Learn how to ride trials and street trials with TrashZen: this will also improve your general MTB riding skills.
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Bouncing on the front wheel


OK, that one is not really a trialsy move, though on some occasions, you may have to bounce your front wheel away from a cup or stuck position, if you are rolling down some very steep terrain. But it is a nice and easy trick to please a crowd at a demo.

Use the flex of your ankles

trials riding tutorials Nicolas Agyemang flexing the ankles for maximum rebound.

Assuming you master the endo, just pull the smoothest one you can to get the rear wheel off the ground. When you reach balance over the front wheel, keep your arms straight, flex your knees and ankles to lower your hips.

With your arms still stretched, give a very brief impulse with your ankles, kicking into a small extension to compress the front tyre, moving up your hips again. Then exploit the bouncing effect from the compressed tyre by applying back-force on the pedals with your feet pointing down to augment your vertical grip on the pedals. With each hop, use pedal back-force to adjust the tilt of the bike and ensure you stay well positioned over the front hub.

You'll get more power and bouncing effect using an impulse from your ankles and hips than pumping with your arms (this would be very tiring) so don't waste your energy.




You don't have to actively pull on the bike, just holding the bars firmly on the way up will lift it from the ground. You should keep your arms really locked into a stretched position. The whole trick consists in compressing the front tyre and using the rebound from that compression by tucking your knees up at the right time. Here again, having big bouncy tyres with low pressure helps a lot.



Click on any photo and use the scroll-wheel to animate the move.

Pull the smoothest endo you can

trials riding tutorials
1° Apply the front brake and surge forward while pushing straight with your arms to lift the rear wheel off the ground.

trials riding tutorials
2° Give a very brief impulse with your ankles, kicking into a small extension to compress the front tyre, moving up your hips.

trials riding tutorials
3° Exploit the bouncing effect from the compressed tyre by folding your knees back again, and let the whole bike bounce back from compression.

trials riding tutorials
4° Keep your arms really locked into a stretched position as you land on the front wheel but flex your ankles and knees to lower your hips.

trials riding tutorials
5° Don't pump with your arms but instead, use an impulse from your ankles and knees to boost your hips upward for another hop.

trials riding tutorials
6° As the front tyre bounces back, tuck your knees up at the right time while applying back-force on the pedals to have a better grip on the bike.


Biketrial video Watch this move in slow-motion Biketrial video


Further tips

trials riding tutorials Bruno Arnold keeps his shoulder way beyond the handlebars.

See how far your shoulders should go over the bars to maintain balance on the front, with your center of gravity above the front hub, else you'll fall back again. The arms should really be locked in a stretched position, and the feet can actually pull the bike backwards by gripping vertically on the pedals.

Don't try to pull the bike up with your arms, but instead, rely on your legs and body weight to do the pumping work. You'll have much more power and bouncing effect using an impulse with your legs than pumping with your arms, so don't waste your energy. The whole trick consists in compressing the front tyre (low pressure helps) so that it bounces back (at that time you just tuck the knees).


What is it good for?
Rolling down some steep terrains, or in rocky zones, the front wheel can get stuck in a pot hole, with all your weight on the front wheel. The only way out (apart from a crash over the bars) is to bounce the front wheel off the pot hole.


Turning around with hops

trials riding tutorials Turn the bars slightly before you land the front tyre.

When you are confident enough on the front wheel, you can even turn around while bouncing. Before each hop, swing the handlebars and let the frame turn slightly on your favourite side (usually your front foot side). And on every hop, straighten the bars as you bounce off the ground.

Keep your body slightly off-centred on your front foot side so that every time you hit the ground again with the front wheel, the frame slightly pulls you aside. On every hop, straighten the bars as you bounce off the ground to give further rotation effects, then turn the bars again in mid-air before you land the front tyre, to land skewed, ready to straighten the handlebars again during the next hop.

Every time you hit the ground again with the front wheel skewed sideways, the frame slightly pulls you aside into rotation, straighten the bars to carry on with the next hop. Carry on until exhaustion or until you've smashed your record hops number.



Click on any photo and use the scroll-wheel to animate the move.

Turning with front wheel hops

trials riding tutorials
1° Before landing each hop, turn the handlebars in mid-air and let the frame turn slightly on your favourite side (often front foot).

trials riding tutorials
2° Keep your body slightly off-centred on your front foot side so the frame slightly pulls you aside during the compression phase.

trials riding tutorials
3° On every hop, straighten the bars as you bounce off the ground to give further rotation effects.

trials riding tutorials
4° Every time you hit the ground again with the front wheel skewed sideways, the frame slightly pulls you aside into rotation.


Biketrial video Watch this move in slow-motion Biketrial video



serious connection