billycraig

I have 4 knee ops to add to my tally as well Tim . Consultant has warned me that he wants to do a replacement but I'll work to avoid it. I've helped a few rehab themselves, the most impressive was a 76 year old who was on his 2nd go at it. He got fit enough to ride a bike again after 15 years unable to. Biggest thing is to think about the alignment being the reason it wore out. Imagine the tracking in a car, if you just replaced parts without realigning then it would wear out quickly. So, ensure your rehabbing it correctly (its not as simple as most physicalterroists tell you). Then train it well, ensure you get as much flexion/extension as you can and then work on muscle strength. Finally learn to stretch and release the tight muscles to stop misalignment/wear occurring.

I'd go for the smile everytime. Bike's perfect for the trials you mentioned as I'm just finding out. After years on Beta/Gas Gas I've not really noticed the weight issue and have found the bike easier to ride in most situations. You can send me your ptb though if you do swap

None, not had an Ohlins since my last Raga. Chris may be your man for that. Why not just get a showa?

Is it child's bike its going on? Bit flash splashing out on an ohlins, you should be saving your cash for rear mudguards mate.

Rode a 125 for 2 years in some fairly big trials (SSDT, Novagars and various other nationals) and it was one of the best things I ever did. I weigh 76kg, 5ft 10 and 35 years old and it coped with everything I put it through. My dad is now riding the 2nd one I had and is enjoying the things you mentioned such as the handling and the ability to have more control of the power. I personally liked having to ride it more aggressively and being able to throw it around a bit more. Someone on here explained the gyroscopic effect and angular momentum as to why its so much easier handling despite having the same weight on paper. I rode an 09 & 10 125 Gas Gas but have also tried 225 GG and a 200 Beta so have a look at all the options. My experience says get the smallest engine that you can cope with for what you want to ride as you'll naturally have more control. If your doing club trials then theirs very little that a 125 would struggle with.

Well said , the amount of athletes that suffer heart failure is frightening. Its not meant to be pushed to far to often, gentle regular activity is better than over doing it.

Make sure you keep the water handy, dehydration and lack of electrolytes causes the heart to work harder. If you slow down the other riders theirs probably a fair few who are glad of a breather but also didn't want to slow the group either.

Most people would call it quits way before reaching maximum. At Loughborogh Uni there were 10 (all advanced PT's) of us involved in doing max testing on a treadmill and on a leg press. 9 people all just turned round and said they'd reached maximum when they felt they'd had enough, which probably equates to 60-80%. I'm pigheaded and obsessed with health testing so was the only one that did a true max. At max I had blurred vision, slurred speech, and couldn't even reach for the emergency stop button. My predicted max was 220 - 24 and I went way past that. I'd of chosen to stop earlier but couldn't do anything other than fall. The lecturer waited till he could see me on the verge of collapse and could see me start to look very ill (I had agreed that I was willing and fit enough to try it), before hitting emergency stop just as my legs buckled under me. Can't remember my exact figure but it worked out that my predicted max was around 85-90% which would just be as far as you'd be willing to push yourself if you really had to. The figures are probably worked out low to keep everyone safeish. I was sick in the bucket the had ready for me and showed serious signs of hypoglycemia for hours afterwards. The estimation is there so you can roughly work out how hard someone can work without having to have a sick bucket ready or a crash team. The other method is to use rate of perceived exertion 1 being easy 10 being running from the grim reaper. I used to teach spin classes to gym members and it was always interesting to ask them to hear a new member saying it was too when I'd asked them to work at 80% RPE. A quick word in their ear that it was them who decided what 80% was soon rectified the problem. As has already been said heart rate monitors are little more than a guide, the battery in the strap even has an effect on the heart so don't get overly worried about a particular reading especially if you felt well.

In an actual trial its more little bursts of exercise so practicing will always be a greater exertion as you don't really stop to walk a section or queue up. Sounds like your doing well and the best judge of yourself is you. Stay WELL hydrated and make sure you take in enough glucose and a little salt, without those your heart will be working harder to compensate.

Depends on lots of variables? Temperature, your normal resting rate, illness recently, any history of problems and how you actually felt at the time? Nothing like testing someone to make their heart rate to rise. If its concerning you (which it is or you wouldn't ask) get it checked, will put your mind at rest.

Riding motorbikes and any balance activity requires reflexes to protect from injury. From the basics such as putting your hands out hands to help regain balance or sticking a leg out as is often seen in trials. Through to more advanced reflexes such as slipping on ice of the moving walkways at airports. We use righting reactions and tilting (equilibrium) reaction Righting and tilting response is a natural reaction that should be learned by our nervous system while we are very young. As we age, suffer trauma, become seated to long or fail to rehabilitate properly we can loose function. [Abreu, B. C., Physical Disabilities Manual, Raven Press, 1981] Tilting reactions are also developed while we are young children as part of the process of learning to walk etc so we can maintain or regain our center of gravity and avoid falling over. Righting reactions are used for sports on a fixed/stable surface such as gymnastics. Tilting reactions are for when the ground moves underneath. Surfing, horse riding, MX, enduro and trials, use both righting and tilting reflex but are way more dominant in tilting reflex. During a trial the bike may move unexpextidly on a rock, mud, camber etc so its wise to train tilting reflex. It gets trained whilst riding but, if like many pro riders that I've seen, you train in a fixed surface (often on resistance machines or leg curl arm chairs) then your building up a dominance in the wrong reflexes or more likely dumbing down any neuromuscular reflexes. Not a great video for explaining it well but they have got the right idea.

Don't just focus on normal riding, put some effort into manhandling the bike. Its tough going out there, towards the end it will be a case of using all your energy to get the bike up whatever is in front of you, and thats everywhere not just in the sections. Whatever you intend to drink or eat, make sure its nothing new to you, make sure it works for you well before the day.

Filled in one for you, great idea and I'd be interested to read your results at the end.

As far as I know it was when it was Montesa bikes, but then pedro separated from the company and it became Monty. Not been to the factory for many years but Pedro and his wife Maria were lovely people who always made team GB very welcome at the factory. Megamo were originally part of the Gas Gas umbrella of Remoto in the early days as well

He had to borrow my helmet and clothes for that after his got lost on the flight over here. A few people thought I'd suddenly become very hairy and tanned over night. Their was a time when Ot wanted to move onto moto trials but I think his dad Pedro put his foot down as Ot was so important to the family business and brand as he was and still is Mr Monty. Would love to of seen what he could of done though.

Dougies Report

Looks like my dads garage. Thats a serious bidding war thats started from 99p.

Riding tends to flatten the wrists. If you compare trials/mx/downhill riders (and some other bikes sports) with someone who isn't putting so much pressure on them you tend to notice a much flatter, squarer cross section of the wrist. In normal carpal tunnel the median nerve becomes trapped more due to being inflamed but it can literally be squashed in a bike rider by the wrist loosing its shape. Its worth buying some sports tape (endura is my usual brand) and putting a wrap around the wrist to try and keep the shape. The operation frequently only gives temporary relief so I'd give it a go trying to support the shape of your wrist before going down any surgical routes.

No worries mate, am non weight bearing for another 4 weeks I think. Proper bored of it now The better your diet before and after surgery the quicker and stronger you'll repair. Think of it like having a new wall built, if the builders not got the materials your wall will be delayed as would your repair. If he buys shoddy materials it may not last. Your body will scavenge collegen etc to do as good a job as it can but now is really the time to look after yourself and eat as well as you can. No need to be strict, just eat well and it'll pay of. Let us all know how it goes, its always useful for others to hear what its actually like just in case we go down that road.

I'd say your looking at a minimum of 6 months of, maybe longer depending on your diet and how well you respond to rehab. By the end of 6 weeks you will be working back to having full range of movement and some strength that feels close to normal. Do not push it, the shoulder is the most mobile joint you have, because of this its not very congruent. When you compare it to the hip for example which is a deep socket and also covered in ligaments to help its stability. The shoulder needs to be mobile so is a less deep and relies on the muscles etc to act as support. These muscles have to provide stability as well as movement so as you can imagine rehabbing one is a tricky balancing act. You'll need to initially relearn positional (or postural) awareness as well as how to set the scapula (check youtube so you really know what the physio expects you to do). You'll need to avoid excessive movements (I won't mention which as it'll be hard to know what I mean online and you'll be shown what to avoid) Do not test their limits. Dietary wise, I always increase Glycine and Zinc which always get depleted after surgery and help with speeding the healing up. I take my glycine via a gelatin supplement which contains all the amino acids I want but in particular is high in glycine. Funk has a good reputation, but hopefully this helps you know what your walking into. If you need any advice just let me know. I'm sat here recovering myself.

Make sure theirs enough calcium in the water you drink (if your drinking any) For me evian has the best balance of minerals which allows perfect cell function. When the balance becomes altered they struggle to function and become stuck. Ensuring your properly hydrated with the correct balance of minerals is your foundation. Then gradually increase the training effect by either slowly increasing your riding time until it's no longer a problem. In a gym you could try hanging from a smith machine and doing 45 deg pull ups (timed rather than reps though so you don't cheat when it gets hard). Or a weight attached to a bar which you wind up mimicking the throttle. Good luck and remember to take it slowly

I've spent 2 years on a 125 2t and then struggled when I got back on a 250 2t (I always used to have a 280). I've just ridden a 4rt in the Scottish and felt completely at home on it. To me it feels as though things happen a bit slower (as things do on the 125) giving me more time to pick lines and actually ride plus I have power there when I want it. Having never ridden 4t I wouldn't of even contemplated it until I borrowed one. As others have said, get go. Make sure it's a good go if your new to 4t trials. I went to Pidcock's montesa test day and was allowed 2 hours to give the bike a go in all sorts of situations.

From the look of the picture of it in the Gas Gas UK advert on the back of the SSDT program it looks like a black frame, with new shock, new linkage, red triple clamps, white fork legs and a lot of S3 kit. Looks quite smart. Oh and the advert says 2011 Raga replica