How did you guys get past the noob stage?
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How did you guys get past the noob stage?
Might be hard to think about but I'm having a hard time improving my riding, mostly tricks. Seriously, I've been having most trouble doing bunny hops. Sometimes I'll start watching videos trying to learn it, then I go out and try it and wonder how in the hell they manage to get those movements down. It feels so demeaning, this is one of the hardest things I've ever tried to improve on. Should I make sure my wheelie is absolutely perfect before trying it? My wheelie's poor, I'll admit. When I first started practicing it I fell on my ass as soon as I landed it. Messed up my wrist (still hurts) and bent my rim nasty, it was unfixable. So I know a little bit of fear is getting the best of me. Not sure why, I've fallen a lot more at the trails lol. I'd appreciate any suggestions.
/rant
/rant
#2
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First off, I'd suggest that you practice in a grass field, secondly just keep trying. For bunny hops, specifically, I'd recommend watching those videos (like you said you did) and just keep trying. Set up something soft to jump over that wont knock you over if you hit it, eventually it will click and you'll start hammering them out like its nothing
#5
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Dufus rides over his head
Dufus imitates riders with way more experience
Dufus is always crashing
Don't be a dufus.
Haha, seriously.. the video are a good option, but the best is to find somebody else and session things. It's gonna take a lot longer than you expect to get good so pace yourself and master the less flashy stuff.. it's not always about amplitude.
Dufus imitates riders with way more experience
Dufus is always crashing
Don't be a dufus.
Haha, seriously.. the video are a good option, but the best is to find somebody else and session things. It's gonna take a lot longer than you expect to get good so pace yourself and master the less flashy stuff.. it's not always about amplitude.
#6
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17 posts in and you are discouraged? Wait until you have at least 500 posts. You are riding and trying. Keep it up. The day will come when you post something on Youtube.
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I think its disgusting and terrible how people treat Lance Armstrong, especially after winning 7 Tour de France Titles while on drugs!
I can't even find my bike when I'm on drugs. -Willie N.
#7
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I got through it with stitches, ti plate inserts, scares, bumps, bruises, concussions, with many others things we chalk this up to practice. As they say "you gotta risk it to get the biscuit."
#8
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What Daspydyr said. Hell, I used to do BMX dirt jumping, I feel comfortable hitting 4' gap jumps and doing 4' drops and have decent enough balance to get my front tire stuck on something during a climb and pause for a second and do a little wheelie onto the object and keep climbing. Still can't ride a wheelie or bunny hop for s***. My hops are getting better, though. I'll bet if you keep practicing yours will too. I'd suggest starting out hopping up onto a curb with grass on top, rolling at a medium speed. If you were to end up hitting the curb and wiping out, it's just dirt and grass on the landing.
#9
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Time and miles on the trail. Practice. Ride with more experienced riders. TIME.
Huh? How does post count relate to bike skills? With that logic someone with a stoopid high post count would be a pro cycling god. Sorry, just doesn't make sense...
Huh? How does post count relate to bike skills? With that logic someone with a stoopid high post count would be a pro cycling god. Sorry, just doesn't make sense...
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Don't feel too bad about not being where you want. I was working on a wheelie and accidentally hit the brake and slid forward right into the front of the bike. Grateful I didn't flip over onto the pavement. I took some advice from a YouTube video and started trying a wheelie in my backyard since there isn't a grassy area nearby that I can use. YouTube guy was actually pretty good and within a short time I was doing a wheelie more than 3 inches off the ground. I was showing off to a friend and ended up crashing as I slid off the saddle and fell over. He was laughing so hard as he came to see if I was okay and I had some giant bruises that took several weeks to heal up. I haven't tried it since.
Video was by ZEPtechniques if you want to check it out.
Video was by ZEPtechniques if you want to check it out.
#11
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if wheelies and bunny hops are the standard to rate yourself by, i am still a noob. i can bunny hop, i can wheelie, but not well.
jacos5 - do you want to be good? really, do you really want to be good? the guys in the videos doing all that awesome stuff...i don't think they are worrying about not being a noob. they love riding. they love riding so much it's what they want to do, they aren't worrying about getting better they are so stoked to ride, they just ride, all day, all the time, and so they get better, they can't help but get better.
if you ride 10-15 hours a day, not thinking about it, just doing it because you want to ride your bike, you are gonna get better whether you want to or not.
jacos5 - do you want to be good? really, do you really want to be good? the guys in the videos doing all that awesome stuff...i don't think they are worrying about not being a noob. they love riding. they love riding so much it's what they want to do, they aren't worrying about getting better they are so stoked to ride, they just ride, all day, all the time, and so they get better, they can't help but get better.
if you ride 10-15 hours a day, not thinking about it, just doing it because you want to ride your bike, you are gonna get better whether you want to or not.
#12
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Dude, I use to ride everywhere and do everything you can think of on my old BMX bike when I was a kid and still can't really do a wheelie. I can pop the front tire up all day long, but as for getting anywhere, I can (to this day) still only ride a wheelie about 20-30 feet and no more. Just keep trying on the bunny hop though, I learned how to do those pretty well after many years and many wrecks. I started out on homemade 1-3' tall wood ramps at a around 5-6 years old (had a brother that was 5 years older than me that could talk me into doing anything ) and doing the jump oddly enough is what taught me how to bunny hop. just keep practicing, and you'll get it.
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There are whole generations that would have benefitted by growing up on stingrays .
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Originally Posted by Mark Twain
"Don't argue with stupid people; they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience."
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My best friend had a Monkey Wards then Schwinn Stingray; I had a Columbia Playboy (pic), where I guess my love of dual-crown forks began; and pretty much the whole 'hood was on some form of 20" banana-seat bike in 1967. The yardstick of wheelie mastery was if you could carry one for at least a full suburban block.
Intro clip from Bruce Brown's On Any Sunday. Watch the kid from 1:14 to 1:37; that's a wheelie.
Intro clip from Bruce Brown's On Any Sunday. Watch the kid from 1:14 to 1:37; that's a wheelie.
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Originally Posted by Mark Twain
"Don't argue with stupid people; they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience."
#16
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You baby boomers are so predictable. Every thread about improving on skills is NOT an open invitation to go off on some nostalgic rant about your old Stingray bicycle!
Or then again maybe it is. What do I know? I'm just a kid
Or then again maybe it is. What do I know? I'm just a kid
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Haha. Let's just say that wheelies were a basic, fundamental building block of bike handling skills (I guess like the bunny hop is today); so I never cease to by mystified by others being mystified about how to do one. You had two wheels, you made one go in the air - - pull on the bars and pedal.
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Originally Posted by Mark Twain
"Don't argue with stupid people; they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience."
#18
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^Same deal, different bikes. My friends & I used to always compete with each other to based on who could get the most crank rotations in a wheelie. I used to be good for at least six on command (six half rotations, not full), twice that on a really good day. The bunny hop was more just a basic skill for getting over curbs smoothly...we probably would have done them more competitively if there was an easy way to measure them on the fly.
The phrase "it's like riding a bike" is a bit misleading though, because right now I'm good for maybe half the crank rotations in a wheelie that I used to be. Granted I'm using much longer crank arms, but I can still tell I don't have that same balance point I used to. Practice makes perfect though, & I can still feel myself getting a little bit better every time I try.
The phrase "it's like riding a bike" is a bit misleading though, because right now I'm good for maybe half the crank rotations in a wheelie that I used to be. Granted I'm using much longer crank arms, but I can still tell I don't have that same balance point I used to. Practice makes perfect though, & I can still feel myself getting a little bit better every time I try.
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#20
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Shifter knob & everything
My friend had one of those bikes & I used to ride it around his neighborhood, until his brother converted it into a 2hp mini scooter that ran for all of a few days before it crapped out & no one ever touched it again.
My friend had one of those bikes & I used to ride it around his neighborhood, until his brother converted it into a 2hp mini scooter that ran for all of a few days before it crapped out & no one ever touched it again.
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Ours was missing the knob, but had the shifter, and it didn't shift very well, and seeing as we had never seen or heard of a IGH at that time (I was like 8) we had no clue how to work on it so we just road it the way it was . I wish we still had it.
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Apologies Dr. Spock, I should have been more blatantly logical. Your instructions are more to the point.
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I think its disgusting and terrible how people treat Lance Armstrong, especially after winning 7 Tour de France Titles while on drugs!
I can't even find my bike when I'm on drugs. -Willie N.
I think its disgusting and terrible how people treat Lance Armstrong, especially after winning 7 Tour de France Titles while on drugs!
I can't even find my bike when I'm on drugs. -Willie N.
#24
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Dufus rides over his head
Dufus imitates riders with way more experience
Dufus is always crashing
Don't be a dufus.
Haha, seriously.. the video are a good option, but the best is to find somebody else and session things. It's gonna take a lot longer than you expect to get good so pace yourself and master the less flashy stuff.. it's not always about amplitude.
Dufus imitates riders with way more experience
Dufus is always crashing
Don't be a dufus.
Haha, seriously.. the video are a good option, but the best is to find somebody else and session things. It's gonna take a lot longer than you expect to get good so pace yourself and master the less flashy stuff.. it's not always about amplitude.
if wheelies and bunny hops are the standard to rate yourself by, i am still a noob. i can bunny hop, i can wheelie, but not well.
jacos5 - do you want to be good? really, do you really want to be good? the guys in the videos doing all that awesome stuff...i don't think they are worrying about not being a noob. they love riding. they love riding so much it's what they want to do, they aren't worrying about getting better they are so stoked to ride, they just ride, all day, all the time, and so they get better, they can't help but get better.
if you ride 10-15 hours a day, not thinking about it, just doing it because you want to ride your bike, you are gonna get better whether you want to or not.
jacos5 - do you want to be good? really, do you really want to be good? the guys in the videos doing all that awesome stuff...i don't think they are worrying about not being a noob. they love riding. they love riding so much it's what they want to do, they aren't worrying about getting better they are so stoked to ride, they just ride, all day, all the time, and so they get better, they can't help but get better.
if you ride 10-15 hours a day, not thinking about it, just doing it because you want to ride your bike, you are gonna get better whether you want to or not.
#25
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