How to do a Wheelie - Help Needed
Discussion
Over the last few evenings I have been trying to perfect my wheelie skills to make my daily commute home a little more fun.
As I probably popped my last wheelie at least 25yrs ago I seem to be a little rusty and have lost the technique for staying in the sweet spot when balancing.
Most attempts are aborted by me having to pedal faster and faster until I have no choice but to drop the front wheel back down.
Can someone remind me of right technique for keeping it up longer without bailing out the back or pedalling too fast.
Am I finding it harder due to being too old or that I am not on a BMX but now using a hybrid with 28" wheels?
As I probably popped my last wheelie at least 25yrs ago I seem to be a little rusty and have lost the technique for staying in the sweet spot when balancing.
Most attempts are aborted by me having to pedal faster and faster until I have no choice but to drop the front wheel back down.
Can someone remind me of right technique for keeping it up longer without bailing out the back or pedalling too fast.
Am I finding it harder due to being too old or that I am not on a BMX but now using a hybrid with 28" wheels?
te at wheelies.Cover your back break, if you feel like your going over lightly pull the break to bring you back down, avoid putting your seat right up as this aint a propa wheely.... you need your front wheel pointing right up at the sky!...
also dont use a really high gear.... granny ring and 4th or 5th cog will suffice.
also dont use a really high gear.... granny ring and 4th or 5th cog will suffice.
If you have to keep pedalling more to keep it up, you're not at the balance point. It works on motorbikes as they can go on adding more and more revs to keep it up!
Find a flat or gently sloping bit of grass and try getting the front wheel up higher and higher - cover the back brake so you can give it a quick dab if you've gone too far but try more and more extreme angles until you know you're well past the balance point.
The aim for good wheelies should be to get up to the balance point, then just shift either side of it with small inputs of pedalling and rear brake so that you can keep the speed under control.
Find a flat or gently sloping bit of grass and try getting the front wheel up higher and higher - cover the back brake so you can give it a quick dab if you've gone too far but try more and more extreme angles until you know you're well past the balance point.
The aim for good wheelies should be to get up to the balance point, then just shift either side of it with small inputs of pedalling and rear brake so that you can keep the speed under control.
I have started to wheelie again after 10 years off 
Im up to about 200-300m stretches now
I find the easiest way is to run a easy gear and very lighty peddle against the back brake. I find this smoothes out my pedal stroke and the whole wheelie becomes a lot more controlable.
I aim to pedal at quite a high cadence and i find if your in a lower gear you have less response to pull the front back up again.
Im up to about 200-300m stretches now
I find the easiest way is to run a easy gear and very lighty peddle against the back brake. I find this smoothes out my pedal stroke and the whole wheelie becomes a lot more controlable.
I aim to pedal at quite a high cadence and i find if your in a lower gear you have less response to pull the front back up again.
Wheelies made easy - for effortless you ain't seen nothing like this....
http://it.youtube.com/bikeitalian
http://it.youtube.com/bikeitalian
JuniorD said:
Wheelies made easy - for effortless you ain't seen nothing like this....
http://it.youtube.com/bikeitalian
That's mental http://it.youtube.com/bikeitalian
Lord Pikey said:
I have started to wheelie again after 10 years off
Im up to about 200-300m stretches now
.
pah, lightweight! Im up to about 200-300m stretches now
.
I lapped Silverstone GP circuit on the back wheel of my BMX! In 1984!
Its weird, as a fat old man now, I can still do all the stunts and tricks I could do then, including backwards riding, 360 endos, etc. It just hurts more when I get it wrong!!
In fact, about 2 years ago, after seeing some kids making pitiful attempts to do wheelies and jumps over the raised ironwork in the road, I got the MB out and went out to show them a few tricks! They thought it was great, and my wife thought it utterly hillarious when they "called" for me the next night to see if I was goin out to play!!
(Seriously they did!)JuniorD said:
Wheelies made easy - for effortless you ain't seen nothing like this....
http://it.youtube.com/bikeitalian
That is unreal! Imagine sweating your knackers off in a race riding as hard as you can only to get overtaken by that bloke, up on the back wheel waving to the crowd! Soul destroying for his competitors! http://it.youtube.com/bikeitalian
poo at Paul's said:
Lord Pikey said:
I have started to wheelie again after 10 years off
Im up to about 200-300m stretches now
.
pah, lightweight! Im up to about 200-300m stretches now
.
I lapped Silverstone GP circuit on the back wheel of my BMX! In 1984!
Its weird, as a fat old man now, I can still do all the stunts and tricks I could do then, including backwards riding, 360 endos, etc. It just hurts more when I get it wrong!!
In fact, about 2 years ago, after seeing some kids making pitiful attempts to do wheelies and jumps over the raised ironwork in the road, I got the MB out and went out to show them a few tricks! They thought it was great, and my wife thought it utterly hillarious when they "called" for me the next night to see if I was goin out to play!!
(Seriously they did!) I too had a BMX as a kid (nearly 30 years now!) and could still do huge wheelies on my mtb much to my mates disgust...Trick with wheelies is to now put too much emphasis on the pull of the bars, make sure the gear youre in will enable the front to lift, but also be not so low that youre pedaling madly, nor so high that it tries to go right over. Timing the push of the pedal, tug on the bars whilst moving your bodyweight backwards slightly helps the loft.
Holding the balance point is the trick. While sitting on the bike, lift the front up till it feels like youll tip over. Thats somewhere near the height youll be aiming for mono-ing. Continue pedaling at a constant rate using the rear brake to regulate speed.
I was never as good as the guy on the video ^^ and one handed cross-ups were about my limit. Not sure about how I'd be on a BMX now though!
;)s.m.h. said:
poo at Paul's said:
Lord Pikey said:
I have started to wheelie again after 10 years off
Im up to about 200-300m stretches now
.
pah, lightweight! Im up to about 200-300m stretches now
.
I lapped Silverstone GP circuit on the back wheel of my BMX! In 1984!
Its weird, as a fat old man now, I can still do all the stunts and tricks I could do then, including backwards riding, 360 endos, etc. It just hurts more when I get it wrong!!
In fact, about 2 years ago, after seeing some kids making pitiful attempts to do wheelies and jumps over the raised ironwork in the road, I got the MB out and went out to show them a few tricks! They thought it was great, and my wife thought it utterly hillarious when they "called" for me the next night to see if I was goin out to play!!
(Seriously they did!) I too had a BMX as a kid (nearly 30 years now!) and could still do huge wheelies on my mtb much to my mates disgust...Trick with wheelies is to now put too much emphasis on the pull of the bars, make sure the gear youre in will enable the front to lift, but also be not so low that youre pedaling madly, nor so high that it tries to go right over. Timing the push of the pedal, tug on the bars whilst moving your bodyweight backwards slightly helps the loft.
Holding the balance point is the trick. While sitting on the bike, lift the front up till it feels like youll tip over. Thats somewhere near the height youll be aiming for mono-ing. Continue pedaling at a constant rate using the rear brake to regulate speed.
I was never as good as the guy on the video ^^ and one handed cross-ups were about my limit. Not sure about how I'd be on a BMX now though!
Most people when trying to learn put too much emphasis on pulling up on the bars, which will normally pull you off balance. The rotation should come from the pedals really.
So, select a low gear to start off with (you can change up later when you're getting good!) practise pushing down smoothly on the pedals and feel the front end wanting to rise. Then, when you're happy with the feeling, pull back gently on the bars whilst continuing to pedal smoothly and lean back slightly. If the front wheel doesnt come up or stay up, then lean a little further back, pull back a little more and pedal a little harder! Always cover the back brake when learning and get used to pulling the brake and bringing the front back down.
Once you find where the natural balance point is, you'll start to pull longer and longer wheelies, then you can practise manuals, one/no handed wheelies etc
oh and practise on grass if you can as it hurts less!
There was a Hans Rey video on how to wheelie about 10 years ago, gave an unusual approach as I recall:
drop the saddle really low so you can bend your knees out like wings to provide side to side balance.
low gear, like granny up front, middle of the block at the back.
stamp the front wheel up, cover the rear brake quite hard.
throw your knees out sideways to get balance.
Worked for me, I was wheelying round corners in no time.
drop the saddle really low so you can bend your knees out like wings to provide side to side balance.
low gear, like granny up front, middle of the block at the back.
stamp the front wheel up, cover the rear brake quite hard.
throw your knees out sideways to get balance.
Worked for me, I was wheelying round corners in no time.
Echoing others, definitely cover the back brake and if you've got rim brakes then don't wheelie on dewy grass...especially if you're wheelying down Devils Dyke at the time. 
Other than that, using your knees to balance left and right helps a lot. Also, I find that to corner right I push the right bar and pull the left slightly and the bike starts to turn, I guess I pedal a bit harder then too.
Wheelies are big and they are clever,
so good luck to you.
Other than that, using your knees to balance left and right helps a lot. Also, I find that to corner right I push the right bar and pull the left slightly and the bike starts to turn, I guess I pedal a bit harder then too.
Wheelies are big and they are clever,
so good luck to you.Thanks everyone for your words of wisdom, it's been a massive help.
Just to clarify I have never had a problem getting it up (oohh eer missus) it was keeping it up which was giving me problems.
I have found my balance point and making progress every evening up to about 20 meters on a good run.
Practising on back roads on my way home each night. Being in the right gear and a dab of the rear brake works a treat too.
I tried it with SPD's years ago, only did the once, tore the arse out of a new pair of cycle shorts.
Out of interest, how old are all you wheelie kings on here?
Just to clarify I have never had a problem getting it up (oohh eer missus) it was keeping it up which was giving me problems.
I have found my balance point and making progress every evening up to about 20 meters on a good run.
Practising on back roads on my way home each night. Being in the right gear and a dab of the rear brake works a treat too.
I tried it with SPD's years ago, only did the once, tore the arse out of a new pair of cycle shorts.
Out of interest, how old are all you wheelie kings on here?
I remember the summer I learnt to wheelie properly. From say 8-13 years old I'd always been good, but only with the 'faster and faster' method. I knew about the back brake feathering but never really tried.
..Anyway, at 13 or 14, after getting a new MTB, I spent a couple of weeks in the summer holidays practising the rear brake method, mainly in the garden. It's a great feeling when you *know* that you're getting there. My best friend had been on holiday these two weeks, he was ostounded with my improvement when I went around and called for him..
I do think it can be a little more difficult to learn these days, as brakes are so good I find them quite hard to modulate. Admittedly I've not been on anything with decent disc brakes so maybe they're not so bad?
I've not done it for a while, but when I did one handed and no handed stuff (very rare) I had to have the seat in just the right position.
..Anyway, at 13 or 14, after getting a new MTB, I spent a couple of weeks in the summer holidays practising the rear brake method, mainly in the garden. It's a great feeling when you *know* that you're getting there. My best friend had been on holiday these two weeks, he was ostounded with my improvement when I went around and called for him..
I do think it can be a little more difficult to learn these days, as brakes are so good I find them quite hard to modulate. Admittedly I've not been on anything with decent disc brakes so maybe they're not so bad?
I've not done it for a while, but when I did one handed and no handed stuff (very rare) I had to have the seat in just the right position.
marine boy said:
I tried it with SPD's years ago, only did the once, tore the arse out of a new pair of cycle shorts.
Out of interest, how old are all you wheelie kings on here?
Old enough to know better. Out of interest, how old are all you wheelie kings on here?
I'm now in my 30s.I tried wheelying in SPDs earlier this year and it's ok, but I found that the amount of horizontal twist neeeded when sticking a knee out to balance with meant my feet unclipped from the pedal, which was really annoying.
Keep practising and those 20 metres will eventually become a mile.
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