"old-school" Trials

[robb_o]

What is it that keeps us "old-school" trials riders riding "old-school" setups?

My reasons are 2-fold -

1. I get stuck in my ways very easily and scared of change.

2. I like riding what looks like a "normal" bike to the general public and doing tricks that they wouldn't expect from a normal bike.

People must see modern trials bikes and think "ooh I bet he can do some well good stuff on that cos it's a well good looking bike blud" and EXPECT good riding.

Discuss...

[nmt_oli]

i just don't get on with long bikes, they don't feel right to me.

I like my leeson and although the most trials specific bike ive had (the only one i cant sit on whilst riding) its still similar to a normal MTB as you say, so switching from it to my get around rig, or XC rig is nice and easy.

[liam-pantera]

theres something about the oldschool that is just magical the fact that nothing was mass produced there was no cnc and hightec was a gaint team trials , right now things just seem so fake compaired to what everyone used to do i say bring back manuals and wall taps but i still enjoy traisl so its all good .

[gianttrials]

well it has to be said that most american pro riders ride what appear to be MTBs (or are they? is ryan leechs bike just a normal MTB???), either way manuals an wall taps still exist, lots of riders still do old skool tricks on old skool an new skool bikes.

[muddyfox]

well it has to be said that most american pro riders ride what appear to be MTBs (or are they? is ryan leechs bike just a normal MTB???), either way manuals an wall taps still exist, lots of riders still do old skool tricks on old skool an new skool bikes.

Ryan Leech is Canadian. Most U.S. pros ride "new school" setups

[gianttrials]

Ryan Leech is Canadian. Most U.S. pros ride "new school" setups

that he is but canada an u.s pretty much the same scene, hans rey, jeff lenosky, jj gregorwicz, lance trappe an many more ride with seats an old skool trials setups

[PaRtZ]

In all honesty, I see myself as an old school rider, but as for setups Im as modern as you can get really. I love spinning sidehops and rotating along walls and blunting and going to bash and all that, but I still use double disc and front freewheel

I don't know. Maybe you're such in awe of how those guys back then managed on what is now "shite" components that you want to try and understand how difficult it is

[trialschallenger]

well i get called old skool by all these whipper snapperrs that ride about nowa days

i have riden a few of these newish bikes ( g.u. adamant..) lovly bikes but if my first trials bike was that easy to ride i woulda been in heaven

it used to be a chore even getting the thing moving let alone doing tricks on it

[br3n]

I agree with that comment... ^ Learning much be considerably easier now-a-days!

[manuel]

if you can cope with pogo sticks you are new skool - if you cant you are old skool.

personally - i cant ride very well on +10 bb so i guess im very old school.... reasons being bad back pain... also i cant cope with a good rear brake so grinds are out..... old school...

more controversially - 1 big move wonder = new school, linked moves = old school.

Edited July 10, 2007 by manuel

[trialsguru]

also i cant cope with a good rear brake so grinds are out..... old school...

rowan, there's grinds, smooth rims and then theres death traps...... yours is a death trap haha

god only knows how you can ride with that thing!

i dont know if im old skool or new skool, i dont spin loads but do enjoy the odd 360spin. i would just call myself a trials rider really...

[hill_393]

I personally think that there is no such thing as old skool and new skool. Only a riders specific style. Styles of riding change quickly - Last year was spins, this year is hooks and taps and sidehops, but these styles change so much and so quickly that nothing sits in the past long enough to be called "Old Skool". Elements of each style creep into another style.

For instance, I try and change and evolve my riding style constanly, so I don't get stuck in one discipline. Elements of Skatepark riding ( Grinds, Fakie's), I use in normal trials riding, and the precision of trials riding I use in skateparks for spins. I change style's and diciplines so much that I have no set style. My friend's Dave and Spode, Tall Rob etc are th same - constantly evolving to stay one step ahead of the set style of trials riding you see in video's nowadays - And I have to stress i don't mean set style in a negative way.

Darren

[boon racoon]

didn't chris ratcliffe once run an article in mbuk years ago about the trialskings, running it under the theme of them being "the new skool"

Edited July 10, 2007 by the boon

[streetjibs]

didn't chris ratcliffe once run an article in mbuk years ago about the trialskings, running it under the theme of them being "the new skool"

^^^indeed!^^^

Im in my 11th year of riding trials and just this year decided to leave the seat off and stretch out with a long low bike and i gotta say its stil good to ride but yeah i think shorter old school bikes are more general fun to ride. This is one spot where 24" bikes are sorta filling the gap in the market i think.

To me, imo, old school is - Libor Karas, thierry klinkenberg, straight top tube crescents, plastic mini seats, xc bikes with cromo rigids on, fluoro yellow maggies and tomacs, Jeff Lenosky, Pashleys, Koza, Monty, the white dbr trials frame we all wanted, DCDs, JJ rockin a Jamis painted crescent/megamo/monty lol, the marts on raleighs, vanguard magura pads, Cesar Canas being the king of mods, Hans Rey and Otpi, Monkey see monkey do and Keigou Arizonou (sp?) doing the maddest balance lines ever!!

thing to remember is old school will forever be open to ppls opinions, to someone 15yo the megamo DD frames are probly considered oldschool and im sure people older then me will think that what i call oldschool is probly middle school or watever lol

point is the sports progressing, remember where it came from, how it all started and keeep this in mind next time ur whinging about your hydrolic disc brakes slipping... some people used to ride trias with centrepull cable brakes with std pads...

[boon racoon]

point is the sports progressing, remember where it came from, how it all started and keeep this in mind next time ur whinging about your hydrolic disc brakes slipping... some people used to ride trias with centrepull cable brakes with std pads...

how is it progressing though? is it?

yeh people are doing bigger moves, the comp scene is thriving (urgh can't believe i even said that) with younger, better world champs. 2 rival competition series in the UK instead of working together?! what's that about.

but put simply, in terms of the public eye:

bike 2000..MASSIVE course, speed trials. WORLDWIDE riders putting on a f**king amazing show to the public

bike 2001..brisa riders blowing everyone away. huge crowds. big course.

---

bikeshow 2007..2 demos a day which were horrendously boring, and at times where no one was there. small course and poor rider list (in my opinion)

nass 2002..amazing course and big prizes funded by animal etc. holroyd, burns, tongue and ashton ripping it up

---

nass 2007..no trials to speak of. demos were pretty good (to be fair to andre) but only 1 rider. arranged very last minute by the sounds of things.

BIKEBATTLE 2003 nottingham. absolutely f**king amazing event and huge crowds. has anything been replicated since?! nothing even close.

that's why it's frustrating for "old skool" riders. i know that events and stuff are subject to money and a whole load of other factors - but the bottom must have fallen out of trials somewhere?! if it could get the financing and support all those years ago, why not now?

what do we get now..internet videos every day which are all mostly the same, and the pubic don't ever see. do you think it's a co-incidence that danny macaskill's 1 minute 40 video which was hashed together and put on youtube has had over 1 million views - yet is all "shit bmx trials"?!

/rant

maybe i'm bitter

Edited July 10, 2007 by the boon

[F-Stop Junkie]

To me, imo, old school is - Libor Karas, thierry klinkenberg, straight top tube crescents, plastic mini seats, xc bikes with cromo rigids on, fluoro yellow maggies and tomacs, Jeff Lenosky, Pashleys, Koza, Monty, the white dbr trials frame we all wanted, DCDs, JJ rockin a Jamis painted crescent/megamo/monty lol, the marts on raleighs, vanguard magura pads, Cesar Canas being the king of mods, Hans Rey and Otpi, Monkey see monkey do and Keigou Arizonou (sp?) doing the maddest balance lines ever!!

Martins on Raleighs? Are you think of Ian Cooper on his Raleigh? The martins first photoshoot was on Specialized Rockhoppers, then I think they did a couple of features - mainly for MTB Pro - on Megamos and Saracens before settling with Scott for Hawziee and Ashton at Cannondale.

Oh, you're old school if you say Hawziee

I don't think pointing to riders like Ryan Leech or Jeff Lenosky are great examples now of riders using 'old school' bikes, as both are very keen on promoting their sponsors and the sport as a whole, and will therefore use a standard looking bike as far as possible.

The old school as I think of it, pre-Trialskings, was very much based in competition. It was about inching bikes around, lots of balance hops, and keeping your feet up. Everything became a section. What the Trialskings really did was open up the vision of street riding, and really took out the idea of a section-mentality. Yes, they went big, but it was more the idea of flow and style, and using speed for big moves. Looking back at those videos now, they're still identifiably trials, but not slow and crawling about. That was a big turning point.

Looking at the trials scene now, it's almost gone away from flow and back to the single big move. The proliferation of Internet videos, and the idea of fast editing has placed the emphasis on The Move, instead of the line. Chris Akrigg is a great example of this, as he's all about the idea of one move after another, and throwing in little tricks and moves. He's like the Rodney Mullen of trials. The great shame is that a trials competition - looking at nothing but dabs - will never show Chris's flair or style. The Trial Noir video however really opened a few folks eyes.

The old school was a different time. It was really before trials came together as it has, but also an explosion in media interest on an unprecidented scale. Several articles every month in MBUK, but no (or an early form of) TF. Section7 which had a huge competition following and lead big discussions on the subject. The increasing availability of specialist parts, but a Threshold booster, or set of Plaz pads was a big deal. The big influx of new riders caused the diversity to a large extent that trials is now enjoying. Competition riding has wained to an extent, but replaced with social rides. The MTB-Trials list and Essex Trials newsletter gave way to Section7, Bashguard.com and TF.

The past is the past, in the same with Group B rally cars have given way to WRC ones. It's so difficult to describe those times to someone who's grown up in the bountiful world of photos, videos, specialist parts and guides to sidehopping.

Enjoy the new school, you've never had it so good. Now where's my pipe and slippers?

[Greetings]

To me an oldschool rider is one that isn't obsessed with doing higher sidehops than his friend, enjoys riding alone on small walls and can come up with something more interesting than just a sidehop or tap.

edit: cool little game - take turns getting up a say 25" wall with your mates, you're not allowed to do the same move twice. The first one to repeat a move gets knocked out.

Edited July 10, 2007 by Inur

[streetjibs]

boon: im in oz mate so not aware of your comp scene over there but yeah agree bout the rest of it.

F-Stop: i stil remember wen i met the guy who was THINKING about starting to make plaz pads... hes now a very busy man!

YES i meant saracens... im at my gfs and so couldnt rember the pics iv got on my wall. Oh yeah iv got a hansrey signature from 1996

My point was meant to be that the sport has come along way as in we now have trials specific companies, bikes, parts etc. In australia I went to a nationals in 98 and there were aboutr 12 trials riders we now get anywhere around 50plus competitors which is pretty impressiv considering how far apart we all live.

Oh yeah chris's style might not get "noticed" at comps... but last time i checked he was how many times UK champ and wenever he rides its always remembered. Theres some of him ridin Australia in Trial Noir, that i filmed... to this day i have people asking me to show them that UP he does and stil no1 has the balls or whatever to attempt it.

Theres my rant... im gettin too old for this shit!

Edited July 10, 2007 by streetjibs

[F-Stop Junkie]

how is it progressing though? is it?

but put simply, in terms of the public eye:

bike 2000..MASSIVE course, speed trials. WORLDWIDE riders putting on a f**king amazing show to the public

bike 2001..brisa riders blowing everyone away. huge crowds. big course.

---

bikeshow 2007..2 demos a day which were horrendously boring, and at times where no one was there. small course and poor rider list (in my opinion)

BIKEBATTLE 2003 nottingham. absolutely f**king amazing event and huge crowds. has anything been replicated since? nothing close.

that's why it's frustrating for "old skool" riders. i know that events and stuff are subject to money and a whole load of other factors - but the bottom must have fallen out of trials somewhere?! if it could get the financing and support all those years ago, why not now? what do we get now..internet videos every day which are all mostly the same, and the pubic don't ever see.

The Bike Show crowds were fuelled by MBUK. They also ran the show, and really pushed trials to the forefront and gave it a great arena. One of the big cheeses from those shows is (was?) now looking after the Cycle Show, and again trials is getting the funding and promotion.

The Bike Battle was an amazing weekend, one of the best of my life and I'm sure the riders would agree. Everything was thought through, money was invested in the event and in the promotion of it. That's the benefit of sponsors willing to pay a good amount of money, and event organisers who have experience doing it. I'm sure Red Bull could run a series - like the Nissan Qashqai Urban Challenge events - tomorrow and they'd be great.

Where has the money gone? Well I think it's more of a case of was there ever money there? MBUK fuelled the scene in a big way. Shows could put on the big events because they'd get the money back and more in ticket sales. Remember seeing the queues for the trials arena? Seems like a long time ago now... The Bike Battle was a one-off. Other than that, there is very little money in trials generally compared to other forms of sport. The bikes are getting cheaper and cheaper, which means less profit per unit. The sport gets little coverage - especially the competition side - which means less sponsorship from outside the sport. Plus trials is - for the most part - a sport for kids and teenagers. That's slowly changing as more riders grow up, but there are far fewer older riders putting their hard earned cash into bikes, and bits, and kit, and magazines than in XC mountain biking, which is why an event like Mountain Mayhem is massively oversubscribed and a big budget event, while the UK trials scene has nothing to match it.

The only way that trials as a sport can thrive is by getting coverage, by getting to big events, and by entering the mainstream as more than just a novelty. Skateboarding has done it, as has BMX and FMX. Why not trials?

[Janson]

To me an oldschool rider is one that isn't obsessed with doing higher sidehops than his friend, enjoys riding alone on small walls and can come up with something more interesting than just a sidehop or tap.

edit: cool little game - take turns getting up a say 25" wall with your mates, you're not allowed to do the same move twice. The first one to repeat a move gets knocked out.

word.

variety is king, even though i am a tgs whore.

[streetjibs]

^^SPEAK THE TRUTH^^

creativity is key

[F-Stop Junkie]

boon: im in oz mate so not aware of your comp scene over there but yeah agree bout the rest of it.

F-Stop: mate i was ridin trials and shit before u were poopin you pants and learnin that the thing between your legs isnt a 2nd belly button... or maybe it is jks!

Trialskings arent oldschool not at all!!

U talk of plaz pads... i stil remember wen i met the guy who was THINKING about starting to make plaz pads... hes now a very busy man!

Well I was riding trials back in '95, getting bashrings from Ryan Leech's team mate and importing them from Canada myself. I remember being on the MTB-Trials list back then, following the exploits of odd American and Canadian series. I know the trialskings arn't old school to some, but then it's a matter of perspective. Are they old school now? Certainly.

Yeah, Tim Williamson back in the Goatwheels days. A long time ago now!

[streetjibs]

haha we agreee!!

"matter of perspective.." exactly wat i was saying... old school depends on who you are and how long youve been around.

ok so were both old and pretty much from same era,

thierry klinkenberg stayed with me in 96, met hans rey that year and turned my steel mongoose into a trial bike ... scary times

[monkeyseemonkeydo]

Monkey see monkey do

Good to see I get a mention...

[MikeCottTrials]

The only way that trials as a sport can thrive is by getting coverage, by getting to big events, and by entering the mainstream as more than just a novelty. Skateboarding has done it, as has BMX and FMX. Why not trials?

the problem as i see it is trials is to boring to watch to ever become something as big as bmx and skateboarding, in other words trials will never become that big because its fundementally flawed