# is it easier to wheelie a bike with a slack or steep...



## finchy (Jan 21, 2004)

is it easier to wheelie a bike wiht a steep or slack head tube angle?

also what are the advantages of both?
and when are they angles applied to bike designs?


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## Ironhorse12 (Jan 20, 2004)

*???*

Are you serious?


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## Gnarlygig (Jan 27, 2004)

*The thing that matters most at the front end when you wheelie,....*



finchy said:


> is it easier to wheelie a bike wiht a steep or slack head tube angle?
> 
> also what are the advantages of both?
> and when are they angles applied to bike designs?


...is weight and wheelbase. More weight at the front end, and longer wheelbase, means more effort required to get and keep the front end up. As far as angles go, the seat tube angle actually has more to do with effortless wheelies than the head tube angle. A slacker seat tube angle (depending on how you position your saddle), will allow for more weight over the rear wheel, which gives you better leverage in lifting the front end up. There are many other factors like toptube length, stem length, handlebar type, etc. On of the easiest bikes to wheelie of all time, was the Schwinn Stingray, with it's banana seat, whereby you could literally sit right over the rear wheel. For some, the Schwinn cruiser was their first introduction to off road bicycling, and as most know, the beginning of the sport. For me, it was building dirt ramps to jump across a neighborhood irrigation ditch with my Stingray, ah the memories.










OK, before any of you DHers start flaming, remember that the Cruisers were more the start of XC mt biking, despite the original nature of using them off road. It was BMX that really inspired DH, and the Stingray was very close to being a BMX bike for it's time.


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## 9 Lives (Jan 30, 2004)

*I TOTALLY AGREE!!!* I had a Stingray it was my second bike, green with a white seat. The third bike was a Schwinn Varsity.


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## Banshee Rider (Jan 19, 2004)

I think the geometry of a bike will only bring you so far to being able to doing better wheelies..I can ride a wheelie on most bikes i hop on, Its just one of those things i practiced alot after rides when i got home. Its all in the brakes, have a good rear brake and learn to feather it. Once you find that balance point on the bike you'll be able to ride them forever, its not an overnight thing tho, that point is just go hard to find. The bike id associate with doing good wheelies is probably the evil imperiel, ive ridden one, it was cool for doing wheelies and manuals and looking cool threw town but it wasnt a friendly bike on the trails. Is it worth it to look cool threw town doing wheelies and get your a$$ kicked in the woods because your bike sucks riding XC? the point im trying to make is ride the bike your comfortable with, finding a HT with some stupid slackedout geometry will help out with being able to pull back into a manual but your going 2 suffer for it when you get in the woods where riding counts...thats my .02 cents


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## finchy (Jan 21, 2004)

*so does the Head Tube Angle really do anything???*

does it affect performanc at all?


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## Curiouscaptian01 (Jan 19, 2004)

steeper- better climber, worse on downhills.
slacker- better downhill, worse climbs


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## lastminutebastrd (Jan 30, 2004)

To get a little more in-depth, a steeper head tube angle means the bike will turn quicker, making it more responsive but also a little less stable at high speeds and downhills. A slack head tube angle is just the opposite, making the bike less responsive but more stable at high speeds.

As far as wheeling goes, the chainstay length will have the most impact. Shorter chainstays will put you closer to the rear wheel. Short chainstays also make the bike a bit more manuverable, but not a good climber because it'll always want to loop out on ya. Better downhill though, since more of your weight is at the back of the bike.


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## Felpur (Jan 22, 2004)

*wheelies*

I am not sure on the technical aspects of bike set-up to do wheelies but I agree with the other guy that it's just learning the balance point of the bike. I just got a dh bike and compared to the xc bike I got off it's alot easier to get the front up. In my riding I found I can ride a wheelie much farther standing up then sitting down.which is kinda weird... Anyone else in this postition?? got advice? 
thanks

Mark


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