From Ride UK BMX Basics
You can practise the manual whilst you’re riding anywhere. It’s all about finding your balance point on your back wheel.
We’ll explain this one a little differently, as to start learning manuals you don’t need to hop onto anything to begin with. Again, the balance point is crucial to work out. Once you’ve discovered that, manuals on flat or on ledges will become easy.
Tip: Use the left / right arrow keys
01
To begin with, you need to get comfortable pulling your front wheel off the ground. It can seem like a lot of effort at first, but over time, as you perfect the technique, the bike should come up onto the bike wheel without much effort.
02
For starters, just get used to pulling back on the bars, don’t worry too much about the distance travelled.
03
As you can see in frame three, your body needs to be hanging back over the rear wheel, with your arms extended on the bars. This is the balance point of the manual, you need to be getting into a position similar to this (depending on height, weight and bike they’ll all be slightly different) and then you’ll notice how you travel further on the back wheel.
04
Once you feel comfortable pulling back into that position, you need to start balancing the manual for a distance. Speed helps for manuals, so roll along around jogging pace (or faster if you feel comfortable).
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