Here are the 10 tips from Luca Sponda.
1. LEARN TO FALL
Yup! You understood well. Alone or better if helped by another person, lift the front wheel (hands on the handlebars and feet on the ground), sit on the saddle always keeping 1 foot on the ground and try to walk a few meters keeping 1 foot down. If you have a helper, keep both feet on the pedals and try to get off the bike by taking your feet off at the same time. Whether I try it alone or with help, the finger on the brake must always be kept!
Two fingers if the brake is not the best, but in this case I recommend you upgrade to be more successful with this technique. This is to simulate the position you will have once the front wheel is lifted and to understand what movement to do in case of loss of balance.
It helps to learn how to save yourself from a surge first. Your back and buttocks will thank you.
2. THE RELATIONSHIP IS IMPORTANT
If you were Danny Macaskill or Fabio Wibmer, you could also use the back but we are simple human beings and therefore an intermediate relationship is just fine. A little more agile if you haven't pedaled since you took the wheels off, or a little harder if you're a velodrome type with 86cm quadriceps circumference.
3. LIFT THE WHEEL
Time to get the wheel off the ground! Pushing on the pedals is as important as stretching the arms and moving the body towards the front wheel. Pushing on the pedals is learned quickly (you wouldn't know how to pedal otherwise) and the right time to push is when the pedal is in this position. The wheelie begins with a forward bend towards the handlebars and then moves backwards by extending the arms and making a good grip on the knobs, this movement is combined with pedaling when the pedal is in the correct position. During the first few attempts, do not use 100% force and just raise the front wheel a little and brake gently immediately afterwards. Now there could be 2 situations:
1 too much power and back fall
2 the wheel rises 10 cm
4. PRACTICE, PRACTICE AND PRACTICE
After we have made almost all the safety systems our own it is time to walk a few meters with the wheel in the air. Place a nice reference and start marking each progress, so you will focus a little more on the distance to overcome and you will pay less attention to the fear of falling behind.
5. SPEED
Beware of speed! The wheelie can be performed at different speeds: from stationary, in motion, at speed. To start, I suggest you try them all, just to understand the differences and then focus on the first or second speed.
After these first 5 more general tips, let's go into detail.
6. THE DEPARTURE
At this point you will have already tried several starts for the wheelie. In my opinion the easiest is the one in light movement.
Starting almost from a standstill (with pedals halfway), start pedaling by gradually increasing the force, giving more strength after the pedal has passed the vertical. Before the pedal reaches the right point for the correct thrust (about 45 °), start the movement of moving the torso towards the handlebar and then straighten the arms and move the body back when the pedal is at 45 °. This will make it easier for you to continue pedaling with the high front wheel.
7. BUST POSITION
Except for the first phase of moving the torso towards the handlebar to load the thrust, once the front wheel is lifted the weight must always remain towards the rear wheel, therefore with the back far back.
Attention! If you still don't trust yourself to stand back, you have to go back to work at a standstill or perform some voluntary rollover in this way.
8. THE KNEES
The knees are very important for maintaining balance during the wheelie.
9. THE HANDLEBAR
The handlebar could almost be thrown away once you learn to wheelie but during the first million tries, you can move it (not too much) to maintain balance and correct some imbalance.
10. THE BRAKE
The brake is the real secret to mileage wheelies, so always finger on the lever and try to use it often! One exercise you can try is to stop pedaling, stay with the weight behind and try to do as many meters as possible without pedaling. Urban legends say that the manual was born from this exercise!
And now that you have become a skilled fletcher, call your friends and invite them to the square: you may surprise them.
Video featured in episode # 40 of 'PULITI dentro BIKER fuori'
