Learning to wheelie and that video

jds_1981
jds_1981 Posts: 1,858
edited September 2018 in MTB beginners
Decided to learn to wheelie having never really tried much before.
So far I've spent four hours over four seasons of one hour. I'm definitely improving but so far quite slowly.

Having watched the Mike Boyd video I had hoped to improve more quickly :mrgreen: but appears it won't be the case.
Seeing him drop and catch his front wheel several times and so maintaining his wheelie within a few minutes of day two (one hour) makes me think that either he was really talented at picking it up, I'm really poor at picking it up, or his caveat of having tried wheelying but not bring very good may have covered plenty of tried when he was younger.
Any other sources of how long it takes to learn to wheelie in a concerted effort?
FCN 9 || FCN 5

Comments

  • Chunkers1980
    Chunkers1980 Posts: 8,035
    You need your bike setup to be wheelie oriented...

    I've been trying over decades and never managed it for any length of time......
  • dcwhite1984
    dcwhite1984 Posts: 86
    Dont feel too bad, i give it a go every now and then, i can get my wheel lifted to a decent height, but then i panic and i cant keep it up (oo-er missus)

    Out on the trail i never need to wheelie for that long, just enough to get my front wheel over an object which i can do, so it doesnt bother me too much.

    Stick with it as with everything else in life, perseverance is key. Dont worry how long someone else took, just focus on your technique and you will get there as i am sure i will one day.
  • 02gf74
    02gf74 Posts: 1,171
    Chunkers1980 wrote:
    You need your bike setup to be wheelie oriented...

    I've been trying over decades and never managed it for any length of time......
    .
    Me too but my excuse is that I am riding with spd. One time I tried it I snapped the alloy carrier of a xt cassette, was not happy..
  • jds_1981
    jds_1981 Posts: 1,858
    At 7.5 hrs now. Still crap.
    FCN 9 || FCN 5
  • steve_sordy
    steve_sordy Posts: 2,453
    I have been trying off and on for 4-5 years now, in addition to every bike skills course I went on, I asked about doing wheelies. Like others on here, I can lift the wheel far enough to get over steps and logs, but It is not the same technique as required by a wheelie. Part of why I want to do a competent wheelie is to be much more fluid on the trail, but the little boy in me wants to wheelie through the carpark! :oops:

    The best one I did was entirely by accident and I had witnesses too, which made it even better! I didn't let on that it was an accident, so the non-riding witnesses think I'm really cool. (In my head; in fact they probably think I'm an old git who really should know better!) :lol:
  • jds_1981
    jds_1981 Posts: 1,858
    8.5 hours now and I had two or three goes that almost seemed to be working..
    FCN 9 || FCN 5
  • jds_1981
    jds_1981 Posts: 1,858
    12 hours, still crap.
    FCN 9 || FCN 5
  • jds_1981
    jds_1981 Posts: 1,858
    14 hours, finally improving again, down to one thing - changing to single finger braking.
    FCN 9 || FCN 5
  • jds_1981
    jds_1981 Posts: 1,858
    16 hours still not very good. Now I'm just updating this thread so that when someone searches for " how long to wheelie" they'll see that not everyone can do them after just seven hours. :D

    Hopefully I become at least reasonably proficient by 24 hours.
    FCN 9 || FCN 5
  • JBA
    JBA Posts: 2,852
    Why are you basing your learning on time?
    Just keep trying until you can wheelie. How long it takes to learn is irrelevant.
    “Life has been unfaithful
    And it all promised so so much”

    Giant Trance 2 27.5 2016 ¦ Sonder Broken Road 2021¦ Giant Revolt Advanced 2 2019 ¦ Giant Toughtroad SLR 1 2019 ¦ Giant Anthem 3 2015 ¦ Specialized Myka Comp FSR 2009

Categories