In honor of wheelie Wednesday the wheelie master himself, Wyn Masters, is here to give some tips on how to pull off a good manual. It may take quite a bit of time before anyone can do it as well as Wyn, but it's a skill that is not only a lot of fun, but pretty vital to any form of riding. Finish it off with a little trail shredding from Wyn and Brook and you've got a quick lesson that is worth the watch.
Feather the brake? Ever seen Edwin Delarosa manual? Use your weight to control the manual and only use the rear brake if all else fails and you would otherwise loop out.
Legit though, manualing is just about a shitload of practice. It took me literally a year of practice going to and from school on a P.3 to get it down... So don't be demoralised if you cannot get it on the first go haha.
if only it were that easy. i hate those guys downtown on their BMX's manualing through the stop light stealing all the looks from the girls. Girls like guys with skills.....
This "how to" videos are useless! I'm already 41 (and don't understand how that happened), riding bikes for years and my skill is still nowhere near to most of the guys that makes this kind of videos. It's some kind of conspiracy. I wonder what CIA, free masons and Vatikan has to say about this.
@aljoburr: I don't know about riding harder, but I'm faster. Usually, every few years I buy a bike with 20 mm more travel and I'm always a little bit faster.
+1on Ryan Leech..this 45 year old female that has been riding for 25 years finally learned how to bunnyhop instead of the two wheel at speed cheat ....best 20$ spend ever...been a tremendous impact on trail flow ...surprising how much speed you can gain by hoping small roots and pumping the backside of them for speed
Just practice and practice and practice like a mofo, but be concious of what are you doing, pay attention so you don't do the same thing over and over, and understand what are you failing at. There's so many little things that they don't say in tutorials, even the best ones miss something. You have to figure out those things by yourself. Don't try to learn the manual; invent the manual, be one with the manual! (lol).
And drop your saddle as much as you can (slammed into the seat tube).
Thrust your hips forward when the front wheel wants to drop? I thought that's when you want drop them back to get your center gravity behind the rear hub. Anyone care to explain?
The best way I learned was to control the bending or straightening of your legs. If the front drops, "bone" out your legs and lock them straight. If the front end is coming up, bend your knees to bring yourself closer to the front end.
That was more for laughs in the video... that whole thrusting was overly exaggerated as was a lot of what Brook is doing. It's really more about the movement of you legs relative to your arms. This thrusting motion he's talking about is really you pushing/driving your legs while your arms are in a sense pulling back. Think about the same motion a jump/bunny hop, to get the bike to pop up/lift the front or to boost a jump.... you are driving/accelerating the rear faster than the front so as to give the front some pop to lift it up. When you do this, the rear will accelerate forward while the front accelerates backwards and creates the lift... as the front accelerates back and you stand taller you will rise and the bars will come back towards your hips (in a sense... looks like thrusting the hips thus Wynn's commentary). Watch Brook @ about :42-43 seconds, imagine that is the moment the front is dropping... a split second later @ :43 - :44 secs you will see Brook do this (thrust "stand taller" = driving his legs while pulling back) and it will pop the front up. A second later, he sets it back down. Hard to take this video seriously cause most of this is over-exaggerated but hey, that's the Wynn Factor coming through and that's what makes his videos fun/hilarious to watch. LOL Typically if you have the manual under control... you would probably make micro adjustments with your legs while arms locked out and probably kick/push out (bend knees/shift weight forward to bring front down so you don't loop, or push/straighten legs with your legs to lift front) instead IMHO.
Yep, they are worth every penny. Ryan gives you skill progression, and you can contact the guy and he will respond wow, that's why it's worth the investment..
The key Is not in a magical recipe, all these how to vids gives good clues, but if you really want to manual consistently you have to actually practice it, doing drills. Just ridding along and trying to pop one from time to time won't do it
@oneplanka: In the meantime, here is a video with me in it Only two manuals and they're cut real short but I think you get the idea that I can wheelie and manual I'm in the yellow helmet, party shirt and the Canyon
People complaining about this video being to vague... "just manual" is probably the best advice you can give. you dont need instructions on how to f*cken manual, get on your bike and practice. I forget the majority of pinkbike users are keyboard warriors...
Bollocks. skills are taught properly with a learning progression. Doing drills that lead you in a step by step process to achieve the ultimate goal of, in this case to manual. If you want to get frustrated and beat to shit, then use your method by all means... Perhaps YOU are the keyboard warrior projecting his own inadequacies ? \
youtu.be/3nGe1wDR2LQ?t=22
EDIT This guy seems to have them pretty dialled too
www.pinkbike.com/video/103714
"lean back, find that balance point". oh, good advice, but how do i get there???
Phil Kmetz's video is much better
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h76ejrABYEY
Phil's video is indeed much better.
I'm already 41 (and don't understand how that happened), riding bikes for years and my skill is still nowhere near to most of the guys that makes this kind of videos.
It's some kind of conspiracy. I wonder what CIA, free masons and Vatikan has to say about this.
And drop your saddle as much as you can (slammed into the seat tube).
Arms locked the whole time...
1) Ride super-fast
2) Then just manual
Only two manuals and they're cut real short but I think you get the idea that I can wheelie and manual
I'm in the yellow helmet, party shirt and the Canyon
www.pinkbike.com/video/465426
www.instagram.com/p/BPzztThAgoy
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