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Balance: vital in trials

Balance can be practiced everyday, with simple exercises like trying to stay on the bike stand-still at red traffic lights or by turning the bike around between a few marks on the ground.

The more balance you have, the easier it is to ride along an edge in one straight line without wobbling the handlebars. Very good brakes are a must in order to secure your position across akward obstacles, without having a wheel slip-off an edge. At bike trials competitions, every foot on the ground (dab) is penalized, so you'd better learn how to keep yours on the pedals.

Some fun ways to improve your balance.

• Use the trackstand to look around or focus.
• Lift your front wheel for a wheelie.
• Get on the front wheel by leaning over the handlebars.
• Make your first hops on the back wheel.
• Try a few hops on the front wheel too.
• Turn the bike around by pivoting on a wheel and the other.
• Push the technique to turn 180° in one slick move.
• You can hop sideways with small hops, either to stay balanced, reposition the bike, or to climb up some steps.
• The wheelie is an absolute classic for kids. Learn them up a very smooth slope, by adjusting the pedal pressure.
• Try out the wheel-swap, usually front-to-backwheel, and finish off your moves in style.
• If you are in trouble, bail out safely rather than crash.
• Check out the basic setup of most biketrial competitions, and enter one to get an idea of what the real thing is.