Stoppies

Hard enduro is full of places where the bike has to change direction but can't be ridden round: a switchback between two trees, a narrow ledge, a turn at the bottom of a steep drop, a gully where the next line starts at a right angle. You can stop and drag the rear round by hand, which is slow and tiring. Or you can let the front brake do the lifting.

The Trials Training Center, describing rear-wheel hops taught by Bruce and Brent LeRiche, lists the same uses trials riders have: "turns that are so tight that the bike can't be driven through", setting up "perfect alignment for that obstacle or hillclimb", and holding balance in extreme conditions.

A stoppie also teaches something every rider needs: exactly how much front brake the tyre will take before it slides, and how weight moves when you brake. The same feel keeps you upright on steep descents. The front brake lesson builds the basics; this page takes them to the point where the rear wheel leaves the ground.

Riders use these names loosely. On EnduroWow they mean the following.

When you brake, the bike's weight moves forward. The fork compresses, the front tyre is pressed into the ground and the rear gets lighter. Brake harder, and at some point the rear has no weight left on it and starts to rise. The bike is now rotating round the front axle.

Three things control how far it goes:

• Brake pressure. More pressure, more rotation. Cycle World's stoppie guide describes the order: squeeze the front brake "until the fork is compressed", then squeeze harder while moving your weight forward "until the rear wheel begins to rise". Its reminder is useful: "You're not trying to stop the bike, just get the rear wheel to come up."
• Your weight. Weight forward helps the rear rise. Weight back pulls it down. Your body is the fine control; the brake is the coarse one.
• Speed. A stoppie needs some forward movement to lift the rear. At walking pace the lift is small and slow, which is what you want.

The nose pivot adds the rear suspension. The Trials Training Center explains that you can't pull the rear up by hand, so "the real secret to the technique for the rear is to use the rear suspension and brakes to make the bike lift in the rear and rotate about the front axle." You load the rear by moving your weight back and down, then shift forward with the front brake held firm, and the rear springs up.

Moving the rear sideways is done while it's in the air. The Trials Training Center's instruction is to "turn the bars in the direction opposite the desired motion of the rear." Your hips and knees help too. Australasian Dirt Bike (ADB) editor Mitch Lees, describing a stoppie turn, says to "gently nudge the bike away from you with your inside knee and hip."

Coming down is just releasing the brake. Ease off gradually and the rear settles; let go suddenly and it drops and the bike lurches forward.

• Stand, knees bent, balls of your feet on the pegs. You need your legs free to move your weight forward and back.
• Arms braced, not locked. Your arms stop you sliding forward as the bike pitches. Locked elbows throw your weight over the bars.
• Front brake: one or two fingers, as in the front brake lesson. You need fine control of pressure, not a fistful.
• Clutch covered. Pull it in before the rear lifts so the engine can't drive the bike forward or stall when the rear lands. ADB's wheelie-to-stoppie drill says to keep the clutch in "so the bike doesn't stall when it lands." Its stoppie-turn article asks for "one finger on the clutch and brake at all times."
• Eyes up, looking at where you want the rear to end up, not at the front wheel.

On the ADB drill, the rider goes further forward for a bigger lift: "shift your weight forward so your chin is over the fuel tank." For the small lifts used in hard enduro you rarely need to go that far.

A stoppie goes wrong in one of two ways: the rear goes too high, or the front tyre slides. Both are avoidable.

Too high. If the rear keeps rising, the bike goes over the front and you go over the bars. Cycle World is blunt about the bail-out: "If a stoppie goes bad, all you can do is release the front brake, but there's a good chance it's all over." That's why you build height slowly and keep the brake finger relaxed enough to let go. ADB's drill says the same: let the rear rise, and "if it's going too far prepare to get off the front brake." DirtWise's stoppie tip gives the trail version of the same save: if the rear comes up too high, lean your upper body back and ease the brake off. If it goes over anyway, Cross Training Enduro says to push back against the footpegs as you jump off. That makes it less likely the bike lands on top of you.

Front tyre slides. A stoppie loads the front tyre harder than anything else you do. On loose gravel, wet rock, mud or a loose downhill the front tyre can't take that load, and a locked front slides and drops the bike. Learn on flat ground with plenty of grip. ADB's drill asks for ground that is "flat and has heaps of traction" and advises: "just start small."

Stoppie turns on steep downhills. These are the most useful and the most serious. ADB's guidance is that unless you're Graham Jarvis "you're probably best getting off the bike" and doing the turn standing beside it, with the engine in neutral if it's running, and to "Start with a slight downhill and build up to steep and rutted hills." Take that advice. Shane Watts, a multi-time off-road champion, teaches the same move for downhill switchbacks too tight to ride: step off to the uphill side, squeeze the front brake hard and swing the rear with your leg. He told Dirt Rider: "You just control the bike with your leg as to how far you want to swing that rear tire around." It's a quick, controlled way to turn a bike round on a slope you couldn't ride a U-turn on.

Place. Private land where you have permission to ride, never a road or a shared trail, with open space around you.

Gear. Full protection, every session: a properly fitting helmet, boots, knee protection, gloves and a chest protector. The fall to guard against is forwards, over the bars.

The bike. Check that the front brake has free travel and doesn't drag, and that the lever returns fully. A brake that's already partly on makes fine control impossible.

Work through these in order, on flat, grippy ground, at walking pace. The first three should be solid before you try to move the rear sideways. You should already be able to balance at a standstill: the Trials Training Center's advice is that if you can't balance the bike, learn that first.

Short and focused. Front-brake work is tiring for your hands and forearms.