BARSPINS

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This trick gets the win for the EASIEST flatland trick possible...  Except when you start combining barspins with other tricks where it suddenly becomes one of the most difficult tricks possible.  You will be learning how to do a couple versions of the BASIC barspins and will be left to decide how you want to combine it with other tricks in the future.

Basically all you need to know how to do to do a barspin is ride your bike...

EASIEST

• Begin by rolling at a slow speed with your left foot on the left pedal and your right foot on the right rear peg.  You should be holding the handlebars normally.
• Practice by leaning back in a quick motion and squeezing the seat slightly between your legs.  The seat should hit your left leg right around the knee and your right leg about your thigh.
• When you lean back quickly squeeze the seat and lift the front end of the bike.  You don't need to take your hands off the bars or even get the front wheel more than an inch off the ground- ALL you are trying to do is learn how to unweight the front of the bike.
• When you are comfortable with this you should do a barspin...
• Do this by riding as you were- slowly... one foot on the pedal- the other on the rear peg.
• Now take your LEFT hand and put it on the right grip- palm up.  That is, twist your left hand 180 degrees counterclockwise so that the top of your hand is pointed towards the ground.
• Now turn slightly to the right and while you are turning snap the bars around clockwise 180 degrees.  RIGHT before you spin the bars throw your weight slightly backwards as you had practiced before.
• Congratulations you have just performed a barspin.
• Repeat this process with the bars backward to get them to face the right way again.

EASIEST PLUS ONE

• As with the easiest version begin by rolling slowly with your left foot on the pedal and your right foot on the right rear peg.
• INSTEAD of switching your hands take your left hand off the grip and keep it right above the left grip.
• Now snap back slightly pinching the seat between your legs.  AT THE SAME TIME- Pull your right hand towards you- SNAP IT!
• If you do this correctly the bars will spin 180 degrees clockwise and you should try to catch them with your left hand so they don't over rotate.
• Once you catch the bars with your left hand the front wheel will be back on the ground and you have done it!
• NOTE:  Once you get this perfected you should try to spin the bars a FULL revolution.  Then try 1 and 1/2 spins...  Can you do more?

MORE DIFFICULT

• Stand with both feet on the rear pegs rolling slowly and both hands on the grips.
• Take your left hand and hold onto the nose of the seat (the very front of the seat).
• Lean back and lift the front wheel off the ground.
• NOTE:  ALL of your weight is VERY far back on your bike!  The front end will come up EASILY and you will probably loop out (fall backwards) several times when learning this.  So- THIS is the hard part!
• Anyway- As soon as the front wheel comes off the ground snap your right hand towards you and throw the bars around.
• Depending on how high the front wheel gets the bars may spin once, twice, or even more...
• CATCH the bars with your right hand.  This can be very tricky since your weight is not usually very stable on the rear pegs.
• When the front wheel hits the ground put your left hand back on the grip and ride away!

MOST DIFFICULT (without combining it)

• This is the way it is done by street riders...  But it is usually HARDER for flatlanders.  WHY?-  Because, typically, flatlanders have hard plastic seats that are so low that they hit BELOW your knees...  If you have seen street riders do this trick with ease and wonder why you are struggling that is possibly the main reason why-  SEAT placement is very important to making this trick easy.  It can make the trick nearly impossible if your seat is only 3 inches above the platform....
• Begin by standing normally on your pedals riding at a slow pace holding the handlebars normally.
• Keep your pedals level and grip the seat between your legs.  (As stated above- if your seat is HIGH this will be easier- if it is low it will be MUCH more difficult and probably painful).
• As with the easiest version of barspins SNAP your weight back.  You want to throw your butt back so that the front end of the bike comes slightly off the ground.  If you throw your shoulders back then you may slide off the seat and fall on the ground.
• AT THE SAME TIME that you throw your weight back let go of the bars with your left hand and snap the bars in a 180 clockwise rotation with your right hand (as with all the other versions above).
• Catch the bars with both hands at the same time and pedal away-  Repeat the above steps to turn the around so that they are straight.

BARSPINS TIMES TEN....

There are a hundred different 'versions' of barspins.  They have been named things besides the barspin to just confuse people even more.  For example- if you are in the middle of a trick and you jump up in the air- spin the bars 180 or more degrees and land back on the bike doing a trick- while ONLY on the front wheel- this is called a BARFLIP.  If you are rolling on the front wheel and are not touching the bars with your hands at all and spin the bars 180 or more degrees by pushing them around with your feet-  this is called a KICKFLIP.

Sound crazy?  Well some riders have REALLY pushed the limits-  Kickflip hang-nothings (no-handed hang-5's), 360 barflips to halfpackers....  540 degree barflip funky chickens...  It is just crazy.  For beginners it is better to try to learn to throw barspins on the ground as quickly as possible in any situation.  Riding off a curb and doing a barspin...  Doing a barspin to a dork wheelie...  It is up to you how to combine them with easier tricks and work your way up to what only sounds impossible....  GOOD LUCK!

If you have a question about this trick please feel free to e-mail it in...