crap, maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. Stayed under the radar

I don’t know much about manuals, but I think I might know the answer to the OP’s question and it’s related to the comments by deadkenny and others.

I reckon you are learning to manual because, like me, you read too much and think that you need to learn to manual before you can get good, In fact that’s putting the cart before the horse.

I think that people (teachers and students) look at good riders, marvel at the way they can pick the front wheel up over stuff at will (manual, bunny hop etc) then think that they can get good by learning the skills. In fact, I reckon that the skills are a consequence of being good and not the cause.

If you learn to manual (or any other “trick”) in isolation then you’ll be able to impress your mates in the carpark, but I’m not sure it will make you a better rider. Or rather, I think you’d be better off spending the time that you spent learning that trick just riding more.

Almost from the first time you ride off-road you realise that you need to lift your front wheel to get over stuff (or to stop the front dropping on drops). At first it is tricky, but with time you find that it gets easier, then it becomes natural and you do it without thinking. Finally (not that I’ve reached this stage yet) you realize that you are keeping the wheel up for multiple obstacles.

I say this as somebody who has read everything about manuals etc, watched endless videos and been on multiple coaching courses (group and one to one). In fact it was the instructor on my last one to one course who said “just ride your bike more”.

I can’t manual for long at all 1 second at best, but I can bunny hop pretty well. I don’t get people saying you need to manual to bunny hop?

you only have to get it up for a fraction of a second to be able to bunny hop. I’d imagine (as I can’t manual for much longer than a second on a good day) that if you could do perfect endless manuals, the better balance would help with other hoppy stuff.

It helps (even if you can only do it for a fraction of a second) on low to medium speed drops too.

Being able to manual (or wheelie) for ages is only for cool kidz and people that want to get done by the fun police (see the MBR article for that).

Drop your saddle, shift your hips back and down. The front wheel will come up, then you stand up sharp and the back wheel comes up.

Use this to pop over stuff, puddles, holes, logs etc.

I’ve been trying to teach myself to manual, I’m still rubbish, but it’s already proving useful being able to to unweight the front suddenly for little drops and rolling over roots. Well worth pursuing.

I found this video by far the most helpful when learning:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkWnV4RDzkU[/video]

The ‘L’ shape he describes makes it so much easier.
I can’t hold a manual at all, but little ones are used all the time for getting over small obstacles or ditches, holes etc without losing speed.
He holds some impressive looking manuals in that video but it’s the short clips at the end that show where they really come in useful on the trail.

One thing I realised – to reach that balance point the front wheel needs to come a lot higher than you think! Really feels like you’re going to fall off the back. I need more practise 😛

Really feels like you’re going to fall off the back

Sadly, IME there’s another thing that really feels like you’re going to fall off the back – it’s falling off the back 🙁 😳

Lifting the front wheel up I don’t have a problem. It’s finding the balance point that I just don’t seem to be anywhere near, nevermind maintaining the manual. Got flat pedals coming soon and I’m recalling memories of jumping off the back of my BMX as a kid after pulling a wheelie (then the BMX knocking down a young tree).

(then the BMX knocking down a young tree).

Any tree that couldn’t stand being hit by a rider-less BMX was clearly not long for this world.