Damn You HANG 5's Damn you!

[CrazyCajun]

GRRRRRR <Shakes fist in air>

Did them 10 years ago (before I stopped ridding), can't seems to get them anymore. 

[johnu773]

i was never able to get them well.  i either dont pop up enough or i dont use my arms to hold myself when i do get into the position. ( dont twist my wrists and use my palms enough)

[melon lover]

one year of half heartedly trying them i finally got the feel for them over xmas in my workshop with plywood flooring (slightly slopped) did them for about 3 weeks and now i can't get them and it is like having to start all over again trying them on tarmac 

[johnu773]

one year of half heartedly trying them i finally got the feel for them over xmas in my workshop with plywood flooring (slightly slopped) did them for about 3 weeks and now i can't get them and it is like having to start all over again trying them on tarmac 

thats how i was with whiplashes in 87...took forever to get em, had em for a month, then lost them again

[tod miller]

I for the life of me can't get Hang-Nothings without feathering the brakes...everyone says it's the same as a Hang-Five, but it's not!

[OldYeller]

On hang 5's the biggest thing to me is to not look down at the wheel.  Look where you want to go or at least ahead of the tire.


The other thing is to sort of lock in between the seat, peg and bars like you, the bars/forks and the frame are a single triangular unit.  Not like you're pressing hard against all three points, but enough that it doesn't wobble everywhere.


When you're in the balance point good, your leg just pivots at the hip, knee relaxed and you barely use your arms for balance at all.  Your arms and hips are mostly for steering and massive corrections when you're getting all sketchy about to fall.  For the most point, your fingers aren't used until you're doing circles so don't clamp the bars so tight either, just rest on them.


If you're bending your knee, you're really just flailing because it doesn't move your weight forward or back enough to do anything.  Up isn't helping, think slightly back and way back.


It's also good to think of it as a pendulum.  If you bend a pendulum, half the bend goes forward and half back so you just split the weight and raised the balance point.  The radius of the pendulum is also shorter, so your balance point isn't as wide.  It's like walking a tightrope with a stick half as long.


If your leg is going forward, you're not committed enough.  It will be slightly back at the balance point and that point is a lot wider than you think once you get up there and have the confidence to feel it out.

[Andrew Tarrant]

Took me forever to learn it, but once I nailed it there no way back :] Stopped riding for months and got back on and could do them with ease

[CrazyCajun]

Thanks for the pointers. It just gets so frustrating sometimes. Even more so is if you had them before and can't seem to get them back.
I look back and wish I never stopped riding. 

[stopkaiross]

The other thing is to sort of lock in between the seat, peg and bars like you, the bars/forks and the frame are a single triangular unit.  Not like you're pressing hard against all three points, but enough that it doesn't wobble everywhere.

This just about sums up my feelings on it.  Also, for what its worth, I  learned backwards first by just coasting a squeaker.

[OldYeller]

Thanks for the pointers. It just gets so frustrating sometimes. Even more so is if you had them before and can't seem to get them back.
I look back and wish I never stopped riding. 

You and me both brother.


Most of my tricks feel like I'm learning from scratch all over again on somebody else's bike.

[johnu773]

This just about sums up my feelings on it.  Also, for what its worth, I  learned backwards first by just coasting a squeaker.

I may have to do that.  "paul hahn (letsgo) learned them like that also!

[khe killah™]

Once I learned that balance point they just come natural and almost keep going till I run out of steam! Working on one hand hang 5 now.... I did do a hang 5 how to vid on here sumwhere....

[jpoliti]

i learned hang 5 in 1989, it took me a whole summer, hours every day, but now it feels very natural, i guess it is only a matter of practice....and time.

right now i am struggling on nose wheelies. these are so hard to learn, once you get the balance point it is easy and strangely stable, but gettin into this balance position is so hard for me...

[Kevin G.]

I can hold a hang 5 until my wheel stops rolling, but I can't do hang nothings and can only do a nose manual for 2 seconds max.

The only tips that I could give for hang5s are to keep your arms straight, look forward and have your palms facing down.

[a fl@ world]

Hang fives.........the same as learning to walk...you crawl, then take a few steps eventually falling forward, and when you finally are running all over the place, you dont even think about it.