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MTB
A Red Bull Rampage dictionary of MTB freeride and slopestyle tricks
There's a lot of confusing jargon used on the MTB slopestyle and freeride scene – read our guide to learn more about various tricks.
You see riders flying through the air, spinning their bikes and bodies in multiple directions, and hear the commentators at Red Bull Rampage shouting, “Look at that Backflip Double Barspin to Tuck No Hander!” or “That’s a world-first Cash Roll Tailwhip!” – and you have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.
We get it! But things are about to change… here's your cheat sheet to some of the most common tricks and what is involved in their execution.
Suicide No-Hander
A suicide no-hander, or sui, is a classic freeride trick where riders release the handlebars and extend their arms backward while pinching the seat with their knees. It’s often confused with a tuck no-hander, but the two differ: in a tuck no-hander, the rider pulls the handlebars into their lap before letting go.
1 min
Kyle Strait throws a suicide no-hander
Caveman
A caveman, or caveman drop, is a bold maneuver where the rider starts from a standing position, jumps off a drop or cliff while holding the bike, and transitions midair from holding the seat and handlebars to landing with their feet on the pedals.
1 min
Tom Van Steenbergen, caveman
Flat Drop Backflip
A flat drop backflip adds a layer of complexity to a standard backflip since the rider doesn’t have a ramp to help initiate the rotation. Instead, they use a flat takeoff, and the rotation is generated by the rider, demanding greater precision and skill.
1 min
Flat drop backflip, Tom Van Steenbergen
Tailwhip
A tailwhip is another classic trick, where the rider spins the bike frame a full 360 degrees while keeping the front wheel stationary. This trick can be initiated by kicking the frame into a spin and/or using the handlebars to whip the frame around.
1 min
Tailwhip, Brandon Semenuk
360 Tabletop
A 360 tabletop builds on a classic 360 and adds eye-catching style to it. While the rider is rotating in the air, they lay the bike flat for a clean, stylish look.
Brandon Semenuk with a steezy 360 Table
© Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool
Backflip One-Footed Can
A backflip one-footed can is a variation of the backflip where the rider takes their foot off the pedal and crosses it over the top tube during the rotation.
1 min
Backflip One-Footed Can, Brett Rheeder
Flip Nac
A flip nac is a one-footed backflip variation where the rider removes a foot mid-flip and extends their leg out behind them while rotating. It’s a stylish yet technical move, often used by riders looking to step up their score from run one to run two.
1 min
Flip Nac, Kurt Sorge
Single Crown
Mountain bike forks fall into two categories: Single crown or dual crown. A single crown fork means that the fork has only one crown connecting the stanchions, whereas a dual crown has two. The lower connection point on a single crown allows the front wheel to spin freely for slopestyle tricks like bar spins and tailwhips.
Bar Spin
A bar spin is a foundational trick where the rider spins the handlebars a full 360 degrees and catches them while in the air. This can be performed multiple times in one jump—making for double or triple barspins. Bar spins are often added to other tricks—like backflips—to make them more technical.
Underflip Table
An underflip table is a backflip variation performed on a corked axis. While midair, the rider lays the bike flat into a table, blending technical precision with added style.
Backflip Bar Spin
This is a backflip variation where the rider spins the handlebars a full 360 degrees as they’re backflipping.
Backflip bar spin.
© Bartek Wolinski
Inward Table (or Invert)
An inward table, also known as an unturndown or invert, is an advanced variation of the tabletop where the rider twists the bike toward themselves. One foot comes off the pedal as they hook a leg between the top tube and seat, helping them bring their body parallel with the bike.
A classic invert
© Sterling Lorence/Red Bull Content Pool
3x
A 3x, or 360 x-up, is a 360 variation where the rider turns the handlebars 180 degrees mid-rotation, creating an “X” shape with their arms while spinning the bike 360 degrees.
Matt Priest, 360 X-up
© George Marshall
Tabletop
A tabletop is often one of the first tricks a rider will learn. The rider flattens the bike downwards with their legs and handlebars, aiming to lay it horizontal like it’s on the top of a table. While it’s not an overly complex trick, it emanates style.
Victor Salazar with a tabletop
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
Nac Nac
A nac nac takes a classic moto whip up a notch. As the rider turns the handlebars to whip, they remove a foot off the pedal and extend it behind the rear wheel for extra style.
1 min
Nac Nac, Cam Zink
360
The name really gives this one away; the rider does a full 360º rotation to one side while in the air. The pros also sometimes put 540º and 720º tricks into their runs where the course allows.
1 min
See Cam Zink's Best Trick-Winning Rampage 360 Drop
Watch the insane 360 drop that earned Cam Zink the Best Trick award at Red Bull Rampage 2014.
Backflip
A backflip in slopestyle is like any other backflip, but with a bike. The rider throws bike and body backwards in a full rotation until facing the original direction again.
1 min
Cam Zink's Red Bull Rampage backflip
100ft plummet from the Oakley Icon Sender in 2013.
More Slopestyle Content
Can-Can
A bit like the dance move, but done on a bike. A can-can is when the rider takes one foot off the pedal and kicks the leg over the top tube. Brandon Semenuk is the king of the one-footed can. This trick's usually used in combination with other tricks, including backflips.
Brandon Semenuk
© Bartek Wolinski/Red Bull Content Pool
Cash Roll
This trick, made famous on mountain bikes by Nicolai Rogatkin, is almost as hard to grasp as it is to explain, but basically it is doing a 180 to backflip to 180.
Rogatkin with his signature Cash Roll at Crankworx Innsbruck 2017
© Bartek Wolinski/Red Bull Content Pool
Cork
A cork is an off-axis rotation. The rider and bike rotates a full 360º but instead of doing it straight backwards, forwards or to the side, they do it off-axis. This can of course be done with more spins than one. Brandon Semenuk is famous for his stylish cork 720s and Nicolai Rogatkin did a world-first cork 1440 on a mountain bike at Red Bull District Ride in 2017.
3 min
Nicholi Rogatkin's winning run at District Ride
Nicholi Rogatkin beats all-comers at Red Bull District Ride 2017 in Nuremberg.
Frontflip
Like a backflip but forwards. The ride throws bike and body forwards in a full rotation until facing the original direction again.
1 min
Tom Van Steenbergen frontflip
Freerider Tom Van Steenbergen gets bucked off his bike at Red Bull Rampage.
No-foot
This is rather obvious. While in the air you have to have both feet off the pedals, and have them and you legs to the sides of the bike. The no-foot can can is a trick that is commonly used by the pros as it introduces a further technical adjustment in that you have both legs to just one side of the bike.
Semenuk puts down a tail whip to no foot can
© Toby Cowley
Opposite
Doing a trick 'opposite' means just that; the rider does a trick in the opposite direction to what they're comfortable with. For example, the rider spins the bike to the left, rather than to the right when doing a tailwhip.
1 min
The Opposite 360
The Opposite 360 is possibly the best trick in Imaginate, and Danny has proof of the work that went into it.
Superman
A trick where the rider removes both feet and stretches out behind the bike, preferably until the body is straight and parallel to the ground, to imitate Superman’s flying technique. This one is used a lot less in slopestyle competition these days, but Szymon Godziek, 'The Extension Man', likes to use them in his runs.
Szymon Godziek with the Superman Seat Grab
© Christoph Laue
Tobaggan
A rider grabs the seat with one hand and turns the bars through 90° while leaning back.
Dawid Godziek with a dipped toboggan
© Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool
Truckdriver
What do you get when you add a 360 with a barspin? A truck driver of course. So next time you hear the commentators shout “look at that truckdriver” you know not too look for someone driving a truck down the course.
Emil Johansson with the 360 barspin, also known as a truckdriver
© Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool
Tsunami Backflip
A tsunami backflip is a little bit like a flowy Superman, but done in combination with a backflip, in a motion that resembles a wave – or tsunami if you like. The rider does half a backflip and while they let the bike continue the rotation, they remove their feet from the pedals and stretch out, before continuing the rotation back to facing the right way up.
1 min
Szymon Godziek Tsunami Frontflip
Polish shredder Szymon Godziek pushes things forward with a world-first at Red Bull District Ride 2014.
Tuck No-Hander
The rider tucks the handlebars into their lap, leaning into the bike so that the shoulders are slightly over the bars, and then letting go of both arms – reaching out as far as possible.
Twister
This trick is often referred to as a 720 frontflip or off-axis 1080 Spin. Nicholi Rogatkin became the first to land this trick back in 2016. It's as mental and mind-blowing as it sounds.
1 min
Nicholi Rogatkin's winning run
Mountain biker Nicholi Rogatkin wins at Crankworx Innsbruck.
Unturndown
The unturndown is kind of like a table, but, well, completely different. You still want to get the bike as flat as possible to your body, but you do it by angling the bike and turning the handlebars to the opposite side (compared to a table), and you push your front foot forward and keep both legs straight whilst doing it.
Swedish MTB slopestyler Lukas Skiöld with upside-down Unturndown
© Hanna Jonsson
Windshield wiper
Like the truckdriver, we’re not talking about an actual vehicle here, a windshield wiper is in fact a tailwhip to opposite tailwhip, which requires the rider to change direction of the bike mid-air.
