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I live in a town where the younger element have perfected the art of doing a wheelie on a bicycle. Over the years I have watched in awe as they perform this trick with the greatest of skill and dedication. But I have NEVER EVER seen anyone do a wheelie while riding on the correct side of the road. Every one, without exception has been done while riding on the pavement, or on the wrong side of the road.
My studies lead me to the conclusion that 'proper' cyclists with helmets and stuff who obey the highway code are incapable of such an heroic feat.
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In reply to Slackboot:
Around here they wheelie near people in a provocative and offensive fashion. I walk assertively and make eye contact. I don't imagine they could survive a firm sideways push if required.
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In reply to Pedro50:
> I walk assertively and make eye contact. I don't imagine they could survive a firm sideways push if required.
Otherwise known as 'Protective Perambulating'.
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In reply to Slackboot:
Can they do wheelies on mt bikes though?!
I once watched a young chap doing a wheelie on a mt bike at a mtb trail centre. The awesome part was it was on a forest gravel road, uphill all the way, and the distance doing it. He started at least 100m behind me when I first saw him due to the cheering encouragement of bikers and walkers behind me.
He actually pasted me whilst I was still pedalling and last seen still doing a wheelie when he disappeared around a corner some 100m ahead of me!! Incredible feat I thought and more so when I can’t do a wheelie at all and he was holding the line straighter than I do normally riding up a gravelly road!
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In reply to Climbing Pieman:
They are amazing. I've seen one lad locally who's quite happy on the road unless there are parked cars when he sensibly? takes to the pavement; on one wheel clearly.
There's also a young apprentice seemingly age about 8 or 9 who is quite proficient on a unicycle. I'm impressed, but am thinking of telling him he needs another wheel ... ??
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In reply to Slackboot:
It might be true - I'm a proper cyclist with helmet, lights, a bell and an annoying knowledge of what the Highway Code says about bikes and I can't wheelie (or manual as the yoof seem to say nowadays) for toffee. I've been try since I was about 8 and 40 yrs on still don't manage very well.
Post edited at 20:16
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In reply to TobyA:
> (or manual as the yoof seem to say nowadays)
You can buy a manual machine if your keen to master! A friend bought one to practice with her mtb in safety in her garage. She did manage to manual well on trails, but soon afterwards moved on as her next idea which was to master jumps better, and I can’t recall seeing her manual since!
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In reply to Climbing Pieman:
> manual machine
I have actually seen them but fortunately there's not enough room in the garage amongst all my bikes and the rest of the family's.
I can pop my front wheel up over, say, a log or a rock step so can clear some techy bit on trails - so I've never really understood why I need to manual when out on the trails - beside obviously to look really cool. I'm also trying to jump better, but have mainly decided I'm just to old for it. When I was kid on my BMX (no helmets of course, it was the 80s! ) I would build ramps with bits of wood - old doors I think! - and bricks and leap off them with abandon. But now heading towards my 50s, even with my new super slack hardtail with 150 mms of suspension up front and brilliant brakes I find anytime when both my wheels are in the air to be mildly terrifying. I can bunny hop though, which I mainly do to impress my five year old and other passing small children.
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In reply to artif:
> Its a thing
Watching that video makes me feel like I am living in a different reality to those kids on their bikes. Even with a Police presence they don't care about rules of the road, breaking the law or other road users. It is a massive step up from what I was describing in the OP.
I guess I am really showing my age now.
Post edited at 07:38
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In reply to Slackboot:
I break the mould; I wear a high viz jacket, helmet, ride on the road, and can hold a wheelie for over a mile. Wheelies are actually surprisingly easy once you learn how, once you crack the first 5 metres it's just a matter of practice and you should get there after a couple of weeks of dedication.
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In reply to Connor Nunns:
Respec! 🚴
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In reply to TobyA:
> It might be true - I'm a proper cyclist with helmet, lights, a bell and an annoying knowledge of what the Highway Code says about bikes and I can't wheelie (or manual as the yoof seem to say nowadays) for toffee. I've been try since I was about 8 and 40 yrs on still don't manage very well.
Always thought a manual and a wheelie were two different things.
Wheelie you pedal, manual you don't, with a manual being very useful when mountain biking and a wheelie just being for show ;p
Post edited at 09:00
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In reply to Slackboot:
It's one thing I've never quite got the hang of and I'm envious of all the yoofs that can and give them a nod of due respect.
My track stands at lights are getting better, though
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In reply to peppermill:
> Always thought a manual and a wheelie were two different things.
> Wheelie you pedal, manual you don't, with a manual being very useful when mountain biking and a wheelie just being for show ;p
My apologies I've just realised that was ma(nual)splaining
he he
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In reply to TobyA:
> and I can't wheelie (or manual as the yoof seem to say nowadays) for toffee.
Different things. For a wheelie you are still pedalling, for a manual you aren’t.
And the “yoof” who started calling it a manual must be in their 50s by now, at least!
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In reply to TobyA:
> I can pop my front wheel up over, say, a log or a rock step so can clear some techy bit on trails - so I've never really understood why I need to manual when out on the trails
Sounds like you probably are doing manuals. Manual doesn't have to mean keeping the wheel in the air for long distances for show. If your technique for lifting your front wheel over obstacles is good, it's probably just a small manual. Which is exactly why people suggest it's a useful skill for trails.
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In reply to TobyA:
> I've been try since I was about 8 and 40 yrs on still don't manage very well.
I reckon it's easier now than it was 40 years ago.
When I was a kid I only had shoddy pieced together frankenstein bikes with buckled wheel (I did a lot of trials on the cheap) so when you go past the tipping point doing a wheelie you never really knew how much braking power you'd get, or how quickly you'd get it.
To combat my cheap terrible brakes for trials I used to grind my rims and put tar on them. This meant brakes where like switches, on or off. Not great for wheelies.
These days, disc brakes are so powerful, progressive, reliable and repeatable that you can comfortably go over the tipping point and gently save it and go on.
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In reply to Luke90:
Yeah but in the 80s anything where your front wheel came up was a wheelie! And back wheel up was an endo. I know people endo around very tight switchbacks on mtb trails, but is that still called an endo?
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In reply to Stuart Williams:
> And the “yoof” who started calling it a manual must be in their 50s by now, at least!
That's interesting - I've had mountain bikes since the mid-90s and dipped into mags and later , but somehow "manual" feels like a relatively recent term to me.
In reply to TobyA:
Hmmm, well it's not a recent term in BMX etc, but maybe it wasn't adopted in the mtb world until more recently.
In reply to Stuart Williams:
I think I’ve heard the term ‘Manual’ used in MTB circles at least since the late 90’s.
I’d imagine some people used it earlier than that but I personally can’t recall when, either in BMX or MTB.
But there must have been a term for manualling through ‘whoops’ on a BMX track, back in the early 80’s.
Post edited at 11:45
In reply to Slackboot:
I suspect it's probably fairly hard to do one on a road bike?
The thing I see that I've never been able to do is to ride along sat fully upright (usually while fiddling with a mobile phone) without hands on the bars and not fall over. How do they do that?
In reply to Neil Williams:
I think it's largely a matter of faith. As long as your balance is half decent and you don't panic when you try to take your hands off, the wheel will automatically track straight. Easier said than done, of course, and presumably different bikes are more or less stable.
In reply to Stuart Williams:
Fair enough. Like I said, I think in my head at least, any time your front wheel is up it's a wheelie! It's a bit like the transition from "friends" to "cams" in climbing, I'm not sure when it changed but it seems to have completely.
In reply to Luke90:
If we are talking about no hands on two wheels rather than on one - yeah, I think it pretty easy, but definitely easier on my road bike and gravel bike than on my mountain bikes. Not sure why but aggressive grippy tires seem to squiggle more when riding no handed than with slicks or semi slicks. This morning riding to work (on a gravel traffic free lane I hasten to add) I managed to take my gillet off from under my rucksack, and stow it in the pack's stash pocket, all with out stopping. Can't wheelie, but mad skillz riding with no hands.
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In reply to Neil Williams:
Didn’t Sagan pull one on an uphill finish somewhere a couple of years ago?
In reply to Slackboot:
A high gear helps. It's not that difficult, just takes some practice. Pre-load the pop up by pressing down the suspension (if you have it) before pulling back. Lean back obviously. Could do it while younger, might give it a go again at a quiet spot.
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In reply to Neil Williams:
> I suspect it's probably fairly hard to do one on a road bike?
Not on some of the steeper hills in the Peak District. A fine balancing act between front wheel lifting and rear wheel traction
In reply to artif:
And for further Youtubery, see here:
youtube.com/watch?v=XD2eRIgBgI4&
(and for those fretting wheelies are the preserve of louts and scallies, Danny Mac's as nice as you like)
Post edited at 14:51
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In reply to Slackboot:
The best wheelies are done with a plackie bag full of nicked lager hanging off the bars.
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In reply to Slackboot:
> Watching that video makes me feel like I am living in a different reality to those kids on their bikes. Even with a Police presence they don't care about rules of the road, breaking the law or other road users. It is a massive step up from what I was describing in the OP.
> I guess I am really showing my age now.
I would put it down to city life, and mass rides like this are pretty unmanageable by the police etc. I certainly would have been up for this if I was a bit younger.
Growing up with BMXs and skateboards, the urban world becomes your playground. Even in my 50's I still get a buzz out of finding a concrete bank or newly laid tarmac and just want to get my board/bike out. Rules of the road are for commuters.
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In reply to artif:
I can understand that. It does look exciting for the participants.
Growing up in a northern pit village in the late 50's and early 60 's you wouldn't dare cycle recklessly. The village Bobby or the old miners would give you a right telling off! I suppose those lessons have stuck with me all this time.
In reply to montyjohn:
> > I've been try since I was about 8 and 40 yrs on still don't manage very well.
> I reckon it's easier now than it was 40 years ago.
> When I was a kid I only had shoddy pieced together frankenstein bikes with buckled wheel (I did a lot of trials on the cheap) so when you go past the tipping point doing a wheelie you never really knew how much braking power you'd get, or how quickly you'd get it.
> To combat my cheap terrible brakes for trials I used to grind my rims and put tar on them. This meant brakes where like switches, on or off. Not great for wheelies.
> These days, disc brakes are so powerful, progressive, reliable and repeatable that you can comfortably go over the tipping point and gently save it and go on.
I'm not so sure about that, I used to be able to wheelie on my old mtb when I was teenager, but really struggle these days, I put it down to the bike geometry being a lot more slack and long than they used to be, meaning it's harder to pull up the front and get your weight over the back wheel. .. That's my excuse anyway!!
In reply to The Norris:
> I'm not so sure about that, I used to be able to wheelie on my old mtb when I was teenager, but really struggle these days, I put it down to the bike geometry being a lot more slack and long than they used to be, meaning it's harder to pull up the front and get your weight over the back wheel. .. That's my excuse anyway!!
We all need excuses 😂
You use yours I'll use mine.
During lock down I built a trials bike as a throwback to my childhood. It's bloody harder than I remember. It's not had much use. I now long for a bike with a seat.
In reply to rsc:
Sagan's done them on flat finishes too, he's done them pretty often!
In reply to Slackboot:
I've never been able to pull one off, been trying since I was a kid. I could bring the wheel up but not maintain it. I was a lot closer to managing when I was riding shit bikes but now on the road bike the position feels to diametrically opposed to pulling a wheelie off, very high saddle, big wheels, weight very far forward.
In reply to Alkis:
I got the hang of it in my late teens. All in the one to one gear ratio to start with. Smallest cog on the front chain set and largish similar sized cog on the cassette at the rear. As you accelerate fast pull up hard on the bars, but less hard than you imagine. The acceleration and the foward momentum does quite a lot of the work for you. Then it's a matter of maintaining the right speed and forward backwards balance to stay up on the back wheel. Used to practice on a spongy mossy old bit of lawn at home until I'd cracked it. Annoyingly I didn't keep up with it. Couldn't do it now I don't reckon.
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In reply to Climbing Pieman:
> Can they do wheelies on mt bikes though?!
It’s dead easy on a mountain bike. With low gears anyone can at least get the front wheel in the air. Keeping it there is a bit trickier.
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In reply to Dave Garnett:
I learned wheelies on a modern full suspension bike and I reckon the shock makes it easier to hold a wheelie, because small bumps don't knock you off balance in the same way.
Post edited at 12:07
In reply to Stuart Williams:
Think it’s a term that crossed over from skateboarding, manuals have been the term for riding with your front two wheels in the air (or nose manual if back two) since way back.
In reply to Slackboot:
Round my way, the kids are brilliant at extended wheelies and they do it in the road and even on the correct side although only if they can inconvenience other road users in show of kamikaze bravado. By about age 14 they graduate to scooters where they can further hone their art, often without helmets as that dissuades any police from chasing. Some of them are genuinely impressive at it!
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In reply to Neil Williams:
> The thing I see that I've never been able to do is to ride along sat fully upright (usually while fiddling with a mobile phone) without hands on the bars and not fall over. How do they do that?
You actually mostly steer your bike with weight shifts to initiate turns. So, by avoiding weight shifts you keep going straight. Also, a rotating wheel has a gyroscopic effect, so the faster you go the more your wheels resist turning. So, get going a decent speed and sit up as much as you can before letting go the bars. You normally have enough time to grab them again before crashing. Keeping pedalling even when you don't have to helps. As you practise you gain the ability to go round bends no-handed. I got to the point where I could ride the whole length of this road on my own side from A to B in my teens. Modern bikes with lightweight wheels are probably harder to ride no-handed than ones from the 80s, I was using a Raleigh Marauder mountain bike with steel wheels.
Post edited at 17:03
In reply to afx22:
A manual is where you dont pedal AFAIK where as a wheelie you are pedalling. Hence you can do a nose manual but not a nose wheelie.
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In reply to Garethza:Agreed. But back in the 90’s, we called rolling along along on the front wheel (along the top of a ramp in a skatepark, for instance) a nose wheelie. Whether they’re called a nose manual or nose wheelie nowadays, I wouldn’t know.
> A manual is where you dont pedal AFAIK where as a wheelie you are pedalling. Hence you can do a nose manual but not a nose wheelie.
In reply to TobyA:
Late to the party here, but manuals come into their own when ‘pumping’ an undulating trail for speed. When you get to a dip in the trail, holding a manual for a second or two means you can continue through the dip without your front wheel hitting the upslope of the dip and slowing you down. Doing this through puddles means you don’t risk hitting any submerged nasties with your front tyre and also means you don’t get as wet!
Learning to manual will help you learn to bunny hop properly, which will in turn help your jumping technique.
Wheelies are useful for cleaning roots and rock shelves on technical climbs. They’re actually easier on a slope too.
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In reply to Slackboot:
The most impressive wheelies I have seen were Ian Bibby up to the Cow and Calf when the Tour de Yorkshire had a stage finish there and an unknown (well I can't remember) Swiss rider who did one on the entire last section of La Planche des Belles Filles during a Tour d'Alsace stage. Both massively cheered by the crowd, but neither were winners on those occasions.
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