letting your speed and the (mellow) jump do the work until you get used to it.

To get a nice floaty boost you do have to pull back/up on the bars then push them forwards, simply saying you dont pull up on them is misleading but technically correct. If the bars didnt come up them you'd just lift the back wheel with your feet and land on your face.

Just so's I know, a 'manual' is a wheelie, right?

A manual is a wheelie without pedalling.

Just so's I know, a 'manual' is a wheelie, right?

[img] [/img]
This is a manual
[img] [/img]
This is a wheelie

mtbel so can you do a bunny-hop without holding your bars?

To perform a proper bunny hop also know as the american hop. You use a manual to loft the front wheel off the ground, at the top of the arc you push the front wheel away from you this causes you to transition from manaul to bunny hop. So you still need to hold on to the bars but there is no pulling up on handlebars.

Good luck with digesting all the 'advice' so far.

I took up MTB at age 61 and my son taught me to jump. My advice, go out on the bike and spend some time just bouncing around on the bike like you are on a feeble trampoline. This will give you a feel of weighting and unweighting the bike. Then start small, with a pavement kerb in a side street. To get what you call 'heavy feet' for the take-off you actually need to have pushed up off the pedals beforehand then your weight comes down for the pump just before the lift. If you have been practicing your 'trampolining' on the flat then the timing of the pump will come naturally, but if you mess it up then you are only four inches of the ground.

Does that make sense? Imagine yourself on a trampoline wanting to get some height. You wouldn't just extend your legs, you would start with a little jump then at the end of your landing you would then push off. But, as I say, practice bouncing around to start with - you'll soon learn what light and heavy feel might mean.

I know that jairaj that's why I was asking him what sort of bunny-hop he meant. And with an 'american' bunny-hop, the type you would use to clear a big obstacle or hop onto a high ledge, you do pull on the bars, even if its mainly back in towards your chest to maximise your height before levelling out.

while I agree mtbel/gw comes across as a cock, he does know what hes talking about. Its a shame he cant explain things without sounding like a petulant child.

the problem with mtb forums is it is often the blind leading the blind when it comes to technique. there is No pulling with the arms at all with getting the front wheel up. when you learn how to manual this makes sense.

I tried for ages as a kid to try and master bunnyhops, but could never get it. it was only in my 30's when I learnt and understood the mechanics of manualling and bunny hopping, and also pumping and boosting of the lip of a jump.

the brian lopes book is a good starting point. I used this and a summer of riding a bmx to get the basics. I'm still very average, but do ok.

To be fair the main problem is probably putting into words what we do without normally thinking about it. I'm no expert by any stretch but I can hop my BMX onto a 2' ledge, and it sure as hell feels like I have to pull back on the bars during part of the motion to achieve this!

EDIT: although thats of no relevance at all to the OPs original question!

I'm not much at manualing, can keep the front end up for a short while, long enough to clear stuff on the trail. Most of the effort is in my legs, compress front end, weight transfer back and push through with your legs. Not much pulling or you tend to tip to one side or t'other.

Jumping, again I'm no master but as has been said I just compress with legs into the lip, the bike comes up nice and smooth with almost no effort. When timing is spot on its very effortless.

the problem with mtb forums is it is often the blind leading the blind when it comes to technique. there is No pulling with the arms at all with getting the front wheel up. when you learn how to manual this makes sense.

Of course there's pulling, your arms are under tension. If they weren't you'd be able to manual no-handed. And you can't. Or, another way of looking at it: What would happen if your stem snapped mid-manual?

You might as well say Tug o' War involves no tugging, that it's all about the weight transference.

you see this argument a lot. You see lots of beginners actually pulling with their arms only, bending their arms and actually using just the arms to try and get the front end up, this ain't right and will lead to instability. It's the transfer of weight of the whole body from the initial front end pump to straight arms and pushing through with the feet. I would say the majority of the work is done with the push through from the legs, your shift of body weight backwards will be transferred through to the bars with straight arms.

You are pulling but it actually doesn't feel like a pull to me, I'm just moving my weight back and pushing feet forward, the straight arms will have a pulling impact as the body goes back but overall it feels much more like a pushing motion with the feet.

kissing girls is for when it's too dark/wet to jump 20ft doubles.

You don't ride 20 foot doubles in the dark?

Pussy. Get some lights yer weekend warrior.

ichi - that makes sense. Telling people that the weight transference is the most important (only) aspect to concentrate on is one thing.

Saying that there's no pulling when there obviously is is just going to confuse people.

This is a manual

This is a wheelie

first time I have laughed out loud at anything on this forum - cheers Rorschach

OK, getting the front end up, i don't quite agree with the statement that you aren't pulling, but more along the lines of you're not pulling the bike into your body, you're merely keeping the front end tracking your shift in body position.

OP - Someone earlier in the thread had the right idea to be, go to a pump/BMX track, get pumping really nailed, work on your manuals, work on your bunny hops, i'd strongly argue that jumping, certainly more advanced jumping, it is just the skill you learn pumping combined with bunny hopping with the timing adjusted.

Or you could just do what any sensible kid does, build a small wooden kicker, consistently hit that and kerb kickers, makes going anywhere far more interesting and you will just get it. Accept you will fall off and man up.

Relaxation is key too, the more you do it, the more confident you are, the more you will relax. There is always a point though where you do just have to do something bigger and suffer the consequences.

[i]I just call a spade a spade. always have. always will.[/i]

Oh, OK, you come across as an attention seeking knobber

just sayin, y'know

Like most things bike, the critical point is that it's YOUR mass that needs to be raised, not that of your BIKE! (because even the raceyist racing snake still weighs 4 or 5 times what their bike weighs!)

Imagine you're on your bike in space,ie zero g (bear with me here! lol) and are in the normal centered position, with straightish legs and slightly bent arms, like this:

[img] [/img]

Now, what happens if you just raise your arms and legs towards your body?

The answer is the bike comes up towards you, but your mass pretty much just travels along the way it was previously going, in fact, [b]you[/b] actually move slightly downwards. Not what we want to help you clear a jump!

In order to make the combined mass of us and our bike "jump" we need something to push against, in this case, it's the rest of the planet below us!

So, by initially crouching down, we move our mass closer to that of the bike, then as we travel up the jumps "ramp" towards the lip we stand up, letting our legs and arms straighten. In effect, we have made ourselves "heavy" during this time (pushing down with legs mostly, but also with our arms), so what we have done is allowed the planet to push back against our mass, which starts to lift us into the air. As our legs straighten, the natural gradient of the jumps ramp continues to push through our now straight/stiff legs, and accelerates our mass into the air. As the bike has been pushed as well, it follows us up (hence you can jump in flats)

If you have timed all that right, as the bike leaves the lip of the jump, it's suspension should be fully drooped (uncompressed), your legs straight (or practically so), and you arms straightish. What really helped for me was thinking not about jumping [b]up[/b], but about really trying to push the bike into the ground, practically trying to shove it through the face of the ramp.

Now, what you do with your arms depends upon the steepness & length of both the take off and landing ramp. If you start on nice long, shallow ramped (take off & landing) jump, it isn't too critical. You basically hold the front of the bike up, but don't actively "pull up" really.

On such a suitable small shallow jump, you can then play about with different amounts of leg push, different amount of arm pull etc. The idea is always to try to match the angle of the bike in the air to that of the landing ramp, for a smooth both wheels at once landing ideally.

Keep practicing this, stay on small manageable shallow jumps, and slowly (in my case 😉 ) you get the "hang of it". It's not something that comes particularly naturally to me tbh, even when shown it by the likes of UkbikeSkills! One advantage of getting real one2one coaching is that you at least can be shown what you should be doing, and even if like me, you can't do it at first, you can go away and practice it.

What you also learn is the skill of "reading" a jump, in terms of your speed, it's steepness, the type of lip, and how that affects the motions you need to make. Some of this stuff is really quite subtle, as that video^^^ shows (with them clearing some pretty big gaps without a totally obvious and massive push/pump etc).

Hopefully that's useful to someone!

(usual internet forum caveats apply: your mileage may differ, i'm not a doctor, my cat is sad etc etc)

It's also worth perhaps understanding the difference between getting off the ground with a pump and with a bunnyhop.

As humans, with [b]just[/b] our legs, we can jump up off a perfectly flat piece of ground. Normal people probably to say 2 foot off the ground, highly trained high jumpers, probably 7 foot.

But, with a "lever" we can use it's mechanical advantage to really get some air, like this:

[img] [/img]

And it's the same when on a bike. Crouch right down, bent arms and legs, then stand up and force the bike into the ground. If you've got full suspension, this gives you a helping hand, and you and your bike jump up off the ground, pretty much horizontally. For the average rider, i'd say you could probably get maybe 10" off the ground tops, because there is only so much energy you can store the length of your legs.

But, bunny hops are really cheating, because we effectively "lever" ourself up around the rear wheel, using the bike as a lever. By pumping into the front suspension, then rocking backwards, the bike angles upwards, and because our feet are attached to the BB (via the crank and pedals) we can use the length of the chain stays to lever our mass into the air. This means we effectively start the bit of the jump where the wheels of the bike leave the ground with our mass about 2feet higher than otherwise. High enough, that you can get the bike 2 foot off the ground by just pushing forwards and through on the bars and lifting your legs (your mass stays where it is for a bit, and the bike comes up to you, leveling out)

As such, a really good bunny hopper (ie NOT me!) can jump over 4 foot from a stationary start! If you can learn to do this when going up the ramp of a jump, that is also pushing you upwards, then here comes "BIG AIR"!!

If you have a look at some of the top freeride and DH guys, they "huck" up off things with a bunny hop, and as they leave the lip, the bike is practically vertical and the bars touchning their chest (and in effect they have used it to lever themselves 2 foot higher up than even the lip of the jump!)

Look at the angle and position on the bike in this recent pic from Lourdes, as Mike Jones hucks a massive techy hip on his way to a podium spot!!
[img] [/img]

I agree with mtbel when he disrespects the heels down/heavy feet philosophy as in my experience it's bobbins (but for coaches teaching novices it kinda gets their body in a suitable riding position so i see why they use terms like this).

I don't agree with the not pulling up bit when jumping or bunnyhoping because you can do it, in fact you'll never jump or bunnyhop particularly high if you don't. That's not to say you should do it when you are learning as it can cause issues with hitting the ground with your body and that can be rather off-putting. It's really only for people who are very confident in the air.

From reading the posts above i'm guessing most people consider jumping as leaving the ground and then landing using just the speed and the shape of the transition to dictate how high far they go. Proper jumping relies on the pump, and the greater your pumpage the higher and further you can go for a given speed. A low shallow transition hit at a slow to moderate speed can result in a rather impressive amount of airtime if you can pump to the max.

OP - try this little experiment. Pretend you are on your bike and stand accordingly - feet where your feet would be on the pedals (with strong foot forward and knees bent) and hands on the pretend bars, elbows bent. Now jump as high as you can holding this position. In order to leave the ground, you will have lowered your body by bending your legs before springing up into the air. This is what the pump feels like and it's the bit that you need to practice. Once you can jump really high (you'll be bending very low indeed and springing up quickly) you need to work on the timing as far too many people pump out of sync with the ground they are riding - even when just riding trails.

If anyone is trying this at home, please don't use your full pumpage when working out the timing, as again, bad things will happen to you, you bike, and to you again.

A few things... when learning try and find a jump that at the very least, is a bike lengths long and if possible use a hardtail to learn on.

Reading the advice in this thread is confusing, but at least now you'll get a bit of exercise 😀

Wow! so much to reply to. hope I don't miss anyone but here goes...

Pregnant? yeah, probably she was my nextdoor neighbour and the whole family moved away very shortly afterwards leaving no forwarding address. still quite a shameful thing for a family in those days I can tell you.

Can a bunny hop be executed no handed on flats? Not sure anyone here will be able to handle the truthful answer but, Yes, a tiny bunny hop can be executed without holding the bars so long as the saddle can be gripped strongly enough between the legs when picking up the rear. Unfortunately it will end up looking less than impressive and much more like a lame bunnyhop-no hander due to only letting go of the bars just before the rear wheel leaves the ground.

kudos100 - Thanks, but Petelance? No that would be arrogance, I'm right though so I feel entitled. Childish? Yeah. I hold my hand up to that accusation whole heartedly and this has been said of me many many times. Petulance though? Nothing here has ever been worthy of getting angry/huffy/bad tempered over.

ads - mibbie yer maw?

Junkyard - honestly? can't believe you've ever "nailed" anything/one ever!

neal - aw, bless.. I hope your mum doesn't come in and catch you typing such strong language at strangers online.

Tom - meeeeoooww!

Oh.. good I see MrTorque is now here to take over. direct any further questions towards him please?

neal - aw, bless.. I hope your mum doesn't come in and catch you typing such strong language at strangers

He he. Is the "pretend they are a child" insult the you best you can manage.

Very poor.

Not totes awsomez at everything you try then.

No no neal. You misunderstand. It's a given everyone here is a middle aged man.

Go faster and stay loose and relaxed

mtbel - Member
"Trolling" is just another new a bullshit concept too Junkyard. I just call a spade a spade. always have. always will.

Good for you and for posting the simple advice - it's a pushing motion not a pull up one. Odd that you get attacked for stating the obvious! Well thinking about it, not odd at all....!

Hang in there!!!

If anyone is trying this at home, please don't use your full pumpage when working out the timing, as again, bad things will happen to you, you bike, and to you again.

A few things... when learning try and find a jump that at the very least, is a bike lengths long and if possible use a hardtail to learn on.

Euro interesting advice, thanks. Can you elaborate on these points?

Beyond the weird dynamics of the usual STW bitchfest, maxtorque's post above with the dude with the green T shirt is the most helpful.

Hooray for maxtorque I say and cobblers to the rest.

I agree with mtbel when he disrespects the heels down/heavy feet philosophy as in my experience it's bobbins (but for coaches teaching novices it kinda gets their body in a suitable riding position so i see why they use terms like this).

I saw Curtis Keene repeating this bobbins in an 'ask the pros' section of a mag yesterday. He clearly doesn't know what he's talking about...

If you have a look at someone doing a "front flip" jump on a bike, just as the back wheel is about the leave the lip, they use there legs with a very fast and hard extension to hurl themselves over the bars! Because the front wheel is in the air, you rotate around your centre of gravity (typically your lower chest/tummy button area).

If you're learning to jump, doing front flips accidentally tends to end badly!

To avoid excessive rotation on leaving the ramp, you need to make sure the forces lifting you into the air are vertically inline with your centre of gravity, and whilst you are learning, it's best not to do anything to sudden, just in case this isn't the case

you need to make sure the forces lifting you into the air are vertically inline with your centre of gravity, and whilst you are learning, it's best not to do anything to sudden, just in case this isn't the case

Rorschach, try this simple test.

Stand in the middle of your front room, upright.

Crouch down, then spring upwards. Assuming you don't smack your head into the ceiling, then you will jump vertically into the air and land vertically. So far so good.

Now repeat this, but just before you spring upwards, topple fowards a bit. At the moment you spring upwards, your centre of gravity is no longer directly above where the force is coming from. Hence you will now jump forwards and rotate a bit.

If you do this whilst learning to jump on a bike, it tends to end badly:

[img] [/img]

Nope....still jibberish.

I saw Curtis Keene repeating this bobbins in an 'ask the pros' section of a mag yesterday. He clearly doesn't know what he's talking about...

So you're saying i'm full of shit?

Perhaps. Or perhaps i've been jumping bikes for so long that i've forgotten what is was like not to know how to jump.

Fact is i know diddly squat about mountain bikes and on a forum like this that's not much fun. I see a thread about jumping and think, 'i know a bit about that, maybe i can join in'. So i do. It usually takes me a post or two to realise it's jumping 101 and as i can't remember when i took that class, i have to bow out. If the bobbins works and gets people doing sweet jumps, then cool.

Jumpingisthe****ingbestest

Of course there's pulling, your arms are under tension. If they weren't you'd be able to manual no-handed. And you can't. Or, another way of looking at it: What would happen if your stem snapped mid-manual?

You might as well say Tug o' War involves no tugging, that it's all about the weight transference.

Oh jesus, why is this so hard to understand. Your arms are just holding onto the bars.

You compress forward with your arms bent and then rapidly shift you weight back over the rear wheel. Your arms then straighten as you have moved you weight back. Because you arms are only so long, once they become straight the weight transfer of hips over the back of the bike pulls the front wheel of the ground.

You are NOT pulling with you arms, they have reached the limit of being straight and the weight transfer and pushing with your feet is what lifts the front wheel.

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/279120/

I think by now everyone understands what has been said and the method by which you pull [ or apply force] is weight transference but you still have to "pull" on the bars or the wheel wont move off the ground.

but you still have to "pull" on the bars or the wheel wont move off the ground.

You are not [u]actively[/u] pulling, your arms have just reached the end of their range of motion.