Trials Training And Technique

Hi, sorry the title should say 'trail' Debating whether or not to swap my road bike for a road legal enduro or trail bike. I went to a trial today and it was way too hard for me, mainly because of the terrain getting between sections. Steep muddy hills, 5 mile lap, very steep drops too. I lack aggression in my riding if that makes sense, I want to get comfortable with throwing the bike around and learn to use momentum more. I don't want to wear the trials bike out hence maybe getting something more suitable for longer distances. I have no intentions of giving up, though I don't have much talent or hope I want to keep learning. I know people say getting a trials bike …

When a rider needs to front or rear wheel hop, is there any time that a bunny hop is a better option? Meaning you're hopping the whole bike toward a more advantageous spot vs just front or rear wheel moving?

Hello all. As if trying to balance wasn't already tricky enough, try doing it with a 6 year old "helping".

how do you other riders get over this fear? i find myself practising sections and riding well, put an observer there with their stern look, clipboard and flask and i instantly drop a mark and loose my nerve! i seem to have a sub concious that makes me to aware of my actions in front of a crowd, yet put me infront of 3 of my trials friends and im a level better and full of confidence! how can i overcome this?

So has anyone watched this? If so does it actually have some useful techniques in it or is it just a load of clips of Bou? The trailer has a lot of clips that are already on YouTube so not sure how useful it will be. I did have the Ryon Young DVD which was quite handy but lost it a few years ago. Failing that what about this: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=111554949542 Or this http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=111569479933 .

My throttle side forearm has been sore and I'm working on recovery. Right now, the worst part is when the front wheel lands after going over a log or similar obstacle. I can really feel the impact and am sure it is not helping recovery. Is there a technque to minimize this impact or at least make this easier on your arms? I try to unload the back as much as possible to minimize the rear wheel impact on the log and the resulting rotation/ front wheel landing impact. I also try to get far back on the bike and try to absorb some of that impact with my feet on the pegs. Still, there always seems to be some point bodyweight is shifted to the front of the bike and and arm…

anybody else get a cold clutch finger when riding? my front brake finger doesn't have the same problem! ive been trying to think of a something to keep my finger warm? or and exercise for that finger? maybe involve the girlfriend! lol

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'm getting ready to go out in a bit and need some inspiration. I've got to the point I can lift the rear wheel consistently by compressing the suspension, applying front brake on rebound, then pushing the bars down and about the front wheel. I'm having trouble getting the back to get any kind of lateral movement though. Tips please!

Thought I would share this 'top tip' with my Trials brethren which has been helping me recently. If I find my concentration going towards the end of a practice session, I'll start 'self-minding', ie talking out loud to myself about what I should be doing as I'm doing it. Curiously I find it most effective when I adopt a thick Yorkshire accent, specifically that of Martin Lampkin. "Come on Dougie! PerFECT! You've got about two inch. ForWARD!" Etc. it also helps that I practice alone so no one can hear me. Give it a try!

When turning to the left, full lock or close to it, what do you do with your right foot? Assuming the knee is way out as I have been taught it should be, where is the foot? Real question I'm getting to is, is the foot still in position on the rear brake or not? Or depends? Any experienced riders have some insight? I have tried to get that knee way out and still have the foot close to the brake but it's hella tricky.

for 1-2 ft logs, I think I have been doing it all wrong. And it has really come to light as I try to do double blip. Basically I have been raising the from wheel with the intention to hit the top 1/4 of the log approaching the top of arc of travel of the front wheel lift. Then a buddy pointed out to me to try to land the wheel to hit the top 1/4 of the log, but **on the way down** of the arc of travel of the front wheel. As soon as I touch, another blip to raise the front again, to expose the back wheel and over I go. Attached are a couple of pics. What do you all think?

Does anyone have advice on how to get used to progressive lenses while riding trials? Or is it a bad idea in general? I have the common failing of close up vision that comes with age. I normally wear progressive lenses but do not wear any glasses to ride or drive on the street or in the dirt. Distance vision is probably starting to fade a little so I started to think wearing glasses to ride may be a good idea and gave it a try. Problem number one is that all obstacles look at least 30% bigger. They really magnify the bottom portion of an obsacle where it first becomes vertical. The second problem is that looking up and down by rotating your eyes produces a diffe…

Yesterday, I took my first ever ride on a trials bike. I had known that there was a substantial amount of skill required to do this correctly, but boy, was I ever unprepared for what trials was all about. I had watched the Ryan Young and other Trials related how to videos on line. I knew that trying to climb a six foot sheer rock face was lunacy for a guy my age, but the examples of correct riding positions and techniques were pretty much counter intuitive to what I knew from riding a dirt bike. Luckily for me, no sooner than having pulled up to my parking area, a guy on a trials bike rode by. I flagged him down and explained my rather clueless situation with trials ridin…

G'day all, One thing that has become apparent since doing some miles off-road (since last January) is my fitness, or more correctly the lack of it! I cruise many hours on my road bike but the trials bike has shown up some need for attention to fitness. This "trials caper" later in life needs some resolve to gain some fitness but not injure myself in the process! Hehehehehe I'm reasonably strong for age and weigh 87 kg at 178cms, but the aerobic fitness is lacking as shown by my arms and legs giving out before my concentration getting around the next obstacle. I have some past injuries from motocross when young.... like a collapsed disc in neck and bad vertebrae in low…

Hi all. I can balance well with the engine off, on full or double pressures. What I struggle with is balancing with the engine on. Especially trying to balance whilst rolling to a stop. I also struggle with full lock turns, I'm not at the point yet where I can stop and balance mid turn. Mags has suggested in another thread to balance with the bike in gear, full lock and use the clutch/throttle to move the bike forward and then to stop and balance again. I've tried, but it's quite difficult. Does anyone have any tips? Why is it harder to balance rolling to a stop? Should you keep your body upright and the bike upright when doing a full lock turn or use the leaning the…

I've been riding around this area for years and never thought about how amazing it is until I bought a trials bike. I rode there yesterday and it's about as good as I can imagine. It actually looks even better up close Anyone care to come to Reno and give me some riding tips!

I'm really glad I found trials and this is why... Here's my list! Please add to it, ok?!? Trials is great exercise! Outdoors, and fresh air! No one cares if you're terrible! Immensely challenging! Can practice engine on or off! Bikes (arguably) can run forever! Events are cheap to enter! Trials folks are friendly! Can do trials in any climate! Way safer than most (all?) other forms of motorcycling! I feel lucky to have found trials and all of you on TC, Happy Holidays all

Well i got out and gave it a go today. I still have some setup issues like the bars feel too low and the suspension bottoms too easily and feels too slow in the rebound.. Might need different springs. Anyway i went up behind my house and tried a few double blips. Laughing because it seemed like i was going so slow and looking at the video i think i was still going too fast. The second one was the best i think. I set the front tire on top of the rock even though i was aiming for the face. The on top technique feels more natural so i might concentrate on that for a while before i go back to bashing the face. Despite what ive read all over the place, i still wasnt ready for …

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? …