atomant

Here is a song for those who are deeply in love - anyone married need not listen http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&v=fB5IPBeuHNo

Jeez Copemech, Sort out the link will ya

This was the point I was making earlier - run your trials for the punters enjoyment and all is well - its as simple as that

Im certainly not bashing the ACU but it seems reading through all the posts that we are are caught up in our individual preferences of the rules which I stated above, is only ONE component of a riders trials experience. People dont like seeing the government make sweeping changes when it benefits the city whilst the borders suffer - We are seeing more and more that local choice is the answer and the options in place right now for rules give that don't they? To get more people riding I think the overwhelming area to look at is section design and severity. IMHO

Hmmm - I have been giving this further thought ( o dear you all say ! ) and I have tried to look at it from the Punters viewpoint. We currently have 2 sets of rules in place to cater for each of the preferences , Stop or No-Stop - The local club decides what type of trial to run assessing the following main points: 1: What type of terrain they have available 2: What is the make up of their local riders (youth - O-40's etc etc) With this information they can then decide which type of trial to run to cater for their customers. If the punter levels are dropping, then there is something wrong (obviously),but with the rules just being one component of the whole trial experience at that particular club, then I would argue defining the rules alone to just one type is not the answer ( if the objective here is to grow the sport) I certainly don't have the detailed knowledge of John Collins or many other knowledgeable folk on here regarding trials, but I do know how to run a successful company and customer service and quality of your product will help to keep the customers coming back. My assumption then is quite simple - Trials needs to be able to cater for every type of rider Removing the choice from the club would therefore limit the choices available and consequently will result in losses of riders from some clubs - Probably in the south more than the north because of terrain - What the youth will make of it I have no idea but they do like to hop! IMHO

QcChopper I have the RedLynx 3D game for the PC although I never played on it much as its way too difficult. Those moves in that YouTube Vid of yours are just sick. This will find a market for sure but there isn't much chance of it appealing to most of the folk on here - But should the game developers want to make something more in tune with the massess that ride 'normal' trials, then a good place would be to look at the SSDT - Taking real video footage of those sections and being able to ride them on screen would be epic - Probably need a Wii as suggested before to maximise the games enjoyment though. Great to see that the Games World is seriously looking at trials - I see it as a very positive move ( albeit indoor style only )

*is wondering whether this is a good thing*

Lets look at this a different way - Currently, all the top riders have come up from the cycle trials route ( in one form or another) and Motorcycle trials is the natural extension of that. All current youth and junior riders will no doubt have a Monty or something similar and will be learning trick stuff that easily progress into MC trials . this system has around 15 years of riders in it.. So.... if you now look at the top riders riding non stop rules and look back, there will probably need to be a shift from cyclo trials as the breeding ground to possibly mountain biking or downhill where balance at speed is required. Also, greater levels of fitness ( not being able to stop in a section and balance taking a quick breather). There will be a lot of mountain bike riders who haven't seen the sport before looking at current traditional non stop sections and think maybe I could do that. Watch Toni Bou and they would show respect then say sod that! So what happens to the 15 years of cyclo trials riders in the queue? They will have to adapt and adapt fast (which I am sure they will) I believe there is only one group of people we need to look at for this to be a success! They are the people who will be plotting the sections. They get it right and it could be fantastic. In the past I was an advocate of the current WTC rules but after watching a few of the world rounds, it got quite boring to be honest. I am now a convert to non stop as a way forward simply because it opens up the field to many more atheletes outside the sport who could adapt to it. It might even get me back on a bike too

I have found this thread interesting reading all the posts. One thing that strikes me is that what has happened here is simply a change BACK to the rules of olden days! My view is simple - this is shortsighted in the least (but its a step in the right direction ... probably). You only need to read some other threads on here and see whats happening in other MC sports to see what people are watching and what is pulling the crowds. With established MC genres like MX & Enduro already doing well, we are now seeing the rise of EnduroCross gaining popularity in the states - X Games as well - Massive event.. and then you look at trials? despite the awesome skill - nowhere to be seen! Do people honestly think just going back to NON STOP rules will fix this? Now I am trying to imagine what a NON-STOP section would look like for these top boys and with basically a high percentage of the world sections I have seen being outdoor indoor sections, then most of them would have to be scrapped. Now what I would propose ( at least at the top level) is to add the features of why some of the other sports are doing so well, and that is speed! trials is simply far too slow! ( you may say thats the idea but in this post im talking about ways to grow the sport) The section design would be critical I'm not suggesting enduro speeds but certainly more like flat out in 3rd type of thing. Seeing highly skillfull riders control the bikes at speed whilst negotiating tough obstacles would definately be a big draw I would suggest. Maybe it could be scored on time in and out the section with a combination of dabs? or maybe many other ways. Radical but hey, thats me

Today, HSBC were fined

I cant stand the bloke either and hopefully at the next election, nor will most of the country and get the **** out! by the way, that video I hadn't seen before and that guy is wasted as an MEP - He should be running the Conservative Party !

LMFAO

I am told it works good for dry rocks ?

What a cacophony! The whole thing just didn't work at all....... But no doubt Raga got some dosh for it so he couldn't give a ****

This has been on here before but with Tony Blair Clicky Linky

I may be wrong here but is not the upcoming british crop of talent the best there is in the world right now? I would suggest that if Dougie did choose to take these lads on, there aint a better time to do it!

Top post Dabster ! I cant endorse this view enough to be honest

Well done and very wise to pick a picture with little spoke work to do I find the best images that benefit from this are ones which have the item you want to pop close to the lens, and the background showing some depth. Like a distant crowd for instance. Ian Cross produced this awesome effort of Dabill at Carlilse which I think best shows what I mean. Another thing to try is to layer the background into a few layers where there is a defined distance, and then apply a stepped gentle blur to each layer to give a sensation of depth. p.s. This photo may already be on here somehwere so apologies if you have seen this before

No Copey, you ARE twisted! Just accept it and then you can move on with your life

They don't think you are nuts, they are just waiting for the thing to tip over and then watch you get shredded in the blades as it falls on yer p.s. Dont like the paintwork as its not gruesome enough

Nope, no need! The wife does it

I seriously think you need help mate !

Did anyone see that coming? That was an amazing result and not the first time he has beaten them both this year as well (albeit in a different event). If that doesn't boost sales of the EVO then nothing will. Well done Alexz

Besides less weight, lowering the CoG is a very good thing. Easier to balance for sure.

Billy Connolly is great stuff. Just went through a load of his vids on you tube and now made up for the day