Trials
 

Just curious to see how many people practice at trials. The basics I personally think everyone should know. Trackstand, bunnyhopping, wheel drops, wheelies (balancing) and endos. Does anyone work on these fundamentals? Do you practice anything more. Lurches, Larger wheelies drops, pivoting?

I am curious because at the beginning of the year I focused on this quite a bit. Then the summer hit and I started singletrack only. Now that the weather is getting crappy I have started trials again. What do you as a rider think of trials and the skills it brings to the table?

Personally I think to be the best possible rider you can't ignore the benefits of the bike control you get when learning to ride trials.

I think that practicing basic trials stuff is a good thing to do. Balance is important, even if you only ride singletrack

even if it didn't offer any benefits, I'd still do it; It's fun, challenging, and looks cool.

All I practice are wheelies, trackstands, bunny hops and hopping on my back tire. I also used to practice falling off my bike.

well, i'm an XC rider and i like a little of everything with technical singletracks and big downhills being a huger favortie of mine.

i rarely practice exclusivley trials stuff and have never really set up obstacles or tried a course... but whenever i get the chance, like at the end of a ride or when waiting for other riders or whatever i try and practice hops, wheelies, endos, etc.

then maybe once a month or so i'll spend an hour or so at the end or middle of a ride practing wheelies and endos and hops, etc...

i enjoy the practice and i do feel that it helps my single-track technical riding. just last weekend we rode some really steep hiking trails with major washout sections and frequently there were acute corners where i used my hops/pivots as well as many times when i would have to come to a complete stop to assess whether a section was rideable and if so which line and then could hop and pivot to the right start for the line (once i dismount on something so steep i pretty much have to walk down to the next "entry" point)

personally i still haven't completely mastered the "balance-wheelie" and can only sometimes ride a wheelie more than a few seconds... and i'm still learning wheelie-drops - for anything bigger than 2ft i'm still not super-comfortable and only attempt when the landing and approach are good... here in Munich there is a small "North-Shore" section of trails with a bunch of wooden bridges and the last 2 require a 3ft and 4ft wheelie-drop respectively...

anyone have any good tips on learning wheelie-drops?

i'm also trying to learn the rear-wheel hop - not sure the real name - but where you wheelie-style "hop" on the rear tire with the front tire in the air...

I'm more of a roadie, but do mountain bike on occasion (lots of private land trail closures around here - metro parks are also illegal to ride in on the trails).

I do have two sons in their 20's that are both into Trials and cross country. The youngest is scary-good at Trials and has competed in events in the past. Prefers urban rather than natural terrain. Tough to do natural stuff while going to college in the city. I agree that Trials skills are a great element to have in your arsenal of tricks in order to be a better rider overall. They've tried to teach me some of the basics and I can track-stand, but don't ask be to do a lurch or a manual:)

They have a pretty nice site for Trials riders and lots of other information and Quicktime clips on "how-to's" check it out here:Trials On-Line

For a wheelie drop it is in your head. It will be the exact same as doing a normal wheelie drop just bigger. Start with your front wheel on the lip. You 'off' foot forward. Do a 1/4 or even a 1/2 turn while liftng the front wheel (do a wheelie) and stand up a bit. As long as your mind doesn't get scared and move you forward because of balance you will fall onto your rear wheel.

As for hopping on rear tire

http://www.biketrials.com/

Halfway down the page is a ling for 'How-To Manual' Lots of great tips there.

http://www.trials-online.com
http://www.trialsworks.co.uk/framer..../welcome.shtml

Two more links with more information. Wheelie hops are a personal thing and change from person to person. I can't do them. My centre of balance is high and it is taking me a long time to get the balacing on rear wheel. I really wanna learn how to lurch. That is my goal before the end of the season. :)

Manuals are brutal. You have to have your balance point perfect. I guess I just find trials fun on those days when I don't wanna do single track. I can ride around a practice for a few hours. :)

if you can do wheelie drops on a two foot drop you can do them on any height obstical.

the technique is the same. if you can do one foot fine but two feet freaks you out, then just stick with the one foot until it's like riding off a curb.

once you no longer fear it, move on.
it's the same technique.

a way to learn rear wheel hops is to put your front tire on something like some stairs or a park bench. then lean back the few inches needed to get the front end up and start to hop.

when your front tire drops, try and balance on the bench (or whatever) then pull back up and do a few more hops.

again, it's technique. if you can learn the basic body position you can hop till the cows come home.


I agree with Maelstrom.

the more you ride the better you get.

i rode with some folks this weekend on single track.
there were some logs and roots that really got the best of people.

if they spent just a small amount of time learning to ride over stuff they wouldn't have had a hard time with them.

you can learn ALOT just by staying in the city and riding over curbs, small sets of stairs and other man made objects.

it all comes down to balance......