You want to buy your first wheelie bike and ride on the streets like @Jake100, @LitttleHarry15 or @Wheelie Kay? Here we are with some useful tips what is important if you are buying your wheelie bike. New in the bike life scene or even already a part of this movement? We are here to clear things up, spell out the important parts and arm you with the knowledge to confidently purchase your first wheelie bike to suit your needs.
RELIABLE DRIVE TRAIN: When you are buying your first wheelie bike, you will realise you will end up cycling very long distances over the life the bike, so you need to make sure the wheelie bike you buy has great components on the drive chain as this is the part of the bike that will take the most abuse in the long distance but is not something that kids look at when they are buying a wheelie bike. The Collective C100 focuses on this using extremely high end hollow-tech bottom bracket, zee downhill crankset and Deore group set gears, all of these parts by Shimano will last much longer than cheaper parts and make it easier to ride and will not need to be replaced quickly. The Collective C100 is designed by Jake100 as his ultimate wheelie Mountain Bike with endless styling, quality components, lightweight pro parts and quality feel.
REAR BRAKE: In addition to a reliable drive train, you need to make sure that your wheelie bike comes with a good rear brake as you will be using this huge amounts and giving it way more abuse than a normal cyclist would riding normally around the city or commuting. The C100 from Collective Bikes by Jake100 uses Shimano Acera M396 disc brake. The Shimano Acera disc brake is the most powerful hydraulic disc brake in its class. It is a solid durable system that is capable of delivering respectful amounts of stopping power to any mountain bike. This brake was used at our Collective C100 because of its quality but also because of the great feel it gives you at the lever. Using a brake that grabs too much or is too powerful like a downhill brake will be too strong upon contact making it harder to regulate how much braking power you want to apply while on the rear wheel. The higher level brakes also have a clicking feel at the lever making it very hard to modulate the brake on something technical like a wheelie. These brakes in testing we’re the easiest to use and provided the best stopping power for learning or performing wheelie’s no matter the level of rider.
GEARS: Gear spec also has a huge impact when choosing the right bike for wheelie’s and bike life. There is a big bike scene in London with famous riders like @Jake100, @Wheelie Kay and Ryan Taylor. All this amazing rider uses their C100 from Collective to wheelie through the streets of London and other cities around the world. The C100 was designed with Shimano Deore M6000 1x10 gears on the rear meaning only having 1 gear shifter on the right handlebar and making it more simple with no gears on the front cranks, this saves weight in the middle of the bike making wheelie’s easier and the effortless Deore trigger shifter on the handlebars means you can shift up gears by pushing forwards or backwards on the shifter if you need to shift while in a wheelie. The Deore Derailleur also has Shimano's CLUTCH system integrated, meaning you can turn the clutch ON, this gives a less distracting, quiet drivetrain, and reduces chain slap when riding aggressively. A simple solution for chain drop, lighter and more efficient than roller type chain devices. Making it easier to ride through the city and rough terrains with less chain slap and more aggressive gear shifts.
TYRES: Tyres are a huge part of deciding which bike to buy for wheelie’s or bike life. You don’t want to have to buy a bike and immediately need to change the tyres to something more suitable for wheelie’s. Most MTB bikes come with trails/ hybrid tyres or full off road tyres which aren't designed for use on the road. The C100 from Collective and Jake100 comes with Kenda’s 'Kwik Nine’ tyre. A perfect tyre for grip in all weathers on the road, in the city or even light trail use. It is a smoother flat pattern tread giving optimal grip and ease of roll with no road noise perfect for keeping speed and grip when swerving or performing wheelie’s.
SEAT CLAMP: Seems like something small but not all wheelie bikes or even bicycles in general come with a Quick Release seat clamp system. Quite obvious but when buying a wheelie bike you want to make sure the bikes comes with a quick release seat clamp so that you can continuously change the height of your seat simply and easily whenever you need! Nothing worse than needing some more height on your seat for the long pedal home from the riding spot or city after a ride out with fellow riders and not having any tools or allan keys to move your seat from the preferred wheelie setting, or even wanted to change the height slightly for trying a new trick etc. The Collective C100 comes with an easy to use reliable Collective Bikes seat clamp with a gold washer so you can open and close it again and again without fail.
REAR TRIANGLE FRAME SUPPORT BAR: When buying a new wheelie bike make sure that it’s got a support bar on the rear triangle on the side the disc brake is. This is a key for performing combos and need to place your feet on the frame, without the bar at the rear of the frame it is extremely uncomfortable for your toes and hard to stand on the frame and more importantly your feet can go into the rear brake! Luckily the Collective Bikes C100, designed by @Jake100, comes with this support bar with slightly thicker tubing that normal to give more support, strength and positioned with enough clearance from the brake. But without this you can be left annoyed when you want to start learning combos or tricks that involve standing on this part of the Frame!
See the picture below of the frame support on the rear triangle of the Collective Bikes C100 by Jake100!
PRICE: Obviously nobody wants to spend more than they need to, but this is where it gets tricky with the Bike Life / Wheelie scene, there isn’t much choice at all for wheelie focused bikes. Currently SE Bikes make an oversized range of BMX bikes that are based off the same style, there are a few other companies making oversized BMX style bikes. Following the path of SE Bikes. As for wheelie MTB bikes, until the release of the Collective Bikes C100 MTB in November 2018 there was no wheelie / bike life focused and designed MTB’s. And as of today the C100 is still your only option in terms of MTB. Yes there are many bicycle companies making MTB bikes that could be used for wheelie’s but most of them don’t come with all the features and specs exactly how you need them out of the box like the C100 designed by Jake100. You would need to change out parts to make them ready to wheelie. More importantly weather you choose and SE Bikes or any MTB on the market currently for the right bike ready to wheelie you’ll be spending no less than £550. Where the Collective Bikes C100 MTB is £495 and out the box is ready to go you don’t need to spend any extra money to get you started! The C100 from Collective Bikes, designed by Jake100 is the best bike to buy yourself to get into the wheelie bike scene with ease and cost in mind!
Ryan Taylor, @Jake100, @Wheelie_Kay and @LittleHarry15 are riding the C100 from Collective Bikes at all locations around the world. All our bikes from Collective Bikes like the C100 MTB, C1 BMX bike and RT1 BMX bike by Ryan Taylor are available on our website CollectiveBikes.com! Be sure you are updated about Collective via Instagram, Facebook and Youtube, as we upload regularly useful tips, how-to videos and new products!
