General Trials Talk

Whats up with these bikes? Thinking about a trials bike to knock around on and help improve my trail riding skillz!! My main ride is a gas gas DE 300. My brother has an 90 Aprilia Climber. 240 he thinks but not sure. It has very little use. He got it used to knock around on and hasn't played with it in 10 yrs. He said it needs the front forks serviced and rebuilt, rear shock serviced and an air filter. Other than that he said it runs fine. Would this be a good bike for a noob to knock around on. I like smooth power. Looking for and easy fun bike to hack around on. any idea what it would be worth with the suspension up to snuff. I'm thinking i might offer to fix it up i…

Hi all I'm looking at swapped my rear tyre I was look for help on the best one to get

After reading through TC forums, there is only a handful of people who regularly reply to posts and it seems to be the same old names (not that i'm complaining , these forums contain some of the best advise available ... anywhere ). But how do we get even more people to interact within the forums ..... We need opinions from observers, trials organisers and novice to expert riders .The forums dont move quick enough to justify login in every night at the moment and i for one look forward to reading updated posts. I dont know if it's just me ... but more and more spectators seem to be turning up at local event's ... as if the sport is beginning to generate more public inte…

Caby has gone back to the 2T, Mont are looking a bit ragged in the sales dept and Gasser seem to have halted development of their 4T. Have the 4T's died a death? Have the FIM given up trying to dictate to us? Discuss. (Andy, please "pin" the Dabster poll. It's a shame to bounce it from the top of the list)

I'm wondering some of your guy's best ways to wash your bikes, and things to be careful of while washing. Thanks!

I heard someone saying that at 17 you are able to ride a 250 trials bike on the road because of the horsepower!!!! Has anyone else heard this??? Is it true???

Seems the last few rounds of banter, heated debate, where over technical issues. We have guys on here that speak to their knowledge of torque wrenches, electric pumps, mechanical pumps, and all sorts of others technical prowess. Made me wonder what do we really know about each other? Mmmm Do we know what each other does for a living, what our trades or profession is, what our academic training is? Do we even care? Might be interesting to learn a bit more about each other. I can be found in Linkedin under William Traynor In that vein I will go first: Been riding trials for about 35 years. My riding skills are quickly going to hell in a hand basket (due to two…

Yet another high profile electrical failure for Dougies bike. I'm no expert, & there probably are other factors involved, but SURELY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS Beta (and sherco) must be able to sort this stator problem. (assuming it is the stator) What is it now.........7 or 8 years of problematic stators on betas? John Lampkin must be furious with the factory for allowing this brand-damaging problem to continue. Please can someone shed some light on why this isn't sorted on what otherwise seems a first class machine? This is an honest question and not a slanging match against Beta.

Any good in the wet? I've heard they are, do they go off quick? about to get a spare rear wheel for Gerty so need a new tyre, tried the X-Lite, very good tyre but goes down over night and wears very quickly.

Which clothing companies make trials riding gear? I know about Hebo and Clice but they are pretty limited in thier designs, everything seems to be red or blue! Are there any other brands that you can recomend? Cheers folks!

Hello, i need some advise on choosing the correct engine for a first trial bike. I have been riding MX since i was a kid and i have let say intermediate enduro skills. I was analyzing the newer models and will probably get a gasgas but cant figure out how does the different engines 250/280/300 feel like.. it looks like all of them have same stroke and the difference comes from the bore. i guess as with any other engine the bigger the piston the more power.. at first my idea was to get a 300cc, but is this stronger engine will affect the learning curve? I am 180 cm and 74 kilos and as of now i am hesitating between the 250 and 300 cc engines.. i would to improve m…

I've recently realised that I have no interest in riding my bike any more. I still love the sport and actually look forward to events so I can go and observe but as far as actually chucking a leg over the Rev3, I simply can't be bothered. It's disappointing in some ways because riding 2 or 3 times a week is really the only serious exercise I get these days (and bloody good exercise it is, especially when you're lifting the bike off yourself as often as I am) but my last couple of outings have confirmed that I'm just not enjoying it any more. Ability-wise I reached a (low) plateau some time ago and since then there's been absolutely zero progress. This is in contrast to ho…

I've never ridden anyone else's bike until yesterday. I was completely new to trials before i bought a Montesa 4RT on the recommendations of owner and people on this site about a year ago. I have no problems with this advise - its a cracking bike and i wouldnt swap it now for anything. I got on with it well from day one, always found that the power tended to dominate the proceedings, i still do.... thats a 4 stroke i figured I'm used to its manners now... so i guess im past the beginners phase. But... I rode a Beta 250 yesterday... HOW EASY!!!!!!! Jeez guys..... no wonder i struggled at first!!! I'd just thought that all those people who asked why i'd bought an e…

Hi Considering some bar raisers always wondered about the best set up and to see if any benefit. in particular forward position and raise/lift. Some shops charge a fortune for a "bike fit" for push bikes and I'm thinking there must be some views on this for trials riding. I have a few trials mates who are very funny shapes ( large body no legs,large head and three fingers, really ugly and dodgy knees to name but three etc etc) so I may be able to help them a little !!! Any advice

Does anyone know if there is an Optimum width for Handle bars as per Height and size etc ? The reason i'm asking is ....... I'm only 5ft 6ish and after riding a Trials ( Say 4 hours or so ) the outside of my wrists are painful for a few days afterwords. Could this be because the width of the bars are simply two wide for my Height and Length of arms ? Though surely if you have wide shoulders the Height factor will have nothing to do with it ! I'm relatively new to Trials so it could well be that my wrists are not yet used to the bending and Gripping that goes with riding the bike. If anyone does have an opinion on this i would be Grateful as my sore wrists are affecti…

Which knee pads or knee and shin protectors you think to be the best ones? Any experiences about Tomcat Knee pads? How about volleyball knee pads?

Thinking about buying either a new gasgas factory 300 or a sherco factory 300, anybody had experience of both? which would you recommend? Reliability,performance, maintenance ect... cheers!

Hi trials central, I'm starting research to decide which bike to buy. I owned an 09 gas gas 280 eco but I sold it about six months ago. It was my first ever trials bike and I decided after riding it for a bit that I want something newer and maybe lighter. So I'm a novice, no hopping about on the back wheel anytime soon. Im wanting something smooth and easy to ride, and also something light weight as much as possible. I think I like the suspension to have a bit of snap to it.. At least more so than the gg. It seemed really dead and even after putting a new shock in I could never get it to feel snappy. I don't know, maybe that's not desirable , what do I know?! I'm thinki…

Years ago we all rode the same route. Then as bikes advanced, the better riders could do things on their machines that the lesser riders had no chance of doing and two routes became the norm. Although we would all prefer to keep things simple, it is becoming more and more common for clubs to now offer three routes. This begs the question; how do we mark out three routes? I use bLue/Red, yeLlow/gReen (Cap letters for L or R) and pairs of whites for the easy route. I have also experimented with cououred arrows, (As used by the Mid Centre Youth championship) but this uses a hell of a lot of staples/wires and takes a lot more time. I know these idea's aren't perfect, so wh…

I can see that a trials helmet is lightweight and more breathable without face protection, but why do most trials riders not wear helmets with face protection? It seems if you were to slap the ground with your face, the helmet is useless... Saw a video of a guy plant his face on a rock, ouch! Thanks for your patience as I am obviously a newbie! There are certainly lightweight, breathable full face downhill mountain bike helmets made that I am leaning towards purchasing over a true trials helmet, help my decision please. Cheers!