ChrisCH

Normal trials is underwhelming. Boring. Why anyone would watch it is a mystery. But that is because it is a participatory sport not a spectator sport. It would be like watching someone sat on a river bank for three hours fishing. Hard to imagine why anyone would do that, but not hard to enjoy the peace and quiet and relaxation of going fishing for an hour or two. Although, to be fair, there is a sub group of barely human people that watch something called "Big Brother". It was on UK TV "live" and people did actually watch another (barely) human fast asleep. Apparently this is called "reality" TV. Now in my opinion the reality is is you watch it you are a bit of a dickhead but hey, let's be fair, some people do. And at least while they are watching someone asleep they are not stealing anything (bar some atmospheric oxygen maybe).

Only 4 years to go then. ?

Modern towbars fit into where the crash absorption bar is at the rear of the vehicle. You will generally need to remove the rear light clusters and the valance. Also the reversing sensors. It is a job within many people's capabilities but it is quite easy to break the plastic and a lot of cars there is a "knack" that once learned is easy but if you don't know it... The T-Roc will be Euro 6 if it is diesel. Lots of these (especially VW) can be a right PITA. It is sometimes the case that the Adblue tank needs to be taken off. So it can be an easy task if the car is one model or a PITA if it is another. Personally I would let someone else do it, someone that I trusted to do it properly. If you do them all day long it might take a couple of hours, if you are unfamiliar with them (and don't have the bodywork tools) it could be an all-dayer. If you break the valance it could be an expensive day as well. Again depending on the model the valance might need cutting to accommodate the towbar. If you have a good cutting tool, a steady hand and a keen eye should be no problem. If you are a bit ham fisted (like me) again I would let someone else do it. Not trying to put anyone off - I love the DIY option, but just to be aware. There really is a huge difference between different sorts of cars. As with motorbikes, knowledge is the key.

The max load for the Scirroco is 50Kg. No idea about the T-Roc - it's far too new for me. There's some good data here: https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/media/12354614/noseweights-mo__2_.pdf It's for the towing shed people but the principle is OK. Really hard to beat a panel van, but if you don't have storage space it is not going to work for you. Dave Cooper (of bike rack fame) does a nice fold up trailer as well as the bike racks. Your Scirrocco would tow that easily. Again (sadly) not a cheap option. Towing reduces your speed limits and keeps you outside the "fast" lane of the motorway, but then a panel van drops speed limits too. Depends on how much you need to travel with the bike. We ride local and I have a van for work so ideal. Jolly handy too for getting changed and you can have a little camping stove and make a bacon sarny for lunch, hiding out of the rain.

There are two options - put the bike inside or attach it with a trailer or bike rack. If it will not go inside whatever you plan to move it with then you need a tow attachment of some sort to pull the trailer or fit the bike rack. Bike racks are very good but you need to check the weight rating for both the car and the towbar. A lot of cars will not cope with the weight. You need to add together the rack and the bike so generally about 75-80Kg or so. Most cars/towbars will not be rated for that. As above the VW garage will charge a premium for the fitting and then probably go to a local towbar fitter to get the job done. Most car dealers don't fit towbars themselves. There are a lot of people around that fit towbars that are not very good at it. Try to get someone accredited by the NTTA or similar. Part of the cost issue is that you need a vehicle specific kit for the wiring. Modern cars like the T-Roc have a vehicle network (Canbus) and the electrics need to "talk" to it. Cheap backstreet operations will fit a bypass relay (bypassing the canbus) which is much much less expensive but might well invalidate any manufacturer's warranty on the car. If the car is on a lease or similar you need permission to alter it. The backstreet towbar fitter will not tell you about this - they will just take your money then fit some old rubbish and now it is your problem. https://www.ntta.co.uk/buyers-guide/quote-towbar https://www.towbarexpress.co.uk/volkswagen-t-roc-detachable-flange-towbar-t-roc-suv-a11/ £573 Seems about right. That is with a bypass relay - 200 extra for vehicle specifics. You would need to check if that is OK if there is any finance on the car - the specific kit is the correct option. The flange type is what you need for a bike rack. For that application you can get away with a lighting board as the bike covers the lights. For towing a trailer you need to look at things like reversing sensors and so on. So with a vehicle kit and proper fitting plus a main dealer mark up I would imagine you are getting near to a grand.

I hope you enjoy the new bike! I bought a Rev 3 about 18 months ago and yes, I did read all the thread.... We have exchanged that for an Evo (2014) and the clutch is better. However, I have to agree with the earlier poster that the Nano Trans oil makes a huge difference (no idea why). With the Rev 3 it improved the clutch but did not "cure" it. The Evo when we bought it had clutch drag and cold stick and I have changed the oil twice since then with the Putoline. There is a little stick there now but I can ignore it (at least now in the warm weather). I am often sceptical about what you read on the internet and forums are places for people to air their weird ideas and think someone is listening, but that "tip" worked out for me. Many thanks to all the people who contributed to this thread - it is a fantastic resource.

I think we will have to wait a bit longer and see how much longer things are shut down across Europe as a whole. The UK importers might well have a bit of an overstock and so there could be some good deals as we get near the model change. If the mainland stays shut down then the actual manufacturers might be in bother. Plus the added possibility of a second outbreak and second shutdown. I don't know how it works with bikes but certainly with other products the manufacturers force the importers/dealers to take new stuff whether or not they have sold the old stock. If so then the old stock will get sold off cheaply. Also lots of machines are supplied on a fairly long time to pay but once the dealer has to find the money the item has to be sold quickly or find the cash. This could also mean some heavy discounts. This year could well be a good time to trade up. But of course if lots of us do then the trade in will be worth less.

I bought my TRS as a friend at the club had a 250 One and I like it - it sounded quiet and he thought it was a nice bike. I read all the threads on here and went for the RR for the better suspension. I couldn't find a 250 so bought the 280. It is nothing like my friend's bike and looking back I probably should have waited, but I was impatient as I was sharing a Rev 3 with the wife. I have now got used to it and it is fine. First time I rode it it went off on it's own with me sat on my backside watching it. We were lucky enough to find a 250 Evo to replace the Rev 3 on eBay with a chap that took the Rev as a px. She prefers it and can start it - the old Rev used to beat her a lot of the times just kicking over. I find the Beta brakes and suspension are relatively poor if you ride the two one after the other. I hope to have a look at my friend's new bike. He replaced the TRS with an Evo factory (wanted the left hand kickstart). Will then decide if we upgrade again. I like looking at new potential bikes but the wife is much more sensible ?

Your link is to a multilingual one Mark - it has the English pages in it as well. I have the engine spare parts PDF if the OP wants it, just PM me an email.

I can only see the 2019 TRS online. It is not the same as the Orbea, the frame shapes are slightly different. That said you probably could ride them back to back and not really notice the difference. A lot of the eMTB trade on brand loyalty (KTM have a range for example). But really brand loyalty in the MTB world is to a MTB brand like Scott not to a motorcycle brand, so the motorcycle ones tend to be aimed at a much more limited market. Many years ago the bicycle world moved to mass production of frames in Taiwan. There are - I think - three (maybe more now?) huge factories there that produce the frames for nearly everything in the world. They churn out cheap junk and top end stuff, just alter the tooling and you can have whatever you want. The real top end stuff tends to be "designed" somewhere else with prototypes made (by hand) somewhere else but very very little is made commercially anywhere else - it just is not cost effective. The rest of the bike is SRAM or Shimano. SRAM bought Rockshox a couple of years back or so and are gradually becoming the standard in terms of forks. People still love Fox but the new Rockshox stuff is as good to be honest. The issue is therefore whether you want to pay for brand loyalty or not. There are some very good eMTB out there that are smaller brands which do not attract the premium price of a Scott or for that matter a TRS. The TRS looks nice and would match your bike (and mine - I would like one too) but beyond that it is just another Taiwanese frame and Chinese made components. I am sure it would ride nicely, but then they pretty much all do. Read some reviews and you soon realise that the "big" differences are all but irrelevant for us mere mortals. Unless you are a very capable rider the bike will generally out perform the operator. The TRS bike looks nice and will be bought by people for whom that is the key factor. I like the look of it and want one but my budget is not unlimited and any new push bike will be a regular bike to replace my current elderly machine (Scott) that is now an old heap of junk even though it was over three grand just a few years ago. The problem with nice looking is that they don't stay like that long (if you actually ride it).

No, I agree with that, but it is all interpretation as far as I can see of things. My personal concern regarding our local area is just that the current system of leave the fee in the letterbox does mean that anyone not giving a monkey's can "gather in a group". Now, to be honest, I don't care if they do and I am not that convinced it matters a great deal anyway even if they do. What I don't want to see is the practice area shut down by some heavy handed person at the council and losing it for good. (Nor the land owner getting hassle). The missus and I had planned to do a day with Steve Saunders and would still like to (that's two from one household and A N Other - so it is "OK" I think) But it needs a venue and so that venue needs to be open and some busybody somewhere with a grudge against motorbikes (you cannot imagine such a thing can you ?) and the venue is getting bother. I think Steve uses the Zona1 ground? So the club members will bitch they cannot play but a commercial training operation is making money whilst they sit at home frustrated. And so it goes. I think - on balance - I will wait it out until the UK has decided it doesn't care any more and so I will offend no one. As the other poster was talking about Kent I wonder if Jason is "open" - I think that is a private area and owned by him? I might give that a go, but it is a long drive for us. [edit] Checked the website and they are shut [/edit] The country appears to misinterpreted our idiot PM's comment to "go back to work if you can" (ie we are fed up paying the furlough money) to mean "do as you like it's all over". Anyway whatever the truth now might be a good time to sneak in some practice before the inevitable second wave and ensuing panic.

Running now.

https://www.splatshop.co.uk/ajp-4-pot-calliper-seal-kit.html

Looking at the muppets on the beach here in the sunshine I think trials is the least of anyone's worries. If only common sense was more common.

I can't help you on the other two but I have a '17 280 RR and it has smooth power that is OK for me (18 months riding trials). I bought it as a friend had a 250 One which he bought as the 300 was "too much" for him, so he sold it. From what I have read about it the 300 is a bit overkill for most people. I wanted a 250 but couldn't find one, but I have not found the 280 to be any bother. I speak to a lot of people who are quite surprised I have not fitted a slow throttle and all sorts of other performance removers. If you are happy with the 300 I think you have probably answered your own question.

My mate had a 350 Bultaco when I were a little lad. It scared the living daylights out of me. I think him too, as it was soon gone. I had an old scooter that we used to ride over the fields when they were just stubble. When I turned 17 I took my test and soon had a 500 road bike. My interest in off road bikes persisted but was on the back burner and my budget went on the main road machine. Returning to off road after all these years I have to say the modern stuff is 2 thousand light years away from my memory of that old Bultaco. The brakes work for a start. I'd like an old bike as a project but I don't have the time. Also anything old seems to be worth near on the price of a new bike, even if it is a heap of junk and has rusted in a shed for the last 30 years. I don't see the point, other than nostalgia or mechanical interest. If I had the time and cash I am not sure I would want to ride the thing when I finished it in case I broke it. I am really just don't get it to be honest. I get why a person might want one out of interest - I share that interest - but why you would move over to riding one for some sort of age-related or similar is just beyond me. A bit like vintage cars, you wheel it out for the London-Brighton and have a nice day out but then it goes on the trailer behind the L200 for the ride home. I am really enjoying trials. I particularly like it because my missus has taken to it as well. I've read all the threads and posts about slow throttles, flywheel weights and so on and really wonder if people come into the sport with no motorbike background? The bike only goes as much as you open the throttle. I remember that Bultaco and how much it scared me, but then I was about 15 and used to a worn out scooter with no clutch or gearbox. There is a chap in our club just started and he's a bit over 70 IIRC and bought himself a Montesa. I take great pleasure in seeing him riding as it reassures me I can keep going until I am 70+ Maybe by then I might have progressed a bit ? But sorry the fist impression is still there, you are not going to get me on that Bultaco..... ?

There is no facebook generation - it is a (horrible) platform for everyone that wishes to be on it. I meant the boomers who have all the money are getting older and are dropping active sports in favour of things like gardening. It is though nice to see that trials riding still attracts older people, there are plenty in our club, but as pointed out earlier they tend to just have a nice ride round rather than try to do Bou impression. My point, which I perhaps didn't really make very well is as @huski correctly points out the younger people are property skint and have so much stacked against them. You do need somewhere to store the bike and that is not a flat. (Mine's at work). Plus the rent/mortgage is many times what it was back in the days when trials was a mass market sport in the UK, back in the day everyone had a garage - even on a council house. Also people need to be able to get the bike to events. Youngsters are put off as they don't get the automatic B+E licence and car insurance for younger drivers is bonkers (my nephew paid over a grand for a Skoda Fabia). You need to store the trailer somewhere in your flat too ? You can keep a pushbike in the house/flat and stick it on a roof rack. It's more "trendy". But it certainly isn't cheaper. Go to one of the paid for MTB venues and there is some serious dosh swilling about. We went to Bike Park Wales last year and you can see there is a lot of enthusiasm for two wheeled recreation.

Thank you for sharing your view - it is genuinely interesting and a great point to start a discussion. I started trials about 18 months ago after wanting to do it for years but never actually getting round to it and getting to a point where I had pretty much forgotten it existed. I bought an old Rev3 which I shared with the missus and we "had a go" to see if it was something we wanted to do. It was and still is and we have a bike each now and prior to the lockdown have been (practice) riding most weekends. We are lucky to have a facility near us. I don't really see what difference the source of origin of the bike makes. The UK lost it's manufacturing outlook 40 years ago and that is not changing any time soon. At top level the sport has become rather more "Spanish" if you like as in the best riders are from there and a lot of bikes too. But are the two connected? I really don't know. As a spectator sport X-Trial is much more popular on mainland Europe than here but again I don't know why - the missus and I went to Rennes to watch just before xmas and it was great but I wish they had events like that in southern England. There were loads of people there and loads of kids. The local trials club were putting out invitations to people to come and try it over hte loudspeaker and looking at the kid's faces I would say the sport has a healthy future. As to cost - I spent more on a mountain bike than my '17 TRS. I can't say that trials is very expensive, I would use the term "cheap" to be honest. I've used the down time to put a chain and sprocket kit (and tensioner) on the missus' Beta and it was less than 100 quid. Have a quick look at the pushbike equivalent of a back sprocket - https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/hope-11-speed-cassette-10-40t/rp-prod147744 My own personal opinion - for what little it is worth as a newbie - is just that the UK is changing and the money in society is more in the older boomer generation and as they age they are giving up active sports. I like scuba diving and we are seeing the same thing there. If youngsters had more disposable income instead of paying through the nose for rent or mortgage I am sure lots more people would love to ride trials.

You can still go to the Isle of Wight. Last thing I read was that the UK would have a 14 day quarantine at the end of this month. If so then hopefully this will help bring down the spread a little. It's bad news for all of us wanting to go watch X-Trial on mainland Europe and bad news if people want to come here for the international events. However it certainly doesn't stop us having a club trial. In France now there are more restrictions than in the UK and one of them is a 100Km movement limit. This seems to me to be a good idea (perhaps a bit generous distance but good principle). Again such a restriction would not kill club riding. There have been many sensible ideas floated like on line registration and so on that all help. I really don't think we will be hit so very hard if I am honest, provided that the idiot government don't make too much of a screw up and it all kicks off again. One thing in our favour is we are a small enough sport that not a lot of people are going to hold an opinion one way or another. Getting Formula 1 car racing going might be a bit tougher...

1-1 training is OK as you are not meeting in more than 2 outside your household. I don't think they will have made sure it's okay, I think like many of us they are looking at the bank balance and thinking I must get some business, but that's just my view. Lots of activity round here and lots of it is a rule bend. The problem is not people (like yourself) being sensible it is the 2 million people that want to go to the beach and be half an inch apart. Have a good time and be careful, I can't wait for our local practice to open but I might wait a day or two for the crowds to thin out a bit ?

I hope you have a nice time. Do bear in mind this is not allowed. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do Para 1.1 "As with before, you cannot: - gather in a group of more than two (excluding members of your own household), except for a few specific exceptions set out in law (for work, funerals, house moves, supporting the vulnerable, in emergencies and to fulfil legal obligations)" There does seem to be a lot of confusion about the rules but they are pretty clear. IMHO the owner of a practice ground is still required to keep it closed. Lot of traffic on the internet now about all the things we can do, but a lot of people seem to think the "lockdown" is over. It is not. I think most of us (if we are honest) are bending the rules just a tiny bit past what they should be. I'm pretty keen to get back to our local practice area but I would rather wait than have the landowner shut it altogether for fear of being fined. For myself - as in just me personally - I would take the risk, I'm sure it would not be hard to keep apart from other people if there are not too many of us.

I thought that was the whole point of it? ?

It is a growing problem. I think the facebook addicts fail to understand that other people are not as sad as them. Andy's view on it is very interesting. I also don't facebook and never will. Much better class of person on here ?

I think that is fair. However we are not going to get to ride until such time as the government agree to let larger groups of people get together. The current limit is from the same household. The missus and I can go practice together but no one else can join us at the practice venue. At some point there will be a relaxation that larger groups of people can mix and then it is whether or not that number is large enough for a club meeting. I agree that trials is a low risk sport and is ideally suited to participants being 2m apart. I hope very much therefore we get an early opportunity to ride again, before the rugby/soccer and so on start.

I agree. Trials is a participation sport more than anything. Most people have a bike and ride. I don't follow the big competitions very much and so really don't know who is riding in what. The next big competition here (UK) is in Tong and it's too far to go. I don't imagine anyone is much interested in my club or who is "winning" beyond the club members themselves and even then we don't much care as a whole. I like to look at other people's projects - some are good others less so but it is sort of interesting to see what people are doing. I am interested in repairs that affect my bike choices, the Beta clutch fix is a good thread for example. I think the site would be very quiet if it was just about Raga vs Bou and so on.