I have been practising for ages but never get the pull up to be smooth so the rest is just too much hard work. The most I have have done is probably 10m. I am not sure what the best way to get the front up. I have watched a few vids and they seem to much straight back with arms and legs just about straight. When I try to do that the bike just does not seem to pull up. It feels easier to pull up a bit more upright but then i am not in the right position to balance.

What's the best way to find the sweet spot and feathering the brakes does not seem to happen with my disks. Its either on or off.

pull with arms and push with your legs feathering the brake really takes a lot of practise it's quicker to learn without the feathering just shifting your weight through your legs and arms practise practise practise

How do you do it smooth though. I seem to be doing to much pulling up with my arms. It does not seem to be a problem on the trail though for small manuals and the like to do drops and gaps, etc.

its all in the pedalling if you're sat down mate, should barely need your arms, they are just there to pop the wheel up, then you pedal/lean to balance it…

Should the seat be low or normal. I am using a hardtail Prince albert.

the method i have tried to describe is more of a manual you try to push your feet under your bars to get the front up and then hold it up with pressure between hands and feet take ages to learn but looks mint when done right

heh heh, he said "mint"

everyone who can wheelie knows where the balance point is, everyone who can't is scared to find out. i guarantee that if you feel like you aren't pulling up properly it's cos you're scared of falling off the back. go to the park, practice on the grass and overcome the barrier. you have to trust the brake and fall/jump off the back a few times and you'll be set.

GEDA are you trying to manual or wheelie? A wheelie involves been seated and pedaling, a manual is what donkeysrock is describing.

If it's a manual (which it sounds like) dropping your seat a few inches will help, also you shouldn't be trying to lift the bike up with your arms that'll just result in the bars turning and the bike going off to one side.

PS: I instruct on a PA so that won't be causing you any problems 😉

Stuart

I can fall off the back easy enough. I have no fear of that. It is more of the lack of control when pulling up which is why I thought my technique must be a bit pants.

well if you're getting up and over the back easily enough then the pull up's fine – force yourself to keep your feet on the pedals and use the back brake to bring the front back down. once you get the hang of modulating pedals/brakes you can wheelie.

SO no pulling up then. I suppose when I first posted I said it was easier standing more upright which is kind of pushing the back wheel under you (AKA Manual). Problem I have then is it shoots away to much and I come off the back. (or on more than one occasion crack my balls pulling on the brakes too much)

So is it better to keep pulling up to much and falling off the back than always too little to get use to it as I suppose otherwise you never find the balance point?

(I can't wheelie properly – or manual, which is what ^ this sounds like)

if you're pulling up with bent arms, that's an extra bit of inconsistency you're introducing. I've been told that the easiest way is to keep arms straight & just get your weight back (or even imagine you're pushing the bars away from you, which achieves the same end)

exactly. try doing the same amount of pull up, but dragging the back brake slightly, and you'll get used to how much to use it and when to get the balance right. from what you've said the braking aspect is the crucial next step.

Thats another thing when I stand up and push with my feet I always seem to be in the wrong position as I am standing up more upright with my arms bent.

most I have have done is probably 10m

That's probably 10 metres more than 95% of people on here!

Ok we're looking at a manual so,

Drop your saddle 3"

Ride at a jogging speed … slightly up hill will help

From standing move your upper body backwards, allow your arms to extend, once they're straight keep trying to move your upper body backwards with your shoulders square

At the same time as you're doing the above try to drop your heels and push down through the pedals (this will make your legs extend)

Don't try to 'yank' up on the bars, it's a shift in body weight and pressure through the pedals which lifts the front wheel. Give it time and you'll find the balance point, altering the pressure through the pedals will help keep the bike there.

Stuart

Cheers for the advice. Try again in the park tomorrow.

where do you live? i love teaching people to wheelie 🙂

If there are wheelie lessons in the offering I would be up for them! I share the same wheelie woes as GEDA

well if either of you are anywhere near north london let me know and we can arrange a tutorial!

I can't recommend Brian Lopes' Mastering Mountainbike Skills book highly enough for descriptions of how to do virtually everything you possibly can on a bike including wheelie. He does say you should start when you're six though!

I'm up for N London wheelie lessons!

I can't wheelie or manual, everytime I try to do a wheelie I just vere of to the side, after reading this thread I will go to the playing feild behind my house and practice.

Legs bent. Bum over the back axle. Arms almost straight. 1 finger covering the back brake. A couple of good pedals and roll your hips downwards towards the BB, pushing your weight through the pedals. Looking well ahead helps with the weaving. I'd recommend a gentle downslope to start with though. Oh, and lots of practice.

I've been practising/trying to manual and wheelie for a while now (with a fairly solid focus – rather than just slacking off and cruising on easy quiet bits of my ride) and whilst nowhere near consistent, it is fully the weight shift that is needed, not "pulling up" per se; it's pretty similar to the weight shift you use to get the front wheel over a log or up a step, but sort of over emphasised.

I found that it came on heaps after concentrating getting my front wheel cleanly up a curb or similar for a while – it gets the unweighting of the front wheel to become a comfortable feeling. Then take that and push the envelope more (and fall of the back a bunch!) until you find the balance point.

Maintaining the balance point is the hard bit and seems to be just practise, practise, practise. Which I've not done enough of yet!!!

Make sure you are in an easy gear too; being able to have that accelaration to drive the feet under the hips towards the bars helps ridiculously for both manuals (half to one revolution of the cranks then balance) and wheelies (continually pedalling)

However, from that I'm starting to be able to bunny hop better now too, although I'm sure I "cheat" a bunch with SPDs

***And for the spelling pedants 😆 it is practise with an 's' – the US version is with 'c'