Wheelies - Who can do them ?

[M-Power]

Re: Re:

Wheelies you say eh......

Love it :mrgreen: Some very useful tips on this thread. Apart from the show off fun of wheelies, they were useful for riding through short muck sections and for getting a better position into jumping obstacles. All this talk of riding 1/2mile + is amazing :shock: Sitting down ‘Track stands’ are still my thing at the traffic lights. Always seems to calm drivers down so they pull away behind you nicely too.

 

[mk one]

Manuals are whole different ball game...

More about pushing the back end of the bike forward under you, whereas wheelies are more about rocking back to bring the front up. Used to be ok at them, but could never pump through a whole series of jumps on the back wheel, picking up speed like the top BMX racers. For manuals downhill is good. Long forks and a high B.B. help, as you start out closer to the balance point. The more the B.B. is below the rear wheel axle the harder it is, as that forward thrusting motion drives the front end down instead of up.

I always found it easier to hop into a manual, as you say just pulling up/leaning back always left me feeling like i was along for the ride.

That is on a bmx, i could never really do them properly on a Mtb unless going downhill on my downhill bike, could go a long way but picked speed up really/too quick

mark

 

[jimo746]

Re:

It's always the left/right balance thing that screws up my wheelies :?
Any tips?
Or is my internal gyro kaput??

 

[LongboardSi]

Re: Re:

It's always the left/right balance thing that screws up my wheelies :?
Any tips?
Or is my internal gyro kaput??

Play around with turning the bars - see what it does to which way the front of the bike points, and don’t be afraid to wave your knees in/out to keep balanced. If you feel like you are toppling right then stick your left knee out to correct. Can do this without interrupting your pedalling.

*I think*. Don’t really think about what I’m doing when I do it - just sort of happens

 

[TOMAS]

^ as above balancing use hips/knees, Best way to describe it is when you stand pedals level with both wheels on the ground and lean your bike over left/right to run it on it's side knobs, well its that same kinda motion and use your hips/arse in a sideways rocking motion when in a wheelie, also the faster you wheelie the less the bike wants to wander to the sides I find...

 

[kingoffootball]

Re: Re:

Wheelies you say eh......

I was wondering when you would join in this thread.

^ The best person I know at doing wheelies.

 

[Spudly]

Re: Re:

I was wondering when you would join in this thread.

^ The best person I know at doing wheelies.

Haha why thank you dude, although I had to wait till I had a suitably cool pic to post up as proof lol

 

[scant]

Re: Re:

It's always the left/right balance thing that screws up my wheelies :?
Any tips?
Or is my internal gyro kaput??

find a slight hill to wheelie up. pick a point in the near distance & focus on it, that will help stabilize the wheelie so you wont flop from side to side. cover the back brake at all times so you dont over rotate. ideally start practicing with flat pedals so you can get off the bike a lot quicker if you do over rotate

then its just persistence. I dont remember exactly how long it took me as it was back in 93, but certainly a couple of weeks before i felt fully in control. even now at the end of every ride i'll do 5mins of wheelies on the way home. if you're fit enough doing them mid ride alongside your friends while they suffer uphill can also be entertaining

 

[M-Power]

Re:

^^^ Great tips too.

 

[MADJEZ]

NOPE note ever mastered it after over 40 years of trying on choppers, grifters, folding shoppers, bmx, racers, mountain bikes.... Just ain't got the balance :-(