X-UP. Helicopter. "Full turnbar". All different names for the same move. The X-up is one of the Unholy Trinity of prehistoric BMX, right there with the tabletop and kickout/Utterback/Leary. Until the early Nineties, pulling an X-up four feet above the jump was more than enough to get you a glossy shot in one of the color mags - pulling it during a race, particularly if you were in front, was enough to warrant an admiring caption. I can remember being fourteen, seeing someone pull a fully-clicked X over the so-called "big doubles" at my local track, and just being AMAZED that a "local" would have that much style.
Naturally, times have changed. The kids at my local skatepark pull X-ups on the way down from their supermans and double-foot can-cans. In a world where people can do double barspins coming off a handrail grind, the simple X doesn't get a lot of respect anymore. That's a shame, because it's a beautiful trick and makes almost anyone look good, particularly if you pull it over a low jump or somewhere else where people don't expect it. In racing, the X hasn't completely lost its magic; pull it while you're leading a moto and people will certainly notice. Pull one while you are in dead last, as I did recently in a local "open money" race, and people will still notice - I think I heard someone say, "Look, the guy in dead last just did a cool jump!" It's worth learning just for that reason, so let's learn it!
Narrower bars and longer top tubes have made the X much easier to pull. Once upon a time, a successful, photo-worthy "heli" meant that you would have to crank your knees as far apart as possible, crouch low over the bike, and twist your arms until your elbows were in your Jofa. (What's a Jofa, you ask? Umm... that's a topic for another column, but trust me, it's not a dirty word.) Today, there's a new, easier way to pull the X.
Learning to X-up requires that you temporarily forget an important command of BMX jumping, namely, "Keep your knees bent at all times". I want to explain why you should normally do so, before I get into why you shouldn't in this case. Keeping your knees (and elbows) bent is an important part of a safe, effective jumping style. The primary benefits of doing so include:
A "dead sailor", of course, is when you somehow "lock up" or lose control of the bike and just tag along until you land, wreck, or both. It's most commonly caused by letting your body get too far away from the bike in the air - if you think back to your last "sailor", you will probably remember that it initially felt like you were jumping too high. You felt that way because your body was accelerating away from the ground at a higher rate than your bike was. That can only happen for a moment or two before your arms and legs lock, and then the bike "jerks" as a result. Now you have no leverage on the bike, because it's too far away from you, and you have the additional problem that the bike probably isn't exactly straight up-and-down in the air. How many times have you seen someone hit a jump, seemingly lean over in mid-air, and hit the ground that way? Classic dead sailor. You can prevent being a victim yourself by always remembering to keep a bend in your knees, which will keep you and the bike close together and permit you to control the bike throughout your takeoff and landing.
Unless, that is, you want to pull an X-up. For nearly fifteen years, I was unable to pull an X, because I would hit my bars on my knee. Attempts to further "cross-up" inevitably led to me pulling a "Crews", so-called because Patterson pro John Crews "invented" them, as seen below:
Rebuilding files - will find image later!
I pulled that same basic jump starting in '86, and going all the way until last week, when I said, "Enough is enough." To be honest, I got sick of seeing all the "cool kids" at the skatepark pull easy X-ups when all I could manage was a genuinely sketchy lean off the bike. I started to seriously analyze why I was unable to pull the X.
I realized that, back in the days of eighteen-inch top tubes, I just hadn't had the skill to jump with my knees spread, Mike-Miranda style. Luckily for me, bars have narrowed and top tubes have become longer. I started to question if I would even need to keep my knees "open" at all. After watching a few videos, I came to the realization that today's riders weren't "crouching and spreading" like the X-uppers of old; they were, instead, keeping their weight back and leaning forward. Sounds weird, huh? The modern X-up is performed with one's knees close together, almost pinching the seat - and there's a reason for that. It's the same place you need to put your knees to perform a barspin or no-hander, two tricks which are virtually mandatory for a would-be X-Games rider.
Compared to these guys, my knees were six to twelve inches farther forward on the bike as I jumped in the traditional "race style". With my 21" top tube and 25 1/4" bars, an X-up was more than possible - if I could get my knees back near the seat. Doing so meant that I would have to straighten them, which meant inviting the Dead Sailor right back into my life. It was a risk I was willing to take.
I didn't even mean to turn my bars the first time I tried jumping that way, but I immediately crossed-up past the seat with no effort whatsoever. A few jumps later, I was nearly fully helicoptered. However, I don't recommend that you twirl the bars the first time you jump straight-legged.
For your first attempt, hit a jump you are very comfortable with, preferably not a double. You are going to concentrate on keeping your weight back, with your, er, "bum" over the back tire, and leaning your chest over the bars. Have a friend watch you to see where your knees are. They should be right at the seat. Of course, your knees are still bent, because you have your rear end over your bike's rear end, but you should be leaning forward. It's entirely possible you will wreck doing this, so wear your safety gear.
Most people can't jump quite as high or far doing this technique as the standard knees-bent-and-low-body method, so don't be discouraged. Concentrate on making an imaginary 'air square', which consists of four straight lines:
Once you have done that, you can start X-ing. I have to warn you again; although this is a basic jump, it CAN go horribly wrong. If you land while still partially crossed-up, you will pull a so-called "flying Miami Hopper", which is a very bad thing. So start slow.
Try crossing-up to the seat. You will feel a slight "resistance" as your bars near the seat. It's not in the bars; it's in your body. Your wrists have to turn as you crank the bars past ninety degrees. Once you can cross-up to the seat easily, try pushing past the "resistance", going just a bit past and then twisting back immediately. Congratulations. You just pulled a non-fully-clicked X.
Eventually, you will reach the point where you can "lock the X", where your bars are 180 degrees from straight ahead. That's where you want to hold it for the photos. I'm just getting there myself. Speaking of me, let's use me as a photo guinea pig again:
Photo is on the way!
Okay, this is about a 160-degree X. Look at my 'air square'. My rump is way back, my shins are parallel to the seat tube, and I am leaned over. You need to lean over so you can bend your elbows for proper bar-twirling. "But wait!" I can hear you say. "Your shins aren't really parallel to the seat tube!" Well, the bike's still on the way up; when we get to the top of the air, I'll be fully twisted and completely squared-up. I'm going to get a better X-up video and put it up here for demo purposes...
Note that I only have about two feet of air. That's more than enough, if you believe in yourself and twirl quickly. That means that, once you are used to doing a low X, you can pull them off pretty much any jump you normally do, except for step-ups. Don't pull an X-up on a step-up - it's a dangerous combination.
What's the next step? Well, you could lean the bike over and twist
it hard for true old-school style, you could take a hand off, you
could learn barspins... the choices are almost endless. I'm going to
try to learn to do them during 180 flyouts from a quarterpipe. If I
can do them then, I'll try them in a 360... which will be the subject
of another column, as soon as I figure them out! Oh yeah - if
you learn to do an X-up following my directions, send me a photo and
I'll put it up...