# Tabletop jump proportions?



## phosphor (Sep 2, 2008)

Hey all,

I have a small amount of dirt on my own property that I would like to make into a small tabletop jump. I imagine a lot of sizing it comes from experience and art, but are there any rules of thumb to guide a new guy? I'm trying to make it small at first so I can just get comfortable maneuvering my bike through the air and slowly build. Thanks very much.


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## cmc4130 (Jan 30, 2008)

phosphor said:


> Hey all,
> 
> I have a small amount of dirt on my own property that I would like to make into a small tabletop jump. I imagine a lot of sizing it comes from experience and art, but are there any rules of thumb to guide a new guy? I'm trying to make it small at first so I can just get comfortable maneuvering my bike through the air and slowly build. Thanks very much.


in my experience, start with your distance being about triple the height (or maybe even longer). so, a 2 foot tall jump, go for 8 ft. gap, 3 ft. tall 9 ft. gap, 4 ft. tall 12 ft. gap, etc. keep the slant of the launch and landing very mellow in the beginning, and gradually make it steeper. it's better to learn how to clear distance first, then learn boosting upwards later.

e.g. this one in the picture started out as 2'6" or so and 9 or 10 feet long, gradually making it taller. the distance you clear has a lot more to do with speed than with height of a jump. good riders with the appropriate speed can clear 10-15 ft. even with just a 1 foot tall kicker. . . . .










more in this thread:
*dirt jumps - specs?*
https://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=599573


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## WaveDude (Jan 14, 2004)

cmc4130 said:


> in my experience, start with your distance being about triple the height (or maybe even longer). so, a 2 foot tall jump, go for 8 ft. gap, 3 ft. tall 9 ft. gap, 4 ft. tall 12 ft. gap, etc. keep the slant of the launch and landing very mellow in the beginning, and gradually make it steeper. it's better to learn how to clear distance first, then learn boosting upwards later.
> 
> e.g. this one in the picture started out as 2'6" or so and 9 or 10 feet long, gradually making it taller. the distance you clear has a lot more to do with speed than with height of a jump. good riders with the appropriate speed can clear 10-15 ft. even with just a 1 foot tall kicker. . . . .


I started typing a response to this yesterday then thought "Nah, I'll just let CMC answer him." Hah!

2' tall wedge takeoff with 8' "table-top" and then a lander at least a foot or two longer than the wheelbase of your bike is what I would've said.

That small and you can jump the takeoff to flat and figure out where to put the lander and then fill in between. Or do what we did when we were learning--run and jump off the lip. You can jump a bike farther so add a bit to that.

And it's nice to be able to have the wheelbase of the bike fit completely onto the takeoff as well but that's really only important on steeper lips--otherwise they start to buck.


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