So we made a video about how to ride switchbacks and I was actually using a bit
of a trial skill to pick up the back wheel and get around those real tight corners.
And we had a few comments asking about how to do that, so we thought why not make a
video on our top trial skills that every mountain biker can benefit from?
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So, these are all really useful for low speed riding situations.
First thing I would do is practice my track stand. I'm turning my wheel in into
that slope and pressure into my front pedal. I've also found a spot on the floor
to stare at to help me keep my balance. So I'm pushing, letting off,
pushing against that pedal to keep my balance, also using my brakes.
So that's really useful where you might have a really tight turn or just a really
slopy piece of track where the better your balance is, the easier it will be
to keep your feet on the pedals and keep riding.
Next up is the wheelie. So, I'm going to use my pedals
and my weight, powering in and drop my hips back at the same time.
What I'm really trying to do here is just pop the front wheel.
I'm not trying to hold a long wheelie. For now, let's just thinking about popping
that front wheel really good for getting up and over trees, rocks, roots,
anywhere that we haven't got much speed and you can't use a good manual.
You got to keep your thing on the back brakes, because if it goes too high,
hit the back brake, it's going to bring it down.
Okay, so now we're going to look at a bunny hop
and then move that on slightly to a side hop. We have got a more in-depth
video on how to bunny hop on the channel, so search that one out if you've not
seen it, but really it's a case of making sure that you use your hips to do this
and not a pull on the arms and legs.
So down and back, up and forward to lift the wheels.
That's really useful for getting over any edges in the track like rocks or roots and
for really unweighting on the trail. Now, we're gonna move that on to a side hop,
which is really good for getting out of ruts and drastic changes
lying on the track.
So, same method as a bunny hop with a big pump
rolling back to get a manual and then stand it up and forwards,
I'm doing one wheel at a time, I'm just adding a bit of a twist into it.
I'm actually pulling a little bit on the bars to begin with,
send the bars to the left.
Now, we're gonna look at an endos. This is all about getting the back wheel off
the floor using your front brake and your weight. So the way to do this is first
do a pump, then bring your hips up and forwards towards the bars
and apply that front brake.
Once you've got the hang of that and you haven't sent yourself over the bar,
you can start doing a rolling endo or a stoppie. Same thing,
I'm just going to keep the bike moving.
That's really useful for picking your back wheel up on things
like switchbacks, where the corner might be so tight you can't
ride a nice line around it. Get good at your rolling endo and add a bit of a twist
to that, by twisting your hips and pushing your feet, and the back wheel will start
turning really, really good but it takes a bit of practice.
Okay, so get out of there, stop playing around, all these little trial skills
can be practiced anywhere, just find yourself a little bit of space.
For more videos, you can click up here for our how to bunny hop.
And then if you click down here, it's our how to ride single track faster
video, where we show you using how to bunny hop to get up
and over rocks and things, but also starting to double up
sections of the trail. We actually made this video, if you saw some of your
comments asking for it, so if there's anything else you'd like to see,
just leave a comment down below and give us a thumbs up or a like
if you found this video useful. Or click on me to subscribe to the channel
GMBN so that you get a little notification every time we do a video. It's free.