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Leeds weather forecast: Bad. Lee Mill weather forecast: Good. Drive to Lee Mill. Lee Mill actual weather: Bad. Unridably bad. Instead of trials, or the drive being an absolute waste, I tried to make some sense of the "pump track". I've ridden this on big wheeled bikes that have bouncy parts on them, and on small wheeled bikes that don't. It's equally awful on both. This video doesn't really show how bad it is. The corners are really tight, but then there's long straight stretches before and after them. It's not well-kempt either, so there's random rocks sticking out the berms and some bits are basically gravelled-over. Normally the downhill-ness makes brakeless basically suicide, but fortunately the weather was bad enough that the floor slowed me down enough not to pop out the tops of the berms. Unfortunately, however, this also meant carrying enough speed simply wasn't possible so yes - there is pedalling. Looking forward to going back when the ground is hard to see if I can keep the speed up now that I've sort of figured the flow out a bit. Got back to Leeds and it's been bone-dry all day. Thanks Mr & Mrs Weatherfolk.

Thanks guys

That was awesome. Love that you elected to go to rear on the rock because the harder line is actually the easier line

Arcade bars aren't a big enough rise-difference that I'd use a shorter stem, and you'd have to give me a damned strong incentive to start using them If your hands are in the same position relative to the front axle, the HA won't mean diddly on something going in a straight line. The extra leverage provided by a goose-neck stem might aid holding the bars steady under high torques, but in terms of body positioning over the bars I'd imagine it largely irrelevant. The difference would come in when steering etc. I'd be open to trying it - blending in a bit more can never hurt! - but I'm pretty content with how it is right now. Developing new parts is expensive, and there's very little money in trials. I very nearly built one like this up when I was making my own, but ran out of money and couldn't afford an extra tubeset.

This one's a real mish-mash of clips, both in riding and video quality. Some clips I'm really genuinely chuffed with and took a long time to nail - one of which I've been after for three years. Others are little novelties I did just for fun, I felt they carried their own merit. I've lost a lot of strength whilst not riding much in the past year so if you find yourself wondering "why didn't he take the better option" clearly visible in some clips, I wanted to but just can't do it any more so I guess I tried to disguise it either with technicalities or just going really fast Some clips taken from Mark Westlake, and one from Flea, so thanks to them for those. Also to Jamie Wiltshire and Jacob Ashworth for putting in a good chunk of time behind the glass. Other clips taken on my phone when the camera battery ran out. ...Not to mention also to TartyBikes, Trialtech Components, Alias Bikes and Industry Clothing Co.!

I've flirted with the idea of a BMX bar and stem, but to get the bars in the right place for the kind of riding I like to do it would mean lengthening the wheelbase quite a bit, even if it simultaneously stepped up to a 75°HA. Maybe at some point in the future, but I'm also a big fan of the upsweep given by trials handlebars. The most I've found in BMX bars is 4-5°. I think it would be cool to have a "normal looking bike" so people wouldn't give you loads of grief at skateparks etc. but it's a lot of effort to go to just for that, especially when it risks alienating the trials-following in terms of image.

My oh my. That was AWESOME. I've not felt the urge to use brakes for a long time, but now I just want to go riding! What an absolute monster. Comp riders take note: THIS is how to make a video that other riders will actually enjoy riding. A camera on a tripod will always be a thousand times better than a professional videographer that's never seen a trials bike before!

I wouldn't worry too much - it's just that the people who have problems shout the loudest. My ProII bearings died after about 16 months when I was riding every day and being rough as shit. Sure, they did die, but I think that's a pretty fair run for saying you can then just pop them out and put fresh ones in and it's as good as new again.

Edit: .

Thanks for all your help guys. I've closed the quiz now as I have enough to go with. You did great. Gotten a really useful set of results. Hope to ride with some of you soon!

This is one of those things that's FAR too fun Love, love, love it.

Don't worry about it - he already posted and edited saying he started once, WiFi dropped out, started over, found it too confusing and couldn't do it. Then edited again. Unsure on the reason for the second edit, but I'm guessing it's something to do with dummies being out-of-reach so just let him wail

Bump. A bunch of you have done this and it's super helpful, but if there's any more of you it would be even better. Thanks!

No - I've always meant to, but it's so much extra hassle. Starting with my next video when I don't have uni to worry about I'm going to make a point of recording the sound with my Zoom H4n. I find the majority of mic's that sit on top of DSLRs just sound horrible. Thanks for doing the survey!

Double video day! What an honour! Thanks you two. Must ride together more often, and soon I'll be able to!

Fortunately you don't, because it would actually be the brain The whole point of this is to emulate the effects our bodies/heads/ears have on sound to produce this effect. One of the reasons it has to be listened to with headphones is so that your ears don't have their effect - it's just the digital version. The brain interprets the changed signal in the same way it would if your own ears had produced it, so it's entirely neurological. It does have interesting applications for people with damaged outer ears though!

Thanks dude. You're a star! 27's actually pretty good. I had to set the questions up in a weird way because the next ones needed to change depending on what you put, so there's loads of questions you skip out. 27/74, realistically, would be around 75%, so nice work!

Copy-pasted from the introduction: I'm really, really sorry to approach it this way, and I've hated myself for it since the instant I had the idea but I'm hoping it'll get me the responses I need! Most people doing this will be riders, so I figured if you help me out, I should give you something in return. All I have that I can really give is videos, so that's what I'll be doing. I don't want anyone to feel conned, so I'll say this right from the start: the video is only 1:20ish long, was filmed in about 90 minutes on a few of the non-spots near my house just now (somewhat out-of-practice due to uni), and has no editing beyond cutting the clips to approximate length. I know it's not much, but I don't have time to make a full video and I figured some incentive for people to do the survey is better than none, even if it's only really small! Complete the survey and you'll get the link and password at the end. You'll also get the option to view a score - this is as a guide only. Due to the way Google Forms questions work, I can't make accurate automatic scoring in this instance. This is all running on an Honesty-Box policy - I obviously can't stop you from sharing the link and password with your friends, but I'd appreciate it if you pointed them to this survey instead. I need you all to fill out the following questions about some sound clips - if you did the one with crazy voice-ish noises don't worry - it's different to that! They're all multiple-choice, so you don't even need to type anything. This one takes a sound and applies some processing to it so that it sounds like it's coming from a particular place. (I chose to use the sound of a fly, because everyone has heard a fly and tried to work out where it is at some point in their life!) This is called binaural synthesis and is my Masters Dissertation, but I won't bore you with the details. It's used in virtual reality to make it more believable/immersive. ################################################################# # YOU MUST WEAR HEADPHONES/EARPHONES FOR THIS. It will not work without them # ################################################################# There are 15 sounds, and between 4 and 8 questions about each depending on how you answer them. I'd estimate this to take you about 20 minutes. (If you think a 1:20 prize is not worth 20 of your minutes, I totally understand and agree, but just think the number of minutes-worth of video I've given to you in the past whilst asking nothing in return :P) They're all multiple choice to make it less of a drag for you, but each question also has an "I can't tell" reply. If you can't tell, please use this rather than guessing - that's a very useful result for me to have for the evaluation of my project if it's not working properly! If you use/have Max/MSP and would like to try the system out, that would also be insanely helpful. Please get in touch if this describes you! Ok - so let's begin... (If you consider it worth it.) Please watch the video below, and set the volume on your device such that it is comfortable to listen to. This is the loudest sound that will be presented to you, so be sure to set it such that you can hear it clearly and in detail. Once it's set, it must remain the same volume throughout all the clips. Go here: https://docs.google.com/forms/u/0/d/1BghrEP6VcCN43Ip6HyIw_7SRsdpuSgRx8T_wHhd18tI Again: sorry. Screenshot to prove it exists ():

Well if you're suggesting changes you could make to accommodate the difference it sounds like you just want one, so get one. Run it with the Kaiser, and if you find it makes too much of a difference change to a lighter tyre to compensate. Give yourself time to adjust though. One ride is not a proper diagnostic

If you want to roll around, definitely. If you're riding comp-ish trials, maybe. The engagements somehow feel more solid and definite, which is very reassuring and confidence boosting when churning massive forces through the drivetrain. A lot of freewheels handle it very well, but they don't have quite the same slammed-home-engagement feeling. It's not an issue for me as the heavier frame puts the majority of the bike's weight in the middle regardless. If you have a *really* light bike, moving that weight from the middle of the bike to the rear wheel can be noticeable, but you'd get used to it quickly. Depends how fussy about weight distribution you are. It can make it a bit backwheel-heavy which some people don't seem to mind, but I find it messes up front-wheel placement/pulling up. The main benefit over a freewheel is the dramatically reduced rolling resistance. The wheel can move much more freely since it doesn't need to always push the chain around, so you roll for longer. It feels like it rolls smoother, I guess for the same reasons. It also means trousers are much less likely to get caught in chains (and when they do it's not so bad as they only go in as far as you pedal), if you're susceptible to that!

AWESOME. Loved the crank-flip lines

Alias Bikes understandably wanted some more 20.1 media about, and I finally got the opportunity to go riding rather than sitting behind two screens and doing work, so here's some ultra sketchy clips from a couple of hours in Leeds. Yes, I forgot the tripod. Riding rarely makes me all the more appreciative of the Alias frame. If you're into having fun on 20" wheels and haven't got one yet, you really need to get on it! Thanks to Flea for showing me around all the new spots they've built in the city I live in since I last got a chance to ride it ! Also thanks to TartyBikes, Trialtech Components and Industry Clothing Co. for being understanding, and generally the best! (And the mighty Ben Travis for the inspiration!)

I have not adequate words... Constant stream of surprises in the best possible way. Instant re-watcher.

That's a ridiculous improvement for saying I rode with him just a couple of months ago! Up-to-front skinny 180 and fakie-to-sidehop were particularly cool

Once again: awesome