For someone who’s either starting out fresh or considers them selves a novice what do you think are the most useful tricks to learn and why?
BRETT DOWNS – Starting from scratch? Just ride the bike and understand how it reacts to your input. That is good advice if you are riding ramps, street, racing or flatland. Learning how to eject yourself without getting caught in the bike is probably the single best thing to learn! For ramps and parks, big wide carves are your friend, not riding straight up and down transitions. You can’t ride street if you can’t bunnyhop. For flatland you need to learn to balance on your pegs. Peg wheelies and fork wheelies are key. Racers need to learn to speed jump well, even before proper gate starts. If you can’t go fast on the straights, a good gate won’t help you at all.
MIKE O’CONNELL – For someone who’s either starting out fresh or considers themselves a novice what do you think are the most useful tricks to learn and why? Without a doubt manual rolls and roll backs, as both will benefit your riding overall, it amazes me when I see younger riders at skateparks, spinning and flipping, but they can’t manual or pull a roll back. Learn the basics first people. As these grass roots moves can be applied on flatland, street, park or even the biggest vert ramps. Feeling comfortable and in control, will lead to greater confidence of your overall riding.
JAMES WHITE – Skids, Skids and more skids. They are as important to me today as the day I first skidded my 10” Raleigh to a halt at the age of 6. If all gets too much, go out and skid your BMX. I guarantee you’re feel a damn sight better! (I would mention Eddie fiolas very cool 360 skid here, but as the Neil has banned any mention of 80’s BMX….. I won’t)
ALAN SIBLEY – I see a lot of older riders at skate parks who can’t yet drop into a mini ramp or bowl. They’re missing out on a lot of fun so this is a good one to start with. The first time your sat on the edge looking over the coping it is very scary but the rush when you ride in is immensely satisfying and with just a little practice your confidence soon grows until it becomes second nature. Riding in and pumping around a bowl fast is one of the best feelings known to mankind and once you’re in, you can easily learn to ride out and the journey begins.
If its too intimidating and there aren’t any small ramps at your local park, ask other riders or look online for parks nearby that might have something more suitable. Once your happy on the 3 foot it’s the same technique going into a 8 foot monster.
STEPHANE MENEAU – First keep your brakes and use them to get on your front and back wheel, and also for safety reasons. You’ll decide later if you want to keep them or not. Work on bunny hops of course. Start with basic flat and jump tricks and accept to go step by step. Xup shoul be learned before barspin, clean no footer before any tail whip.
JAY BOYD – I’d say Bunny hops were the first thing I learnt to do and they come into play every time I ride. Once mastered every ride down the shops or to the skatepark can becomes a fun session in itself. If you are a complete novice then start by setting yourself small challenges, like hopping over lines in a car park. Once you get the technique and start to feel comfortable, start laying light obstacles on the floor that won’t throw you off if you clip them. When you consistently start clearing stuff around 6 inches high with ease, take it to the curbs. Then steps, ledges, flat banks, grass banks, benches and dropped curb driveways etc all become fun.
NICK WATTS – For flatland it’s essential to learn the basics and master the use of brakes. Baby steps at the start will lead to bigger things and keep you motivated to progress. It’s the kind of sport where you can’t skip past the basic stuff as they are the building blocks for balance. Eg learn to stall an endo with brakes before you try to learn a hang five or learn a tailwhip before you do a whiplash. Also watch 101 freestyle tricks as it still has many of the essential tricks you need to know first. I still remember how stoked I was to finally stick a bar hop out the back of my grandparent’s house on the grass.
From your personal development as a rider what was the trick or technique that unlocked wider aspects of riding in your early years?
BRETT DOWNS – When I started it was only wheelies and jumping ramps to flat. Wheelies taught me what a balance point is and that transferred over to pretty much every flatland trick. With jumping ramps as a kid, I learned to go long/low or pull up and back to go higher but not as far. That taught me how to use my upper body to control the bike in the air. Next was to kickout the back end. That taught me I was able to manipulate the bike while flying. As the beginner rides, he will discover how to integrate his body and bike to make things happen.
One of the most important days in my life was spending 30 minutes just riding into and out of a mini ramp. Ride in, ride out, ride across the deck and ride in again. Try not to let the tires leave the ramp. That taught me more about riding ramps than anything else I’ve ever done.
MIKE O’CONNELL – I use to learn my lip tricks on a curb, then apply the same logic to a mini ramp, today I ride more flatland now than I have in the last 20 years and I find this really helps my confidence, balance and control when I ride at the skatepark.
JAMES WHITE – I honestly can’t remember. The only trick that really sticks in my mind in this regard is the hang five. This obviously wasn’t in my early years but it’s one that opened a whole new world of tricks that I’m still exploring. I can still remember the buzz. Suddenly hitting that balance point for the first time and getting locked into a roll, a feeling that will stay with me forever. (Note: the Hang five was invented by K.Jones in the 80’s)
ALAN SIBLEY – When I started in the early 1980’s there wasn’t many tricks invented then. Like everyone else I was just bunny hoping up and down curbs, endos into rollbacks, building small jumps in the woods and eventually going to Bmx tracks. Without even realising you’d soon have decent bike control.
STEPHANE MENEAU – When I switched from quarter pipes to half pipes, it took me ages to adapt. First lesson learned is always start from the top of a ramp and not from the bottom. Then I realized that the very first air is the most important. No clean landing means no more speed and no more height, so it’s pointless to continue the run. Start again until the first air is fine, the rest will follow. That’s true for vert and for mini ramp.
JAY BOYD – So many possible answers here but I’ll go for a 180 as it opened up so many avenues for me. With no ramps or parks nearby I had to learn them in a mud bowl in some local woods. Once I’d learnt them on a transition , I then learnt fly out ones. I had rollbacks and pivoting out worked out from doing curb endo’s, but landing fakie at speed makes you get that part dialled, or you end up on your ass. This led to fakie airs becoming possible and once you realise how easy it is to rotate 180 you just have to go for the 360. And they still feel as rad as the day I learnt them.
NICK WATTS – I’d say tricks like pinky squeaks, whiplashes, hang fives and decades where all essential tricks that gave me the tools to learn other harder combos.
Other than actual tricks are there any other general techniques that you feel are beneficial for new riders to learn? (I’m thinking about body positioning on the bike and stuff like that)
BRETT DOWNS – Smooth is key. If you can be smooth, you can go fast. If you can go fast, you can go big. If you can go big, the tricks will come to you. Don’t focus on tricks without knowing how to ride smoothly.
MIKE O’CONNELL – I Watch other riders, ask for help from others, watch riding videos. I always tell riders they need to feel confident and that they can see them pulling the trick before they try it. In my view trying a trick you are not fully committed to pulling, normally ends in disaster, you need to know in your head you can pull the trick first. Confidence is key!
JAMES WHITE – Body locking. No, I’m not talking about the breakdance freeze’s you throw down every time you hear ‘Ollie and Jerry’ come on the radio (apart from Neil of course) But understanding the mechanics of locking and tensing parts of your body in certain positions effects the bike, could be a great help early on. Probably a difficult one to explain, but I guess it’s most obvious in a Manuel or even a peg wheelie. Where keeping your arms locked out in line with your body, then the movement of your leg or backside like a pendulum shifts the centre axis to balance. Most of the time we do this by instinct but often the knowledge or reminder to try locking up or even the reverse is all you need to start getting that progression.
ALAN SIBLEY – Just try and ride your bmx as much as you can, even if it’s around where you live for exercise. I never ride any other bike. You’ll soon learn how to pump to generate speed, how fast you can turn before you skid out, how to hop curbs and before you know it you’ll be trying manuals all over the place acquiring all of the skills you need for “proper” tricks.
STEPHANE MENEAU – Shoulders above the bar is for me the right position, it works for lip tricks, jump tricks, airs, …Then speed is an important issue, for example when learning a lip tricks on mini ramp. I always tell the kids to start from double pegs stall instead of airs so their speed is stable, and they can work on their position more efficiently.
JAY BOYD – If you are lucky enough to have a pump or race track nearby, then get on it. You’ll get fit and gain so much bike control very quickly. Play with bar positions or set ups on your bike until it feels just right. On lip tricks keep your body weight in the transition. Watching people learn peg stalls is the classic example of people getting this wrong. You naturally panic and step onto the deck with your top foot. I did the same for days until someone gaffer taped that foot to the pedal. Then you either get it right or fall sideways like a road biker who couldn’t unclip when stopped at a red light.
NICK WATTS – Brakes. They will help to accelerate your progression making it more fun, rewarding and motivating. There is a stigma going around with some riders that frown upon using them but I really believe you need them to learn to ride without them. I have never really been a brakeless rider but I was able to hop on a friends (brakeless) bike and probably do 70% of my stuff without them straight out. I guess that says something.
I know everyone is going to say “keep it fun” but other than that do you have any other general advice for new riders?
BRETT DOWNS – Don’t set expectations other than trying hard. Study other riders and tricks to understand what they are doing. Learn small. Build upon that to go bigger or learn the next trick. It’s all baby steps. Try other people’s bikes to see what they feel like and get a better understanding of what you like/don’t like. To a certain extent, it is all about the bike and then again, the bike has nothing to do with it. First and foremost, it has to be in proper working order. If your tires are flat, the brakes only sort of work and the chain keeps falling off, you won’t be able to learn. Where the bike has nothing to do with it is the minutia of bike set ups. A different top tube length, tire width or color of brake shoe is fine tuning that is beyond where the beginner is. It’s way easier to get caught up in chasing the next part that you think will unlock BMX to you than it is to actually put in the time to learn to ride. The bike needs to be comfortable for you to ride. That is the proper set up.
MIKE O’CONNELL – You have to want to do it, life is not a dress rehearsal, children, partners, work all compete for your most valuable asset, your time! You have to make time, and sometimes it’s not easy, this winter it was freezing in the car park and even for me a struggle to find motivation sometimes, but I looked at tricks I wanted to learn and link together and worked through them one by one.
JAMES WHITE – Don’t worry what anyone else is doing. It can be so intimidating with the level of riding these days but just do what ever feels good and puts a smile on your face. Freestyle is a dirty word these days but the meaning is still very relevant. As a famous 80’s hip hop group once said ‘doowutchyalike’ (Opps did I mention the 80’s again)
ALAN SIBLEY – Get a bike set up your happy with, if you want to run brakes put them on, don’t try and keep up with all the brakeless riders if your not confident. If you can’t get out riding, go on Instagram, its full of inspiring riders to watch and there’s always something new to see also YouTube has loads of “how to” videos.
STEPHANE MENEAU – I see too many young riders that will spend much more time watching than riding.
First don’t be intimidated by better riders, talk to them ask for tips, if you know them, they will more easily let you ride and possibly help.
Some kids will try one trick, fail, and then stop their run. They should go for as many tries as they can on each run.
NICK WATTS – Keep trying! Sometimes it feels like you aren’t getting anywhere after months or even years of trying something but persistence will be rewarded in the end.
JAY BOYD – Make time to ride regularly and take it steady. Try to pad up because if you’re not used to hitting concrete as often as I do, you’re gonna end up hurt. Set yourself small challenges that suit your ability and when you nail that trick, don’t move straight onto a completely different one. Perfect that trick and try different variations of it. One new trick can then quickly turn into 4 or 5 new tricks.
Whats the biggest mistake you see new riders making?
BRETT DOWNS – Without a doubt, the biggest mistake is beginners riding but not having any idea what they are doing. They have a concept in their head but they need to break moves down into parts and learn the parts in order to get the whole trick. They just keep hucking and making the same mistake over and over. BMX is very physical but it’s also very mental. Like driving a car, if you aren’t thinking about what you are doing, you will crash.
I often break down flatland tricks into three parts, the beginning, the middle and the end. Let’s take a fire hydrant to decade. The first thing I did was learn the middle- the decade. After I got over the top I learned to ride away. Once I could do those two, I learned the ride in. If you can’t do the next step, you are always going to fail. What good is being able to spin a 540 tail tap if you don’t know how to drop in?
MIKE O’CONNELL – Don’t run before you can walk. As an older rider who has seen the tricks involve from the start, it was a gradual evolution of tricks, but now there are so many, it can literally be overwhelming and very confusing. Learn your history, watch Baco & Dorkin box sets, as these will give you a well-documented back story of modern-day riding, that you will be able to take snippets from for every level of riding and relate to your own riding quest.
JAMES WHITE – Buying oIl slick parts and dismissing 80’s BMX as cheese (not inclusive to new riders)
ALAN SIBLEY – Giving up on pulling a trick too quickly. It takes many hours to learn most tricks and years to perfect them so persevere but accept you have to keep it simple at the start off with and you shouldn’t get to disheartened.
STEPHANE MENEAU – Almost 100% of young riders that I see trying tricks on jumps will do them too early. Sometimes their back wheel is not even in the air. The advice is : first you jump, then you wait, and only after that you go for the trick.
JAY BOYD – Getting out for one hour a week, then talking for 30 minutes of that hour.
NICK WATTS – Again..not using brakes..hahaha. Without a doubt trying to learn without brakes. Also don’t worry too much about the surface you ride on as learning to adapt to any surface is an essential part of your balance progression.
We all know learning from scratch can be tough so how do you suggest new riders stay motivated and dont give up?
BRETT DOWNS – It’s a work in progress. Every session will lead to a better session. Don’t set unrealistic goals or feel like you have to keep up with anyone else. All you have to do is be better today than you were yesterday. If you aren’t having fun with something, move onto something else.
MIKE O’CONNELL – Treat riding as a Lego set, set yourself a realistic target of tricks to do each session and once you can do them all, build on them every time you can, I started with a 3-trick flatland workout and overtime progressed to a 21-trick one. The great thing about riding is you make your own rules and there are endless trick possibilities to be learnt.
JAMES WHITE – Run with what you’re learnt, don’t think you have to learn everything, just playing around with a simple trick can be the best fun. Doing it at different places, different speeds and so forth, this naturally leads to confidence, growth and new things.
ALAN SIBLEY – Sometimes it feels like you haven’t learnt anything new for ages which can really annoy me but if you film yourself every time you try something new it won’t be long before you can see that you have actually progressed. It also helps me to see what I’m doing right and wrong plus it’s great to look back at all the good times, places and people you’ve met. For a lot of new riders it can be very intimidated turning up at the skatepark and it feeling like everyone there is judging them and are way better. So they then end up hardly riding from embarrassment or you feeling that there wasting better riders time while they mess about on the ramps. If this is the case, you’ve got to realise no one else cares what level you’re at. We all started somewhere and most riders if you talk to them will be happy just to see another bmxer and will help and advise you with whatever your trying to learn. Seeing or helping someone learn a new trick is what it’s all about.
STEPHANE MENEAU – We are lucky to have a bike that offers many different types of riding. Try to explore them all (including flatland or race), you’ll progress faster and won’t ever get bored. And of course, find other guys to ride with.
JAY BOYD – Again, make the time, take little steps and enjoy each session. Never be afraid to ask a more capable rider to help you out with a trick you’re struggling with. Most are more than happy to help, as the stoke is equal for both parties when you nail it.
NICK WATTS – Always try to video your new tricks or the tricks you are trying to learn and review and study what looks right and what looks sketchy and try to figure out why. I found that by reviewing and analysing my riding I was able to eventually get to a stage where I could visualise as I was riding what the trick was looking like and adjust my technique on the fly if necessary to get it as smooth as possible.
Any other tips?
BRETT DOWNS – Being a good rider, like being good at anything, all comes down to spending the hours.
MIKE O’CONNELL – I always ride to a killer playlist, I am a bit of a BMX video nerd, and have loads of the songs on my playlists from the classics, I recently created a Dorkin in York playlist, which has my favourite songs from the box set, its 4 hours of pure gold, and always gets me hyped to ride listening to it.
And lastly, find a local car park, and commit to riding it as much as your lifestyle allows, even if its 30 minutes a week, as doing manual rolls etc, will help without a doubt your overall riding and progression.
JAMES WHITE – Don’t fall for making one of those stupid Manuel stand things. Some people have mentioned the 80’s being full of pointless gimmicks but these are worse than as a sharp bottom bracket boot.
ALAN SIBLEY – Pad up and do whatever tricks makes you happy. BMX isn’t a sport and doesn’t have any rules. That’s why I love it. Whatever you want to learn, do it when you feel your ready and confident you can actually pull it, don’t feel pressured by others but remember if you never try it, your never going to learn it.
STEPHANE MENEAU – Protect yourself, go step by step, and find on old lad (like a Ride on BMX member) to teach you good basics and a bit of BMX history.
JAY BOYD – If you put the effort in, you will improve, as will your quality of life. Plus your kids and their friends will think you’re cool as fuck.
NICK WATTS – If you’re not enjoying riding don’t.