BMX Manual - The Beginning

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+manual+bmx

Its a combination of moving arms legs back and forth as well as center mass, it just takes time, keep doing it you can only get better the more you do it anyways.

Ass over the rear tyre, arms almost straight and your knees bent.

You have a video clip of you trying? If you post one it’ll be much easier to help out.

I prefer not to post a video haha

I started learning to manual this Summer. At the beginning of May, I couldn't even raise the front wheel. As of today, I can manual about 5 metres but not on demand.

I read somewhere on this site that, for BMX, repetition is crucial: I must be putting in about 10 hours a week learning that one trick 😜

That is really good for you,good job

p1p1092 wrote:

Ass over the rear tyre, arms almost straight and your knees bent.

^^^THIS^^^

& when you think you have your knees bent, you probably need to bend them further. & when you think you are leaning back, you probably have to lean back further. Keep in mind, you will loop out while learning. It's all part of learning. You will need to learn to jump off the bike when you loop out. You don't need to let go of the bars, necessarily, but jumping your feet off the pedals and catching yourself on a loop out. Lastly, manuals are easier when you are moving faster. THis is not to say you need to be doing 30mph, but going slow will not help you manual. Lastly, lastly, if you are running high pressure in your rear tire, you can lower the pressure which will be more forgiving for balance etc....

p1p1092 wrote:

Ass over the rear tyre, arms almost straight and your knees bent.

Mishinn_Control wrote:

^^^THIS^^^

& when you think you have your knees bent, you probably need to bend them further. & when you think you are leaning back, you probably have to lean back further. Keep in mind, you will loop out while learning. It's all part of learning. You will need to learn to jump off the bike when you loop out. You don't need to let go of the bars, necessarily, but jumping your feet off the pedals and catching yourself on a loop out. Lastly, manuals are easier when you are moving faster. THis is not to say you need to be doing 30mph, but going slow will not help you manual. Lastly, lastly, if you are running high pressure in your rear tire, you can lower the pressure which will be more forgiving for balance etc....

Do You pull straight back or do You pull like an L shape like on mtbs? (crouch down and pull back)

p1p1092 wrote:

Ass over the rear tyre, arms almost straight and your knees bent.

Mishinn_Control wrote:

^^^THIS^^^

& when you think you have your knees bent, you probably need to bend them further. & when you think you are leaning back, you probably have to lean back further. Keep in mind, you will loop out while learning. It's all part of learning. You will need to learn to jump off the bike when you loop out. You don't need to let go of the bars, necessarily, but jumping your feet off the pedals and catching yourself on a loop out. Lastly, manuals are easier when you are moving faster. THis is not to say you need to be doing 30mph, but going slow will not help you manual. Lastly, lastly, if you are running high pressure in your rear tire, you can lower the pressure which will be more forgiving for balance etc....

Tarik_Hadzalic wrote:

Do You pull straight back or do You pull like an L shape like on mtbs? (crouch down and pull back)

Really, you should be able to lean back and with just a slight bull back, pull the wheel off the ground and (try to) maintain from there. There's no upward pulling of the bars. Think of it as you are holding onto the bars so you don't fall off the back of the bike (if you let go you are falling off the back of the bike).

If you aren't looping out, you aren't committing enough.

Mishinn_Control wrote:

Really, you should be able to lean back and with just a slight bull back, pull the wheel off the ground and (try to) maintain from there. There's no upward pulling of the bars. Think of it as you are holding onto the bars so you don't fall off the back of the bike (if you let go you are falling off the back of the bike).

Ill try this,thank You very much

Another tip that really helped me progress, is pushing on your pedals with your feet. After learning this, I went from 0 meters to ~3 meters in 1 week. Before this, I had been trying for weeks with 0 progress.

Hyebri wrote:

Another tip that really helped me progress, is pushing on your pedals with your feet. After learning this, I went from 0 meters to ~3 meters in 1 week. Before this, I had been trying for weeks with 0 progress.

isnt that cheating? 😂

Tarik_Hadzalic wrote:

isnt that cheating? 😂

I think what he means is that it's not all about pulling into it. You also slightly push the bike forward with your feet(not pedalling, just pushing the bike out from under you) as you sit into the correct position.

Hyebri wrote:

Another tip that really helped me progress, is pushing on your pedals with your feet. After learning this, I went from 0 meters to ~3 meters in 1 week. Before this, I had been trying for weeks with 0 progress.

Tarik_Hadzalic wrote:

isnt that cheating? 😂

p1p1092 wrote:

I think what he means is that it's not all about pulling into it. You also slightly push the bike forward with your feet(not pedalling, just pushing the bike out from under you) as you sit into the correct position.

Oh,my bad then. I guess i just have to keep trying . My biggest problem is that the wheel drops really fast

Tarik_Hadzalic wrote:

Oh,my bad then. I guess i just have to keep trying . My biggest problem is that the wheel drops really fast

Try to loop out a few times. That'll give you a good idea of how far you can push the balance point and get you comfortable with bailing.

p1p1092 wrote:

I think what he means is that it's not all about pulling into it. You also slightly push the bike forward with your feet(not pedalling, just pushing the bike out from under you) as you sit into the correct position.

Tarik_Hadzalic wrote:

Oh,my bad then. I guess i just have to keep trying . My biggest problem is that the wheel drops really fast

p1p1092 wrote:

Try to loop out a few times. That'll give you a good idea of how far you can push the balance point and get you comfortable with bailing.

i smacked my head once and got dizzy for a couple of hours. I had a helmet though. feet are hard to take off the pedals

Tarik_Hadzalic wrote:

i smacked my head once and got dizzy for a couple of hours. I had a helmet though. feet are hard to take off the pedals

Falling is kind of a huge part of this sport. The most important thing to learn, in my opinion, is how to fall properly and safely. You have to learn to loop out because eventually you'll lose control of a manual(or a number of other tricks) and you will smack your head again if you can't fall properly and safely.

p1p1092 wrote:

Try to loop out a few times. That'll give you a good idea of how far you can push the balance point and get you comfortable with bailing.

Tarik_Hadzalic wrote:

i smacked my head once and got dizzy for a couple of hours. I had a helmet though. feet are hard to take off the pedals

p1p1092 wrote:

Falling is kind of a huge part of this sport. The most important thing to learn, in my opinion, is how to fall properly and safely. You have to learn to loop out because eventually you'll lose control of a manual(or a number of other tricks) and you will smack your head again if you can't fall properly and safely.

Ill send looping out then haha dont want to bother You any more,have a nice day

It really is just doing it over and over till you find it. I always found how to's not very helpful when I was learning. I mean getting basics..yeah, but actually learning... experience. It could be bar angle too. I have to have my bars just slightly back from the head tube angle or I can't manual shit, maybe play around with that? Brakes... They will help you when you're learning... If you start to loop out, tap (feather) em a little.. it'll drop the front back down. But everything else has been covered. Ass over tire, arms straight, pump legs (straight to go back, bent to go forward) tire height don't matter. I have friends that Manny with the tire like 2 inches off the ground and it looks so rad. Peg manuals ( one foot on peg, the other swinging around for balance) are fucking rad too!

in the beginning manuals were called coaster wheelies....

Also thanks for the tips folks. My front end is glued to the ground. It would take the gravitational pull of 10,000 suns to get my front end up.

slammahjammah wrote:

It really is just doing it over and over till you find it. I always found how to's not very helpful when I was learning. I mean getting basics..yeah, but actually learning... experience. It could be bar angle too. I have to have my bars just slightly back from the head tube angle or I can't manual shit, maybe play around with that? Brakes... They will help you when you're learning... If you start to loop out, tap (feather) em a little.. it'll drop the front back down. But everything else has been covered. Ass over tire, arms straight, pump legs (straight to go back, bent to go forward) tire height don't matter. I have friends that Manny with the tire like 2 inches off the ground and it looks so rad. Peg manuals ( one foot on peg, the other swinging around for balance) are fucking rad too!

Thank You