Since coming back to Lincoln I’ve had the problem that whoever designed this village thoughtlessly left out anywhere even remotely decent for trials or muni. There’s a tiny playpark thing at the end of the road which has a few logs to jump over, and the nearest muniable forest is a bike-ride away… and my uni-carrying bike is currently out of action.
So for a bit of variety I dug out an old smaller bike and have been trying some of this trials lark on two wheels. It isn’t half difficult. I can trackstand for a bit, and earlier I managed to jump sideways up a curb, one wheel at a time. A bike weighs a hell of a lot more than a uni, I just don’t seem to be able to throw it around quite as much. I raised a sweat getting up that curb, while the people I rode with the other week were quite happily throwing themselves straight up much larger things.
Nevertheless I shall persevere, because I want to be able to do that hopping-on-the-back-wheel thing. Goodness knows how, the front wheel is firmly attached to the ground at the moment and there seems to be very little I can do to change that.
Possibly the worst bit is that on a unicycle, I can try pretty much anything and people will think “wow, unicycle, how clever”. However when trying and failing to get that front wheel higher on a bike I feel, well, a bit of a prat…
Does anyone else do stuff on two wheels as well as one? How did you overcome the “feeling a prat” stage when learning the dead basic stuff? How on earth do you do that hopping on the back wheel malarkey? Should I now report for termination for deviating from the Way of One?
i do a bit of both. Mainly bmx though. Trials is rather difficult. I can trackstand for quite a while. And happily hop forwards, backwards and sideways, with the brakes on. The back hopping, is rather more difficult. You have to get your weight far enough back to balance, and to hop, to “kick” the pedals apparently. Never can get that to work. But you have to pedal forward a bit when backhopping, or you will just hop backwards.
When hopping, practice makes perfect. Depending which method you use. If you try to lift both together, you will hit a limit, quite low, at where you can get to. The best way is to lift the front wheel (arse as far back as you can) and then bolt forward and upwards, hopefully lifting the back wheel and leveling the bike up. I think i can get about a foot. Friends can get two feet up, clearing obstacles, and he seems to do it with ease.
Might be useful : http://www.bmx.cc/
i know they are bmx sites, but i dont know many trials sites
I find that bike trials is a bunch of basic moves strung together. Trackstands are great. No hands on the brakes. You can try one handed and then no handed. Different surfaces make for great fun. Front wheel pointing down a hill, on a log or rock, it’s all the same.
If you can sidehop up a curb then practice going up and then down stairs. Practice one stair, trackstand then another stair etc. control is the key. Distance and height as well.
There are a few ways to do the one wheel thing. pedal forwards at a jogging rate, hands on the front brake then lean back like you’re gonna do a wheelie. Hands on rear brake and a small hop backwards. You can start with your front wheel on a bench or something and then just pull back from a standstill or you can just ride along, pull back and then lock the brake.
Have fun with the small stuff.
There are lots of sites out there and lots of forums (pinkbike.com has a forum, biketrials.com is a good site to start).
Bike trials has a lot to do with ankles and feet, just like uni trials.
I had a go at this 2 wheel lark a while back but gave it up as I soon realised it would take me a long time to learn the good stuff. More time than I could spare anyway
About the most helpful thing I learnt during this time was to get the grippiest pedals you can find - anything that involves leaving the ground and taking the b*ke with you seemed a lot easier when your feet could stick to the pedals.
Oh yeah - wear a lid. My escapades at trying to learn to hop on the back wheel produced a number of highly amusing (to anyone watching anyway) crashes - usually involving me flying backwards and landing on my arse / head / both.
I’ve just been out having another go of making a fool of myself in front of various dog-walkers before I decided to show I did have some semblance of ability by fetching the uni instead. It’s so much easier to fall off gracefully…
I actually found a use for something I learnt the other day, though; I did the swinging-the-rear around to get through a gate thing I always had to walk before. Wooo…
Still can’t get the front wheel very far off the ground. I think most of the problem is that it’s just damn scary. I have no desire to fall off backwards and be landed on by a huge chunk of bike. And you can’t steer! Who’s silly idea was that?! I’ve been trying to go forwards on one wheel so far - the hopping thing is a distant dream right now - and have tumbled off sideways on more than one occasion.
As for using the brakes with the front wheel off the ground… right now it requires a death=grip on the handlebars to pull them up enough; a spare finger for the brake lever is not an option!
Unicycle trials is a lot easier (imho) and more fun (also imho). It’s just a pity there’s a lack of decent places to practise round here. I think I may have to blow up some random building and jump around the rubble. I can probably just say the Americans missed or something and get away scot-free…
