Best Bike to learn to dirt jump

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Best Bike to learn to dirt jump
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flag cmc4130
Posted: Nov 6, 2015 at 12:51 Quote
jarlaxle wrote:
...

BTW I noticed you didn't answer the first part of my question which is, am I crazy to be getting into this at 41? I grew up riding some bmx in the mid-late 80's before switching to skateboards (mostly vert) and then adding on snowboarding. Moving forward, started riding MTB about 3 years ago, I'm decent on gnarly trails and love catching air every chance I get. Saw some dudes my age at the jump track and it just got my juices flowing.

Well, there are a lot of guys around here in the their late 30's and 40's who are riding. A lot did learn to jump a long time ago, but there are some who didn't, and only picked it up recently.

Since you have bmx, skate, and snowboarding in your past, then you can definitely handle it (and probably a lot better than guys who only rode xc-mtb).
flag cmc4130
Posted: Nov 6, 2015 at 13:15 Quote
SolarLonsky wrote:
jarlaxle wrote:
am I crazy to be getting into this at 41?

No. It's a dangerous hobby, I don't think being a bit older makes it any more or less dangerous. Unless you've let yourself become stiff and unfit or are badly damaged by injury, then I think it's fine.

Yes, true. At least you're in control of your own risk though; if you take it easy and work up to things, and don't just huck it, you can be pretty safe. I used to get injured more often in basketball. Even xc riders seem to go OTB as often as DJ riders. And DH is definitely more dangerous because of the speed and the objects like trees you can run into.
flag ricar
Posted: Nov 7, 2015 at 18:48 Quote
I hate to break that bubble but yes, it is more dangerous as you age. That being said, should you just give up and sit on the couch? No, you invest in safety gear (forget the stupid attitude of "I'm too cool to wear a helmet" because yes bad things can happen to you) and you take educated risks. If you have never jumped before, take some advice, but better to take advise from an older guy who has been around a long time. There are some younger guys with a knack and ability to assess skill and give good coaching advice but too many still have that "just huck it" attitude.

I still jump (at 42) and I ate it once this season (smacked the back of my head into the face of the next jump- Pro Tec un-certified) and untold dead sailors. I ride jumps I'm comfortable with and dig, a lot. I keep saying I'm going to stop, that this will be my last year but then the next comes and I have nothing to do so I go dig again. If you have nothing better to do then go for it.
flag SolarLonsky
Posted: Nov 8, 2015 at 0:16 Quote
ricar wrote:
I hate to break that bubble but yes, it is more dangerous as you age.

Why do you think this is the case? I've only had a dirt jump bike for a couple of years so can't really compare it to riding as a teenager. I did used to skate though, and I don't feel that I'm more likely to make a dangerous mistake now.

I stick to relatively small dirt jumps, I build up to things, but know that I could still have a bad accident. I'm still a bit younger than you, mid 30s, and I'd like to think I've got a decade of this left in me.

I do a small amount of strength training now which I think helps a lot.
flag ricar
Posted: Nov 8, 2015 at 8:55 Quote
Simply a medical fact. Your bones are soft as a kid and are strongest at about 21 or something then they slowly lose their strength. In motorcycle crashes they assign injuries a point system, a 17 year old can (in general) survive xxx number of points and a 30 year old can only (generally) survive xxx amount of points and they decrease as you get older. Recovery time also increases with age, and it is noticeable in your 20s .So jumping is not more dangerous exactly, it's crashing that is more dangerous.
flag SolarLonsky
Posted: Nov 8, 2015 at 9:19 Quote
ricar wrote:
Simply a medical fact. Your bones are soft as a kid and are strongest at about 21 or something then they slowly lose their strength. In motorcycle crashes they assign injuries a point system, a 17 year old can (in general) survive xxx number of points and a 30 year old can only (generally) survive xxx amount of points and they decrease as you get older. Recovery time also increases with age, and it is noticeable in your 20s .So jumping is not more dangerous exactly, it's crashing that is more dangerous.

Okay, this is totally true. But it's hard to tell how much of an additional risk it is. This graph seems to indicate that the drop in bone mass isn't that dramatic:

photo
flag jarlaxle
Posted: Nov 8, 2015 at 13:18 Quote
So I broke my ankle skating at 35, the guy who took my X-rays happened to be a skater too.

He emphasized the biggest difference as we get older is the relative lack of flexibility, that there was a decent chance I would have just had a bad sprain back when I was 15 or 18 but at 35 it was a break.

Thanks again for all the feedback and input.
flag ricar
Posted: Nov 8, 2015 at 14:08 Quote
Your looking specifically at bones there but ignoring the rest of the body that comprises most of our injuries. Please realize, I'm not saying don't do this, all I'm saying is be careful. As King Candy said "you gotta pay to play" if you jump you are gonna get hurt.... eventually. That's the cost, but is it worth that cost? Again I keep going...
flag pumptrack
Posted: Nov 8, 2015 at 14:36 Quote
Just buy a bike and have fun. Don't listen to all this bullshit
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