Aside from the regular practice and persistence.... I found setting up a mini tripod and camera was the best to get some sort of feedback loop. Either I am sitting too high or too far back, not enough stomp, etc etc. Otherwise I am just doing the same motion incorrectly over and over and getting frustrated.
That's quite funny, my older neighbour was heckling me as I went up and down the cul-de-sac yesterday saying "you need a camera". When I said after the session "I reckon I got 30 odd metres" his reply was "nah, 22"
Definitely gonna do that.
Yeah I can trackstand for eternity just the manuals i need to get better at
Watched the manual one. I'm about at April's level, maybe a bit better on doubles, just went for a practice on flat and looped out about 10 times
Still grabbing way too much brake on wheelies. Getting the opposite side endo turns pretty good though.
I just edited my post accordingly.
I am by no means an expert in any of this, but I have spent the last 6 months practicing wheelies and manuals non-stop, so it's still front of mind. YMMV.
until I lose concentration or my hands cramp up. For huge wheelies, I am only dropping my seat 1" from full extension and I am also sliding forward on the seat (higher vertically in wheelie mode). When I manual, I am only slightly further rearward to counter the input from the pedaling force, but no where near as low or rearward as the tutorials would suggest I should be .
I find it the other way around, small balance movements I use my knees. If I get wildly off balance (wind) or want to turn I will slide the whole seat under my thigh using a big heave on the bars and hip movements. That's where the low seat comes in for me. Beyond that I start sticking legs out as well lol.
I could do that, as a 1 in 1,000,000,000 fluke. Then I'd need to change my underwear.
Thanks for the tip in the last couple of sessions I tried a combination of high, low, medium stance.I am by no means an expert in any of this, but I have spent the last 6 months practicing wheelies and manuals non-stop, so it's still front of mind. YMMV.
You might actually be sitting too close to the tyre and/or not standing up enough. This was certainly the case for me. Even after I (just quietly) became a wheelie pro, I still couldn't manual for more than 10m without going over sideways. All the videos tell you to do the reverse L and get low and back, but I personally found that gave me less leverage over the bike and no matter what I did I couldn't correct it. You might be the same.
Try this...
Instead of trying to manual by rolling along with your seat slammed like the videos tell you, try transitioning from a seated pedaling wheelie into a seated rolling wheelie and think about where your body is. Find a gentle slope and wheelie down it then stop pedaling.
Even for wheelies, the videos tell you to drop your seat but I don't think that applies to everyone. I am 6' riding a 29er and can hold a wheelie for 500m+
I also think that the knees are a secondary motion. I balance with my arse/hips and I think my knees stick out and move around as a consequence of the hip movement, I certainly don't make an conscious knee movements.
Nice, you definitely got the pop going, just now need to dial in the balance and slight brake modulation now you're up.
