First Trick

[André]

I started by trying to pop little bunnyhops over small sticks and little side hops off the edge of a curb.

I then learnt endo's against the edge of a curb stone, this helped prevent me from tipping too far over the bars on my first few attempts (keep hold of that front brake!).

I then started to rock back from the endo and pull my front wheel off the ground a little bit to try and get used to life on the back wheel.

To learn back hops I placed my front wheel on a bench at 45 degrees and rested my leading crank arm / pedal on the bench also, to make it easier to balance (my front foot was basically stood on both the pedal and the bench to make my setup / preparation balance easier and less tiring). As my front wheel was already elevated I found it easier to have little backhop attempts. I started by hopping both wheels together (ie. a static bunnyhop with the front wheel on the bench), and then I experimented with leaning back a little more and lifting the front wheel first before the bunnyhop, et voila, I started doing little tiny backhops.

I learnt almost everything (including a static 360 spin) on a £99, 15 speed 19" frame heavy steel bike with caliper brakes, so new riders reading this shouldn't be put off if your budget doesn't stretch to a proper trials bike yet, you can still learn tricks, just try and get your brakes working well!

Awesome looking bike Alex, this is your first bike then? It's better than any bike I have ever owned! he he.

André