Landing Flat??

[If_Rider]

I recently started riding full suspension and was curious about the best way to land on a dually. I understand why you should land rear wheel first on a hardtail (the bike acts as a lever absorbing the impact etc...) but does this hold true for rear suspension?

Does the height of the drop/jump come into play too?

[CouchingTiger]

Depends on the nature of the landing zone. On drops to flat, a rear wheel lever down trials type of landing will be way smoother. On drops to a tranny however, you will soon learn that a rear wheel first landing will put your rear end in touch with mother earth in a hurry.

With steep landings and rear first touchdown, the bike is shot forward carrying your momentum out rather than down. This is the whole point of a tranny or landing ramp, to transfer momentum. If your weight is up an back, you'll tend to loop out.

So, in that case an even or slightly front first landing works best. Basically any drops/jumps at speed where you are gonna carry some momentum, you should try to land more neutral then rear first.

-Couch

[NEMBA_bkr-dude]

Just watch any of the NWD movies and see what the pro's do in various situations. Like couch said, if you are gonna continue your momentum, land on both wheels like when dirt jumping, if there is a landing (doubles, tabletops, etc.) you always want to land on both wheels. Same thing if you are dropping on to hills. If the landing is flat, go rear first. The time difference between front and rear should be adjusted according to the landing surface and height of the drop. If you are doing a 5 footer onto pavement you want a good amount of rear before your front. If you are doing a 5 footer on to a slight hill, maybe hit your rear a millisecond before your front, if it is a decent hill land on both. Try to stay away from landing on your front cause if you do and you hit a rock, your face will land before your rear tire does. If you aren't sure how to land, do what feels natural. Also, if you land too far back on your rear on a hill, you can flip backwards and your tailbone won't be happy.