Manuals 1, TJ 0

tommyjay

tommyjay

Not-So-Venerable Asshat
Been trying to teach myself to manual with small glimpses of success.

Scorecard thus far:
  • 1 ripped seat from looping the bike and dumping it on the drive side
  • 1 scuffed gx rear dr (same as above)
  • 1 bruised inner thigh banging into the seat
  • 2 skinned knees
  • 1 callous torn off Palm
  • Max manual distance: about 3 yards
But when I get it right - drive the bike forward with the legs and drop my hips down and back that "I got it!" feeling of the bike just hovering on its rear wheel makes up for all the pain.
 
When I was young tweener I use to manual my 10 speed Schwinn Varsity (yes that old and for you youngsters that was the bike of mid '70s)
I could ride a manual all day long, doing figure 8's and such. Since then and many attempts for decades I could never manual another bike like that Schwinn.
 
I've also been trying this on a dirt jumper. Does it matter if the road is flat or better inclined in in one direction? What about dirt or grass? have gotten zero success so your 3 yards is 9 feet better than my attempts
 
qclabrat said:
I've also been trying this on a dirt jumper. Does it matter if the road is flat or better inclined in in one direction? What about dirt or grass? have gotten zero success so your 3 yards is 9 feet better than my attempts
Click to expand...
I've been practicing both up and down a slight incline and it hasn't seemed to make a difference. The big thing for me was getting the feel for not pulling the bars up. It is more pushing the bike forward out from under you from the attack position.

So, crouched with shoulders low over the bars, drive your hips back behind the seat and down with your legs. The right feeling is when you push through your legs so your heels drop on the pedals to almost perpendicular to the floor.

Hard to explain, but it's like pushing the bike with your legs and having your arms straight, acting like the fulcrum, so the front end floats up as the pedals get pushed out. I found these videos helpful:
http://m.pinkbike.com/news/How-to-Manual-amp-Bunny-Hop-Your-Bike-2012.html

And

And


Hope these help.
 
100 internet points for this thread cause im in the same boat. have been working on manuals on the mtb as well.

..every day i regret selling my bmx and my dj bikes.
 
My progression on "manualling", I learned to manual on a tricycle as a little kid... Standing on the rear deck and just lifting and balancing... Then on to BMX where riding wheelies standing up using pedaling force to keep the front end up... Then to seated wheelies and using brakes and pedalling to keep from looping out and staying in the balance point... Then to "rolling" (manualling a set of rollers or multiple sets)...

Then to manualling everything (curbs, sidewalks, parking lot lines...where all of the above played into it.

It's a progression of learning how to use your body to keep the bike in the balance point. Start off small and work up.. Trashing all that gear is never good.

Head to the pump track and work on "rolling" doubles like the video above
 
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