In celebration of Five Ten day, Danny MacAskill launched his latest video project 'Do A Wheelie' and got the world smiling with some back wheel action. Now you can learn from the master himself in this exclusive 'How To Wheelie' from adidas Five Ten and Danny MacAskill.
I started practicing wheelies every day with the kiddos in the driveway after dinner. Been a few months, and you would not believe the progression. You can find millions of tips online for what to do, but ultimately you just need to do it over, and over, and over, and over. A hundred times. A thousand times. Ride your bike!
I’m maybe in the minority here but I find wheelies a LOT easier with the seat lower. With your weight lower the bike is a lot more stable and less likely to tip sideways. With a lower seat I can wheelie as long as I like, with a higher one I very inconsistent.
The advantage of a higher seat is there’s less strain on the arms so one/no handers are much easier
Victor Koretzky won't help us feel better - last year when he got a front flat at Snowshoe he wheelied through the whole finish area (and maybe farther, I don't remember).
@ABhardtail: I’ve seen cam zink endo at speed down turns longer than a football field, and then practically manual down an entire run at North Star bike park.
Low tire pressure and lightly dragging the brake to avoid stabbing it too hard helped me. Also can't decide if locked out is better... I'm leaning toward yeah.
yeah, I never had to LEARN to do wheelies, they just came naturally - on my old bike. I don't know what it is about new bikes. They just don't want to wheelie, you have to beat them into submission.
I can ride a unicycle..even some tricks. And I can't wheelie more than 5-10m. I can't figure out where the problem is, but I'll give it another try after watching this video.
Kyle and April at Ride MTB put out some of the best instructional videos, and they have one on Better Wheelies in 1 Day. It's not rocket science, and other people have good tips, but I've found their videos more helpful than most. Remember, practice makes permanent, so it's actually "perfect practice makes perfect". If you start knowing the key pointers, it's much easier to progress and not have quite as much to unlearn.
@albert03: Ryan Leech's videos are one of the best because they have everything broken down into progressive steps. You complete one, then move on to the next.
@rrolly: Seconded. You need to spend a lot of time programming the brain to hit the brake if you're looping out, then reprogram the modulation to control the wheelie. Also there's lots of techniques for mastering side to side balance, and the balance point is a range, not just a point, which takes a lot of learning as well. the Ryan Leech course breaks this all down and you learn the right techniques safely, plus some more advanced things like changing gear, one handed wheelies, steering in a wheelie and so on.
I've never got all that from these youtube vids. "Find the balance point and modulate your brake" is a correct statement but doesn't actually help you to learn the wheelie.
Does anybody have tips for steering while wheeling? Ironically I am pretty comfortable on a unicycle so the forwards/backwards balance is pretty comfortable, but I cant for the life of me figure out the left/right balance while wheelie-ing a bicycle.
@mel22b: As in my comment above, you need to learn the different techniques for side balance control first - turning the bars, sticking your knees out either in the same or different direction simultaneously with or without tilting your foot on the pedal, leaning the body a little and "muscling" the saddle with your butt cheeks. the first 2 have the biggest effect in my experience. But, you do need to be at a comfortable place in the front/rear balance range as well, otherwise it's hard to control the wheelie at all, let alone side to side.
Once you've got those side balance techniques mastered individually you'll then need to experiment with combining them for side balance in a straight line and once you have that dialled, you can then usiethem in combination to steer and keep yourself upright at the same time. but its the turn of the bars that initiates and "leads" the steer, with the other techniques contributing to the steer and side balance at the same time.
Also have your rear tire quite firm (but not rock hard) when learning as this makes the bike more responsive to the steering inputs. And this is one you need to practice on a hard surface rather than grass becuase a soft surface will mute the steering response, so be sure you can save yourself from looping out before learning to steer. Good luck!
Try turning your front wheel a little to feel the sensation. It's the opposite direction of what you would do with two wheels on the ground, but do it enough and it becomes natural. Also, look way ahead where you are trying to go
Some of the guys are saying to turn the bars, but I feel like it's more of a pull on one side of the bars to get the bike to follow you back to center. Kind of like counter-steering to turn. Hard to explain I guess.
If I think about using my hips I can usually steer a wheelie pretty good, so try that as well.
Back in my BMX days I was on ok wheelie guy, tried and tried on MTBs but it wasn't until I did the RL course that I was able to get "it" back. I can now out do my glory day wheelies with ease !
-The Ground
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The advantage of a higher seat is there’s less strain on the arms so one/no handers are much easier
Pedaling at a constant output and using brake modulation only to control the balance point
Pointing knees way out to help steer/counteract falling to one side
Look ahead and not at your wheel
Don't forget to breathe
Remember, practice makes permanent, so it's actually "perfect practice makes perfect". If you start knowing the key pointers, it's much easier to progress and not have quite as much to unlearn.
Oh, and you need to practice more frequently
I've never got all that from these youtube vids. "Find the balance point and modulate your brake" is a correct statement but doesn't actually help you to learn the wheelie.
Once you've got those side balance techniques mastered individually you'll then need to experiment with combining them for side balance in a straight line and once you have that dialled, you can then usiethem in combination to steer and keep yourself upright at the same time. but its the turn of the bars that initiates and "leads" the steer, with the other techniques contributing to the steer and side balance at the same time.
Also have your rear tire quite firm (but not rock hard) when learning as this makes the bike more responsive to the steering inputs. And this is one you need to practice on a hard surface rather than grass becuase a soft surface will mute the steering response, so be sure you can save yourself from looping out before learning to steer. Good luck!
Pedal, pull, balance, ride away clean