View Full Version : What moves do/did you try when first starting trials?
4th day on my bike and my trackstanding isn't consistant yet.
I've been practicing getting up on rear wheel at 45 and 90 angles.
-Trackstands and rocking the best I can do them.
-Endo's (Something I've never really tried intentionally mountainbiking)
-bunny hops and hopping.
-Riding wheelies, a bit different without a seat balance is better than XC bike but I get less length right now than I can out of the XC.
-pedaling the bike around and tightening my turns (this was surprisingly quite different than my XC bike as the handlebars are so close to the front tire axle.)
i would say start working in pivots in both directions on both wheels
back-hopping will help you majorly
once you reckon you have nailed back-hopping try pedalkicking.
bunnyhops are silly on trials bikes...
music_maj_34
07-06-2007, 06:11 AM
I remember seeing other topics on this and someone actually already giving this advice, but It really helped me a lot when I first started... but one thing that will help is just getting in the habit of no putting your foot down at all during your practice time. After you ride over something... instead of putting your foot down to rest, track stand instead, or even just ride around in circles. This will help you a lot if you are thinking of getting into comps in the future.
The other thing would be to find different places to ride to keep it fun and fresh. Find other people to ride with if possible.
But as far as what to practice... as most people will say - basic moves... track stands on flat ground and also on uneven ground, pivots, back hops and then worry about pedal kicking.
I did it backwards...I tried to learn to pedal kick. Literally took me two months since I didn't have anyone to ride with, only relied on trials videos. But couldn't back hop in place for anything.
Ahh, I haven't even been thinking about back hopping. I had to look up a video example (http://www.trashzen.com/animations/anbkhop2.html) to be certain 'back hopping' was what I thought it was. I am starting pivots mostly rearwheel and pivot duration is 90 degree's at best right now.
yagimax
07-06-2007, 02:01 PM
I just learned how to pivot both ways,hopping on little objects and rear wheel hopped backwards.I could never get the forwards motion for a long time and couldnt balance that well on the rear wheel for about 2-3 months.
stewpend0us
07-06-2007, 03:44 PM
Sounds like you're just starting to get into it...how much did your ride on your xc and what did you do? I'm only 4 months into this so I'll just tell you what i've done and in what order and what leads to what in my opinion:
Hopping in place comes before track stand
endos and wheelies come before pivots
pivots come before rocking
really good rear brakes come before rear hops
hopping with the front wheel on something higher than the rear comes before rear hops
then pedal kicks and drops and so on....but that's where i'm at so that's all i got.
And pracice alot..like every day
stickyworm
07-06-2007, 05:32 PM
Here's a simple way to learn propper technique with trackstands. Find a gentle slope and align yourself so that you are heading up the slope. Do not use your brakes, but instead apply a little preasure to your chocolate foot to keep from rolling backwards. Don't worry about staying in one place at this point, but you can allow the bike to roll forward or backward a bit to help keep your balance.
This little exercise will help you with two things. First it prevents the habit of hopping to regain your balance, which will haunt you later when you are on rails or on rocks. Secondly it is a good way to find your "comfort" spot. Everybody is different, but eventually you will find a place that is your comfort zone, where you can rest and get some blood back in your hands. For me, I angle the bike to one side and rest. I could stay like that all day.
Happy hopping,
-Josh-
decline
07-06-2007, 06:53 PM
i learned back hopping and pedal kicking at the same time. work on everything. if you get bored track standing work on a back hop or a side hope or pedal kicks or pivots
do it all...you will want to ride more and learn quickly since a lot of moves involve the use of eachother
Jason Barton
07-06-2007, 08:00 PM
I started with trackstanding with my good foot in front, then my bad foot in front. Front wheel pivots in both directions. Bunnyhops with both good and bad foot in front, back hops, wheelies, hopping up easy stairs and now pedal kicks up curbs or stairs. Going to different spots helps keep it interesting! I started pedal kicking up a "curb" that was like an inch high or something and moved to regular height curbs. Now I am getting close do doing a fairly low ledge.
Don't worry about staying in one place at this point, but you can allow the bike to roll forward or backward a bit to help keep your balance.
This little exercise will help you with two things. First it prevents the habit of hopping to regain your balance, which will haunt you later when you are on rails or on rocks.
Happy hopping,
-Josh-
Thanks I always appreciate hearing things to learn early that pay off later on and prevent re-learning 'the right way.' I don't hop to trackstand on my XC so I'm trying to translate that over to trials.
My XC experience has very few trials move's but here is what I have done XC wise. I rode 2-3 times a week cept during winter for 3 years gradually scaling down to once a week this last year.
I rode pretty technical terrain and hit MOAB (Porcupine Rim, Amasa Back, Slickrodk) twice a year. Our riding style was not to pass up any obsticle without giving it an honest try. I really liked technical ups, some less than 90 ledges taller than my bike, which seems to translate to trials more than other XC. Some of the stuff I did would be considered FreeRide.
I'm trying to keep a ride 'at least a bit each day' mentality, which so far has equated to 3+ hours day. Its super hot so I've been riding in the front yard at midnight in the dark even. It's not easy to keep plugging at it when you can do very little of what your trying, but thats already starting to change. I don't hammer any one thing very repetively I just keep working on them all. Yesterday I got my first stoppie or endo's. It's really wicked to stare at the ground in the endo position. I've always had a minor phobia about even trying endo's, in XC it's only been on accident and some of the more painfull falls. The trials training video's on the internet have helped a lot to remove that fear.
pivots come before rocking Thats good to know the Ryan Leech MTAOT video described it the other way. Rocking first then pivoting.
Alright enought typing time to brave the heat and ride.
Roll over things. Rocks, logs, curbs. Do it as slowly as possible and with as much control as you can.
Everything comes from control.
tubender
07-07-2007, 07:34 AM
I have made huge progress by riding the bike whenever I can. I have only been really riding for a few weeks and I can step right onto my pedals, go right into a choco/non choco track stand and roll front or back or pivot either wheel 90 degrees. I am now working on doing those same moves with either wheel on a curb. I do this while my air compressor runs (too noisy in the shop) or while dinner is in the oven. I only get to actually "trials ride" (like working on a section) once or twice a week. The "stolen moments" have been the times when I actually progress the most. The "rides" are when I try to use what I have learned.
stewpend0us
07-07-2007, 07:38 AM
rocking was really hard for me until i had a good understanding of how the bike reacted to my weight on only the front wheel and then back wheel (endos, wheelies, pivots) Do the pivots to both sides then scale them down so you're just rocking....worked for me. I could consistently do a 90 degree pivot to either side before i was able to rock the bike to stay in place... good luck
thisthingz
07-08-2007, 03:27 AM
make sure all the skills you learn are real solid before you stop practicing it and move onto other stuff. in the end it hurts your consistancy and confidence.
MIKE1968
07-08-2007, 03:56 AM
Counting how many back hops I could do in a row :ugh:
yeah.
dont count how many hops you can do, see how small you can get your hops before you start to fall over. hopping isnt a trials 'trick', its a means of balancing.
tubender
07-08-2007, 07:16 AM
The goal to acheive in rocking is? being able to flow the bike back and forth without feeling like I am pulling up one end then the other ? and to feel comfortable maintaining balance with either wheel? .. hmm I have a ways to go with these things.
stickyworm
07-08-2007, 11:39 AM
This is porbably controversial as many people on here say to try everything. Here's an example from my own progression.
Eveery ride I went on, I tried to get on my back wheel. I could get up there, frantically get two or three hops in, then fall off or lose control. As a result, I never felt confident in my rear wheel control, and so never rode anything that would require it. I finally got sick of just trying and dedicated a solid week of one hour every day dedicated to getting my balance on my rear tire. It paid off big time. In hind sight, I wish I had knuckled down and just worked at it for a week solid and reaped the benefits rather than wasting almost a year of not getting anywhere, "just trying everything."
Perhaps other people are different, but I see more progress with myself by disciplinning myself early on to break skills down and master their components. This will change how you look at your riding spots, rather than relying on accidents to push you into a skill.
spoke2570
07-08-2007, 02:35 PM
I always resort to playing on parking blocks.
there is a small seat thats roughly 1' high and 4'x4' right near my house. it is perfect for everything
dengenerate
07-08-2007, 09:58 PM
i learned back hopping and pedal kicking at the same time. work on everything. if you get bored track standing work on a back hop or a side hope or pedal kicks or pivots
do it all...you will want to ride more and learn quickly since a lot of moves involve the use of eachother
i'm still a beginner but i'm happy with my progress, and this is what i do. when i ride, i have three or four things in mind that i want to practice. i do each one for a little while, and often alternate back and forth, or try combinations. i do this mainly bc i loose endurance after doing the same move requiring the same muscles for too long. and like he said, moves are interdependent on other moves. so practicing one move helps another move which helps another move, building your comfort zone the whole time.
as for rear wheel hops, i started the same way, with my front wheel on something. i found it surprisingly difficult to get to the rear from flat ground. then i started to learn how to rock (thanks to the trashzen tutorial). keep increasing the amplitude of your rocking motion and you'll accidently end up on the rear wheel sometime and the motion will click. it'll get much easier from there.
yagimax
07-09-2007, 08:50 PM
One thing to keep in mind too, dont get frustrated when trying a new move.It will come eventually. Also dont try a move for too long at one time.
One thing to keep in mind too, dont get frustrated when trying a new move.It will come eventually. Also dont try a move for too long at one time.
I was doing great endo's today went out to try some more and wasn't as good. So I'll just try other things and come back to them later.
I'm starting to get front wheel pivots and I'm trackstanding and starting to rock a little bit (about three or so oscilations then I tend to lose balance.) Pivot Rocking is almost easier than stationary rocking.
I'm just glad I'm seeing progress after a week eventhough I still can't do anything spectacular yet.
after a week thats great progress!
eknuds
08-03-2007, 12:44 AM
...
when i first began i was concentrating on hopping backwards on the rear wheel. could do it about 3 times and that was it. now i can't even do that :(
bouncingbabyboy
08-03-2007, 10:16 PM
Sounds like you're just starting to get into it...how much did your ride on your xc and what did you do? I'm only 4 months into this so I'll just tell you what i've done and in what order and what leads to what in my opinion:
Hopping in place comes before track stand
endos and wheelies come before pivots
pivots come before rocking
really good rear brakes come before rear hops
hopping with the front wheel on something higher than the rear comes before rear hops
then pedal kicks and drops and so on....but that's where i'm at so that's all i got.
And pracice alot..like every day
I am glad that worked for you. I started pedaling to rear before I got my trials bike. Then I started doing drops just pedaling the front wheel up. From there I started rolling up bigger and bigger stuff.
When I started nailing my chain ring rolling up stuff then I got a trials bike. Then I started really working on track stands both on flat and half way up something I was having trouble rolling up. Then I worked on endos. Someone I was riding with told me to go from the endo to rear and I started to get it a lot better.
The best trick someone showed me was to stand the bike up and climb on. It made it a lot more obvious where the balance point is.
The best advice I have to give is find someon who will ride with you that can see what you are doing and give you a push in the right direction. Riding with others is the best way to advance. In my humble opinion, but I suck so don't listen to me.
The best trick someone showed me was to stand the bike up and climb on. It made it a lot more obvious where the balance point is.
Haha I just figured this out tonight(you're hours too late with advice :D), I was in the garage with the bike on rear wheel and contemplating trying to mount it in the rear wheel hop position. After contemplating the many ways I could break my face or my arse, I decide to just get the balance point. I think I've been trying to get to close to 90 degree's on my rear wheel hops.
stewpend0us
08-08-2007, 09:17 PM
another something that has really helped me stay motivated is..after every practice session think about one (or more) things that i have either learned or could do better than the last time i practiced...i've only not been able to come up with something one or two times and those were disapointing practice sessions.
not saying that every time i practice i learn something huge.....just taking note of the improvements however small has been very motivating and helps with my progression
Czar][Ivan
08-15-2007, 12:30 AM
Hey Guys, I'm also kinda new to Trials...
I've rode my bike about for a month in the whole summer since my bike kept on breaking in this 3 month I've had my new (used) bike.
I can do Pedal kicks, rock, track stand, rock walk sideways pretty easy. Bunny Hop, not high as I could do on BMX.. need to grow some muscles??? Still learning high Bunny Hops to learn a nice Side Hop on an object, Rear Hop in spot, just started learning (only could do about 3-8) and sometimes I try to learn to Pedal Up but probably I'm not strong enough to lift the bike up with me. Also could ride up on a object with front brake....., and obviously do a Wheelie and a pretty good Manual (sometimes). That's probably about it...
I'm about to turn 14, so am I any good and could anyone give me some tips in my postion????
tubender
08-15-2007, 04:47 AM
[Ivan;416593']
I'm about to turn 14 am I any good and anyone can give me tips??
(1) don't go into debt
(2) get a savings account and USE IT
(3) Girls won't respect you if you buy them stuff
(4) keep yourself healthy
(5) don't drink and drive
you already ride better than I do so I can't help you there.. sorry
Rodmunch
08-15-2007, 01:47 PM
Haha, wish I had somebody to give me that advice when I was 14. :D
I had to learn on my own too. Nobody around to ride with except a couple friends who were just as clueless as I was. I learned some bad habits that I'm now unlearning. I'm figuring things out now, mostly thanks to all you guys and the videos on this site. Thanks everyone! :love:
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