As time has gone on, my Forma Boulder boots are neither comfy nor waterproof (or even resistant), and are wearing really badly on top of the left toes ... which seems like really bad value for money to me
Conversely, my street bike Alpinestars are super waterproof, comfy, and apparently indestructable. So I'm a little disappointed to hear their trials boots aren't any good, 'cause I was going to go for a set of those next year.
I've been riding in Tescos stretch Jeans, but they're not suitable when it's wet so I just got myself some cheap MX trousers off ebay. I've also got Hebo trials trousers, but I don't find them comfortable.
Just ordered a pair of Wulf MX trousers because they were in an excellent colour and on sale, hopefully they'll be more suitable for autumn than the jeans ...
I've been eyeing up motocross trousers for this purpose, as I'm not super keen on lycra (I have some Hebo lycra ones and they're not very comfy, so I've just been wearing stretch denim jeans from Tesco recently)
Dunno about that, you can be conpetitive on cross country on a £2K bike ... anyway, this is getting away from my main point, which is that modern mountain bikes are super convenient, multi-purpose, low on faff, and can be ridden anywhere. The cost is a more minor consideration.
Another thing is that riding a trials bike is less environmentally friendly, which matters to many young people.
Mind you it has got Maxxis tyres on it, they account for about £30.00 of the robbery... You need to keep that price quiet or Trials bike manufacturers will start charging £15.599.00 for a top of the ranger ..............
I got my Scott suspension bike for £100, and spent about £150 making it mechanically sound. It's not light, but otherwise nice :-)
That's about the same as I've spent on my Gasgas in the last year after buying it, not including petrol, 2-stroke oil, filter oil, or engine oil (and I need to do the fork seals now ...)
None of the above stopped big entries or new riders getting involved - why is it so difficult now ?
Because now, for much less money than a trials bike, you can get a nice full suspension mountain bike which doesn't need mucking about with premix or cleaning air filters every week, can be ridden anywhere, doesn't annoy people with noise, etc etc. ... and for most people it scratches the same itch.
Reading the post it stands out the trials riders fall into 2 groups 1 that compete/ 1 that play, Its the 1s that only play we need to get to trials .Would instead of giving beginners a riding number a card with F on it for "fun" ,there scores are not recorded or put on results if they dont finish trial /miss sections they are not marked down as a dnf ,only there names on the results saying they were there " only they would know how they did", So when they feel ready they can get a riding number and compete if not stay in the FUN class , This way no extra courses/ alter sections or pressure put on them to do a section if they dont want to do it or do x laps they only do what they are happy with, The fun class is not just for beginners / thinking about moving course try it no scores to be seen
My local club know how useless I am, if I miss one particular gate that I don't feel confident getting around they don't mark it; it does take a bit of pressure off me, even though I'll be in last place anyway, lol
There should be plenty of others on here with this experience, or is that the problem do most unfit middle aged new starters end up quitting? Having said that I now just practise I don't compete.
I find it exhausting, I can imagine someone less bloody-minded being put off by it.
There's not a vast difference, some makes have specific years to avoid due to a known problem and older bikes will probably be harder to find some parts for, but the weight and handling etc will be about the same.
The more modern machines like to have more regular maintenance than the old twin shocks, though - lots of oil changes and air filter cleaning. It's the price you have to pay for having a bike that's under 70Kg!
Trials schools would help but some are quite open to saying they have no desire to improve. Hard to accommodate this attitude with others who do want to progress and this drives an even bigger ability gap and a gap in expectations.
Trials schools seem to be very expensive and out of my price range, which is reasonable considering it's the instructors' livelihood and they usually have bikes and gear to buy / maintain. My small friendly local club has been a huge help in learning, and I count myself lucky in that!
27 minutes ago, haysy said:
Its difficult this but surely as a beginner people cant be expecting to lose under 10 in a trial? When I started in the early eighties there was only one route that everyone rode and my scores were usually in treble figures (still are ), but I loved it!!
I don't understand that, either ... I average about 3000 points per trial, but love it. Perhaps that's a case of people with unrealistic expectations and being over competitive (?) in which case the last thing needed for the sport is for them to be pandered to.
Pre entry trials is for the dark ages, it's 2017. Sending cheques...WTF ! no wonder you can't get young folk in to it, they don't even know what a queue is, nevermind what it looks like. We're living in modern times and until such til as the dinosaurs in trials realise that, you're going to struggle for entries.
It'd be nice if there was a quicker way to sign on for events; eg. turn up and book in on your phone (using an app that knows your details), pay through paypal, and just collect your number.
Also, if you have a listing that just says something like "Farmer's Wood" and the postcode on an events page, it's a bit offputting. Having a photo or two of previous events there, maybe a link to a video, gives people an idea of what to expect and might help encourage those who are on the fence about going.
Few clubs appear to have an online guide for newbies (like, here are the nearest loos, the stages are usually around this area, you can park over there, etc etc), or an introductory video about the club ... that's the sort of thing new riders would appreciate regardless of age.
I don't have a solution, but as a new-ish 40+ rider when I look at classic trials in continental Europe it looks like a nicer setup - taped courses where you can just get from the start to the end as a beginner (or someone who isn't competitive and just wants to have fun), with a small number of tricky gates for the A and B riders. It looks like it makes it easier to understand on the day, and makes more sense when you're watching a video of it too.
Is there areason why this is rare to see in the UK? Is the tape too much faff?
Crash statistics don't lie; having ABS on bikes leads to less accidents, less serious injuries from accidents, and fewer fatalities. It sounds like your ABS system may have been faulty if you've locked the wheels and it hasn't activated.
German kids do learn about the Holocaust, my nieces and nephew can attest to that ... whether all kids are paying attention in class is another matter.
O'Neal trials lid opinions
in Trials Gear
Posted
That top one looks cool, and ideal for a little extra safety on road trials