It took me what seemed like ages to learn this but when I got it I couldn’t stop wheelieing every where, so what helped me was… Tilt the seat forward a little Put the seat forward in the rails seemed to help with the balance point too Heels down with the kick Weight in the seat not the feet More engagement points helped for when you stop pedalling it’s easier to hook back up And staying loose and moving at the hips too helped
So many good tips in this comment - thanks so much for sharing this! I haven't done anything with my seat yet, but I think I'm going to try that next. Might go for a full lap wheelie at this track!
Also, tire pressure seems to have a role. I find around 30-35 psi, it seems if it’s less the front to back is easy to control but side to side is hard. If its more side to side is easy but front to back balance point is harder. Also, I found feathering the rear brake touchy they didn’t look dirty but I cleaned them and it was so much better, make sure your brake rotor and pads are clean.
In the late 70’s early 80’s I could wheelie 7 city blocks. I practiced and practiced until I could ride a wheelie up two blocks and not set the wheel down. Then I would ride a wheelie for two blocks to the base of the hill, two blocks uphill at which I was about a walking speed then three blocks more. All on a basic 20” coaster brake BMX I built. Seat was not down but comfortable. Nobody else could make the uphill after two blocks before.
One thing i think is misrepresented in other videos that i internalized is they say pull up on the bars. In reality i didn't make max progress until i lurched forward and gave my torso rearward momentum by PUSHING hard on the bars and locking out my arms. Also i started going faster as well and my sweet spot gear is 1.70 (front/rear sprockets) on a 29er
That's pretty epic. I am still working on keeping the balance point over short distances. I didn't realise until I first got there that the balance point feels weightless, no weight pulling forward or back, it freaked me out the first time. Now I try to find that feeling each time I try.
balance is scary because it exists without our control so we have to surrender control and trust the balance point... not something many of us feel comfortable doing !
Fun video. I spent a long time before I took up trials learning to wheelie with my goal being a lap around my roughly 1/8 mile cul-de-sac circle. You had some really great tips in this video. Two more I'll throw in. Learn to shift gears while in a wheelie. It helps solve the problem you were having of finding the right gear to match your speed. You can start in an easy gear to initiate and as you speed up shift. The 2nd tip is one you already do a bit, but learning to freewheel and do "coaster wheelie" a bit. When you are starting to loop out, instead of feathering the break, just see if a bit of coaster wheelie will solve it, allows you to maintain speed without looping out most of the time. A bit like avoiding the brake when doing manuals. Pretty cool to see how much progress you made in just a short video; I'm not at all surprised, you have all the pieces already in your skillset.
I almost died trying to shift on one of the attempts, I reached for the shifter and my hand almost slid completely off the handlebar! I might need to adjust my shifter position, because I feel like if I could have shifted, it would have made a huge impact for sure. That coaster wheelie tip is so spot on, too - I did that a lot when I felt like I was going too fast, and it helped bring things back in check. Stoked - thanks for adding these to the mix!
Thanks for the great tips. I'm 63 years old, {post quad bypass) and also ride a Chameleon. Still practice wheelies and probably can do half that distance on my best day. Biggest problem is feathering the back brake, it's always "grabby" but I'll I'm still getting better at it!
Right on! I found the pedaling really helped balance out the back brake situation. I feel like I put all of my mental energy into that one element, and that is what made the biggest difference for me.
I'm SOOO HAPPY that you posted this video... At least for once I can watch a video and say... "dang, this dude sucks! I'm better at this!!!" I started on april 2nd this year and my record at that time was about 10yd.... as of today sep 15th I managed to go 350yd!!! it took "only" 30 min a day of sole wheelie practice to get there, that was a LONG TIME!!!! But at least I found out that you can teach an old dog new tricks... being able to learn to wheelie, gave me the confidence boost to start to try to learn trials at the young age of 50 y.o. 😀and all of your videos and tutorial are being So helpful in this journey!!!
Hahaha! Glad to be of assistance! :) Amazing how much the skill builds up with consistent practice. I'm motivated now....the real goal is to complete an entire lap on the track! There are a lot of people on this channel (and in the Discord, which I highly recommend joining - there's a link in the description) that have started Trials around the same time. You'll find a solid, supportive group of riders here. Excited for you!
Aaron, you have a great channel. I have discovered you recently and you're already my first place to go for tips to learn something new or get better at something that I'm struggling with.
Here is the tip that no one ever talks about: after you can wheelie with 2 hands on the bars, it's actually easier to wheelie with only one hand on the bar. This might sound counterintuitive but once you try it I think you will agree. The arm that's off the bar can move freely to offer a massive amount of correction you can use to stay balanced. Furthermore the hand that stays on the bar is able to turn the bar much more freely than when 2 hands are on it and this also offers a massive amount of correction you can use to stay balanced.
I discovered that after breaking my collarbone using two hands like a noob. But with a sling, I was forced to practice my one handed wheelies, way easier.
These are wheelie good tips! I'll be practicing wheelies on my next ride for sure. The constantly adjusting for balance is my favourite way to think about this, I 'knew' it but it's one to keep conscious of during practice rather than just 'knowing' the concept. Same applies to manuals.
Those practice sessions will make it autonomous. At that point, there is no real conscious thought going to making fine adjustments, it tends to be automatic.
I really felt like I was missing something before I learned the pedaling faster to raise the front end thing. I could balance a wheelie, but as soon as the front dropped - it was over. Pumped to have total control over all the different elements to keep the wheelie going!
What helped me extremely was to ride the bike no handed and keeping my hands locked behind my back or in front so i would have to use my knees, hips and body to balance, rather than my arms flinging around. The balancing from that translates 1:1 to wheelies and it took me from 3 meter wheelies to 30 meters in a few days.
The angle of my seat helped get me more comfortable, and gave me the extra bit I needed to "sit" more balanced and keep progressing. Maybe try pitching the nose of your saddle down a bit. It helped minimize the feeling of falling back when my angle changed as the front wheel is up
@@SuperRiderTV wholeheartedly hope it does! If it helps you, then it'll be like a mouse helping a lion 🐁 🦁 bc you and your channel are helping me in nearly every aspect of my riding. So thank you! And here's hoping it helps some (even a tiny bit)
Hey Aaron- I was practicing my wheelies today and when I tried to initiate the pedal with my weak (left) foot first, I kept pulling too hard to the left. When I start with my right foot, I lift the front wheel straight. I couldn't figure out how to pull back evenly starting the pedal with my left foot.. Any ideas?@@SuperRiderTV
@@VoltaDoMar Your issue sounds like something I was experiencing, but I figured out the problem. My bike kept veering off to the left (I'm right-foot dominant when I start the power stroke) until I put more emphasis on throwing my weight back toward the rear tire a nano-second before delivering the "power" stroke to the right pedal. When I don't do this, the bike veers off to the left because I'm creating torque. Hope this helps.
Looking way, way off at the horizon helps side to side balance a lot. Also, keep pedalling when you dab the rear brake to stop yourself going over backwards. If you stop pedalling it takes a moment to get the pedals going again after the brake dab, so the wheel comes down before you get a chance to catch it. I spent ages doing small wheelies and deliberately bringing them down with the rear brake to kind of hard-wire in the link between the brake and bringing the wheel down so it becomes automatic.
Great advice, thanks for sharing this! That rear brake issue was the #1 thing I struggled with in the past, and pedaling through it was the key. Thanks again!
I couldn't agree more! I had set this skill to the side for a while, but it was satisfying to dig back into it and make progress. Seems like it's going to be an ongoing process!
I was wondering do you think having more core strength helps with wheelies? I've started working out and focusing on strength and endurance. I'm hoping it will help with wheelies and manuals.
I always find the higher the seat the further it pushes your center of gravity back when you are on one wheel. Keep them arms straight out too unless you want to start steering the front wheel to start going around a corner (some of that is leaning too though.) Good video I'm actually surprised you haven't totally mastered this.
I switch my breaks to moto then I can modulate the rear break with my left while shifting gears with the right. With enough practice you can be guarding the rear break just a bit and gently applying it as you wheelie. I also spend a lot of time with the bars close to my chest.
What I am doing right now is doing really good wheelies, I can wheelie for a really long time and do some really good tricks, but I have had some negative comments and they have put me down for a bit but what I’ve done is not listen to negative comments and keep confident and believe
The one trick that got me into a wheelie was not dropping the saddle. Previously, I had been trying to lift my front wheel while sitting on the saddle dropped all the way down. That got my body weight too close to the BB that it was impossible to lift the front wheel. Then I came across another wheelie clip on UA-cam that said "lower the saddle only just slightly." Then I had an Eureka moment that everything clicked together in my head. I had to intentionally disrupt the weigh balance of my bike to go into wheelie, and it was necessary for the saddle to be sufficiently high to push my body weight away from the BB.
Isn't it amazing how these little tips unlock the skill? I hadn't heard that one until a few weeks ago and that helped me out a ton, too! I wonder how close we are to conquering other skills and techniques, all by just a minor tweak or two?? If only it was always this easy! :)
Great video. I’ve been riding all my life and always sucked at wheelies. Well, I was mostly riding road bikes. Last year I started riding MTB more seriously and been trying but no consistent practice… one day…
So I have been trying to do wheelies every now and then for a few months without much success. Could only get the wheel up for a couple of meters and would always go to the side. Recently I made an effort to practice 20 or 30 min for a couple of weeks and managed to wheelie the entire street... (not very elegantly or stylish but hey... it's a wheelie). Here is what helped me: MORE SPEED when pulling to lift. I was using 4th gear and slowing down to pull the wheel up. This was making it 90% of my wheelies to go sideways after a few seconds. I started using 5th gear and pulling the wheel up in a more aggressive and concise way as I was pedaling along instead of slowing down the pedaling to lift it. That's what made it click. Also, touching the brake very slightly before lifting is a touch that helps me a lot.
I love this concept I've wheelie since I've had a bmx as a kid but I can't really hold it while pedaling, manual no issues but I've should had figured this 30+ yrs ago 😂
hey Aaron, new subscriber here and enjoying the heck out of your tutorials! just wondering if you went with a size smaller on the chameleon , and chose a 27.5 rear wheel?
I did - this was a size medium (I’m 5’11”) and had 27.5. In a more recent tutorial, I rode a 29” full suspension bike. Same technique in both - but the other video has some additional (helpful) tips!
I always thought my wheelie skills were shit, but if 100m is this guy's record I'm really not doing bad. My take is; if you can wheelie for 30+ seconds, ur decent. Over 1 minute is pro, and if ur the guy without a front wheel on a group ride ur a master.
As far as the seat height goes it’s the opposite, higher seat or bigger frame puts more weight towards the rear when the front wheel is up and lowers the balancing point and makes it easier, also keep your arms straight
Aaron, much has to do with modulating throttle and brake... Post cancer treatment and I am working on getting it back. :/ Everything has been affected from muscle mass loss to equilibrium. Needless to say, my pithy, punkass RSD Middlechild has been instrumental in the process... Balance adjustments are more subtle than many realize. The slight knee movement for correction that you mentioned is an example. Teracis, jou got this, mang!!
Glad to hear that you're on the mend and getting it all back! That throttle element was a huge unlock for me, I can't believe I somehow missed that one in the past. Stoked to be making progress once again!
The easiest way to start out is by using your biggest cog going up a steep hill, then gradually go flatter on smaller cogs. Relax, head up with a straight back. Hardest issue for me is steering. After months of attempts, I'm finally getting the hang of standing wheelies. Those are easier to steer for some reason. Still not consistent enough to try it off a drop though.
Were you using two in the front or 1 cause most people will be wondering not being rude but just asking which one it is it looks like two ngl and I have two in the front and 9 at the back Edit: is yours the same? And what front gear should I do?
I have just the one chainring in the front (with a bashring around it, which probably looks like an extra chainring). I would probably use the smaller gear in the front in your case, and maybe 5 or 6 in the back.
Here's a tip that helped me a ton: Always keep a small pressure on the rear brake. This helps you not drop the front wheel too fast when you feel the loop out start. Since you are already on the brake you only need to ease up on the pedals. Almost like engine braking on a MC.
When i lift it up i just loop out and my seat is damaged a little bit and i also fall. Now im afraid to do a wheelie again Can anyone tell me how to know when we loop out?
A BIG thing that i wish i knew when learning is the impact that the front wheel have, You want it to spin as fast as possible and it make the bike so much more stable, espacially if you have heavy and tall wheels, and then, by trurning the wheel you can actually control your left and right balance very precisely and take turns. that is an other key to why going faster help.
I got a tip for you and you got a just your front wheel where you like it so when your front wheel spinning it actually gives you more balanced and stabled
Now we have to learn to manual! Sitting and standing. Oh, and you have to feather the back brake, not jam the crap out of it! You actually can shift gears during the wheelie too with practice ( and a good drivetrain lol.)
i was learnin wheelies last season on 5th gear on 11 gear casette, but this season im improving to 7 and 8, i just need to get some speed and get in the air with the help of the fork and my body weight
remember to look up and keep your eye on a target ahead of you. this may be a stop light or a speed limit sign but make sure whatever object it is that you have to look up at it.
I need to spend some timing working on wheelies. My best is probably about 50 feet. In my house, my son can wheelie long distances but can't back wheel hop. I can back wheel hop but can't wheelie long distances. 🤷♀
Im scared to do wheelies on my 15k trek because it doesnt have bumper when i drop something can break. And doin wheelies on cycling steering bars feels so weirdo
lucky im good at trials i can move my body around during the wheelie and learnt it in no time but i struggle with a heavy school bag on unless i go fast
I get all those tips but i just cant lift my back wheel back enough to wheelie even while pedaling and if i sit down i cant pick it up at all and if i try standing up to pick the wheel up and sit down it doesnt work, i recorded myself and realised im not shifting my weight back enough , if anyone has any tips help me please 🙏
I just got my hands on an e-bike, trying to learn the wheelie on there too - adjusting to the weight in the down tube has taken a bit more effort, that's for sure!
Every single Wheelie video i watched mentions these 3 points. I never got to learn it though. Now i am getting too old to do balance stuff like that. I thought you would run a few laps on that track.
I can do a lot of things but I can not find my wheelie, I have good balance normally but can’t keep that wheel up for the life of me. Or I fall right or left. I can do jumps and plenty other basic tricks but can’t wheelie😭
I spent the past two years dialing in my wheelies, and when i say two years i mean two years nearly practicing every single day for at least an hour with few exceptions. The first thing that surprised me is how long it actually took me to get a consistent wheelie. And by that i mean a minimum of at least a few meters on every single attempt. That probably took more than a year. I see all these videos of people learning wheelies in a week and that just was not realistic for me at all lol (and i cant help but think they are cherry picking attempts and making it seem like they are getting good wheelies each time, that consistency is going to take way longer than a week lol). But after i got the consistent wheelies ive noticed I get more and more confidence and skill with each passing week. Ive also started to practice my manuals now that im confident with being over the rear balance point and with controlling the rear brake. I can consistently get a few parking spaces with my manuals and with my wheelies i can get about 100 yards (i practice next to a park with a football/soccer field) and probably more if i had a decent enough road to ride on. The big things that helped my wheelies most has been keeping my knees out, my gear set as hard as i can get away with (the harder the gear the easier it is to maintain the wheelie but the harder to get it up, at first youll probably have to use really high easy gears), over accentuating the preload motion so that im not under preloading and lastly keeping all my movements slow and consistent rather than quick and jerky (especially for the initial lift). With the initial lift i actually aim to bring the wheel up a little lower than the balance point and then gently pedal into the balance point. So if you are like me and its taking you longer to get your wheelies down really well just stick with it. And try to practice looping out as soon as you are comfortable enough to do so. Youll eventually get there but its going to take serious practice time, if you dont know what youre doing wrong its probably just a matter of needing more practice.
When you talk about the gear, you are talking about an 11 speed or 12 speed. what about a 7 speeder with front gears? the clasic bike. I don't know what 5/6 equals in a 7 speed
Harder gears = pedal way faster and really pick up the pace so that there isnt that "push" in the pedals that throw off balance. Speed Wheelies for the win !
Hello folks. I'm no wheelie master by any means. I ask those who can here the feedback. • do the same what and how you use your knees. Using your head because it's aboutb15% of your body weight pretty heavy. Control by using head not more power by moving head forward or backwards. • find a spot with a little bit of incline. This way you'll won't spin the cranks to fast before your legs feet start to cavate out of control. The incline will slow you down. Ride Easy BJO
I found that if you pedal a little harder than usual, it tips the back wheel up a bit. I usually try to pull my hips back a little bit to utilize my weight to assist, too.
Well.... I have the weirdest skill of all..... I change my gears while im wheeling if my gears are too low... I cannot go tge other way around tho sadly
How to do one handed is what I want to know. Whilst there are a million wheelie videos there are very few for one handed. Wheelie 100m, no problem! Take one hand off, impossible!!!
@@SuperRiderTV Thanks Aaron, love the channel. I think you are probably right about getting the weight further back, I need to try again! Too busy at the moment learning backhops, currently at 4 🙂
Are you grabbing your front brake? My best attempts were without a finger on the front brake, and I felt like the spinning front wheel helped me balance a little more on the takeoff.
Your issue sounds like something I was experiencing, but I figured out the problem. My bike kept veering off to the left (I'm right-foot dominant when I start the power stroke) until I put more emphasis on throwing my weight back toward the rear tire a nano-second before delivering the "power" stroke to the right pedal. When I don't do this, the bike veers off to the left because I'm creating torque. Hope this helps.
While we’re all struggling with this there’s some school kid with a beat up old bike in every neighbourhood that can wheelie forever
That is me 😂
That’s me, i’ve been using an old 20 inch and I’m 14 years old
Me with my crossea bike that makes noises everytime i ride🤣🤣
Thats me but i can only for like 2 minutes
Me frrrrrrrr
It took me what seemed like ages to learn this but when I got it I couldn’t stop wheelieing every where, so what helped me was…
Tilt the seat forward a little
Put the seat forward in the rails seemed to help with the balance point too
Heels down with the kick
Weight in the seat not the feet
More engagement points helped for when you stop pedalling it’s easier to hook back up
And staying loose and moving at the hips too helped
So many good tips in this comment - thanks so much for sharing this! I haven't done anything with my seat yet, but I think I'm going to try that next. Might go for a full lap wheelie at this track!
0
Also, tire pressure seems to have a role. I find around 30-35 psi, it seems if it’s less the front to back is easy to control but side to side is hard. If its more side to side is easy but front to back balance point is harder. Also, I found feathering the rear brake touchy they didn’t look dirty but I cleaned them and it was so much better, make sure your brake rotor and pads are clean.
In the late 70’s early 80’s I could wheelie 7 city blocks. I practiced and practiced until I could ride a wheelie up two blocks and not set the wheel down. Then I would ride a wheelie for two blocks to the base of the hill, two blocks uphill at which I was about a walking speed then three blocks more. All on a basic 20” coaster brake BMX I built. Seat was not down but comfortable. Nobody else could make the uphill after two blocks before.
One thing i think is misrepresented in other videos that i internalized is they say pull up on the bars. In reality i didn't make max progress until i lurched forward and gave my torso rearward momentum by PUSHING hard on the bars and locking out my arms. Also i started going faster as well and my sweet spot gear is 1.70 (front/rear sprockets) on a 29er
Great call! Makes total sense the way you put it!
That's pretty epic. I am still working on keeping the balance point over short distances. I didn't realise until I first got there that the balance point feels weightless, no weight pulling forward or back, it freaked me out the first time. Now I try to find that feeling each time I try.
It’s a wild feeling, right?! Kind of cool that you can feel the difference, though - that’s a good thing!
balance is scary because it exists without our control so we have to surrender control and trust the balance point... not something many of us feel comfortable doing !
@@mudkayak6305 so true. 😎👍
Fun video. I spent a long time before I took up trials learning to wheelie with my goal being a lap around my roughly 1/8 mile cul-de-sac circle. You had some really great tips in this video. Two more I'll throw in. Learn to shift gears while in a wheelie. It helps solve the problem you were having of finding the right gear to match your speed. You can start in an easy gear to initiate and as you speed up shift. The 2nd tip is one you already do a bit, but learning to freewheel and do "coaster wheelie" a bit. When you are starting to loop out, instead of feathering the break, just see if a bit of coaster wheelie will solve it, allows you to maintain speed without looping out most of the time. A bit like avoiding the brake when doing manuals. Pretty cool to see how much progress you made in just a short video; I'm not at all surprised, you have all the pieces already in your skillset.
I almost died trying to shift on one of the attempts, I reached for the shifter and my hand almost slid completely off the handlebar! I might need to adjust my shifter position, because I feel like if I could have shifted, it would have made a huge impact for sure. That coaster wheelie tip is so spot on, too - I did that a lot when I felt like I was going too fast, and it helped bring things back in check. Stoked - thanks for adding these to the mix!
Thanks for the great tips.
I'm 63 years old, {post quad bypass) and also ride a Chameleon. Still practice wheelies and probably can do half that distance on my best day. Biggest problem is feathering the back brake, it's always "grabby" but I'll I'm still getting better at it!
Right on! I found the pedaling really helped balance out the back brake situation. I feel like I put all of my mental energy into that one element, and that is what made the biggest difference for me.
Try going into the wheelie with a little back brake engaged. Then it won’t grab. It’s already on and you can just modulate it as required.
I'm SOOO HAPPY that you posted this video... At least for once I can watch a video and say... "dang, this dude sucks! I'm better at this!!!"
I started on april 2nd this year and my record at that time was about 10yd.... as of today sep 15th I managed to go 350yd!!! it took "only" 30 min a day of sole wheelie practice to get there, that was a LONG TIME!!!!
But at least I found out that you can teach an old dog new tricks... being able to learn to wheelie, gave me the confidence boost to start to try to learn trials at the young age of 50 y.o. 😀and all of your videos and tutorial are being So helpful in this journey!!!
Hahaha! Glad to be of assistance! :)
Amazing how much the skill builds up with consistent practice. I'm motivated now....the real goal is to complete an entire lap on the track!
There are a lot of people on this channel (and in the Discord, which I highly recommend joining - there's a link in the description) that have started Trials around the same time. You'll find a solid, supportive group of riders here. Excited for you!
Aaron, you have a great channel. I have discovered you recently and you're already my first place to go for tips to learn something new or get better at something that I'm struggling with.
Right on! Thanks so much for this, so glad that the channel has been helpful!
Here is the tip that no one ever talks about: after you can wheelie with 2 hands on the bars, it's actually easier to wheelie with only one hand on the bar. This might sound counterintuitive but once you try it I think you will agree. The arm that's off the bar can move freely to offer a massive amount of correction you can use to stay balanced. Furthermore the hand that stays on the bar is able to turn the bar much more freely than when 2 hands are on it and this also offers a massive amount of correction you can use to stay balanced.
Whoa, this is awesome! Makes total sense…now I need to go try it out! Thanks for this!
@@SuperRiderTV don't forget to straighten your front wheel if/when it comes down.
@@speedtrials75 Great call! So fired up to try this out!
I discovered that after breaking my collarbone using two hands like a noob. But with a sling, I was forced to practice my one handed wheelies, way easier.
Can you do a video of how to bunny hop
one of the best wheelie guides ive seen great vid!!
Thank you so much!
These are wheelie good tips!
I'll be practicing wheelies on my next ride for sure. The constantly adjusting for balance is my favourite way to think about this, I 'knew' it but it's one to keep conscious of during practice rather than just 'knowing' the concept. Same applies to manuals.
Those practice sessions will make it autonomous. At that point, there is no real conscious thought going to making fine adjustments, it tends to be automatic.
I really felt like I was missing something before I learned the pedaling faster to raise the front end thing. I could balance a wheelie, but as soon as the front dropped - it was over. Pumped to have total control over all the different elements to keep the wheelie going!
What helped me extremely was to ride the bike no handed and keeping my hands locked behind my back or in front so i would have to use my knees, hips and body to balance, rather than my arms flinging around.
The balancing from that translates 1:1 to wheelies and it took me from 3 meter wheelies to 30 meters in a few days.
Wow, this is cool - thanks for sharing! Never thought about riding no-handed to focus on body balance, but that makes total sense. Thanks again!
The angle of my seat helped get me more comfortable, and gave me the extra bit I needed to "sit" more balanced and keep progressing.
Maybe try pitching the nose of your saddle down a bit. It helped minimize the feeling of falling back when my angle changed as the front wheel is up
Great idea! I definitely felt like I was slipping off a bit, I’m sure that will be a huge help. Thanks for this!
@@SuperRiderTV wholeheartedly hope it does! If it helps you, then it'll be like a mouse helping a lion 🐁 🦁 bc you and your channel are helping me in nearly every aspect of my riding. So thank you! And here's hoping it helps some (even a tiny bit)
@@TheeGabrielAndrew I'm sure it will help - we're all in this together to keep progressing, right? Thanks again!
You're the man. I'm working on learning to wheelie right now so this is well timed for me.
Ah, perfect!! Have fun with it - it took a lot of tries, but hopefully these tips will help you out!
Hey Aaron- I was practicing my wheelies today and when I tried to initiate the pedal with my weak (left) foot first, I kept pulling too hard to the left. When I start with my right foot, I lift the front wheel straight. I couldn't figure out how to pull back evenly starting the pedal with my left foot.. Any ideas?@@SuperRiderTV
@@VoltaDoMar Your issue sounds like something I was experiencing, but I figured out the problem. My bike kept veering off to the left (I'm right-foot dominant when I start the power stroke) until I put more emphasis on throwing my weight back toward the rear tire a nano-second before delivering the "power" stroke to the right pedal. When I don't do this, the bike veers off to the left because I'm creating torque. Hope this helps.
Looking way, way off at the horizon helps side to side balance a lot.
Also, keep pedalling when you dab the rear brake to stop yourself going over backwards. If you stop pedalling it takes a moment to get the pedals going again after the brake dab, so the wheel comes down before you get a chance to catch it. I spent ages doing small wheelies and deliberately bringing them down with the rear brake to kind of hard-wire in the link between the brake and bringing the wheel down so it becomes automatic.
Great advice, thanks for sharing this! That rear brake issue was the #1 thing I struggled with in the past, and pedaling through it was the key. Thanks again!
All this time I thought wheelie gear was a fresh outfit to impress onlookers.
Hahaha - also that! :)
Excellent video. Informative and enthusiastic! I will vet practicing now!
Thank you, so glad it was helpful! Have fun!
I'm 58 and practice 20 minutes a day five times a week and it is taken me over six months but I'm finally looking pretty Styley!
Awesome!! Long term consistency always wins over short term intensity. :)
i’m 60 and bought my bike today. will start training tomorrow. no expectations. just my way of getting into shape again.
I found back protector to be useful when learning wheelies, for cases when you fail at applying the rear brake soon enough.
That's a great idea!
Hardtails for the win !! Wheelie is a great physical and mental exercise.
I couldn't agree more! I had set this skill to the side for a while, but it was satisfying to dig back into it and make progress. Seems like it's going to be an ongoing process!
I was wondering do you think having more core strength helps with wheelies? I've started working out and focusing on strength and endurance. I'm hoping it will help with wheelies and manuals.
core strength and core engagement will help all of your riding whatever it is.
It will definitely help - I’ve been lifting for the past year and it’s helped my overall riding substantially
I always find the higher the seat the further it pushes your center of gravity back when you are on one wheel. Keep them arms straight out too unless you want to start steering the front wheel to start going around a corner (some of that is leaning too though.) Good video I'm actually surprised you haven't totally mastered this.
It was on the short list of tricks that I ignored for way too long! :)
Thanks for posting. Very cool
Thanks!!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
Nicely done 👍 Keep up the great progress!
Thanks Ross!! Defiintely making forward progress after years and years of stagnation!
1:35 the tips start
I switch my breaks to moto then I can modulate the rear break with my left while shifting gears with the right. With enough practice you can be guarding the rear break just a bit and gently applying it as you wheelie. I also spend a lot of time with the bars close to my chest.
What I am doing right now is doing really good wheelies, I can wheelie for a really long time and do some really good tricks, but I have had some negative comments and they have put me down for a bit but what I’ve done is not listen to negative comments and keep confident and believe
The one trick that got me into a wheelie was not dropping the saddle. Previously, I had been trying to lift my front wheel while sitting on the saddle dropped all the way down. That got my body weight too close to the BB that it was impossible to lift the front wheel. Then I came across another wheelie clip on UA-cam that said "lower the saddle only just slightly." Then I had an Eureka moment that everything clicked together in my head. I had to intentionally disrupt the weigh balance of my bike to go into wheelie, and it was necessary for the saddle to be sufficiently high to push my body weight away from the BB.
Isn't it amazing how these little tips unlock the skill? I hadn't heard that one until a few weeks ago and that helped me out a ton, too! I wonder how close we are to conquering other skills and techniques, all by just a minor tweak or two?? If only it was always this easy! :)
👍always a great tuitional video👌most of my wheelies end up going off to oneside🤣i will get there😉
Practice makes progress!! 🙌
Great video. I’ve been riding all my life and always sucked at wheelies. Well, I was mostly riding road bikes. Last year I started riding MTB more seriously and been trying but no consistent practice… one day…
Long term consistency over short term intensity, right? You'll get it, I'm sure!
What maxxis tires are those. Looks like they are not too draggy on hard surfaces but still got decent lugs for off road too
Ardent Race, I think? Solid all-around tire for just about anything!
@@SuperRiderTV very nice thank you very much.
So I have been trying to do wheelies every now and then for a few months without much success. Could only get the wheel up for a couple of meters and would always go to the side. Recently I made an effort to practice 20 or 30 min for a couple of weeks and managed to wheelie the entire street... (not very elegantly or stylish but hey... it's a wheelie). Here is what helped me:
MORE SPEED when pulling to lift. I was using 4th gear and slowing down to pull the wheel up. This was making it 90% of my wheelies to go sideways after a few seconds. I started using 5th gear and pulling the wheel up in a more aggressive and concise way as I was pedaling along instead of slowing down the pedaling to lift it. That's what made it click.
Also, touching the brake very slightly before lifting is a touch that helps me a lot.
Great tips man!
Thank you!
I love this concept I've wheelie since I've had a bmx as a kid but I can't really hold it while pedaling, manual no issues but I've should had figured this 30+ yrs ago 😂
I’ve had the same feeling - happy to have put in the time to build on my existing wheelie skill, totally worth it! :)
hey Aaron, new subscriber here and enjoying the heck out of your tutorials!
just wondering if you went with a size smaller on the chameleon , and chose a 27.5 rear wheel?
I did - this was a size medium (I’m 5’11”) and had 27.5. In a more recent tutorial, I rode a 29” full suspension bike. Same technique in both - but the other video has some additional (helpful) tips!
@@SuperRiderTV i see.. no wonder the bike looks kinda smallish like a dirt-jump setup. Awesome will check out the other video as well , cheers! 👍
Tallish post and seat back on the rails.
BMX gearing.
Coaster wheelies make you a wizard. Especially down hill.
A smooth rear brake. Not too grabby.
I always thought my wheelie skills were shit, but if 100m is this guy's record I'm really not doing bad. My take is; if you can wheelie for 30+ seconds, ur decent. Over 1 minute is pro, and if ur the guy without a front wheel on a group ride ur a master.
You’re doing great!! I’m definitely going to keep practicing this, next goal is for a full 400m lap at the track. And then one wheel after that :)
Sick! 🔥
As far as the seat height goes it’s the opposite, higher seat or bigger frame puts more weight towards the rear when the front wheel is up and lowers the balancing point and makes it easier, also keep your arms straight
Hi Aaron! Make the saddle parallel to the ground, and try to lower it a little lower. And the most important point is a straight back (posture)
Great advice!! I haven't tried the saddle tip yet, I'll try that next. Thanks for this!!
Your wheelie makes it look easy! 😎🤙
Practice makes progress (even for me)!
Great tips! i’m up to 10 or 15 meters! What is the model and wheel size of the Santa Cruz?
This is a Santa Cruz Chameleon (size medium), 27.5" wheels.
Aaron, much has to do with modulating throttle and brake... Post cancer treatment and I am working on getting it back. :/ Everything has been affected from muscle mass loss to equilibrium. Needless to say, my pithy, punkass RSD Middlechild has been instrumental in the process...
Balance adjustments are more subtle than many realize. The slight knee movement for correction that you mentioned is an example.
Teracis, jou got this, mang!!
Glad to hear that you're on the mend and getting it all back! That throttle element was a huge unlock for me, I can't believe I somehow missed that one in the past. Stoked to be making progress once again!
The best part of playing bikes? We will never be done learning!
pretty inspirational, what's that santa cruiz you are riding?
It's a Santa Cruz Chameleon (27.5 wheel configuration, currently)
the best tip combo,,,,what is the bike size you are using?
I'm riding a medium in this video, but recently switched to a Large frame, which actually feels slightly better. I'm 5'11" if that helps!
The easiest way to start out is by using your biggest cog going up a steep hill, then gradually go flatter on smaller cogs. Relax, head up with a straight back. Hardest issue for me is steering. After months of attempts, I'm finally getting the hang of standing wheelies. Those are easier to steer for some reason. Still not consistent enough to try it off a drop though.
Steering seems super tough - I've seen some people using their shoulders to turn, but I'm not there yet. Standing wheelies might be my next move...
what gears should i use for going slaow and am 12? will help me!
The one thing that instantly helps me is keeping my back straight and sitting tall.
Were you using two in the front or 1 cause most people will be wondering not being rude but just asking which one it is it looks like two ngl and I have two in the front and 9 at the back
Edit: is yours the same? And what front gear should I do?
I have just the one chainring in the front (with a bashring around it, which probably looks like an extra chainring). I would probably use the smaller gear in the front in your case, and maybe 5 or 6 in the back.
@@SuperRiderTV okay thank you
Here's a tip that helped me a ton:
Always keep a small pressure on the rear brake. This helps you not drop the front wheel too fast when you feel the loop out start. Since you are already on the brake you only need to ease up on the pedals. Almost like engine braking on a MC.
When i lift it up i just loop out and my seat is damaged a little bit and i also fall. Now im afraid to do a wheelie again
Can anyone tell me how to know when we loop out?
Hi!
Can you tell me how much does this bike weight please?
Thx a lot!
I think it's about 23-24 pounds?
A BIG thing that i wish i knew when learning is the impact that the front wheel have, You want it to spin as fast as possible and it make the bike so much more stable, espacially if you have heavy and tall wheels, and then, by trurning the wheel you can actually control your left and right balance very precisely and take turns. that is an other key to why going faster help.
It is true - that centrifugal force helps a ton to keep you balanced!
I always gauge how good i am when that wheel stops spinning lol...thats how you know you been holding blocks for awhileeee lol
My bike has 6 gears and I normally use 1st to try wheelie it works a bit but I can’t move alot should I use 5 gear? Or a different one ?
I gotta try this!
The most fun when it all comes together! You got this!!
I got a tip for you and you got a just your front wheel where you like it so when your front wheel spinning it actually gives you more balanced and stabled
That’s a great tip, thanks for this!
No problem dude😁
I saw a vid saying to steer with your hips, like do no handers and try to steer, it might help.
Now we have to learn to manual! Sitting and standing. Oh, and you have to feather the back brake, not jam the crap out of it! You actually can shift gears during the wheelie too with practice ( and a good drivetrain lol.)
Absolutely! Oh, I tried to shift on one of my attempts and almost looped out...I may need to adjust my shifter lever just a little bit! haha
what size handlebars do you use?🚴
0:05 that’s me lol
Sir Is it possible in steel frame ?
Absolutely! Any bike could get the job done!
Can you help I can’t get that second pedal after I I do 1
i was learnin wheelies last season on 5th gear on 11 gear casette, but this season im improving to 7 and 8, i just need to get some speed and get in the air with the help of the fork and my body weight
remember to look up and keep your eye on a target ahead of you. this may be a stop light or a speed limit sign but make sure whatever object it is that you have to look up at it.
broo in which gear shouid we keep 5 6 or 7 gear
I would start with 5 and see how it goes - that's what worked for me!
tq bro@@SuperRiderTV
I wheelie wheelie like this video
Haha thank you!!
I need to spend some timing working on wheelies. My best is probably about 50 feet. In my house, my son can wheelie long distances but can't back wheel hop. I can back wheel hop but can't wheelie long distances. 🤷♀
That’s exactly where I was at up until a few weeks ago! You’ll pick it up fast, guaranteed..
very nice one.
Thank you! Glad you liked it!
Im scared to do wheelies on my 15k trek because it doesnt have bumper when i drop something can break. And doin wheelies on cycling steering bars feels so weirdo
Point no 3 is such a self-evident thing, I cannot imagine anyone trying to wheelie not knowing that beforehand... 😂
lucky im good at trials i can move my body around during the wheelie and learnt it in no time but i struggle with a heavy school bag on unless i go fast
Use your hips to move your bike to balance and also angle your seat 4wred so its more flat when you wheel is up
👏🏽 excellent
Thanks for watching! Glad you liked it!
I get all those tips but i just cant lift my back wheel back enough to wheelie even while pedaling and if i sit down i cant pick it up at all and if i try standing up to pick the wheel up and sit down it doesnt work, i recorded myself and realised im not shifting my weight back enough , if anyone has any tips help me please 🙏
I only have an e-bike, do you have some tips?
I just got my hands on an e-bike, trying to learn the wheelie on there too - adjusting to the weight in the down tube has taken a bit more effort, that's for sure!
for me it took many years and now i’m pretty good at it
I think a really important tip is to incline the seat forward, so when you're in a wheelie your seat is almost flat
That's a great suggestion - I definitely felt like I was slipping off the seat!
Aaron - we should have spoken before you got serious about this journey, hahaha
we're still early stages - ready for your guidance! :)
Every single Wheelie video i watched mentions these 3 points. I never got to learn it though. Now i am getting too old to do balance stuff like that. I thought you would run a few laps on that track.
I can do a lot of things but I can not find my wheelie, I have good balance normally but can’t keep that wheel up for the life of me. Or I fall right or left. I can do jumps and plenty other basic tricks but can’t wheelie😭
I spent the past two years dialing in my wheelies, and when i say two years i mean two years nearly practicing every single day for at least an hour with few exceptions. The first thing that surprised me is how long it actually took me to get a consistent wheelie. And by that i mean a minimum of at least a few meters on every single attempt. That probably took more than a year. I see all these videos of people learning wheelies in a week and that just was not realistic for me at all lol (and i cant help but think they are cherry picking attempts and making it seem like they are getting good wheelies each time, that consistency is going to take way longer than a week lol). But after i got the consistent wheelies ive noticed I get more and more confidence and skill with each passing week. Ive also started to practice my manuals now that im confident with being over the rear balance point and with controlling the rear brake. I can consistently get a few parking spaces with my manuals and with my wheelies i can get about 100 yards (i practice next to a park with a football/soccer field) and probably more if i had a decent enough road to ride on. The big things that helped my wheelies most has been keeping my knees out, my gear set as hard as i can get away with (the harder the gear the easier it is to maintain the wheelie but the harder to get it up, at first youll probably have to use really high easy gears), over accentuating the preload motion so that im not under preloading and lastly keeping all my movements slow and consistent rather than quick and jerky (especially for the initial lift). With the initial lift i actually aim to bring the wheel up a little lower than the balance point and then gently pedal into the balance point. So if you are like me and its taking you longer to get your wheelies down really well just stick with it. And try to practice looping out as soon as you are comfortable enough to do so. Youll eventually get there but its going to take serious practice time, if you dont know what youre doing wrong its probably just a matter of needing more practice.
Man after seeing your cycle name i googled it and saw the price of a cycle can be so high for the first time 😮
I got this bike used on PinkBike, there are some great deals on there!
True tutorial but, i cant continue to turning the pedals. Problably the problem is me, what should i do?
Keep going - practice makes progress!
When you talk about the gear, you are talking about an 11 speed or 12 speed. what about a 7 speeder with front gears? the clasic bike. I don't know what 5/6 equals in a 7 speed
Harder gears = pedal way faster and really pick up the pace so that there isnt that "push" in the pedals that throw off balance. Speed Wheelies for the win !
Speed wheelies!!! Count me in!
Hello folks. I'm no wheelie master by any means.
I ask those who can here the feedback.
• do the same what and how you use your knees. Using your head because it's aboutb15% of your body weight pretty heavy. Control by using head not more power by moving head forward or backwards.
• find a spot with a little bit of incline. This way you'll won't spin the cranks to fast before your legs feet start to cavate out of control. The incline will slow you down.
Ride Easy
BJO
I find it hard to keep my wheel up at speed. Am i not lifting up enough perhaps
I found that if you pedal a little harder than usual, it tips the back wheel up a bit. I usually try to pull my hips back a little bit to utilize my weight to assist, too.
Way better use of the track than running!
Haha, I couldn't agree more!
I can't do paddle kick in wheelie.
Help me 😢😢
I wanna perform wheelie
I can ride a unicycle for ten miles without hopping off....i still cant wheelie a bike for multiple pedal strokes.
I wheelie standing up. It's a carry over from my BMX and motocross days. Is anyone else like that?
Me! :) It took so much effort to un-learn some of my standing wheelie habits, I use standing wheelies for so many other MTB skills.
Personally I put my gear all the way down gives me the most torque
you gotta have the front wheel spining
Good call!
Well.... I have the weirdest skill of all..... I change my gears while im wheeling if my gears are too low... I cannot go tge other way around tho sadly
I've been practicing this a lot lately, it's a great tip to include!
How to do one handed is what I want to know. Whilst there are a million wheelie videos there are very few for one handed. Wheelie 100m, no problem! Take one hand off, impossible!!!
Great call! Worth a try...I definitely feel like that would take a while to work up to, but once you've got your weight back, maybe it's not too bad?
@@SuperRiderTV Thanks Aaron, love the channel. I think you are probably right about getting the weight further back, I need to try again! Too busy at the moment learning backhops, currently at 4 🙂
my front wheel turns to the side and I start to fall there
Are you grabbing your front brake? My best attempts were without a finger on the front brake, and I felt like the spinning front wheel helped me balance a little more on the takeoff.
Your issue sounds like something I was experiencing, but I figured out the problem. My bike kept veering off to the left (I'm right-foot dominant when I start the power stroke) until I put more emphasis on throwing my weight back toward the rear tire a nano-second before delivering the "power" stroke to the right pedal. When I don't do this, the bike veers off to the left because I'm creating torque. Hope this helps.
I did try it but My handlebars broke
He look like premium rush movie 0:09
I try so many video but still cant wheelie I think it’s because my bike is heavy