Mountain Biking - Wheelies

I've been riding for years and I just can't get the hang of doing wheelies. I just bought a new 2002 Norco Wolverine and I took it for a test ride, I rode by the skate park and poped a wheelie on the grass I went about thirty feet (huge for me) but when I came down I jammed both brakes and the bike did a 360 and a half at which point I did a summersault in the air, bounced off my head and landed on both feet to the cheers of the skaters. What is the trick to controling a wheelie? I cant usually go more than a few feet.

Well first off. Nice bike. I hae a similar geometry bike and it helps. (seat is further over the rear axle than average)

Well it is really a combination of balance, fear and brake control. Find you perfect balance point and learn to feather the brakes. (really you shouldn't have to pedal at all but that is another storey)

After you find the balance point and learn to feather the brakes it is really a matter of practice.

Since you can go for a distance you are probably decent at these...practice..period. :)

One thing people don't take into account is centre of balance. Mine is VERY high due to my height. Guess what my balance point is very small compared to someone shorter on a small bike. Just a fact of athletic life :)

I have tried the brakes, I usually cant stay up long enough to use them and I tend to drift to one side or the other. Sometimes I hit that balance point and stay up for quite a distance.

Originally posted by Road Rash Rob
poped a wheelie on the grass I went about thirty feet (huge for me) but when I came down I jammed both brakes and the bike did a 360 and a half at which point I did a summersault in the air, bounced off my head and landed on both feet to the cheers of the skaters.

Dude, if you can pull off that trick, why bother with a simple wheelie??? :D :D :D

Focus on keeping your arms straight when pulling up. Don't bend them to lift throw your whole body back. If you start to tip turn your wheel towards the fall and stick your foot out the other direction.

pac, I didnt pull it off it just turned out that way I used to break horses when I was a teenager and I guess I learned through pain to land on my feet!

sorry Bac, I cant spell

i love wheelies.

coaster wheelies, or as they are often called, manuals are even funner.
those are when you don't pedal but just coast on the rear wheel.


keep a couple of fingers on your rear brake level.
If you start to go over to far, jam the rear brakes on and the front wheel will fall back to earth.

after a while you will be able to use the brakes to keep you from flipping over backwards but by not jamming them full on, you can just balance the front end off the ground.

if you find yourself falling left or right, you need to use your arms to keep yourself going in a strait line. if your falling to the left, turn your bars to the left and try and lean to the right.

don't worry about NOT going in a strait line, just try to keep the front end off the ground.

eventually you'll be able to steer the bike where you want it.

it helps if you are in a lower gear to get the front end off the ground too.

hope that makes some sense. just keep practicing.......

Originally posted by Road Rash Rob
pac, I didnt pull it off it just turned out that way I used to break horses when I was a teenager and I guess I learned through pain to land on my feet!

Hey, if you landed on your feet ....... go with it!!!! :D Seriously, I can't wheelie very well either. I guess I should just take some time and practice. Some guys seem to be able to wheelie @ will and do it very well. Lets both practice and we'll compare note in a month or so???

Nah ... the shot to my ego could be the end of my wheelie ambitions! However, I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on whether being able to wheelie @ will. Is it genetic, or can bonehead (read: me!) do it well with enough practice???

anyone can learn.

some people get it easier and faster.

but if you focus on it, eventually you can do it too.

i actually suck at old school sit down wheelies.( I call em Popa Wheelies, like pop-a-wheelie)

but coaster ones i can do for aways. enough to make me happy.
sometimes.....

It also has a lot to do with centre of gravity. Just a fact of life in sports. This is a pure balance thing. If you have a high centre of gravity with a big bike you will not wheelie as well as someone with comparible skill that is small with a little itty bitty bike.

Originally posted by Maelstrom
It also has a lot to do with centre of gravity. Just a fact of life in sports. This is a pure balance thing. If you have a high centre of gravity with a big bike you will not wheelie as well as someone with comparible skill that is small with a little itty bitty bike.

that's right but someone with good balance can wheelie any bike better than someone with poor balance.

Originally posted by pnj

i actually suck at old school sit down wheelies.( I call em Popa Wheelies, like pop-a-wheelie)

but coaster ones i can do for aways. enough to make me happy.
sometimes.....

Thats interesting - I lack the "wheelie gene" I cant wheelie to save my life, but I can do a stand up wheelie. Same as a sit down, but I stand - I've been complemented on it several times. Its not the same though, I'm moving all over to keep my balance - I don't think it looks near as clean as somone doing it sitting. I can also ride a unicycle pretty well, but no wheelie - go figure.

riding a unicycle is like riding a wheelie.

only when doing a wheelie, you can only pedal in one direction.

use your brakes if you start to fall backwards.

I been practicing for at least an hour a day and I know I dont have the wheelie gene but Im going to grow one if it kills me. I tried lowering my seat a bit and I actually did a couple of fairly long ones but I wont be happy until I can wheelie all the way up town. I've been practicing nose wheelies (sort of) and spinning the bike around at the same time but I can only flip the back end over about a foot.

RRR,

Puh-lease wear your helmet when practicing wheelies. Same goes for everybody else here.

Where I live West Philly you can't go more than two blocks without seeing some kid wheelie-ing a dual-suspension Huffy while picking his 'fro. Its like that.

The Knuckle

Originally posted by Buddha Knuckle
Puh-lease wear your helmet when practicing wheelies. Same goes for everybody else here.


O ok....i'll remember that next time I do wheelies....:o :rolleyes:

I wouldn't think of riding without my helmet. The consequences are too severe :angel:
Side note: we were just in Osoyoos and caught the bike part of the Ironman Triathalon coming from Penticton we drove by about 10000 really cool road bikes over about a fourty mile stretch of highway. If had had some of the legs I saw I'd throw mine away!

I have the same problem... A few quick q's...

How should I start a wheelie? Just sit down and pedal hard until the front wheel's up? Usually, I lose my balance even before I find my center balance point, but I have incredible balance on two wheels (I think :)). Kinda weird... So I'd go left and right by holding my foot out the opposite direction I'm falling towards? What if I have pedal straps? Can I hold my hand out instead? Thanks!

ttt

Originally posted by jump
I have the same problem... A few quick q's...

How should I start a wheelie?

Practice.

I remember my son trying so hard to do wheelies when he first learned to ride. He just didn't get it. I told him a jillion times to pull back on the bars and pedal hard at the same time. Still he couldn't get it. I am writing this as I watch out the window, he is 13 now, and he's out riding his BMX track right now, doing all kinds of scary looking tricks and jumps (he knows the names, I don't). And now he can manual as long as he has momentum, and a power wheelie is nothing to him. I've ridden bikes for a lot of years and he has already far surpassed me. So, pull back on the bars, pedal hard, and practice! (and don't scare your Dad)

Originally posted by MikeOK


So, pull back on the bars, pedal hard, and practice! (and don't scare your Dad)

I am the Dad!

lol hi dad

Ouch!! My foot got stuck on my pedal trying to wheelie and I went right over backwards and landed on my back. Then I was trying to go up on my front wheel and spin around and I went over the handle bars and hurt my wrist. Then I was trying to bunny hop a curb and my foot slipped off the pedal and I shredded my shin then I did it again and sliced my shin wide open. Then I did it again and put another big slice right beside the old slice. Then I went to the bike park and tried to ride on the logs and went over the handlebars twice and scraped the back of my leg. DO I CARE, NO!!! CAN I DO WHEELIES, NO!!!

Rob- lol, I hate to laugh but I have had days like that. Keep rolling though...

My shins look like hamburger, my back is stiff, my inner thighs look like I sat on a cactus.

I love riding.

Originally posted by Road Rash Rob
Ouch!! My foot got stuck on my pedal trying to wheelie and I went right over backwards and landed on my back. Then I was trying to go up on my front wheel and spin around and I went over the handle bars and hurt my wrist. Then I was trying to bunny hop a curb and my foot slipped off the pedal and I shredded my shin then I did it again and sliced my shin wide open. Then I did it again and put another big slice right beside the old slice. Then I went to the bike park and tried to ride on the logs and went over the handlebars twice and scraped the back of my leg. DO I CARE, NO!!! CAN I DO WHEELIES, NO!!!

lol having a bad day??

That's a great day!

Can a person with BAD balance improve it?
I hit my head in childhood (total head travel distance - about 2 meters + downward spinning :/ ) and my vestibular apparatus (or however it's called) has a habit of malfunctioning, especially when I'm tired. :(

Yes there are tools to help balance. I don't remember the name of them all but one has a board on a ball that you stand on. You try to keep it level while all of your little corrections through it off.

Even those ab balls (euro balls, chiro balls) those big balls for various workouts. There are exercises to do on it which helps you balance.

Either way I don't think it will permenantly fix you issue but it will help. Oh and practice. Trackstands are great for just plain practicing.

Just be careful - my uncle got to where he could do a wheelie for about half a mile, but one day his wheel fell off while in the air. He's had false teeth for about the past 30 years or so!

OUCH!:cry: ;)

Get the revs up to around 4K in first, steady the bike, and chop the throttle to 75%. Once its in the air and to the balance point makes minor adjustments as needed.

Oh my bad....wrong forum!!:D

Any Idiot can do a wheelie on a motor bike. ;)

Originally posted by Road Rash Rob
Any Idiot can do a wheelie on a motor bike. ;) Come on, we respect everyone here! Even motorbikers!
Yeah! ;)
*sarcastic smirk*

No offence, Just making an observation!:)

Bike mag had an article called The Power of One a few months ago, it was about the power of the wheelie to captivate people. It is so true!!!! I to lack the wheelie gene, but every once in awhile I can pull off a pretty good one, and I get so pumped I'll spend hours trying to do it again, but in vain.

I've been practicing steady since I started this thread and I'm starting to get better. Just keep practicing.

Originally posted by Road Rash Rob
Any Idiot can do a wheelie on a motor bike. ;)

Hmmm.......my 70MPH wheelie vs. your 10MPH wheelie......riiiiiiiight.

I think he means it is easier to maintain a wheelie with a mx. It is. :) Wheelies on bikes are far harder to maintain because you outweight the bike thereby screwing up the pivot point far more than a simple wheelie on a mx.

Thats kind'a what I said

A Kona rider pulled a wheelie going 80 mph. Also, a bicyclist has wheelied across the US. Any MXers want to step up?? :crash:

Just found this article about wheelies:
http://www.dirtragmag.com/articles/article.php?ID=377&category=departments#TOP