Old, Dutch and new to Trials

[TrialNL]

Hello guys, 

I've been checking this forum for a few weeks now. I really like the various how to tutorials! They have been helping me with the basics of trials. 
I've bought a second hand Onza Spirogyra last winter. The original plan was to use this bike to gain some technique to use on the XC bike. (I'm not the only one I read) But as I started progressing I noticed this is way more fun than riding the XC bike in the flat Dutch countryside. I also noticed its really hard to use the techniques learned on the trials bike during a XC ride. The main problem being the hight of the frame and that stupid seatpost and saddle being there. 

By now I'm able to get up and off edges of about 40 cm high. At speed I'm able to bunnyhop on them. From a standstill I first plant my front wheel and then (after a few hops) get my back wheel on there as well. I've been doing some rear wheel hops and tags. Yesterday I tried to jump of the 40cm edge by getting on the rear wheel, hopping to the edge and then jump off. It took me a while to eliminate the fear and get on the rear wheel. But after I did that it felt quite easy and really cool! 
I have practiced rear wheel paddle kicks on some smaller edges (max 20 cm) and really carefully started trying the tags! But the tags are scary as hell! And I don't think being careful is the best way to approach this. I just need a lot more time for this. Progress is slow. But I'm getting there.

I would like to ask you guys 2 questions regarding the basic skills I haven't found on the forum yet. It's probably my lack of search skills. 

1: For some reason I've got a different balance point when rear wheel hopping and when doing the pedal kicks. I can't seem to combine them in one line. When I start hopping I have by butt above the rear wheel and the front wheel far up. Hips close to the handlebar. When doing the pedal kicks my front wheel is way lower and my butt is far behind the rear wheel. I'm not able to go from a pedal kick (up to something) to a hopping motion (regaining balance) to an other pedal kick (to get on the next object). Do you guys have any tips doing this? 

2: I've tried the fakie for some time now. I always try this at the end of a training when my hands hurt more than I like  In a few tutorials I've watched they say you need to lean your wight on the front wheel. But when doing this I lock my legs and can't pedal backwards. When I look at some trial masters doing this I see them leaning all the way back. This helps me with back pedaling but brings me to a different problem: I gain too much speed when going from a endo to the fakie and leaning back. Whats the best way to control this speed? When using the rear brake I lift my front wheel. When using my front brake the wheel blocks and all control is gone. And I'm not able to adjust the back pedal movement to control the speed. Do I need to balance myself differently or do I need to focus on controlling that back pedal movement?

Thanks for the advice and the video's I've found so far! I'll keep reading! Hope you guys will be able to help me with my questions! I'm sorry about all the typo's and other faults in this post. I'm quite good in talking, reading and listening English but my grammar is rubbish! 

[dk2]

In my opinion the correct way is to control the fakie by pedal pressure. So you want to release/pedal backwards to gain more speed, and breaking/slowing down again by applying a little more pressure...its a feeling thing hard to explain how much is needed. The lazy way is done by using the rear brake..

[TrialNL]

Thanks Dk2

Thats what I was afraid of  The feeling thing is always difficult for me. I don't have the patience to practice! But I will keep trying. 
I noticed I typed "Tags" in the startpost. I meant Taps obviously. 

[Christiaan]

As for the static hops / padalkicks. Do you initiate going to the rearwheel, to do hops, by a pedalstroke or in a different way?
Keep on practising is all I can say. It`s all in the balance and that just takes time. Also checking out video`s of other riders might help you progress. 
Where in Holland are you located? 

 

[TrialNL]

Thanks! 

I usually use the small endo. And than pedalkick to get my rear wheel underneath me. I can do the normal pedalstoke as well. However I feel like I can maintain balance better when using the endo and pedal kick. 

Keep practicing it is ;-)

I live near Eindhoven. 

[Christiaan]

Using an endo is really a beginners technique which is fine to learn backhops but isn`t going to get you anywhere once you start riding obstacles. 
A pedalstroke to get on to your backwheel is what you want in the long term. Just keep at it and it wil come. 

I`m from Alphen aan den Rijn so not really close to Eindhoven. 

Ryan Leech - Mastering the art of trials might be a nice watch for you. 

 

[bikeperson45]

Fakies I learned by doing them really slowly - I went to a steep hill and just did trackstands until I was good at letting the bike role back a bit. From there it was just little by little until I could keep going for a while.  Like dk2 said, when you get comfortable using pedal pressure to allow the bike to roll backwards you're on your way and it gets easier from there.

[TrialNL]

Cool video! Definitely some basic stuff there I haven't tried yet. And almost all the advanced stuff ;-) 
I think I am going to try and record my moves the next few times to be able to compare! I don't think I use my body enough for preloading and balance. 

Alpen is a long way on the trials bike ;-)