La Bourde

As of now you can ride UCI competitions without dérailleur, but you need a 6 speeds hub... In France, some competitions allow single speed with only one cog, but I advice you to contact the organisation to be sure. My experience: I ride single speed for about 1 year. I can't ride fast, and it's boring sometimes ... I use a 18-15 ratio, in order to ride a little faster, but it was harder at the beginning to do pedal kicks. However, I'm sure my next bike will be single speed geared. Lighter, simpler, cheaper, and you can use stronger piece, like BMX cog and chain. In addition, with a good chain tensioner, you can trust your transmission. It 's important to buy a good chain tensioner (Surly, Rohloff for example). Cheaper are often not enough rigid. I think too, that a chain tensioner without spring is worst. But if you ride street trial, I think a dérailleur is better, cause sometimes you will need more speed.

Have you already trouble with your Magura's brake ? The magura brakes are reliable, and they don't need a particular care!!! You set your Magura's brake up, you ride, you ride, you change the pads sometimes and readjust them, and after a two years cycles you bleed the system (it's not difficult). I find that V brakes require often to be adjusted, instead of the Magura.

Have you Mavic 521 Ceramic ? (If you ride V-brake, you have to use specific pads, that are stronger.) Cause the Ceramic model has a layer of ceramic that creates a very abrasive surface, and it may be better than a ground surface.

Get the ERTRO's size (European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation). It's a standard describing the width of a tire. It' a label wrote on the tyres like xx- 559, where xx is the width in millimeter. 559 means 26". Then you measure tire clearance on your bike.

I think these vids are illegal. It's parts of "Mastering the art of trial", a Ryan Leech's DVD.

I know 4 riders (Chris on IBC forum, Chimpy's friend, peloton and Soen on espacetrial) that ordered a Mielec's frame. 3 of them had serious problems (geometry). Chimpy's friend first bike was too long. The second was okay Soen could not use HS33 with a wide rear rim: http://www.hiboox.com/images/3906/afaffe6a.jpg The headset was funny: The color was not the ordered one (he wanted a dark yellow). Chris ordered two frames. The first had to be black. It was silver. The design of the frame was different too. The defined geometry was not respected (less than 1080mm instead of 1095) He had a rear IS standard disc instead of a +40mm. http://img120.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00230md5.jpg The second was too long... 1110mm Only Peloton had the frame he ordered. Mielec

Show her some UCI vids, not street vids. Show her some pics of Vincent Hermance stretching. Tell her how it is difficult to practice trial, and all the quality it requires: - good balance - good fit - concentration - self confidence - motivation - strong mind - ...

LHM is less expensive! It is not DOT 3, 4 or 5, it is mineral oil. It rode LHM for 2 years and I never had a problem. It is the same fluid as the old Magura oil (green). The viscosity is the same, the color... Here, a litre costs only between 4£ (GSF Part number: N98104) Here, latest product 1 Litre £4.79, 5 Litres £20.99

If your main use of the bike will be street trial, you can ride a 24". Like the Heatsink. It is better for 180° for example. 26" is mostly used, but the 24" bikes are new. I never see a mod in street trial.

Or a Leeson Or a KST acidrop A Norco, like Ryan Leech: Or a STP, like Jeff Lenosky, already a street bike:

You can use LHM or LHM+. It the same fluid but very chipper. It was use in the Citroën BX car. Here a Delphi bottle.

I think it's a compromise, between weight and stiffness. Too stiff, you will feel all the shocks, and I think you get tyred sooner. Too light, the frame is not enough stiff, and your accuracy/precision reduces.

There are two world championships each year: - UCI "Union Cycliste Internationale" in french, International Cycling Union championship - BikeTrial International Union (BIU) championship The rules are different, but the goal stays the same.

Yes I think. I had some Race Face Prodigy DH on my freeride bike (a hardtail), the old Evolve model. They were strong enough, but I had problems with ISIS bottom bracket, too fragile. But I was newbie in Freeride and trial riding... But they are not designed for trial riding, whereas the Tensile, middleburn, Try all and Echo are... You will have a bigger bashgard (22 teeth instead of 18 teeth bashgard with trial cranks), and it will reduce your ground clearance.

The bottom bracket is too low, the chainstay too long... If you are riding street trial, buy an Echo or a Zoo or an Giant STP ...

Forget the shimano hub ! You require a freewheel with a lot of engagment points. It depends of your willing too. If you want to ride a single speed bike (the best solution for trial according to me) or not ! If you are single speed addicted you can ride an DMR revolver hub with a Try all 108.9, Tensile, Monty or Eno freewheel. Else a Chris King, DT Swiss or a Hope pro trial are good alternatives. Atomlab produces this kind of hubs too. Concerning the rims, a lot of trial rims are available: Echo, Try all, Viz!, Sunn/Un (only available in France), Onza. They are very wide (between 38 milimeters to 47) to be easy balance on your bike.

No, with magura plastic backing. The standard blue model: You can ride without grinding your rim, but, depending on the weather, they could not be enough efficient. That's why I grind my rim, and the result is amazing. But I don't need tar. In France, the Heatsink pads are very well considered.

I use Heatsink pads too. They are amazing !!!

Hello, I have got any good UCI vids on my Dailymotion account, like World championship in Livigno, Italia 05 World championship in Les Gets,France 04 Another (to download) : A world cup in Buthiers, France 06 There is also an interessant thread on this french forum: Here you can find some UCI vids Hope it helps. PS: Sorry for my english!