Trials Training And Technique

I completely understand that there is no replacement for getting out on your bike and riding. but what are the best exercises, you can do in the gym through the week to help your fitness for riding at the weekend ? cardio? Strength training? Interval training? Combo?

I've been trying to get this right for a while and would like to know how long it took others to learn.

I'm having a hard time getting any height. Theres ALOT going on all at once, so any tips would be appreciated.

Sometimes I can get over this obstacle without smacking the foot peg mounts and kick stand bracket but mostly they hit. There is no rear wheel lift. What am I doing wrong? (I think it is everything but everything is hard to work on.) The one time you don't hear the hit, the front tire deforms a little so impact does help. How do you safely impact a sharp obstacle like that. Do you need to come down on it rather than hit the face or....?

Entered my third ever trial today, which was a success in that its the first I've finished. My score was nothing to write home about, but I've noticed I was losing marks consistently on the same 2 things: 1 - Going down steep slopes - I had absolutely no control, and accelerated downand out of the section on a few occasions. I think using the back brake was making matters worse. 2 - Muddy hillclimbs - Just couldn't find traction despite having two new tyres. I tried to roll the revs on and build or carry momentum wherever possible, but hillclimbs that I could manage in practice no problem seemed to be much much harder within a the context of a section. Any tips?

One of the tricks that I like but have no idea how to do it is jumping forward without any speed. How to do it? I dont know how do they call it. But it's often done by riders on their videos. The're standiogn on the rock and then jump to another one. Can you explain it how to do it?

Was thinking a bit about the physics of trials- in a laymen's sense. Is it possible that a heavier rider may have an advantage over a lighter rider, all other things being equal? The heavier rider gets more traction presumably, and has a greater weight to bike weight ratio. Perhaps the heavier rider has more control in the sense that the heavy rider is less prone to being influenced by the bikes actions. Over a rocky creek for example the bike is reacting to the terrain, can a 200 lb. rider influence the bike to do what he wants more than a 150 lb. rider of equal skill. Does the extra weight make the bike have less "say" in its trajectory and give the rider more control? …

Hey all, Right just a quick one. I trust my back brake no problem and body position going back is fine but whenever I get the front wheel up pretty high on slow wheelie I find myself falling off to one side. . . on the road bike I lean out to one side but never works too well. . . whats the best way of steering a slow wheelie or stop it falling to one side??? weight on pegs?

Feel free to leave a constructive comment!! If you have mastered the technique, tips are welcome

I am new to trials, really new. I just picked up my first bike this week. With that said I have a million questions but one of the most pressing is which gear should I be in. One of my friends that has been riding trials for awhile says he rarely gets out of first gear. I have read some tips that say you should be shifting up to third gear for getting over larger obstacles. Anyway, does anyone have a couple of tips?

Do you ride with a finger covering each lever all the time? Or only when you actually need to? I reckon that ideally you'd have them covered all the time so your not changing grip. What's best?

Hi everyone!... Long story short, Ive been riding biketrials since i was a teenager and stunting sportbikes for 7 years, I have the trials motorbike itch installed in my mind since i knew about its existence. Planets have aligned and im waiting for a Beta EVO 300 2013 as my first real trials motorbike... I have no natural spots to ride here, its all plain-soft ground all around 400kms... So.... Ill have to make my own obstacles... It would help me a lot if you guys could describe, list or post pics of MUST HAVE obstacle to make my learning process as efficient, fun and safe as possible... I have access to pallets, cable drums of all sizes, drums, and used tyres of a…

Well Ive been in the back yard trying to balance again just static engine off. Not had bike long and new to trials had bike about a month now not had to much time to practice but tried balancing quite a bit. Does it drive everybody mad at first. everybody I see makes it look easy. Is it just practice ? somedays I just can't get it at all just a couple seconds somedays a little longer. Am I just been hard on myself ?

One of the many techniques that I struggle with is the muddy launch before a hill or obstacle. For example: Sometimes I put it in 1st and feed the power/grip in 'on the throttle'.Body position- down in the frame. Sometimes I put it in second, set the revs and feed the power in using the clutch (mainly).Body position- down in the frame. Sometimes I put it in 3rd and lean right back at WOT (burning for grip?scarey). Occasionally;Throttle on, snapped shut and hope there's enough grip/momentum to get me up. I seem to get very hit and miss with this next one;Any gear 1-3, clutch in, WOT, just as the revs drop feed out the clutch and pause then put a few more revs o…

I'm having trouble getting this dialled, i always end up with either the not getting the back wheel high enough or when the bach wheel goes a bit higher the front wheel isnt high enough. I have the Ryan Young DVD but finding his technique a bit hard as he talks about a massive upper body explosion of power which i find hard due to a bad shoulder. Watching Dougie do them he seems to hardly use his upper body compared to Ryan, i think Dougie uses his legs more, see here: 3min 36secs http://fwd.five.tv/fifth-gear/videos/other...-dougie-lampkin Anyone have any vids or advice on this.

EDIT: New progress video (filmed on Thursday) https://youtu.be/5W1FZOQqGi0 EDIT: Most recent progress video https://youtu.be/t4Y9m8tEYdo Hey guys! So the amount of crossover between trials and enduro seems debatable, but I'm a huge fan of both. Unfortunately, I can't afford a trials bike right now. So recently I have been working on a technique I believe to be called 'double blip'. I wasn't sure the difference between that and jap zap. Pretty much, I would like to get better at blipping to wheelie, punch obstacle with front wheel as I drop the clutch. I'm not too concerned with actually getting any rear wheel lift before …

Well, went to my fourth trial today, it's the 2nd one I've managed to complete all 4 laps. Score still probably hopelessly high, but it's all good fun. I decided to go on the middle route as it was an Easy/ dead easy trial and the bottom route wasn't enough of a challenge. I did manage to crash several times, in places no else seemed to be crashing! What gives? But I'd rather challenge myself and get a high score rather than do something easy and clear it. I was nervous for the first two laps, started getting angry at myself on the last two and became a bit more aggressive, which helped loads as I forgot about being afraid. I also went quicker between sections, which wa…

I might regret asking this but..... I was watching a you tube vid the other day of some guys green laning and they were really struggling with a long hill climb, ground was dry but steep and heavily rutted, tree roots etc and while they were struggling it looked like something I would climb up on the trials bike easily (and I'm crap as!!) This led me to wondering why its so hard on a trail bike/enduro, the tyres are as good if not better (wet grass, mud use etc) so is it the additional weight, the gearing not being as low as on a trials bike or is it the frame geometry and physical size that prevents you trickling up finding the grip? I've done a little bit of greenlan…

I see that some riders can get a very quick almost explosive jump up from the pegs when unloading. When I attempt, it feels kind of slow and mostly like I'm compressing the rear suspension rather than pushing my body up quickly. Does this imply that my timing is off...maybe too early? I get some lift but not as much as I would like. I'm 155 lbs if that makes a difference.

The bike that is :-) Due to my hands not being that big I find it much easier to hold the clutch and brake levers with 2 fingers. However a friend who has been riding for years said I will get better control if I just use one finger. Do I need to try and train myself or doesn't it matter? Thanks Pete