Ride through a pot hole or bunny hop it?

in reference to the OP, i don't know what is less taxing on the bike as a whole but i much prefer the "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....whooosh...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" of a bunnyhop to the "zzzzzzzzz...CLANGBANGCRACK! 'fuck' ...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" of riding through.

^ this

just find a big pothole on your route and take a picture. who'll know?

There are some bad potholes through Piccadilly at the moment. Unfortunately when you're in traffic it's hard to see them in time but I find riding like i'm out on a trail helps. Nice and loose arms and ready to pick the front wheel up at an instant. The rear wheel tends to take care of itself. Haven't damaged a rim in over 3 years. Now that I have just jinxed myself...

It was a spoke on my rear that broke!

Yeah, but then I once had a spoke just go snap whilst gently cruising to the shops. This was on a MTB with big spongey tyres. Could just be a culmination of many little hits and metal fatigue.

It is a good question about bunny hopping though. I have never really tried while riding fixed. Do you instinctively keep pedaling while airborne (no matter how brief)? Have to try.

Anyone been over Putney bridge recently? It looks like somebody bombed the road it is that bad.
Its amazing how many deep dangerous potholes I avoid when commuting on main roads. Side roads are pretty good.

Yep, you carry on pedalling because otherwise you'd be likely to hit the ground and skid badly if you locked the wheel in mid air.

My original question was more to do with which is least harmful to the bike.

learn to un-weight the wheels, if you can't hop it.
and locking the wheel in the air, won't make you stop when you land, there is no resistance until you hit terra firma, then the momentum will just make you carry on pedalling

Just do what you do coming down a kerb. Pop the front wheel and then lunge forward to unweight the rear as it comes through.

I guess when you think about it it's easy... I'm always popping the rear wheel up over kerbs n stuff.

Re: Dj and the original question... I'd tend to think unweighting and riding 'light' would be less stressful to bike and rims.

Unless getting timing perfect bunny hops can be harsh in my experience on a rigid MTB. I'd think the same on a road bike.

If I'm geared and have enough time/sighting I'm all for massive bunny hop