Blimey - How Do You Even Get Started?

[ad327]

So! My 2nd-hand 26" Koxx XTP arrived yesterday, and with great excitement I put the wheels, pedals and bars on, only freaking out very slightly when I found that the freewheel is totally in the wrong place. I'll investigate that later. Pretty cool though. Anyway, once I'd moved on from that and figured out how to pick the bike up (or even just hold it steady) without a seat, I ventured out into the lane at the back of the house to have a go.

Now - I've tried doing wheelies on various mountain bikes with varying degrees of success, but I can sort of see the principle and with perseverance and practice I reckon I could get the hang of it. No sweat. BUT... I also thought that if I'm going to teach myself how to do this, I should get the proper tool for the job - those fangled 'trials' bike are purpose designed for hopping about on the back wheel. So it's bound to be MUCH easier than on a mountain bike, right? Is it f*ck!! I couldn't even get the front wheel off the ground, and I knackered the palms of my hands by constantly heaving the bike up and down - I think my record for the evening was about 3 inches (in fact I was only on the bike for five minutes before the missus gave me a row and I had to take the dog out).

Obviously it's going to be a steep learning curve. It would be very helpful for me if you could recommend either some online videos of people who are as crap as me, because that would make me feel better, or some good instructional videos covering the very basics.

Thanks a lot for any advice or suggestions!

Actually I do have one specific question: when experimenting with wheelies on the mountain bikes, I'd always used a ratio slightly higher than the granny gear - I think I found the extra push to the back wheel helpful. The ratio on the Koxx feels very low to me - is it worth persevering with that, or should I change up to a ratio that feels more useful? I don't know enough about anything yet to recognise the advantage in the 1:1 ratio, but I guess there must be one or you wouldn't all be using it!

[Muel]

The best thing you can do is find some local riders to ride with, it's much easier to diagnose problems for people when your there watching them.

It doesn't say on your profile what county your from, but if you set it too the right one, then you can click it and it gives you a list of other riders in the area.

[forteh]

Welcome to trying to ride a bike unlike any other

In my experience its probably best to ignore what youve learnt on other bikes and start in the right place from the onset

I wouldnt worry about trying to wheelie, its not particularly easy on a trials bike when compared to a normal mountain bike because there is no seat to balance your weight on. 90% of the time on the rear wheel youre not pedalling, its mainly just balance, work through the basics 1st and get your balance and you should progress well.

Trashzen is a very good site with videos and descriptions of the basics, from there its practise and practise and practise.

Regarding gear ratio, slightly higher than 1:1 is normal, typically 18:16 or 18:15 for stock bikes (26" wheels); if you go too low you can struggle to get power through the the rear wheel quick enough, too high and youll not be able put enough power into the pedals. Its a trade off of how much power and speed you need and the power your legs can provide.

[Adam_3]

You can also use the wiki section of this site to learn some techniques and moves . If it makes you feel better i'm pretty crap too

[ad327]

Thanks for all that! I found TrashZen a bit cryptic until I figured out that the author isn't English! And I hadn't seen the Wiki section of this site yet, so I have a lot to go at. Brilliant!

[squad_e]

That's a really good website man, thanks. I'm in a similar situation, i don't know any riders in my area.. I'm sorta learnin it bymyself...

[forteh]

That's a really good website man, thanks. I'm in a similar situation, i don't know any riders in my area.. I'm sorta learnin it bymyself...

Where abouts are you squad_e? Im in lichfield itself and riding a fair amount, more than happy to help you learn

[squad_e]

holy crap, I study media at lichfield . But i live in barton

[forteh]

holy crap, I study media at lichfield . But i live in barton

Saw that you studied at the college but wasnt sure where you were from

Im away this weekend (and for the next 3-4 weekends) but up for a thrash round on a weekday evening.

Whats barton like for riding? Ridden burton which wasnt too bad but never barton.

[squad_e]

There's are few good parks just outside barton, Branston Water Park and the Barton Marina.... There Cycling Distances for me Pass us you msn or w/e we can discuss..

[txt2007]

i think finding local riders would be the fastest way of learning but i have a little set up in my garden with a few pallets and i go on trashzen or another of my favorites biketrials.com then rush outside and attempt the move and when i can do it on flat time after time i introduce going bigger, just realize that it's not as easy as the videos make it look and you gonna be trying to pedal hop for months on end but without practise your never going to progress

[forteh]

There's are few good parks just outside barton, Branston Water Park and the Barton Marina.... There Cycling Distances for me Pass us you msn or w/e we can discuss..

Take it you dont have transport then?

Hardly use msn or owt like that, tend to use some new fangled invention called a telephone

Get yourself validated on here then you can send PMs, alternatively email me fortyone30@hotmail.com

[squad_e]

Take it you dont have transport then?

Nope i dont, times are hard indeed...

But someone invented something awesome called a bus.. I thought i had my account validated when you hit the activation link?..

[forteh]

Nope i dont, times are hard indeed...

But someone invented something awesome called a bus.. I thought i had my account validated when you hit the activation link?..

Aha, I have the advantage of being old and rich...

Well old and employed as a start

Your account is validated by a moderator when you have proven your ability to construct basic english sentences, provide some usefull input to the forums and generally not be a tard. Until youre validated you are restricted to posting in pre-memebers chat

From your posts I dont reckon it will take you long to get validated, some people have been pre members for years :D

edit: sorry for going off topic

Edited August 15, 2008 by forteh

[squad_e]

yus and im sorry for goin offtopic too, anyhow.. To Help the guy who started this topic and also me, i found this nifty little video rather handy indeed...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1r_o435Y2s

Lot's of good techniques showing balance etc...

[chrishayton]

Well done on buying the nicest riding 26" trials bike ever (imo)

that frame is very long so lifting the front up will behard without a pedal stroke. the bars are probably quite low if the bar and stem are the standard tryall ones.

once you get it on the back wheel it is very stable.

Like others have said just get out riding with people and it ll come to you quicker. however might take a while so don give up, and if you do lol ill take the XTP

[ad327]

Well done on buying the nicest riding 26" trials bike ever (imo)

Thanks - I was gobsmacked when I found out what the list price was! So I hasten to add that mine is a bit beaten-up and only cost me 250. However, when I get home and put some badass, blingin' new grips on it, it'll be worth 257. Cool. Think you might be right about the stem - I'll try to find something that'll lift the bars a bit closer to me.

Thanks also to everyone else for words of encouragement, and to Squad-e for the video which is great - looks like a good step-by-step way to practice without having to wheelie!

Edited August 15, 2008 by ad327

[jack14366]

A good set of youtube videoes is mastering the art of trialsjust search that it will have all the tecniques or google it and buy the full vid it taught me all I no !