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So what's a bike flip, anyway?

Monday, 08 June 2009 23:30

So you've got the latest issue of Freerider MX and seen the crazy, new trick Kyle Loza is practising to bring to X Games 15, but still don't really know how it works, or what he's trying to do? Well let us break it down for ya.

Basically, when a rider hucks the conventional Backflip, old mate stays attached to the bike and both go through the rotation, then lands and ride away.

Now, the Bike Flip, pictured, is a different animal. It's a BMX trick that's never been pulled on a dirt bike (to dirt, anyways) and only landed on a mountain bike eight months ago (see the Youtube clip below). In the air, the rider swings his legs off his steed, and pushes the bike through a Backflip, while he stays the right way up, loosely holding onto the bars with one hand. With his spare hand he grabs the seat and pulls it back into line, before straddling the bike and landing. Piece of cake, right? Yeah, whatever....

The only mod Loza does to his YZ250 is to shave the front brake lever down to a nub, so the bike can rotate without catching on his wrist.

To give you some sort of idea of how tough this trick is, Loza has been working on it for more than two-and-a-half years at his private compound in Orange County, California, and last we heard, he's got it about 90% figured out. Travis Pastrana has also attempted the trick, but as far as we know, he has put it in the "too hard" basket, for now anyway.

Now, dunno if you remember, but about six months ago EXPN blogger Ryan Leyba had a story about Loza's new bike mod called The Revolver, which allowed the bike to spin 360 degrees while the handlebars stayed straight – perfect for landing the Decade Air to dirt. So right now there's a new question that needs to be answered: Does Kyle Loza have TWO tricks – the Bike Flip and the Decade Air – up his sleeve for X Games 15?

Bring on X Games 15!!

First Bike Flip landed on a mountain bike (with slow-motion so your brain can kinda get the gist of what's going down...kinda...)