- Are wheelies tricks for showing off?
Yeah, pretty much.
You can use them a little bit on the trail,
mainly for getting up things like steps in the trail.
But, definitely still worth learning.
(upbeat cool music)
(record scratches)
(tire kicking up gravel)
It can be quite daunting to learn,
so in this video I'll talk you through
the easiest way of doing it.
Try and find yourself somewhere with a slight incline
that you can ride up.
Ideally with soft grass, somewhere where
it's not going to hurt too much if you loop out.
This is rocky, and dry, and hard packed
so it's not perfect.
But, do as I say not as I do.
I'll start with my saddle up.
Doing the wheelie uphill is going to be easier
cause your front wheel's already pointed up into the air.
So it should take less force to start lifting it.
Also, if you feel like your looping out,
back off the power it'll drop straight back down.
Try learning to really sat down,
so you need your saddle quite high
to get the power through the pedals.
Also, it's really important to cover your back brake
cause that is what is going to save you
if the front wheel starts to come too high.
Ideally it needs to be one finger
so you've got the rest of your fingers
holding onto bar for a good grip.
Probably the most important part
of being really good at wheelies and manuals
is good rear brake control.
It's the thing that you can trust to save you from a crash.
So it's well worth trying to learn.
Actually trying to wheelie without covering the rear brake
is a recipe for disaster.
Even if you feel like you can jump off the back.
Eventually it should feel much safer to grab the rear brake
than having to resort to jumping off the back.
But, if your new to wheelies, I would definitely say
do it on flat pedals just in case you have to jump off.
Power into the pedals and body movement
are two things that you're going to need
to get the front wheel up into the air at all.
And it's all about timing the two things together
to really get that pop.
You need a good amount of power and you get this
just as your pedal comes up and over
the top of the rotation.
Time this and your body movement together.
Lean forwards down toward your bars,
stay seated and just bend your arms.
See how that feels to begin with.
Now together with the pedal stroke.
Keep at it cause you might find to begin with
you start loosing your balance to the side of the bike
cause we're using power really through one foot
and you got to try and keep your weight central
above the top tube.
But it does definitely take a bit of practice.
(fan winding down)
Again you need to be really ready
to pull that back brake, and even do it a few times
just to get used to the feel of it.
Cause you're going up the hill
your front wheel will already be nearer that balance point.
Which is point of where if you lack the power
it'll drop down, or if you go to far
it'll go right up and over and you'll loop out.
So the balance point is just in
those bit in between those two.
The rear brake is what you use to help keep it there.
It's going to definitely take a while to master rear brake.
Try and do it on soft ground cause to learn this properly
eventually you will over cook it and probably loop out.
Get practicing, and make sure
your rear brake is working well,
and then just get used to doing it.
(upbeat rock music)
Something that I think is important to remember
when you're wheelieing is try and sit back into it.
Quite a lot of people when they get their front wheel up
try and counter balance it by bringing their weight forward.
You'll probably find that it's really easy to loose
your balance doing that.
So, basically when you're powering wheelie,
you should be sat like this,
just the front wheels tipped up in the air.
So it feels like you start becoming behind the back, almost.
Then your arms should stay straight,
and hopefully you'll keep your balance much easier.
(record scratches)
You've got to keep at the wheelie.
Definitely takes some practice.
Really try and keep the weight central above the bike.
But probably the most common mistake
is having in too light a gear
so when you chop down the pedal and do your movement,
you then instantly run out of power.
So maybe put it in a harder gear than you think you need to.
Once you've got it you can then move on to a manual.
So it's the same end result,
you don't need the pedal stroke to get the front wheel up,
or even coaster wheelie.
One that I really like doing.
Get the front wheel up
and then you can sit behind the balance point,
and just use the rear brake to hold it there.
(gravel crackles under the bike tire)
So there's how to learn how to wheelie.
I think that's the easiest way to do it,
is find yourself an uphill, keep at it.
Anyone can do this.
It's just really all about getting
that rear brake control nailed
cause that's the one thing that should make you confident
about holding it there without looping out.
If you want to see how to improve another fundamental skill,
than over there's for how to improve your hops.
And if you want to see Martin show himself and Blake
how to improve our trial skills, down there's that one.
Thumbs up if you like improving your bike riding,
and subscribe if you haven't done already.