The Scottish mountain biker sat down with GearJunkie for the launch of his latest film.
Danny MacAskill is a treasure. If you didn’t think it before now, you will after you see “Do a Wheelie.”
Watch Danny Mac get up to all kinds of shenanigans, from the “I could do that” to the “how the heck did they do that?” to the “wait … did that really happen?”
What’s more, he hopped on a Zoom with us to tell us where these ideas come from, what the hardest trick was, and best of all, how to do a wheelie ourselves!
Runtime: 6 minutes
Danny MacAskill Interview: ‘Do a Wheelie’
GearJunkie: How was this video, “Do a Wheelie” to make?
Danny MacAskill: It was a lot of fun — I was given free rein. I always try to come up with a concept that gives me freedom. I thought doing a film that revolves around wheelies and celebrating them would be fun to tackle.
Honestly, It was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. I thought with my trials skills, I could add something to the world of wheelies, which has been progressing for half-centuries. But it turned out to be a really challenging but fun film to work on.
What is the significance of the wheelie?
The wheelie for me is an all-time classic maneuver to be done on any bike with two wheels. Right after skids on the rear wheel, the wheelie is the next aspirational maneuver.
Some of my friends’ older brothers did some wheelies in the street when I was a kid, and I thought it was just the coolest thing. So in my garden, I tried to do what they were doing — and that’s when I learned it was part of a whole larger sport — in Trials.
Especially in mountain biking, it’s a pretty handy technique to have dialed up. If you’re going up some technical trails, you can use it to go up and over obstacles. But at the end of the day, it’s really just about impressing your friends and family, isn’t it?
Do you have a tip for mindset or mechanics — what’s the best way to do it?
We actually made a “how to wheelie” tutorial to go along with the film release. But in general, my top tips are:
- Start on a relatively light gear.
- Put your seat halfway down — not really low or high.
- Ride with flat pedals, in case you need to jump off the bike.
- Find yourself a very mellow gradient of a hill — between 2 and 6 degrees — because it’s easier to wheelie up a hill. Plus it will naturally slow you down, so you can keep pedaling.
- Wear a helmet!
- Cover the back brake — you’ll use it to tip you forward and bring the front end down.
- Don’t get disheartened if you don’t learn it in one session. For most people, it will take a number of sessions — if you really dedicate yourself, you might pick it up in a few weeks.