Back Wheeling

[Zoo_Monkey]

im having confidence issues as i seem to have hit a brick wall in my riding.

so recap - i got my first rig at the apr 2005 bike show (zoo pitbull) I cant say iv been the most dedicated rider, there has been afew times iv gon a month or two without getting out, however aside from that iv mastered afew bits but i still suck quite badly over all.

in short, trackstand- not bad, endo, backhops, bunnyhops (bout 2 foot), front pivot(180), rear pivot about 90, general hoping on the spot, pedal kicks, gaps (bout 3 foot) drops (bout 4-5foot)

All this stuff is pretty basic - what i want to learn is how to climb stuff

I can back wheel about a foot maybe 1foot+ on a good day - which is quite embarrassing with the effort I put in to the crumby move I feel like im not jumping enough or something, I kind of stay more or less where I am with my body and suck the bike up under me

i bust my shoe apart riding tonight so am not in a good mood - can anyone shed some light on the matter or direct me to some thing that enplanes where I have gone wrong (i learned most of my stuff from trashzen and dirtytricks/leach trials vid)

thanks - sol

[rickycoleman]

Practice makes perfect. I know how annoying these thing can get, but you've just got to stick at it. Try putting your opposite foot slightly further back to give you a bit more 'umph' when you take off, If you know what I mean.

The main thing is to get the movement upwards and tuck the backwheel right up.

[HargrovesToby]

firstly, you wil gain confidence the more you are on the bike, the more you ride it the better you become at understanding where the bike wants to move to, and how it wil respond when you put it in certain positions.

once you become more familiar with the real basics or backwheel balance, front wheel work and trackstands, then just try this, it helped me alot, mark two lines on a road, or up a kerb, and practice wheel switching, just keeping the pressure on your pedals, and using your weight to hop both wheels off the floor to bring the back wheel to where the front was. this helps you to gain the motion you will need when blunting adn tapping really big things of having to throw the bike from beneath you.

then, find a wall, no joke about a foot high, no bigger, preferably with nothing on the other side, becasue this height wal any bike can rol over with no problem pretty much nd it will gain you confidence in trying to blunt.

right, then approach the wall at a fairly brisk walking pace or a slow jogging pace with your WRONG foot forward, you are trying to push your front wheel over the edge of the obstacle not hitting it, the most common problem people i ride with have is they take off way to early, giving them no drive with their feet, you are trying to take off late. as you come to abut a bike length away, pedal hard down raising the front up then with the remaining quarted of your pedal stroke left, stamp down hard whilst throwing the bike from beneath you with eh motion you learnt earlier, transfering to the rear wheel, then locking the brake funnily enough!!

when you start to get better, your take-of has to be perfect, to late and you wil hit it, to early and you wil bottom out on it hitting the downtube of your bike on the wall or goin head first into it, just take off far later that you think you have too, try and misjudge it and give it loads of power, keep your weight quite far back, this way ther is no danger of you goin over the wall.

practice makes perfect, i have tried to explain it but there are bound ot be things im missing out, just go balls outl loads of power and dont be afraid to mess up, give it all you have and practice loads, you will soon be a better rider!!

toby

[Zoo_Monkey]

thanks - that actualy makes alot of sence. ill give it a try - i apreciate you writing the lenghty post to, esp as its getting late

thanks for all the encouragement.

[Krisboats]

I found the best way to learn how to bunnyhop abubaca properly was to go out and try my hardest to get up a wall. When i found the height that i can do comfortably and usually everytime i moved round to a different wall about 3-6 inches higher, if your using pallets whack another two onto your pile.

Then i Kept at it using the same technique as before only really physically trying to bunnyhop as hard as i could, most of the time i would slip to bash but there were several occasions i could get onto it okay. Keep at it pushing yourself like this and within a few hours-a few days depending on how fast you progress with moves you should be doing double height in no time.

Key points to a bunnyhop, the higher it is the faster you go and earlier you take off.

Try to really throw the bike up at the wall.

Physically jumping up with your legs will help you too.

I could usually bunnyhop about 42" on my base and now i have my rex i can do just over bar height so around 40".

[HargrovesToby]

no worries dood, pm if u get real stuck,

toby