mintsauce

Well that was amazing! Many thanks to Danny, Martyn and everyone else involved in making it happen. I got far too excited - like a kid after 10 bags of Haribo - and crashed out almost straight away. Oh well, despite wrecking my hand (again!) and not being able to ride in subsequent sessions I had a brilliant time. (Many thanks to Kennys smooth talking in appeasing the security guards and getting us in to ride in the first place). I only realised this in hind sight: but for me one of the most amazing and enjoyable things of the whole evening was the complete absence of egos. It was such a great atmosphere and a facilitative environment for all abilities to learn and push themselves. Jon, from Inspired, asked me to coach for a bit and experiencing the psych of taster sessions first hand was great. Such a broad age range of people were having a wonderful time on trials bikes, learning new skills and buzzing from the experience. Inspired went to a lot of effort to make that happen and it was good to see it pay off as a new set of riders were inspired (no pun intended) to get involved with our sport. I really loved overhearing excited riders comments too: "I just spoke to Danny Mac" or "Ashton just taught me a new trick" Fantastic to hang out with everyone again and I'm definitely hoping there will be many more of these in the future! Peace Barlow ------------ EDIT: Erm... I somehow managed to write a post about Street Light Sessions without mentioning this... The standard of the demo riding was AMAZING! Jaw dropping goodness all-round. Thanks for the inspiration.

Phenomenal riding! I really enjoyed that.

Love it!

Any questions on the specific spec just drop me a PM mate. Well, I said I was going to sell the Echo... FOR SALE THREAD - With loads of other stuff for sale too I know, I know, hijacking your own thread with a for sale post is the lowest of the low!

To clear things up from the post that Ross linked you to... The only reason I am building two bikes is for a specific project that requires two bikes on the same day. Short version of the story: I had two bikes (Echo & Inspired) so could have done the project IMO the Inspired is waaay more fun to ride than the Echo As such I arranged with Dave & Jon to use two Inspired bikes I think the Inspired Hex is the best all round trials bike that is currently available The only caveat that I would add to that is that I am a pretty old school rider and so my entire trials apprenticeship was served on fairly 'traditional' designs (e.g. Cannondale Ashton, Giant Team trials, Onza Woodstock). I think the Hex took all the lessons learned from the old school traditional designs and sprinkled just enough new school in there to come up with a winning recipe. That's why it is perfect for me personally (I mean look how psyched I was back in Sept 2010 before I'd even ridden one!). It might seem like a simple thing to do, and also quite a 'safe' bet, but some other manufacturers have tried and failed. I actually believe that what Inspired did wasn't safe at all but in the mixture they created they took some fairly big risks (search out the threads where Ali discusses the changes he made throughout the prototype stage and you'll see what I mean). The risky geo tweaks have paid off I think and it's is amazing fun to ride.

Cheers! Yeah, for a 'do-it-all' trials bike then I personally can't think of anything out there at the moment that is better. I would say that Ashton's Hex, that he uses at the moment in demos, pretty much defines do-it-all trials bike. To be fair it's only a subtle tweak or two away from the off the shelf Inspired Hex Team. After being one of the main sponsors of TartyDays, Dave & Jon @ Inspired are continuing to help me with an upcoming project I am fortunate enough to be involved in. The project is absolutely the only reason why I have chosen to go down the route of one 'lightweight for natural' Hex build and also one 'strong and spinny for street' Hex build - otherwise I would build one do-it-all Hex and just go get the fun. I can't speak highly enough of the Hex. My personal experience is that it retains nearly all the positives from the 24” Inspired fourplay I owned (and loved) but with the added trials specific benefits of being a26” Hope that helps!

Thanks for all the positive comments

I absolutely love Pace RC250T frames! If you want a truly old school rear tyre for it, an IRC El Gato, then drop me a pm! (this is not my bike by the way!)

This summer I've had two bikes built up. An Echo Control for natural and an Inspired Hex for street and skate park. There was only one problem. The Hex was so fun to ride that, despite loving riding in the mountains in North Wales, I was basically only riding street. So despite having Maxxis Holy Rollers front and rear, a smooth rear rim, and a fairly heavy spec, I started riding the Hex for natural too. It was awesome! The Holy Rollers seemed fine but the rear brake didn't really hold whenever I got mud on the rim. Most importantly - the Hex was so much more fun for natural than the Echo! So fun in fact that I de-built the Echo Control and used the lightweight parts to build up my Hex frame as a test. Amazing! Fun, fun, fun!!! (and not only really light weight but the rear brake actually worked. The sticky tyres and wide rear rim didn't do any harm either!) Being scared to bash it around too much in the skate park or street, due to the lightweight spec, I am building another Hex frame for street with heavier/stronger parts, Inspired rims (CNC sidewall, no grind) and the Holy Roller tyres asap. Have a look.... All photos by Paul Higginson, Resolution Video. Untitled by bberis, on Flickr Untitled by bberis, on Flickr Chain and Red by bberis, on Flickr Chain. by bberis, on Flickr Black Grip. by bberis, on Flickr Inspired pixels by bberis, on Flickr Be Inspired .. by bberis, on Flickr Stopping Power. by bberis, on Flickr Stop It. by bberis, on Flickr Untitled by bberis, on Flickr Red Inspired. by bberis, on Flickr EDIT: To wasn't a 100% swap from the Echo frame to the Hex: I changed the stem (From a 120mm Trialtech to a 90mm Hope stem), the forks (from Echo Control to Inspired Team) and the front brake (from a maggy to a Hope Ti disc).

Looks absolutely fantastic! As you know Jack I'll be having fun in Madeira but even so I'm still gutted I won't be there.

100 miles! I'd love to know what route you'd take har har Try a 500 mile, 9 hour round trip!! Either this or this p.s. No I didn't find anyone in the end - have a GREAT ride everyone. Since I won't see you today Mark I'll say it one here instead of in person; it's brilliant that you've organised this. I certainly hope this'll be successful and the first of many. It's a wonderful idea and one of the things that the UK trials scene can really benefit from. Bosh.

Last desperate plea... anyone?

OK so now Skinny Dave has definitely ruled himself out due to family commitments. My offer of driving and splitting fuel monies still stands. Leaving Saturday morning from Bangor, North Wales. Come on!! *on knees pleading*

The North Wales representatives are dropping like flies... Jamie Williams: Dislocated his shoulder the last time we rode Tom Lancaster: Just just been called into work for Saturday Alex Williams: No money Will Arnold: In America (I'll let him off!) I can't justify the fuels costs on my own - nooooooo! (Fingers crossed that Skinny Dave is up for an epic weekend of trials) Anyone needing a lift and willing to split fuel costs?? Does anyone want to go from along the North Wales coast between Bangor and Chester? Or alternatively from Mid-Wales area, anywhere along the A5 between Bangor and the M54? Rich J has kindly offered to put my van load of people up for Saturday night and potentially Friday night too. So I'd be keen to ride Sunday as well as Saturday. Get in touch and lets make a plan - it promises to be a amazing weekend.

It clearly doesn't count, since you didn't ride it out. Obviously I'm kidding. Wonderful persistence and determination Nice one

Nice video Hope you don't mind - LINK

Thanks! PM'd

As Adam said, thanks to those who attended and enjoyed themselves. We're both glad that the last two years of Tarty Days have provided good times for so many riders. Peace Barlow

I'm psyched for 'Section 01' A chance to actually do some riding rather than just organising and commentating for once - woop woop!! Can anyone offer me some floor space for either the Friday or Saturday night? Peace Barlow

A few more photos Thanks to Brian Hopps

Some unedited photos Thanks to Adrian Trendall More to follow Peace Barlow

Just home. It's time to sleep for 72 hours straight.

All the yellow AA signs are up now to guide you to the main entrance of Woodfest showground! Keep your eyes peeled and follow them. (Satnav users - use the postcode, LL22 9DA, to get yourself in the general vicinity, but follow yellow AA Woodfest signs for the final bits to make sure you end up at the correct entrance to the Kimnel Estate)

No that reply was to an email so it's good you asked the question too - now everyone can see the answer Good thinking Woop woop! BTW... Marino, definitely.