Ryan Leech's 30 Day Wheelie Challenge

 I know a Nigerian prince who wants your bank account details. Lol he wants to learn to wheelie.

 dont forget to check that rear brake before pulling one....I bet I'm not the only one who's ended up on his ass because of crappy brakes!

 Well you guys are funny

 You can also just jump off your bike if your brake dosnt work

 one must poses the wheelie gene

 ...unless you run clipless, in which case no worries, your tailbone will break your fall.

 ahhh man! Crashed doing a wheelie last month going a little tooooo fast--- crushed the ol' L1 vertebrae... Be careful---actually--just don't be stupid like me! Hurts like a mofo. Also--there is this site called Youtube that has many a free lesson on how to perform this most difficult and rarely performed trick.

 We live in a generation where flats are rare which makes me sad as its so much nicer to wheelie with flats and you learn how to bunny hop properly, something my gf can't do just because she doesn't like flats

 I live on Pinbike but i wheelied the old way

Step 1: Dont clip in to wheelie

CONGRATULATIONS on your first wheelie without flipping over the back because you forgot to use you rear brake!

 Yep, that's about it. If I hadn't figured that out 15 years ago all on my own then I'd figure it out now, all on my own if I really wanted to wheelie.

I'll give you a +1 if you've got any magic tips for gettin' fakie manuals done on the front wheel.

 All mountain if you go over with clips on you have to go to one side so your tailbone dosnt get it trust me I relearned to wheelie as an adult well clipped in

 freeride-forever, I'm not the best at doing fakie manuals on the front wheel, but if you can at first try on a quarter and when you try to do it try to get the same angle as a nice and semi-high footjam. By the way practice hopping over the handlebars! best of luck

 that balance point depends on your body position. lean back your front wheel is lower at balance point. so never was good in manual that thing without Petaling. got some time of the dirt cause of injury had some time for manuals i feel like pulling my front wheel low and then moving my body forward while rising my front wheel helps to get a few decent feet then you have to move your body front back like saying yes all the time while moving with your legs bend those knees. wheelies are probably best with brake adjustement i dunno. anyway dont know how mcduff pulls them lol

 Lol what?

 It is funny because it is true.

 I took this year off work so I can practice how to clean my bike. I am pretty good at it now. Wish somebody could be my friend

 No, it's funny because I still can't tell if you're joking or not!

 All true. Last year I said to my wife, I am taking the year off work and going to ride my bike a lot and learn to wheelie. She said "as long as you keep my bikes clean and working I will support you". Given that she has more bikes then I have fingers on my hands and probably rides more then all posters on pinkbike combined this was a rather large task. But ultimately it was worth it.

 Comment of the year because it makes sense to us here at pinkbike tribe

 Honestly, i really cant tell if this is a joke or not. My sarcasm meter might need calibrating. Please,somebody tell me if this is real or not.

 just ask his wife

 You are not alone @WhatAboutBob. I feel your pain.

 why does it seem to me that in this post "wife" really means "mom" and year off work means somewhere theres a 7-11 that needs a shelf stocker.

 @obee1 do you want in on the 7-11 job? I hear they are getting desperate.

 It's all about having time to ride in most cases. I learned to wheelie one summer between 6th and 7th grade. Spent 2 months, nearly everyday, trying to ride up a tiny hill with my friends. One day I made it. 4 driveways. I thought it was far back then, it was maybe 50 yards. 3 years later, 4 miles. That was 32 years ago. I wish there was an easy way to teach someone to learn them, but all I can say is "pull up on the bars and pedal"... Yeah, I might be that really old guy that you see pulling up one handed or pulling up into a wheelie seated and chainless and coasting for a while. After you learn how, it's easy, like clipping in.. which I also do.. never went over backwards clipped in either..

 Only if I can get a discount on those delicious chees pretzels. PM with some advice about the job interview though. I always freeze up on the tough questions.

 This is some serious Andy Kaufman shizzit, right here. Good stuff.

 We had problems with sarcasm meters up top of comments, but now WAKI is getting involved I don't know what to think!!

 Master Waki provided the artwork for this program. Guy is a genius with pen and ink, a philosopher, dad, a keen observer of life, and dedicated mountain bike fanatic. I know he is prone to troll when the situation warrants, but I think that if you read his words you can tell pretty quickly when he's yanking your chain. This isn't one of those times. Waki- good job on the artwork. I signed up for the course in part because of your artwork, as well as previous comments you made, and videos you released related to your own wheelie practice. Keep up the good work!

 >Lifting your front wheel up and riding for 4 pedal strokes is not a usable wheelie
Actually that is the exact use for a wheelie. On a trail you do it to quickly overcome something and then just carry on, and/or pull another 4 strokes when its needed again. That said, I still want to do >10 strokes, so that I can too have that moment :3

 ownix - what I mean with that is that, while I do not make more than one full stroke to get myself over a ditch, I need those 30+ on asphalt to make that one well because one of the most fundamental wheelie skills is to lift your front wheel effortlessly, and when you can do that then A - you are sure your wheel will get to the other side and B you will ride through the hole balanced (fore-aft, side to side) enough to just keep on doing what you were doing before you came upon that obstacle. It takes time and practice to get your muscle memory wired to do it right.

I also practice wheelies on my way to work, not only it makes it more fun to get to work, it's also a good time to do it

 I have a one year old daughter who is my everything but I would like to do the course so she can be proud of her old man seeing him wheelie around town. My question is; will I be able to combine this course with dad duties? Can you do it over a to or even three month period? Between dad stuff and work I have only managed to go out riding 3 or 4 times this year :-(

 @vonplatz I'm closer to my second ride this year! how cool!

 Vonplatz, I have two kids, 1year old and 3 year old. Learning trials/street skills like wheelie is a fantastic refuge and way to keep biking passion going.´and develop. You can simply go out for 30 minutes and get a quality practice that can sooner be used on a trail when you find some time to ride That is exactly what I was doing, 30-45 minutes and back to help my wife with toddler screaming like a Nazgul.

 @ Vonplatz - Ryan doesn't limit your access to course materials, you can take as long as you want to complete the course.
This is something you can do with your kids too. I just did the Day 3 practice for the Wheelie Challenge today while riding to the local park with my 8yr old daughter. She played with a buddy on the playground, I did my drills on the grass, and she came out & joined me for some "bike tag" and cruising around on the flowy dirt footpaths. My girls have no interest in getting knocked around on our rocky, tech local trails, but they're stoked when we get out and make it more like play than a "sport" or hobby. My main goal is to keep it playful and fun.
I've been practicing wheelies on my own while riding with the kids, in part to help diffuse their frustration with learning to use hand brakes, derailleurs, climb steep hills, etc. and amuse them with my own trials-&-errors. Under my own tutelage, I have unfortunately hit a plateau: I haven't been able to consistently get in more than 10 pedal strokes.
It's early days for me with this course, but three days in I feel Ryan has taught me to get a straighter, cleaner "pop" to start the wheelie, and I'm consistently going longer as a result.
This is PB, I'm sure that some of those scoffing above actually do possess the skills to wheelie wherever they like for as long as they want. I get that, I'm usually a pretty smug fast-learner myself. In this case, I'm stoked to get help up off the plateau of mediocrity where I've been stuck, and compared to what I've invested in any kind of professional instruction for *anything* else in life, $30 is chump change.

 PS - WAKI, good job on the illustrations for Ryan's course. They really lend a fun vibe to the instructionals.

 Hahaha!! So true!!!

 Hi ecly13, I sent a note to folks who are in the program about this pinkbike post, and asked if any of them might be willing to contribute a comment about their experience with the product thus far, and a few of them did!

 Holy sh1t, Ryan Leech! Dude you were a hero of mine growing up, I need to know...on the Evolve film, how did you bend the top tube on your Norco trials bike!?

 youtu.be/MD8te23KV6A

@ 19mins for anyone unfortunate enough to have never seen Evolve

 Hahaha, I did Thom, it was one of my sit bones that did the actual denting, that brings back some memories!

 It was the topic of many debates between me and my mates, some said the rail, some that your brake levers did it. None of us could quite believe how you did it! Anyway thanks for clearing that up dude, you made my day!

 This is next, hopefully! I wish they have one for the bunnyhop too, because I suck at it!

 I can manual way better than I can wheelie. I think having to sit and pedal without being able to shift your weight makes it harder.

 I'm the opposite. I can wheelie for miles but my manuals are shite.

 Ha, me too. ^^

 sorry guys buts whats the difference, help the not native English speaker

 A wheelie uses pedalling and balance, where a manual generally just uses balance alone.

 Full disclosure: can't wheelie, manual or bunnyhop worth a toss.

 Alex - I can't hit the little green arrow enough times !

 This is so true. I'm 40 odd (cough) years old and my younger mate wheelies like a bastard. You've sold it to me. I'd love to secretly learn and then give the clever sod a shock.

 That's cool you're learning them. I'm 44 years old now. I learned wheelies 32 years ago. It's odd, but I still enjoy them. Ride a mile or so once a month. Clipped in, seat in XC mode, which I think is harder. I can still smoke the kids I run into with wheelie variations and manuals.. Actually the only time I feel young on a bike these days, is on one wheel. It's a very useful tool. I use a wheelie technique of sort several times out on the trails. It'll come to you. As far as jumping goes, I crashed so many times as a kid, it's best to only jump what you feel comfortable with. Only have to prove it to yourself. I do jump some big stuff now, but I also have to hold a job. So if I have think if I can make, I don't do it. I saw a video of a bike park in Wales that is full of tabletop jumps, that's the type of jumps to ride because you can land short without a crash involved.

 So true, oldschool43. I'm 48, soon to be 49 and still eager to learn. I'm an "old" rider but like the new school of riding.

 Oldschool careful with the mentality of coming up short on tabletops. It can end tragically as well if you rebound off the knuckle all the same.

 I learned to wheelie well when I was twelve, too, but somehow lost it in a bad, bad way, never to be seen again.

 Oldschool - I have ridden the table top section you refer to, unfortunately it was after coming off another table top elsewhere and separating my shoulder. Great section but you need the skill on the table top otherwise your just flinging yourself off it like a mad fool. I'm not as tough as Tracey Hannah !

 I did a lot of racing, dirt jumping, street riding, jumping off stairs in the late 80's on my bmx bike. Did the same in the 90's, but on my mountain bike, which was your "one bike". Raced DS on friday, DH on saturday and XC on sunday. You had to learn how to land short with your seat way up in the air. I started dropping the seat before it was cool because if I missed getting the seat out of the way, it sucked and it got old. I guess there is more technique to landing short. I do know that any dual suspension bike I've owned had a weird "buck" if I came up short. I ride hardtails with long travel forks now, so I have 10" of travel in the rear? I do know though, I hated coming up short on a double. Also over shot doubles a lot too. They always scared me a bit. I hit a redneck 35' footer on the "one bike" once. Decked in light weight xc parts. All I could think was what if.. My wife has said she wants to visit Ireland, I told her only if I can go to Wales too. That trail looks like so much fun.

 Right on SaskGuy, it has been so much fun following and supporting the learning journey of everyone in the program, thanks for the positive vibes!

 Awesome!!!

 I can only tell you that since last few years I invested lots in different forms of physical and mental coaching, training programs and it's worth much more than bike parts. Learning yourself is freaking hard and not as fulfillong as we may think it is. Acquiring skills is the thing that makes us click. I know I live in financial heaven when people get depressed with high suicide rate from having too much options in life, but 30$ Is less than a rear mech, chain ring, handlebar or stem. Some bike magazines cost more.

 I know that it is freaking hard, been trying to learn everything alone as I don't have anyone to learn from while ridding, have learnt mostly from videos on the internet and tried to apply them on the trails, like jumps or drops, still I'm not good at it.

Thing is at the moment I don't even have $30 for bike parts, almost all the money I get goes for feeding myself at college and transportation.
That financial heaven seems just too good.
And waki I agree $30 is not that much, but at the same time is 2 weeks of going to college, yet would like to buy it.
Also, mental coaching and physical would be awesome to have, and not only would help on bike ridding but most situations of life, I can see why you spend on it, as I would do it too.

 It's ok its-chris, I've been there when I was a student, if I destroyed a tyre it meant either borrowing one or waiting a month to collect pocket money for some really crappy Kenda. We were living for 20$ a week, including bed&shower, food. The only way to buy a bike was work on holidays as week days it was impossible to combine with studying. Eventually you could get a stypendium... yea sorry, I forget where I come from sometimes

 Haha exacto! At the momment if I break something I would be screwed and would have to wait a lot, working weekends at the bike shop for raising some extra bike money but can't burn it as I need it as back up money. And yeah! Played with the idea of working at a call center and study but I would not had been able to study as I should. Don't feel sorry for that, I'm happy for you having a good life.

 I think it would do a lot of people good to mix in a more 'urban' riding into their routine. The trail isn't always the best place to learn new skills. Things like this you need to start on a more uniform surface. I used to be a singletrack purist, but now I ride around the city just as much, and I progress much faster. There are opportunities to learn just about any skill if you look for them. Backwards as it sounds, the key for a lot of riders improving their trail riding, might be to spend LESS time on the trail.

 Completely agree with you, urban ridding has make a lot good for my ridding

 Well two of the days are dedicated to coaster wheelies, and another two days to wheelie tricks: one hand, no hands, no feet, changing gears, around poles/trees, standing wheelies, death grip wheelies and even no front wheel wheelies!

 @scotttherider You'd like to take limbs off? Are you pruning trees or shrubs?

 How far in to the course are those days. @aoneal I've found that if your pedaling on one wheel down the road for some time people generally notice and start making commentary ect. Then I can wave and say hi or show obscenities to others that deserve it....

 It has taken me 9 years of practice to wheelie as good as Ryan in the announcement. When you can one hand wheelie, coast wheelie, no feet wheelie, and wheelie while shifting it adds a whole new perspective to mountain biking. Favorite wheelie to this day, start wheelie, tap front brake, switch to one hand wheelie, spin your front rim backwards with your free hand, back to two hand wheelie, watch onlookers scratch their heads, haha

 as much as i love the course for beginner, i think those advance lessons are more like "this is what else you can do" but not really explaining it. you might be disappointed coming with those expectations.

 It's an online course, check out the link, you can preview the course and user interface, super easy to use!

 On Ryan's website you will find stoppie lessons in 3 progressions, so you'll "nose" those switchbacks like a Euro-duro
ryanleechconnection.com

 Haha awesome

 Thanks

 I have both, i can do a few meter now and start to get into the float zone on the hardtail. Tried the DH yesterday and can't even lift the wheel off the ground. Twice the weight, slack head angle, heavy fork, think you are better off borrowing a hardtail somewhere.

 Im better on my dh than on my hard tail. One tip i have is be super slow before pulling up and pedaling. Its more in your legs as the way I do it if you don't pedal it goes up an inch. Also, going up a slight hill makes it easier. Good luck!

 learn to manual on a bmx its alot funner anyways look up lz bmx and they have a awesome how to cause who needs to wheelie when you can manual