Manuals?

[Matt24.]

I have never been able to manual in the 7 years of on/off riding trials, I am at a stage where I am riding a lot more streety style and riding a 24" inspired, the last thing I really need to get under my belt for what I want to ride is manuals so the years of avoiding them has to stop. I have always blamed it on only being like 5 foot 6 and that I never have the leverage to pull into them but I know shorter riders who quite easily pull into them, firsty what is the best set up for them i.e. I am running an average length azonic stem about 80mm I think and some diety dh bars with a nice rise. I do find the new bike a lot easier to pull the front end up but never seems high enough, anyone got any tips on pulling into manuals or is it just lean back harder and pull up more?

[Skoze]

I always go through the motions of a bunnyhop, just without the hop

Pushing the back wheel down/through, leaning back and pulling up on the bars.

Easiest way i've found so far! Then it's just a matter of finding your balance point and holding it!

[grant_hundley]

I've always thought about sitting back then pushing forwards on the pedals and pulling the bars a bit...

But I can't manual very well at all..

[tris]

Woop woop, i can comment on something im actually good at

First thing is you really need a bike with a easy sweet spot. BMX's are ideal, thats how i learnt them........

If you want to learn on the inspired it will be quite hard. Shortest stem possible and high risers will help a lot.

To get the front up, you need to gain a fair amount of speed and just wrech up on the bars as much as possible. When i was learning i tried to go off the back of the bike everytime, so you can get used to falling off the back and get used to finding how much u have to lift up. Remember: Falling off the back of a manual is better than not going far enough up.

Keep a finger on your rear lever. If you go too far back lightly squeeze the rear brake lever to bring it down.

Keeps your arms straight all the time and move your legs to keep the front wheel in the air. Also moving your arse down and up also helps.

When you progress enough that you can manual good on flat then learn to drop curbs and keep manualing, the trick is to lean further back than normal when u are dropping the curb, this will keep the wheel up.

If i was you i'd buy/use a BMX to learn them on and master the balance. Then move onto the inpired when your half decent...........

Edited November 24, 2008 by tris

[Matt24.]

Well I suppose after 7 years I might aswell give it a go, whats the worst that can happen, I can't even avoid it by saying oh dear its raining, because its just stopped

[manuel]

There are several ways to go about it... but a few tips would be - Start down hill, pull back too far, and use the brake to keep you from looping out. Then just get less violent as you improve (as you are going downhill you can drag the brake and continue fowards ...) - until you no longer need the brake. The balance point should be pretty much the same point as when you are backhopping. You could try backhopping then kicking into longer and longer manuals just to get a better feel.

[Matt24.]

This is the thing, If I hop up onto a ledge I can quite easily sort of slow manual across it without front dropping or needing the brake if already on the back wheel of about 8 foot, its just pulling into them, I think I don't commit enough. Just go for it I guess. Cheers for all the advice guys

[shamus]

ride a bmx for about 3 months til you can manual at warp speed down massive hills

transfer skill to trails bike and laugh at how quickly the front snaps down when you feather the brake.

seriously the best way is to learn on something else before a trials bike otherwise the scary high balance point will seem really alien.

i can manual my echo with a 135mm stem on it, its just a case of comfort and being confident in that position

the best advice i can give is straight arms!

once you have given the front a big yank like you were going to hop, but as soon as you have pulled up drop ur arse right out the back

feather the brake if you've gone to far and are looping out.

extending/compressing the legs will control the bikes position. soif you are struggling to hold the front up drop your arse right off the back legs extended, or too high and tuck right in just dont buzz your ass on the tyre cos that hurts (provide good comical value for your mates though)

hope it helped anyway.

im back to doing uni work now so signing off !

also watch as many people as you can who can manual really well, examine technique and copy

i manualled everywhere, literally everywhere! until i could actually do it well enough to be satisfied

now i pull massive ones in front of cars down my hill at warp 9

Edited November 24, 2008 by shamus

[Matt24.]

Cheers guys, I was going to get the bmx out and try but just went for it on the inspired I think i was just not giving it a good enough yank as I can now pull up into a manual its just learning the holding it bit, Luckily I prefer old school smooth rims so I can feather the brake and it doesnt bite to sharpish straight away, thanks for the tips, I just have to keep practising.

[cam217]

i once watched a vid on manuals and the guy doing it said the best way to keep a manual is to keep your legs bent and when the wheel starts to drop snap your legs back from the bent position to bring your wheel up again and have your arse over you rear wheel.

hope this helps

[mafu26]

manualling is possibly the most enjoyable trick going.

took me a few years to get it dialled, but here's a few things that helped me...

i noticed the front end came up easier when i was carrying a heavy bag on my bike from spot to spot, this made it a doddle to manual.

also keeping your head back as far as poss too to help the weight balance.

having a high pressure in the rear tyre so there's less tyre in contact with the ground made a massive difference when you need to turn whilst manualling to stop you falling off sideways. likewise a smoother tyre, something like a dmr moto is good.

also having a minimal grind so you can get more modulation and less bite than a heavy grind.

practice practice practice!!!

[Ross McArthur]

Whether it be technique or bike set up specifically you are enquiering about, I dont know but I thought id give you a few pointers on your bike set up after having looked at the picture of it.

Having ridin with Mr Macaskill, who im sure youll know tested the Inspireds for over two years, on many of an ocasion, I always hear him going on about how having a high front end on his bike makes it feel/ride better/ makes it easier to bunny hop and manual.

After riding an Inspired for a number of months now with a relatively hagh front end (not as high as Dans) I must agree, high for the win!

The stem length you have is good and the bars should not pose any problems. Maybe try tilting your bars back slightly to see if that helps any?

I run a 120 length stem with 15 degrees rise and 2 chunky stem stackers underneath and 1.5 inch rise bars, so my set up is quite a happy medium i would say for streety manuals and hopping around on the back wheel trialsy stuff.

hope this information helps at least a wee bit.

Edited November 25, 2008 by Ross McArthur

[ben_travis]

danny regularly tells people he cannot manual though....he can do all the crazy crap, but his manualling skills are erm......shite.

seriously though....instead of actually pulling up i prefer the lean back technique...

[manuel]

danny regularly tells people he cannot manual though....he can do all the crazy crap, but his manualling skills are erm......shite.

seriously though....instead of actually pulling up i prefer the lean back technique...

lazy bugger .... And I am fairly sure Danny can manual ... I've seen it, he is lying.

another top tip - flatish front tyre. Get a bit of bounce out of it ...

[PaRtZ]

another top tip - flatish front tyre. Get a bit of bounce out of it ...

for a moment there, I thought you had lost scope of which wheel manuals usually involve, but I get it now

[Ross McArthur]

danny regularly tells people he cannot manual though....he can do all the crazy crap, but his manualling skills are erm......shite.

seriously though....instead of actually pulling up i prefer the lean back technique...

No, he tells people the bike he rides doesnt manual very well. for many reasons ill not go into.

Another tip, try and stay loose on the bike, not too jittery.

[ding_dong]

for a moment there, I thought you had lost scope of which wheel manuals usually involve, but I get it now

bmx'ers like to play nose manuals lol

[Henrik Y]

You are not alone.

My GU26" is almost impossible for me to pull up in speed when I get it up it goes quite well to keep it there. My inspired is much easier to pull up but I have problems with the sideways balance it's like I can move my knees how much I want turn both bike and bars but I just falls to the side. But after a year of training it starts to go better and better.

A little clip of me riding my inspired doing two manuals some other streety moves. About the best manuals I've done so far.