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Time to learn to Manual - any suggestions?

4K views 57 replies 28 participants last post by  Jayem 
#1 ·
Trails are still pretty wet here and the roll-out for opening is very slow due to Covid. So I thought: I should finally learn to flippin' manual. I'm a pretty advanced rider, but I never got the hang of it. I could see how it could come in handy, not necessarily to do while in terrain, but just to connect me more with my bike.

Any suggestions for how to get started; specific videos you'd recommend? There any many, and some seem bad. Thank you!
 
#56 ·
Dont waste your time with a manual machine or paid course..we have youtube.

I had wheelied a little when younger about 10 ft sometimes 20ft ...but never practiced and had them down..I made a concerted effort to learn how to wheelie proper about 2 months ago...practicing every day ..

The best thing is to first go on grass...just to learn to bail, practice bailing for about half an hour one day until you are really really really comfortable with it (this removes all fear)...then practice wheelies every day for 2 months. sometimes for 20 minutes , other times i ride into central london and that takes 30 minutes and ride aroudn wheelieing at every opportunity..and come home about 4 hours later..

now you know how to bail, and use the brake a little, you really get super comfortable with the balance point, Its like you just pull up and boom you sit right into that spot like you are in a seat.....if you go back too far, there is ABSOLUTELY ZERO FEAR....as you know how to control it ...( i sometimes ride my wheelies BEHIND THE BALANCE POINT WHEN I WANT TO REST )

i made a diary and i am now on my 41st wheelie session, some long and some short...over a 2 month period..and now i can wheelie very very comfortably for about 400 metres. that is nearly half a kilometer..

doing this dedicated practice has taught me to feather the back brake and just give it enough to really not change the position of the wheel, it has taught me speed control , i can wheelie now at walking pace, and it taught me sideways recovery, looking ahead whilst wheelieing (this only came properly about 2 weeks ago), constant steady pedalling, and the cream of the crop is coasting...I now coast a lot when wheelieing.
the real hard thing to master was sideways recovery ..but that comes with the practice.
You have to experience every possible scenario, and recovery and braking that works in that scenario ..time and time again, until it becomes muscle memory...and your body seems to just handle it automatically with absolutely zero effort..

I have now started practicing manualing...and due to my success with the wheelie, im gonna practice manuals the same what i did for wheelies every day for 2 months...the first couple of 30 minute sessions i have already done on grass, mainly learning to pull up and bail off...(its harder to bail from a manual , as its like you are glued to the pedals so practice on grass) after that i have started on a small stretch of road.

only thing is the manual is much more tiring than a wheelie, so may take longer as i run out of steam...it engages the entire body and mind., whereas a wheelie when competent you can sit back and relax.

With the manual practice i have done the bike keeps leaning and i still have not sussed out the balance point, as its different from a wheelie, but i expect soon, as i know how to bail, and know how to feather the brake, i will soon be really comfortable in and beyond the balance point...

after this i am learning one handed wheelies, and deep swerves, and possibly touch the ground with my hand , then wheelie for a mile ., then i will be satisfied.
ps. i thought i lacked the wheelie gene, but since starting practice to now, i get people cheering on the streets and just watching in sheer awe at my prowess.....and not only that, but i do it on a narrow bar, thin rimmed bike,
just think how much easier it will be on 2.5 inch tyres rather than 1.5 and 30 inch bars rather than 25 inch and with a disk brake rather than cheap brake blocks...and a short chain stay rahter than the long thing i have ..

cant wait .
the real secret is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE and after that PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE and then PRACTICE SOME MORE.

it is totally worth it , no matter what your age , because the SHEER JOY of doing these moves is totally personal and adds some euphoria to your days..

better than arguing with the missus or watching reality tv, or playing computer games.
 
#57 ·
it is totally worth it , no matter what your age , because the SHEER JOY of doing these moves is totally personal and adds some euphoria to your days..

better than arguing with the missus or watching reality tv, or playing computer games.
This is the most important statement in the grand scheme of things.

'Ceptin when I need to kill some monsters and make red pixels...
 
#6 ·
No need to pay, just dive in. Practice for an hour, or 30 minutes. Take a break, and then practice some more later. It will come with time. Watch as many different instructional videos as you can while you are not practice and look for the consistencies across the board. It really just takes practice.

All it is is balancing on the rear wheel.
 
#10 ·
Skills with Phil on YouTube makes great manual videos.

I also second Ryan Leech Connection. I've paid for a membership a couple of times in the past and learned a lot. Their coaches are quick to get back to you too. The modules break everything down into bite sized bits for you to learn.
 
#11 ·
Learn to wheelie first. Its easier and gets you used to feeling of tye balance point, how to bail off the back, and using the rear brake i a pinch. But manualing is a different feeling from wheelie so itll still take a lot of practice from there. I used to be able to wheelie quite well, but still cannot manual (not anything id consider a real manual, i can pop the front and coast over a divot on ground)
 
#15 ·
Wear a helmet and back protection, I just used my camelbak in case I went back too far.
Cover your rear brake, you'll be surprised how far back you can go before needing to use it, though.
And most importantly, use your dropper, in fact this is the only use for one but that's a whole other argument. :)
With your dropper down, first get low THEN yank straight back, not yank straight back from your attack position like I was doing for years. If you still remember your geometry you can picture a triangle, think 'X', then 'Y', not straight to the hypotenuse 'Z'.
Good luck.
 
#16 ·
Slightly different perspective-

Build a “manual machine”?

2x4s are cheap. If you have a handful of screws, an electric drill and a length of strap to keep the front end from looping out you should be able to get a good enough feel for the balance point that moving to the street is seamless.

There’s like 100 videos on YouTube to get started.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#17 ·
Very easy to learn how to get into a manual position, very hard to maintain it. Im learning how to manual too, after a couple youtube videos I was able to pop into a manual no problem the first few tries. But like everyone has said, it will take a ton of practice to be able to hold one, probably the best video I came across, good luck!

 
#19 ·
Yeah. A manual machine can help expedite things. It shows you the kind and amount of effort, and the movement (hips down and then back), you need to get up to the balance point and approx where the balance point is.

The usual explanation is to drop you hips and then push them back in an L shaped movement. I think of it a bit differently. I drop my hips then push the bike forward with my legs and arms. Physically, it's the same thing. I'm just looking at it from a different frame of reference, which I find helpful.
 
#20 ·
My buddy does the longest manual and it drives me nuts! He just holds it for stupid long distances and makes it look effortless. While I can carry a manual for 20-30 yards, it's nothing as clean as that little bastard, nor the distance. Ugh!

For some, the deed comes naturally, others can practice like there's no tomorrow and only get short distances.
 
#21 ·
A friend has recently decided to learn to manual while his access to the trails was restricted under our Covid lockdown, he reckons the Ryal Leech course has been worth its weight in gold. Learning to do pedal wheelies is helpful in getting you used to sitting on the balance point and modulating your rear brake too.
 
#24 ·
So I've been learning how to wheelie, getting pretty decent now. At first, for a few weeks, it was real frustrating, I was having no problem popping the front up, in fact, I was bringing it too far up where I couldn't maintain balance or forward speed. A lot of the videos said to start in an easy gear, but that just made it too easy to bring the front end up with popping and pedaling, and not enough to make me go forward. When I tried a higher gear, didn't bring the front end up as far, it "clicked", and all of a sudden I was doing wheelies. I started on my fat-bike with the biggest contact patch, 5" tires. Now I'm a different one with 3.5-ish tires, it's definitely harder, but I'm about as good as I was before I switched bikes. Getting the hang of downhill wheelies pretty well (balance point further back, using the brake to keep the bike from running away, etc.). Was getting pretty good at steering on the first bike, I can steer, but it's not the easiest thing. Steering was definitely the 2nd breakthrough.

It's much harder on my enduro rig, although I tried on my XC race bike today and it was actually much easier than I was anticipating, I was able to hold wheelies in the parking lot, so it's definitely transferring.

I want to get real solid with wheelies, and then move to manuals.

I don't find it's necessary to start on grass or whatever, your brake will bring you down. There is definitely a cliff to get over though in terms of understanding how to pop to the balance point, you aren't going past that, but at first with no preconception of what it is, it's understandable how big of a leap of faith it is. Once you get better, you can start doing it on more varied surfaces, going down and up little ramps, or over speed-bumps, similar. I gotta stop doing it across intersections, probably going to get hit soon.

I watched videos, practiced. Take days off in between practice, but make a schedule where you practice at regular intervals. It'll be frustrating, but you have to keep at it. As those muscles get stronger and more toned, your practice can get longer. Many videos had important elements. Many videos had things that I didn't find helpful. Many made a big point about not using clipless...well, I tried flats, made no difference, went back to clipless. I think that just depends on what you are used to. Many videos make a HUGE emphasis on the pop-up. If you are used to hopping up on little trail features, it's not a huge leap to do this and in my case, because the videos were emphasizing it so greatly, I was going overboard on it, same thing with some saying to be in an easy gear. I found getting a "clean" pop with the pedals in the 2 and 7 o-clock to be critical to learning, where the wheel comes up straight, slightly after that, you rock back and kind of lock your arms, but if it doesn't come up straight, it's damn near impossible to go any further, you just fall to one side. Now I can bring it up sometimes not quite straight, counter-balancing at the same time, but it's still not a good way to start. Point I'm getting at is that there's a lot of people that think they are great at teaching this that have made videos. They each have their own perspective and there are some useful elements, but don't think too far into each of them. It's very hard once you've learned something to put yourself back into the shoes of someone with no concept. I don't think the videos do as well with this as they could.

But keep at it, once it starts to click, it starts to make a lot more sense.
 
#26 ·
Not that I can do them very well anymore, but on my BMX I had them down. Everyone say learn a wheelie first, while that helps find the balance point it’s two different movements. If you know how to bunny hop, a manual starts with the same motion. Go from standing, drop your weight straight down, then back over the rear axel. It’s shifting your weight that gets the front wheel off the ground. Not pulling up on the bars.

Also, some bikes are easier to learn them on. Hard tails for example, you don’t loose any of the weight shift to the suspension. Shorter chain stays help as well.
 
#28 ·
Jayem, it is all about the balance point window. Once you learn where that lives, it is much easier to get into it and maintain it although, it does need to become natural to get there.
My Sergeant V1 has a massive balance point window that allows for a range of wheel height, thus much easier than my other bikes.
 
#29 ·
I am on day 27 of the Ryan Leech Connection, 30 day wheelie challenge. On day one I could wheelie for 4 or 5 pedal strokes at most. Now on day 27 I can pretty much wheelie on command as far as I want (if it's not windy!!!). I never expected to make this kind of progress.

I will be starting the manual course in 3 days as soon as I finish the wheelie course. I've been trying to learn how to wheelie and manual for years, and after the wheelie course, I have no doubt I will learn how to manual very well after taking that course as well.

Definitely worth the price of admission.
 
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