Comments on How to Do a Wheelie on a Bike

I always found that popping the wheelie (lifting the front wheel) was the hardest part, but it's actually the easiest. What I do is I stand up on the pedals, left pedal forward, both pedals at the the same level. Then I lean forward while pushing a bit harder than usual on the left pedal. Once my left pedal gets to vertical position, I push myself back up, while pushing even harder on the right pedal. Then I pedal more or less to balance myself.

Wheelies are so much easier if you understand that your body is always balanced and centered exactly over your axle. Forget about your bike angle elevation and concentrate on the center of balance over your axle. It does not matter what kind of wheelie you do, your body will always assume the same approximate position over the axle. If you practice with bongo boards, or other balance related toys, it will make you that much better and quicker to understanding Body English, which is the essence of truly understanding wheelies. Try to do that yoga V sitting thing, where you do vertical toe touches over your head, because it's a similar fight to stay perfectly balanced on your butt. Just try to apply the same control, but quicker in your reaction to counterbalance looping out or dropping forward. When practicing, try to start your wheelie exactly the same way every time, it helps quicken muscle memory if you are consistent and smooth. Hope this helps.

I always found that popping the wheelie (lifting the front wheel) was the hardest part, but it's actually the easiest. What I do is I stand up on the pedals, left pedal forward, both pedals at the the same level. Then I lean forward while pushing a bit harder than usual on the left pedal. Once my left pedal gets to vertical position, I push myself back up, while pushing even harder on the right pedal. Then I pedal more or less to balance myself.

Go as slow as you possibly can without losing balance. If you're using a mountain bike, have the gears set at 2,1 (front gear, back gear). Sit down. Pull up hard and pedal really fast. You will eventually do a wheelie. These are harder, but they look much smoother. These will also take some practice and you will probably fall! But, don't give up!

When I pop a wheelie I like to roll while setting my pedals up so that I can release all my pressure on my left pedal.

Go as slow as you possibly can without losing balance. If you're using a mountain bike, have the gears set at 2,1 (front gear, back gear). Sit down. Pull up hard and pedal really fast. You will eventually do a wheelie. These are harder, but they look much smoother. These will also take some practice and you will probably fall! But, don't give up!

When I pop a wheelie I like to roll while setting my pedals up so that I can release all my pressure on my left pedal.

I'm an avid biker, and doing a wheelie is one of the things I like to do best. Whenever I do a wheelie, I always keep two fingers on the back brake lever, and the other fingers hold on for life. I've found that it's easiest to do a wheelie in a medium range gear, and sitting down on the seat to lower your center of gravity. The key is to pedal until you get the balancing point, that's where you bike is just about to tip over backward. When you're at the balancing point, if the nose dips down, you can pedal to make up for it, and if it starts to tip back, you can feather the brake to set it down lightly, but not so much that you end the wheelie. You just need to keep practicing. I can easily do a wheelie over 100 feet now, with about 2 years of practice.

I'm an avid biker, and doing a wheelie is one of the things I like to do best. Whenever I do a wheelie, I always keep two fingers on the back brake lever, and the other fingers hold on for life. I've found that it's easiest to do a wheelie in a medium range gear, and sitting down on the seat to lower your center of gravity. The key is to pedal until you get the balancing point, that's where you bike is just about to tip over backward. When you're at the balancing point, if the nose dips down, you can pedal to make up for it, and if it starts to tip back, you can feather the brake to set it down lightly, but not so much that you end the wheelie. You just need to keep practicing. I can easily do a wheelie over 100 feet now, with about 2 years of practice.

I have leaned back too far three times. The first time, I was standing up doing a wheelie, popped up too far, and landed on my head and back (without a helmet; I could sure feel it). The second time I leaned too far back sitting down doing a wheelie, I landed on my feet. The last time, I was sitting down doing a wheelie again and I leaned back too far again and fell right on my back. I suggest wearing a helmet, even though I don't "practice what I preach!" -Mark

A good way to keep it going long is to lower your saddle, get into a catwalk, and then sit down and keep going. Just remember that the most important part is keeping your wheel at a good height. I was thinking about sitting on the seat and didn't see that the wheel was too high. It was too late, I flipped the bike and slammed my back into the cement. Whatever you do, make sure that you don't go too far back!

First, put your bike in a low gear then come to a really slow speed nearly at a stop, then pull up on your handlebars while you are pushing down with your pedal, then just keep pedaling.

Some tips that Hans Rey shares are to extend a knee or foot out to control lateral (side to side) balance. Even riding a wheelie bow legged (by sticking both knees out) makes you more stable. Also, turning the handles bars in the opposite direction helps. It sounds like a lot to think about, but if you practice enough, it'll come to you. I learned these tips from one of his videos a few years back. If you don't know who Hans Rey is, do a Google search on him.

To do a good wheelie you have to first find your gears. I like to use 2 and 1-3, but that's just me. Then I set goals for myself. I would look at cracks in the road and try to wheelie that distance and if I did it 3 times in a row I would go on to the next crack past that. If I couldn't do that, I'd go get some chalk and mark a line I could reach. Then I practiced getting to where I could balance my bike on the back wheel for 80 or 90 feet.

When I do a wheelie, I start off slow and keep it balanced. Then, I start going faster, still balancing my weight over the bike. When you're going fast, the bike will start to go down. If you pull the handlebars toward you and keep it steady, you can go longer and faster without dropping the bike.

This is a trick you can do after you have mastered the wheelie. First, find a pretty good sized hill (when your starting out don't choose too steep of a hill) then do your wheelie. Keep pedaling for awhile then ease off the pedals. Find your balance point. The hill will then take you and you can stay up on your back tire for literally blocks. If you feel yourself falling too far back, lightly tap the back brake. It took me about a week to get this down. But once you do, they are a lot of fun.

Put your front foot in the middle and the back foot on the tail. Slam the tail while sliding the front foot on front. While in the air, tuck your knees to your chest. Level out and roll away.

I find that shifting your weight from front to back, while pedaling strongly but smoothly, is essential to get the wheel up consistently. Once I am up, I keep pedaling until I get the front wheel where I want it, and keep it there by pedaling and using the rear brake very slightly. I usually try to keep my arms pretty straight so that I am leaning back pretty far. Look where you want to go, 10-20 feet in front of you. The main thing that will help is practice.

I have learned to do wheelies without leaving the seat of the bike. When I leave the seat, I have no center of balance. I also move the handlebars side to side to keep the balance maintained. This is a very helpful site!