- This how to is a really fun one.
It's a trick but it's also a skill
that can be used on the trail.
This is how to wheelie an E-bike.
So I think the wheelie is one of the most
fun things to do on an E-bike.
Using that power to get the front wheel up in the air,
but this also can be really useful for learning that
balance point on the bike, which is gonna help with
you doing bigger manuals and therefore bunny hops.
It's also really helpful for getting up technical climbs
and for getting through rough sections fast.
More of those things later on,
lets start with how to wheelie.
First thing is a few bike set up tips
that will help you learn that wheelie.
Now I would recommend not doing in the turbo mode,
so drop your power down slightly
because in turbo mode you can that front wheel up
super high and sometimes it will come up too fast
and you'll loop out. By that I mean
fall off the back of the bike.
For the same reason that I would always recommend
learning to wheelie on flat pedals so that
if the front wheel does come too high,
you can just jump off the back
rather than fall off and land on your back.
Next one is to do it with your seat up.
So find yourself a bit of open space that's also
nice and smooth, thats to make it a little bit easier.
And ride along at walking pace in quite an easy gear,
then slow it down and actually it's that
acceleration back up to that speed
that gets the front wheel into the air.
Now the tough part about that is
trying to find the right gear,
so when you accelerate into it
the front wheel comes up.
But if it's too easy a gear you'll spin really fast
and the front wheel will drop,
but too big a gear, you'll find it hard to get
the front wheel up high enough.
So what I call the snap,
that acceleration up into the wheelie,
is a mixture of two things.
It's the power through the pedals, but also technique.
So I ride left foot forward and actually I need to
position my pedals correctly to help with that snap.
So actually I drop my front foot slightly
so my right foot's coming up and over, and then I go.
And actually once my right foot comes up and over,
the front wheel starts rising
and then I'm into my pedal stroke.
So as part of that snap with pedals,
I'm also using my chest.
So just before I start to put that power in,
what I'll do is I'll remain seated
but drop my chest down towards the bars;
as I snap with the pedals
I'll actually bring my chest back and upright
so its right above the saddle
and actually I'll tip back with the bike
as the front wheel rises.
That's really important cause if bend your arms
you're sort of fighting that front wheel,
you're not sitting into the wheelie.
So your back brake really is your safety net here,
you've got to learn a wheelie,
covering that back brake at all times.
Cause if it comes too high, grab it,
its gonna get that front wheel
straight back down on the floor.
But the real trick to mastering the wheelie
is using the power to bring the front wheel up
if it's dropping too low,
then using the brake, feathering that brake
to bring the front wheel back down if it's coming too high
and that does take practice.
Whilst I think it's easier to learn the wheelie
with your seat up so you remain seated
and use your chest to lean back and power into it,
I actually like to do it from a standing position.
I can then do it with my seat down,
I can get the bike into an even higher wheelie.
So, I'm stood nice and tall and as I do the snap,
I then sit down. My seat is down.
My front wheel can go really high.
Right, so power to bring the front wheel up,
brake to bring it back down,
and now side to side, so giving it a little bit more speed
is gonna help you keep your balance.
But you will still find that
you'll have to put some input into the bike.
So if you feel like you're losing your balance,
it really all comes from the arms now.
So don't forget to sit back into the wheelie,
but if I feel that my balance is going the one way,
I'll sort of tip the bike over.
So picking my elbow up that way, or the other,
sliding my hips around slightly on the saddle.
All that input is gonna help you keep your balance.
These are some of the common mistakes
when it comes to wheelieing that are gonna make it harder.
The first one is not getting it in the right gear,
like I've talked about already.
So really experiment with this,
you need that front wheel to be up
and then you're in the right gear
to be pedaling along wheelieing.
The next one, just like manualing,
people try and use their arms to
lift the front wheel in the wheelie.
And that's not gonna help,
cause often the front wheel can go a little bit sideways.
But when you sit back into the wheelie
like I've said with your chest,
your arms will go straight
and hopefully your front wheel is gonna stay straight.
But also then you're really sitting back
and into the wheelie
and not keeping your weight over the front wheel.
So that's how to wheelie on the flat
and there's hours of fun practicing that.
But now I'm gonna show you where to use it on the trail.
So when it comes to using the wheelie on the trail,
there's something I do an awful lot with an E-bike
in sections like this where it's rough.
If I wanna try and pedal through this to use all my power,
I risk whacking my pedals on these rocks
and that can cause a big crash.
So here I'm actually gonna pick the front wheel up,
that raises my bottom bracket height completely,
so I can then pedal through
without any risk of whacking my pedals.
Now just like on a normal bike
where you may need to wheelie up steps and technical climbs
you can do the very same thing on an E-bike.
But you're really trying to harness
that extra power it's giving you,
and actually this can be loads of fun
trying to challenge yourself
to get up some really hard stuff,
using your skills and your wheelies, and all that power.
Once you've mastered the manual and the wheelie,
you can do a lot more fun things, like this coaster wheelie.
But don't forget to hit those buttons down there
for more E-bike skills videos.