Last edited by XyKyWyKyy on 1/3/07

Fakie





A Fakie is when you roll backwards, usually after a trick involving a 180 or 540 on a jump or a 360 on an aerial .
Taken from skateboard by Bob Haro in 1978.

How-To Fakie

 
The trick to riding fakie is that, to compensate for loss of balance, you would have to turn the front wheel in the opposite dirction that you would when riding forwards.
When you just learned how to ride a bike, riding forward was really hard, and you would tip over to one side and fall over, but over time you learned that you could compensate for that (falling over) motion by turning the front wheel to one side or another, regaining balance. This is the same for riding fakie, as you start to tip over, you have to turn the front wheel one direction or another to compensate.
Seems easy right? The only problem is that, to balance out, you have to turn the front wheel in the opposite direction that you would when going forward. This is what I figured out when learning it, because there could be no other problems, pedaling backwards surely isn't hard, not knowing where you're going surely doesn't add to the reason you're falling over...
So the best way to learn fakie is to think of this concept, and first figure out which way you would have to turn the front wheel to balance out (when falling over / losing balance going fakie), then try to memorize that, and when you feel you are falling over to the side, apply that, and turn the wheel in the right direction. Best way to practice is to find a big concrete lot (parking lot), preferably SLIGHTLY inclined downhill, and just push off with your feet 5 or 6 times to get speed. You don't even have to put your feet on the pedals after pushing off, while learning the turning wheel concept.
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It is at least 10x easier learning this trick sitting down, which is why I said to sit down, and push off backwards with your feet to get speed. ((This is also why people's methods described above won't work AS WELL.)) The reason trying to learn fakie standing up is harder, is because the only way to get speed for it would be to run into a wall, (curb endo) and try getting as much backwards momentum from that, which won't be much at all, and the curb endo also makes you lose some balance. Going up a quarterpipe or an incline and then going back down fakie is also not AS good a method as the one above because in both, you have to stop for at least a second, after which you start rolling backwards, and in that second, a lot of the balance is lost. ALSO, if the incline is not steep enough, you're gonna be starting very slowly going fakie, which is very hard to control. ALSO, in GENERAL, learning fakie standing up is harder because you have no center of balance, as opposed to sitting down, when your ass on the seat is the center of balance.
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Now is where everyone else's suggestions came in. PRACTICE, this trick is just like a manual, everyone can do it, but some can't do it for a long time. The reason why it takes so much practice is because you have to gain the muscle memory, and practice the turning wheel method until it become instinct (just like it is when you ride forward), and this can only be achieved through practice.
Other small tips/problems:
  • If you're still falling over a lot, after a lot of practice, try turning the front wheel faster, right as you feel you are starting to tip over.
  • A way to get better balance and learn faster is by going faster, as you have more balance, but the faster you go, the faster you're gonna have to turn the wheel to compensate.
There are lots of little problems / mistakes that might be in the way of you learning fakie quickly, but you will find them and fix them eventually with practice and EXPERIMENTATION.
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