Following on from that Danny Macaskil vid on the front page the other day, would it be like riding a unicycle with a higher centre of gravity? I imagine it would be easier to correct the overbalancing backwards motion with a fixed drive than modulating the back brake, which just dumps my front wheel down.
Don't pull the brake so hard (but get used to using bodyweight shifts to correct it instead)!
But with disk brakes being so powerful it's hard to get the amount of braking light enough.
I've not had a concerted attempt at learning to wheelie for a while, was just thinking out loud really. Last time I had a good go I turned up for a night shift with blood pouring out of my elbow and a smashed up pizza in my bag. (sure you can imagine how much sympathy I got after explaining that!)
🙂 Just practice, even with DH4s it's possible to modulate carefully unless your discs are contaminated. But you should reach a point where you can do it all with balance. I suppose fixie may be slightly easier, but in my experience with them, they're harder to do just about anything, so I doubt it myself.
Which rotten bugger put the smashed up Pizza in your bag?
If you lightly drag the brake when learning it slows the lift and the propoensity to flip... Then when you do go to far its a very small movement on the lever which teaches you a nice level of control. Same principal for stoppies too
Always cover your brakes when wheelieng as you need the control once you get up some speed (after a lot of practice) - but yes a lot can be said for propoer body positioning and how you initiate the wheelie. Dont pull up with your arms as this can cause you to over-rotate over the back easily and cause you to veer off course. Use the pedals to initiate the acceleration and push the bars away from you so the bike pivots around your centre of gravity. And stay seated throughout
Wheeliing a fixed is the same principals as you agiain need to modulate your braking (slowing the pedals) in a similar way
Smashed up pizza courtesy of Mr SPD and my own inetptitude. 🙄
edit - and a great wheelieing 101 atthesummit, thanks. Perhaps I'll have another crack.