gnarled Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 Hey! I'm very new to trials, and would like some help; After 3 or 4 riding sessions I've just about mastered the trackstand. This I've found fairly easy, a little wobbly here and there but with work I should be able to perfect it! However I have now begun practicing to raise my front wheel, following one or two video tutorials I've found online I know the basics behind it; 1/4-ish sharp pedal kick whilst pulling backcatch bike on a balancing 'sweet spot' using rear break so not to simple tip the bike upside downmanage to hold the back in upright position, hopping to adjust the bikes balance I can manage to raise the bike into an upright position however I am struggling to find this 'sweet spot' to balance in. I usually fall forwards as I'm not learning back enough or end up over-extending and tipping the bike too far Does anyone have any tips or tricks, or pointers in what im doing wrong? I'm practicing atleast 2 or 3 times a week for a number of hours, and will try and record what I'm doing for better criticism too Thanks! Gav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 Chances are when you give it a kick to raise the front wheel you're building up a fair bit of momentum (like a short wheelie) and that's what's dropping the front when you grab the brake. Try and let the bike roll forward/up whilst your body stays in roughly the same place. This'll put your bodyweight a little further back (keeping the balance over that sweet spot) but without the large amounts of momentum that make balancing there a pain. From there it's all about small adjustments (either rolling or hopping) to try and keep you steady. Do try to record what you're doing if you get the chance though, it'll make it easier for us to try and spot where you might be able to improve to help you get it dialed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooo Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 As long as you can raise the front the rest will happen in time. Doing a small endo and rocking back is a pretty stable way of lifting the front as well if you haven't seen that. When your wheel is raised you have different body position sweet spots, you can stand right up and have the front wheel really high, or compress your body backward and lower the front wheel. A lower front wheel will give a lower centre of gravity and is easier to balance, but the squashed body position is a lot less maneuverable for hops. Stood high up is better for hopping about and good visibility for lining up. So experiment with what feels good for you, and use hops to correct your balance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My_Teenage_Self Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 I'm just learning to backhop too, I've found that if I can find something to get my front wheel onto that's roughly the right height as the sweet spot, i can hop on that, and slowly lift the front wheel off the object. Does that make sense? And the endo way of lifting your front wheel as described above is much more controlled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarled Posted October 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 I tried that today on a dock about knee hight, however I found that I'd lose balance and fall sideways almost instantly hehe. only tried that for around 10 minutes though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete.M Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 Takes a bit of time to get that balance! Luke's description was awesome, it really helps when you try to pop up onto the rear wheel without moving forwards too much. If you haven't already tried it, I'd say it's best to use the endo/rocking method to begin your rear wheel balance practice, then move onto the pedal-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max-t Posted October 11, 2012 Report Share Posted October 11, 2012 Get some video clips up and we can assist you further from there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezmtber Posted October 11, 2012 Report Share Posted October 11, 2012 (edited) try a seesaw action do an endo then rock back to the rear wheel. 1. endo( back wheel up, front brake on) 2, drop the rear wheel, rear brake on) 3, use the seesaw rocking motion and pull your weight back as the rear wheel drops and lift the front. once you got it then try using the pedal kick to lift it easier. and without the need to endo once you get better you should be able to just lean back and lift the front without pedaling or endo Edited October 11, 2012 by dezmtber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twitch-119 Posted October 11, 2012 Report Share Posted October 11, 2012 If you're having trouble finding the 'sweet spot' then for me personally, I found that if I did the rocking horse thingy to get the wheel up and then keep pulling back until you eventually fall of the back, being careful not to fall on your back of course, then you get a feel for when the 'sweet spot' is going to be, experiment with different body positions as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypermobilty Posted October 13, 2012 Report Share Posted October 13, 2012 It's all practice practice practice and one day you will find everything clicks Just keep at IT you will get there Remember 20 min a day will be better than 60 min twice a week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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