mr kenny Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 yeh practicefind a car park and aim for one paking space, then two then three and so on.most importanty RELAX!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omgnoseat Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Right, back to this thread again I've only been practicing flat land moves the last 2 weeks, mainly manuals.My main problem is that I can't get the front wheel to (slightly) lower when it gets too high.Using the rear brake just sucks, I only want to use balance to drop it.Whenever I feel that my front wheel gets too high I always move my hips towards the stem, which I feel isn't exactly the right thing to do.So what should I do to lower the front wheel? I've read that you need to bend your knees, but in what way? Bent my knees so I sit down more, to get up straight or to move towards or away from my stem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 yeah, if the front end is going too high, then you need to bend your legs, the faster you do it the faster the front drops. Bend them like your trying to sit on the bb.I have still never had a manual dream 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omgnoseat Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 yeah, if the front end is going too high, then you need to bend your legs, the faster you do it the faster the front drops. Bend them like your trying to sit on the bb.I have still never had a manual dreamWhy would you want manual dreams if you can perform them when your awake There's one thing that I don't understand, how come that the front wheel will drop when you try to sit down more (lower your bum). It would seem to me that that you would shift your weight backwards which would cause the front wheel to actually go up higher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 No, the way I see it is it lowers the centre of gravity - I'm shit at physics and suchlike so I may be totally wrong. Someone feel free to completely humiliate me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staphan Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 how come that the front wheel will drop when you try to sit down more (lower your bum). It would seem to me that that you would shift your weight backwards which would cause the front wheel to actually go up higher The way I see it, you're supposed to move your body weight "into" the centre of your bike (bb), not sit straight down on the rear wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikeperson45 Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Ive been trying backwards manuals recently and started out at the point of "oh my god these are not possible" but slowly im getting into it - Im still crap but I can get a whole stroke in on the flat now ...I struggle to get past my bad foot, I'm right foot forward so I get that round then it's like I slow down so I'm only just letting it go backwards. Suppose these real balance moves are complete practise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aener Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 I struggle to get past my bad foot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 I have had afew two full rotation backwards manuals, but I am pretty inconsistant. I found having my body really far back and fairly low helps as well as smooth pedaling, if its not smooth it will just sap your momentum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simpson Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 (edited) I have the manual dream quite a lot - it's like my brain is trying to tell me how to do it.I know how to do it, I just can't i had the manual dream just before i started nailing them!speed helps... a lot.edit: my advise would be make sure that your balls of your feel are on the pedals, as you use your heels a lot. Edited November 21, 2009 by Simpson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omgnoseat Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 (edited) I'm at my manual phase again.. more determined than ever now! I've promised myself that I will practise manuals at least 1 hour every day, one week long. However..it's not going really well. My fork is cut of way too low so I can use only one spacer, which makes the bars way too low when you look at my bottom bracket rise. Could this affect my manual skills, or am I just making an excuse for myself? Geometry: Wheelbase: 1020mm Chainstay Length: 350mm BB Rise: 80mm Pulling into manuals is pretty bad, because I have to pull so hard that I often overshoot, or my stance is messed up when pulling. So I'm trying them from a wheelie now, is that bad? Do note that my biggest problems with manuals is actually staying in the manual spot rather than actually getting in it. I discovered that my manual spot is much closer to looping out than to dropping the front wheel. Might sound a bit weird, but I feel more comfortable to hold a manual while I'm about to loop out, instead of keeping the front wheel low. The front wheel feels like it wants to pull down when I'm trying to keep it low. This causes my stance to almost be "leaning back", similiar to atsuya http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEK3fZFsfTE&feature=BFa&list=UU8EFg3F5LPAErT8KgY8hmxw&lf=plcp When trying to drop the front wheel, I bend my knees, but this only causes me to lean back even more which only makes the front wheel rise, at that point I press the rear brake and drop the front wheel completly(and die a little inside). Because of this stance, it's very difficult to correct myself when I feel like I'm about to loop out. So most of the time I fail due to looping out, instead of dropping the front wheel. Should I correct my stance? Or might this be due to my low front end? I will try to get someone to capture a video of me tomorrow. Edited September 21, 2011 by omgnoseat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skoze Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 I used to be the same, manualling with the front wheel super high and then tapping the brake, slamming the front down and crying myself to sleep at night. You say it feels easier to keep the front wheel high which is fair enough, you've got a high bb on that so naturally it'll want to sit up like that, and there's a lot less chance of the front dropping, but you really do need to practice keeping it lower - it'll help you so much! Like hop manuals/ manuals to ups etc just don't work if you keep it front. Think of it like pre-loading for a bunnyhop but then just never hopping. Or if you are gonna stick to keeping it high, are you sucking your arse back in towards the bike or just down lower? If you're still over the rear axle and just getting lower that'd explain why it just loops you out. Think consciously NOT to brake when you're close to looping out. That did a lot for me when I was learning. Thought about a higher rise stem, too? Or a 24"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimpanzyyyy Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 (edited) I'm at my manual phase again.. more determined than ever now! I've promised myself that I will practise manuals at least 1 hour every day, one week long. However..it's not going really well. My fork is cut of way too low so I can use only one spacer, which makes the bars way too low when you look at my bottom bracket rise. Could this affect my manual skills, or am I just making an excuse for myself? Geometry: Wheelbase: 1020mm Chainstay Length: 350mm BB Rise: 80mm Pulling into manuals is pretty bad, because I have to pull so hard that I often overshoot, or my stance is messed up when pulling. So I'm trying them from a wheelie now, is that bad? Do note that my biggest problems with manuals is actually staying in the manual spot rather than actually getting in it. I discovered that my manual spot is much closer to looping out than to dropping the front wheel. Might sound a bit weird, but I feel more comfortable to hold a manual while I'm about to loop out, instead of keeping the front wheel low. The front wheel feels like it wants to pull down when I'm trying to keep it low. This causes my stance to almost be "leaning back", similiar to atsuya http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEK3fZFsfTE&feature=BFa&list=UU8EFg3F5LPAErT8KgY8hmxw&lf=plcp When trying to drop the front wheel, I bend my knees, but this only causes me to lean back even more which only makes the front wheel rise, at that point I press the rear brake and drop the front wheel completly(and die a little inside). Because of this stance, it's very difficult to correct myself when I feel like I'm about to loop out. So most of the time I fail due to looping out, instead of dropping the front wheel. Should I correct my stance? Or might this be due to my low front end? I will try to get someone to capture a video of me tomorrow. one word BRAKELESS I m shit at riding but I can manual pretty well because I ve learn it with no brakes (or sometimes very shitty brakes) also, your bar seems way forward, set it up a bit backward will feel better the easier you can pull the front wheel, the better and, about front wheel high or low, I think it s pretty much up to your body and your bike size/set up the longer the bike, the higher the front wheel in manual look at the bmx guys they can stand very low, because of the silly short bikes Edited September 21, 2011 by chimpanzyyyy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 definitely tilt the bars back! That will be the one best thing you can do with your bike to make them easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greetings Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 I'd love to be able to manual Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikee Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 I have been getting pretty good at manuals this year which makes me happy as I have been learning them for years. The thing that made me improve the most was doing really slow speed manuals, on flat ground and on a brakeless bike. It really helped me learn the right body movements to keep the manual, especially without being able to rely on your back brake to stop you from looping out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilf Posted September 30, 2011 Report Share Posted September 30, 2011 i do them on my DJ bike, i cheat by using the rear brake but it does meen you can go for ages and it looks good. I also find the faster you go the easier it is to an extent, and slightly downhill, always helps. Wilf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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