.glib
06-08-2003, 10:58 PM
Saw this and thought it might help some people. A lot the same as the Hoots one, but sometimes another way of explaining it helps.
Originally posted by Terrible Juan:
By popular demand, I've decided to spill my guts and explain my manualing techniques to the best of my ability.
Rear wheel: Slammed. If you want to make it easy on yourself, take a link out of your chain and get that thing as close up as you can. Make sure that your back wheel is aligned and centered so you don't have to counter agaist the bike.
Handlebars: I run mine parallel with my forks. I wouldn't recommend having them more than a 90* angle. Having them Chicago style makes it extremely pulling up extremely awkward and maintaining balance isn't even feasible.
Pedals: Keep the ball of your foot just over the center of the pedal. Your toes should hang over the edge of the pedal, just a tad. This makes it easier to pull up a bit.
Brakes: Some people use them while others don't. I learned brakeless. It is definitely the best way to learn. It forces you to depend on nothing else but balance and skill. Once you learn how to get the feel of a manual, brakes aren't even an issue. I would advise people to use brakes only if you are going to fall on your head. Keep one finger on the lever to be on the safe side.
Manual: Let's see. Get about 4-5 good cranks in for speed. Before you even pull up your front wheel, swing your entire body back. As your body swings backward, let your elbows/arms extend to a straight position. When your arms come straight, use that to pull the bike up. Your body's momentum should pull the bike up. Use as little arm strength as possible.
Once your bike is up, lean way back and keep your arms pretty stiff. Never bend your arms to keep the bike up. It's important that you don't because you will mess up the whole balance point. Lean your body weight as far back as possible.
The fastest way to find your balance point is to purposely make yourself loop out. By doing this, you'll get a slight feel of where you need to be. Keep doing that until you can pinpoint this position. When you find a spot that feels right, bend your knees inward and shift your weight forward.
Your ass determines the weight shifting. When you "pump," all you're doing is moving your ass foward and making a motion like you're trying to fuck the handlebars. Most people don't understand how the pumping motion works. I really don't know how to describe it. It is defintely a hard thing to learn, and it feels very awkward trying it for the first time. What I do know is that it is the secondmost important thing for manuals.
When you are about to loopout, try and experiment with bending your knees inward and moving your ass forward. I highl recommend not using brakes at the loopout point because then you don't learn the proper way to pump. Once you learn to pump, you can use brakes and pumping at the same time.
That's all I can really think of. They most important thing to realize is that manuals are not learned overnight. They take a great amount of time to learn. It took me almost 6 months of brakeless manualing practice to get my balance point perfected. Once I learned how to shift my weight and maintain my balance point, it stuck with me.
Set goals for yourself. Start manualing where a shadow starts or a few sidewalk blocks. Don't get discouraged though. Everyone is capable if they keep with it and stay persistant.
Tomorrow I'll post details about how to prevent from falling over sideways.
Please realize that all the tips I posted help make manualing easy for me. They are my opinion. You probably don't need to change your bike setup/configuration, but I know some people feel completely hopeless and want to try everything to make them easier. Following my tips will definitely speed up the learning process.
Any other questions? I'm here to help guys. If I get my video camera back in a few days I'll post some clips with examples of the stuff I've mentioned.
Originally posted by Terrible Juan:
By popular demand, I've decided to spill my guts and explain my manualing techniques to the best of my ability.
Rear wheel: Slammed. If you want to make it easy on yourself, take a link out of your chain and get that thing as close up as you can. Make sure that your back wheel is aligned and centered so you don't have to counter agaist the bike.
Handlebars: I run mine parallel with my forks. I wouldn't recommend having them more than a 90* angle. Having them Chicago style makes it extremely pulling up extremely awkward and maintaining balance isn't even feasible.
Pedals: Keep the ball of your foot just over the center of the pedal. Your toes should hang over the edge of the pedal, just a tad. This makes it easier to pull up a bit.
Brakes: Some people use them while others don't. I learned brakeless. It is definitely the best way to learn. It forces you to depend on nothing else but balance and skill. Once you learn how to get the feel of a manual, brakes aren't even an issue. I would advise people to use brakes only if you are going to fall on your head. Keep one finger on the lever to be on the safe side.
Manual: Let's see. Get about 4-5 good cranks in for speed. Before you even pull up your front wheel, swing your entire body back. As your body swings backward, let your elbows/arms extend to a straight position. When your arms come straight, use that to pull the bike up. Your body's momentum should pull the bike up. Use as little arm strength as possible.
Once your bike is up, lean way back and keep your arms pretty stiff. Never bend your arms to keep the bike up. It's important that you don't because you will mess up the whole balance point. Lean your body weight as far back as possible.
The fastest way to find your balance point is to purposely make yourself loop out. By doing this, you'll get a slight feel of where you need to be. Keep doing that until you can pinpoint this position. When you find a spot that feels right, bend your knees inward and shift your weight forward.
Your ass determines the weight shifting. When you "pump," all you're doing is moving your ass foward and making a motion like you're trying to fuck the handlebars. Most people don't understand how the pumping motion works. I really don't know how to describe it. It is defintely a hard thing to learn, and it feels very awkward trying it for the first time. What I do know is that it is the secondmost important thing for manuals.
When you are about to loopout, try and experiment with bending your knees inward and moving your ass forward. I highl recommend not using brakes at the loopout point because then you don't learn the proper way to pump. Once you learn to pump, you can use brakes and pumping at the same time.
That's all I can really think of. They most important thing to realize is that manuals are not learned overnight. They take a great amount of time to learn. It took me almost 6 months of brakeless manualing practice to get my balance point perfected. Once I learned how to shift my weight and maintain my balance point, it stuck with me.
Set goals for yourself. Start manualing where a shadow starts or a few sidewalk blocks. Don't get discouraged though. Everyone is capable if they keep with it and stay persistant.
Tomorrow I'll post details about how to prevent from falling over sideways.
Please realize that all the tips I posted help make manualing easy for me. They are my opinion. You probably don't need to change your bike setup/configuration, but I know some people feel completely hopeless and want to try everything to make them easier. Following my tips will definitely speed up the learning process.
Any other questions? I'm here to help guys. If I get my video camera back in a few days I'll post some clips with examples of the stuff I've mentioned.