Tommy d

Ah, so it's not just me then. Silly Saracens... How much money have you got to play with?

GOOD: The standard of riding seemed quite good. The editing was fine, although the mirror image thing confused my humble brain a bit at first BAD: Frame rate problem, bit jerky, but maybe you can't do anything about that if it's the camera. Not a great deal of variety in the riding. Maybe try some spins, stuff to front wheel, experiment a bit more.

Sounds like a funny idea to me. Why not just get the more usual parts like Middleburn cranks and Hope/Chris King hub? Everyone knows they work well, it seems like you might just be causing yourself some unnecessary bother by going for a front freewheel setup...

One other thing you (or your friend) might want to try is go into some local bike shops and tell them. When I had a bike stolen, the shops took the details of my bike, that way if someone tries to sell it on to them they'll know. Unlikely to work I know but worth a try if you want it back.

Revolution skatepark is a really good indoor skatepark in Broadstairs. General concensus seems to be it's about the best in Kent, I'm not the expert but I think it's great. Perhaps more to the point they are bike-friendly! Anyways their rent for the land is set to double which will mean they can't afford it and would have to close the park. BAD NEWS. Go on www.revolutionskatepark.co.uk and read all about it and sign their petition and stuff. Pretty please. You can save the world... (sorry if you've already heard about this somewhere, the campaign has been going for quite a few weeks now) (p.s. DON'T say there's no point riding a trials bike in a skatepark! And even if there wasn't it deserves saving anyway )

I would say the most influential riders on me have been: TRA (the first time I saw really BIG riding) Martin and Martyn (mostly from Tricks and Stunts) V-Dub and Super-T in the JIB film (not much trials but I loved it) Matt Berridge/the Boon (really stylish riding on a trials bike) The Trialmedia stuff In no particular order.

No idea if that's really true but it sure made me laugh

If you're using Paint, just make sure that your pictures are saved in .jpeg format if they weren't already. If they are .bmp files then they will be a bit big for internet use. Just checkin, like.

Found this one: Brilliant video in my opinion. Like you said the original links seem to be down now. I think I have a few on my computer, I could maybe put them up on YouTube or something when I have more time. Unless it's kinda rude to upload someone else's videos? I guess he put them on the internet in the first place though so probably wouldn't mind...

For me trials riding isn't really about how big/far you can do the things you can do. I get more enjoyment and inspiration out of learning new moves, combining them in different ways etc But I don't think there's anything wrong with other people comparing their distances and whatnot, I don't think many people would really get nasty about it, I think we just accept that the longer you ride, the bigger you will get, up to a point.

So hold on, other than sidehopping, what difference is there in riding with a low or high BB?

For shoes I always just wear whatever is the oldest I have around, so the sole is thin and I can feel the pedal better. Anything new doesn't feel flexible enough and I can't tell if my feet are right in the pedals. I also wear shin pads under some baggy trousers, although I seem to be about the only person who does... I got the message after a few nice shin scars appeared.

Yeah I'd agree with that. However, one advantage if you don't weigh so much: you can't break your bike so easily! Less force going onto it every time you land (Physics A Level finally seeming useful...)

I thought the general idea was the further back (or vertically upwards) you have your bars, the easier it is to pull up, or the further forward you have them the better the bike feels hopping on the back wheel. Is that what other people have found? Any other effects of bar-tilty-ness?

Haha nice one! In my vocabulary that's known as a wheel being Egged. Well there's one mystery solved cheers

Just out of interest, what is a flatspot? Does that just mean the rim is buckled/not true?

I say it would be good to be able to go to either side, so maybe you should learn to do it to the left as well, but don't stop doing it to the right. That way you will have a sidehop for any situation! And probably just more bike control in general.

I once cracked the screen of my phone riding. I wasn't too happy. Now I take anything like that out of my pockets to ride, much safer.

And that is why EVERY town should have an indoor skatepark! Good old Revolution has saved me from these very symptoms of boredom many a time

Thats an idea I had never thought of, the plaster round the lever thing. Might give it a try and see how it feels. I used to have to ride with gloves cos of blisters, which I didn't really like having to do, until I tried some foam grips (Ritchey WCS Truegrip) which turned out to be a lot nicer so I don't use gloves any more (except when its cold!). I've seen a lot of people complaining that foam grips rip, but mine have lasted over a year...

I don't know about this front wheel on a bench thing, I've never come across it. I think something that helped me quite a bit was learning to pivot round on the front and back wheels with the brakes locked. If you can do both directions on both wheels then that will be a big help. (sorry if thats the same thing as rocking, I've never heard of rocking but it sounds a bit like it...) Other than that, keep riding with other people and watching videos, and try out anything you think might be within your capabilties.

These things intrigue me. A few years ago I just assumed v-dub in JIB was a god or something! So are they suitable for a trials bike? I don't remember ever seeing a trials rider using one...

I thought it was generally quite good. I liked most of the editing, although maybe some of the backwards bits were a bit wierd? I'm not complainin though, enjoyable vid. I would say maybe not much variety in the riding though, it seemed to be nearly all sidehops or gaps. Also I think that's the third trials video I've watched with that soundtrack lol anyhoo nice work though Tom

Thanks a lot guys that's all I needed Tom

I'm after a brake booster for my rear magura. I saw the Echo 4-Bolt Booster on Tartybikes (£20) and I'm thinking I'll go for that as long as it will fit. It says in the description it will fit a spacing of 87-100mm between the mounts so I need to check mine. Here is how I measured it: (I didn't really want to take my wheel and brakes off...) and I got it as 89 or 90 mm. I just wanted to check I'm measuring the right thing (between the centres of the holes) cos it's close to the limit of what the booster fits. Or if by chance anybody is running the Echo 4-Bolt Booster on a 2005 Saracen MAD then let me know cos then I'll know for sure it's alright. Cheers p.s. check out my Thunderbirds ruler - you're jealous