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How far can you honestly wheelie your mountain bike?

5K views 49 replies 40 participants last post by  GoldenKnightMTB 
#1 ·
How far can you wheelie?

I mean proper distance. I can wheelie forever, doesnt cut it..because nobody can. even the world record holder.

I'd be interested in finding out, distance or time, eg for about a minute, or for about 500 meters.
 
#41 ·
There's a lot of people who wheelie well on the internet, but are terrible teachers. Most of them saying "don't wheelie with clipless" are simply saying it because they don't ride clipless. It works just fine. I do it. They are also the "don't jump, don't drop, don't ride downhill with clipless"-camp.
 
#47 ·
When I was a kid? A few yards.

Now? I don't even remember how to do it.

I didn't see the point then, nor do I now.

Are wheelies ever actually useful for anything?

Releasing endorphins.

I cannot remember the last time I even tried. I would not try clipped in and I don’t ride flats.
Copout...
 
#5 ·
I was watching a podcast saying that around a mile or so would be crazy hard, not sure if it's been done, but someone was trying to work up to it.

I can do 1000 feet on my mid-fat bike downhill, I'm still working on my mountain bikes. On my "full fat" bike it's actually too easy, I don't think it builds the skills and balance apart from the initial learning of the concepts (which was not easy). At this point, it's easier for me to do it downhill, so holding it for several hundred feet, or more, isn't that big of a deal. Pedaling on flat or uphill has gotten a lot harder for me (compared to initially), so I'm not sure what's going on with that, while downhill has gotten so much easier. Don't think I could for 500m though, that's getting up there. It's not so much the distance, but the variable terrain, little uphills, little curves in the path, bumps, a curb, those all increase the difficult exponentially IME.
 
#16 ·
I was on a touring ride once using my MTB and rode a wheelie on a road for about a mile. The only way it was possible is that it was a slight upgrade the entire way (and smooth and not windy). Downhill, I can't last 5 seconds.

-F
 
#21 ·
Before I started "actual" mountain biking, and around the time I was in college and spending a lot of time riding around the community, I got to the point I could wheelie that bike (not sure the year, was an old Iron Horse of some sort) for a few city blocks.

Fast forward to now, and I'm struggling to do the same on either of my bikes.

Since COVID, I've been riding around the yard/driveway more with the kids, and have been trying to get back into it, with some limited success. I still haven't done any longer than ~200ft, with most being much shorter (20-40ft maybe).

I find they are way easier to do on a slight uphill grade, but currently its my side to side balance that is getting me every time, not the forward/backwards. Its amazing how much that balance has regressed in the last 10 years. I'm hoping that getting good at wheelie-ing again can help me actually learn to manual, as the side to side balance is what gets me on manuals, even more than on wheelies.
 
#22 ·
on the trail: whatever distance is needed to perform the maneuver Im attempting (rock step up, crossing a mud section, etc.). I think it helps to have a visual target.

off the trail: 50 ft

I'm better at standing & pedaling a wheelie than sitting down for some reason.
 
#24 ·
on my easiest bike with a nice slight downward grade with few interruptions - upper limit has been about a 1km. My experience is usually there's something that happens to bring it unceremoniously to an end- tired, attention wanes, grade shifts or pot hole, brake gets weak. If you can do 50ft, you can go as far as you'd ever want - you are rightly probably bored with it by then.
 
#27 ·
I'm probably typical of serious mtb'ers who ride clipless- i can do about 15' or so on flat ground. It's not a skill i've developed, beyond grabbing the rear brake as i tip off the back. Broke my tailbone and lost interest.

I can ride further on my commuter bike, but it's a SS with flat pedals- it's hard to get the front end up and i don't wanna fall on pavement. I can ride further, but less consistently.


On the trail it's extremely rare that this inadequacy manifests... but i'd definitely learn to wheelie/manual if i was still trying to push my skillset.
 
#29 ·
As a kid on my HMX-600 I could wheelie for what seemed like an eternity.

We used distance from one lamppost to the next as our units of measurement.

If memory serves correctly my best ever effort was 14-15 units.

Doing wheelies was fun and my mates and I practiced them continually on our whips.

Today, I'm much more interested in riding technically challenging trails (up & down).

I love technically climbing, even more than technical descents.

Locally, there aren't too many techy climbs ☹

I can probably wheelie today on my 29" AM HT, maybe 1-2 units.

Doing wheelies just doesn't interest me these days.

I'm sure if I practiced as much as I did when I was a young fella, I could get several more units under my belt.

But, the stuff I can ride down today... would have made my younger self soil his undies! 💩

Sent from MTBR.apk
 
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