Captain Scarlet

I need to improve my scores, it has been a while

Have you tried pumping it up? May be just a case of it finding its shape and then it will need seating properly against the rim.

Yep, standard 20 inch inner tubes are fine in 19" wheels. The only disadvantage they have over say a Monty innertube or Kenda DH is that they are wider, so the standard innertube being thinner, has to expand more to fill the width of a 2.5/2.6 tyre, which makes the tube a bit thinner due to this stretch. Long and short. Standard 20" innertubes are slightly thinner than monty ones.

Zoot easily looks like a much better spec! Tensile freewheel, sealed rear hub, drilled rims, better brakes (the onza v brakes are amazing in general), looks pimp, pivotal saddle, better weight.

Indeed, just takes lots of practice/trial and error, like when you learn to hop on the rear wheel. As you practice it more you soon realise which way to adjust your body, until you can start doing 1 or 2 hops. Once your at that stage your pretty much sorted, just takes determination to be able to get it right everytime so you can do it forever. Best tip I can say is try to keep your back flat, so much so that it is nearly parallel with the ground. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZcz9-bOlb0&feature=related

Yes Ben! I would love to see a mega GET video, I am a massive fan of your work and style! Very inspiring, that trailer was awesome! Has potential to be one of the best UK trials videos ever! Hell, why not the world?

This is more a clips video set to some music, it features Tom (white shirt) and Toby (purple) at the end of their practice session at Barrow farm. (They were both fairly knackered when I turned up!) Some jerkiness and dodgy shots in places because of my new motion stabilizer, this is a combination of not being used to it and climbing over logs in the middle of a clip. Some beastly lines went down! Vimeo Video -> Original Video

Wow Penshurst looks like its changed loads, must get myself back into the comp scene! Some good photos there!

Giro Xen is most commonly used among trials riders because it provides XC helmet comfort, but with more protection on the back of the head like a BMX pisspot. However, these helmets are very expensive (one of the only drawbacks to them). I went for the Uvex range, very similar to the Giro's and are quite a bit cheaper (£30 less I believe), fit amazingly and offer the same protection as the Xen. In some reviews they are even rated higher overall. You can get them from anyone who deals with Raleigh, so if you ask a competent member of Bikehut they will be able to order one in especially for you. The only thing that makes them not as good as the Giro's are the colour scheming, some of Giro's have lovely patterns and colours, but not enough for me to justify spending another £30 on one. The model is the "XP", sometimes termed as the "XP100" and this is what they look like:

But if he's lost too much thread, that would mean tapping to a large size thread, which would be a larger bolt and respectively all mounts, booster and spacers need to be adapted for it. Which really isn't worth the hassle, when a helicoil/time-sert is so much easier. Plus a helicoil/time-sert is made from steel, much stronger thread than an alloy one, much slimmer chance of stripping it.

I didn't revise at all for my GCSE's. I doubt it would have made my results any better, as my coursework as average and I ended up getting B's in everything.

Thanks for the feedback guys, exactly the kind of response I was after. As said, I'm no way inclined one or the other, from my own personal injury a few years back I'll still continue to wear one, even I do believe the chances of such accident occurring again would be very slim, but its hardly a chore to wear a helmet when out riding. I was also very close to death previously so to have had the NHS come to my rescue, so for me to continue not wearing a helmet would be a big middle finger to the NHS and inconsiderate to how lucky I am.

Just a recommendation for anyone looking for thread repair, if you can, go for a Time-sert insert rather than a plain helicoil. Had this done on my frame, the difference is that the bottom 3 threads expand at the bottom locking the insert in place, making it alot harder for the insert to grip the bolt when you remove the bolt, stripping the insert from the frame (as with the normal helicoil). You also countersink the top of the hole for the insert to go in, as it comes with a little o-ring attached to the top of the time-sert, making the job look much neater and more permanent.

I rode maguras with mineral oil in for a couple of years, went discs, gone back to rear magura with water bleed and the lever feel is tremendous. I used to suffer with minor arm pump/hand cramp but this is almost non existent with the water bleed, it also has a much quicker release/response, much like a cable lever. This was one of the things that annoyed me running mineral oil in my current set-up, as I have a front vee and rear magura which didn't return anywhere near as quick as the vee. Water bleed and all sorted. As for damaging your brakes and such, A) If it does it is really insignificant amounts, the magura I've got is a pre 05 style, with several owners all that I know off ran it on water and it is still going fine. Its really not the end of the world if it does, brakes are cheap as and the majority of us replace such parts after 5 years of useage. At the rate that my brake is "wearing away" at, I'd much rather have water in it, for it does sod all wrong to the system!

Aha I will do chap! I go to Cosmic Tattoo in Colchester, my work so far was done by the younger guy Sim, he's only been in the shop and licensed tattooing for under two years but his detail is amazing, I'll get some better quality pictures up after my next session.

The only places I tend to bend discs are in competition/natural situations, this is because of the objects you are riding on having protruding edges, image sidehopping onto a rock, not making it slipping down and hitting a smaller rock. That's the only case where I have bent on a disc. On most mods with 160mm rotors, the only way you can hit the disc in street when your doing a sidehop for instance, is if both wheels slip from the wall. Just the rear wheel slipping out will not be able to contact your disc.

I think he is mainly referring to the greater stress running through the forks when mounted on the back, leading to a much short life of the forks. I personally would have reverse mounts any day of the week, and run the risk of shorter fork life.

Basically my final piece of work for my TV and Film course at college, coming here to hear your points of view towards the subject of helmets in cycling. I am of course a regular trials biker and sometimes cyclist who always wears will argue the case for wearing a helmet, yet I work in the cycle trade and contrastingly would hate to see business slow like Australia when they introduced cycle helmet compulsory. So I will be discussing this topic in a subjective manner, giving myself a balanced argument for and against, if anyone wants to share; opinions, data, research, previous projects or anything related then it will be more than appreciated. Thanks!

3 more hours in a couple of weeks, should have it all shaded and adding a lotus flower in the crease of my arm, that shall be fun!

I was very impressed with the performance on these pads. I've always been very sceptical with brake pads, mainly because, no matter who's set-up I copy mine is always shocking. I've never really run grinds due to my dislike to the feel that they give so I've been more of a smooth rim/dead grind person, in my 3 years and a bit years of riding I've had. Magura blacks, echo reds, koxx bloks, onza citruses, Countsinks, phatpads, and now finally Heatsink Yellows. I'm running a very dead grind where these pads work perfectly, once in a while applying tar just to give it that extra stick for confidence and peace of mind. The noise they produce (a lot!) is relative to the hold they also generate, as in the past I have had plenty of noisy pads which don't hold for crap! Very very good pads, I will definitely buy these next time and some of the cheapest with CNC backings I believe.

Best rule is to add together all the parts as though they are brand new, halve that total, and that gives you the best price you could expect if they were still in a fairly newish state. Then remove amounts respectively for the condition of certain parts. In most cases if you have the effort to sell the items individually/split then you may make more on it.

Brake mounts on the back of forks make the braking area much stiffer, the braking momentum is pulled into the forks as opposed to away from the forks, giving it a much more solid stop. Think of it as an in-built booster. Disadvantages there are many examples of people snapping forks with reverse mount forks, understandably its down to the rider and the type of forks used, but the way they break and amount that have broken are far more substantial than equivalent breaks on normal mounted forks. Swings and roundabouts really, I find that there is a massive difference in braking between the two, and will have reverse mounts anyday of the week, its just a shame that only a few makes do them.

I've always despised the smell of it, but never actually tried it. BRB!

Tar doesn't wreck your rim and pads, it is merely a product used to create extra stick, if you don't want it on your rims anymore just remove it with some petrol. Best way to put it on is to put a series of 5 diagonal lines, spaced evenly around your rim, each one being about 2 inches in length. Naturally as you ride this will spread around the rim. repeat for the other side. Other method is to spin the back wheel and just briefly touch the block of tar on the rim leaving a thin trail around the rim.