monkeyseemonkeydo

WTF? I've got one too which I'd be willing to get rid of (only just upgraded to a PS2 in December!!). Dave

The ACU fee (which is £10 and has been for as long as I've been a member) gives me a nice quarterly magazine! Oh and also provides everyone with insurance up to £6M (?) at events... The BIU license is free to obtain (in theory) and I don't think does anything other than allow you to ride in BIU organised events... don't quote me on that though! Just wondering if there's any significance in the fact that the two people trying to go it alone and tear the comp scene apart are the two people who own and run commercial businesses selling trials bikes?... Could all this be motivated by $$'s? Answers on a postcard. Dave P.S. Love you too!

I haven't used this for a while but used to use it on my old Monty with Maggy's and Monty Milk pads. Basically, it is incredibly effective- read 'dangerous when used in anything other than small doses!'. Makes the brake crazy loud and very very 'bitey' at the cost of modulation. If you spray a small amount on even one side of the rim you'll notice a big change on braking performance and lock. Now for the but... First thing I'd say is that if the going gets wet it obviously gets rubbed off very quickly and is basically of little or no use. I guess it was developed for the Spanish riders in their lovely dry warm climate! The second thing is that the stuff is so sticky that in very dusty conditions it does tend to get a fine coating on it which reduces the effect. So basically, if you use a little and often when riding in dry conditions and don't mind the noise or lack of modulation you'll absolutely love it!! It's not exactly going to break the bank so if you think it might be of use, give it a go- a can will last you a long time, believe me! Hope that helps a bit, Dave

Totally agree with you. I ride comps but with all this stuff making a sham of a mockery of a mockery of a sham of it I may well just stick to the Hampshire comps until this shitstorm blows over. Dave

Ahahahahaha... rightio. Not sure what being a Northern monkey/Southern fairy has to do with this apart from this whole thing appearing to be Barbara and Fred vs. the World- I'm more of a Northerner than you I'll have you know!! The only reason I mention the BIU fee is that with Uni commitments and being a bit uncommitted/lazy I only tend to attend 1 or 2 max Nationals a year and am rather unlikely to attend any of the Worlds/Euro champs so last year when you didn't pay for a license for purely domestic comps suited me just fine. It hasn't been made clear (to me anyway) that the money being made on the BIU licenses was to be used for funding a World Round, all that's been said is that Fred wanted to charge everyone £10 for something that should be freely obtained by all riders. As an aside I donated money towards the World round last year (2005?) anyway through the Raffle so am all for promoting trials in the UK. WTF is that supposed to mean?!! Meh, I'd rather keep out of this whole thing but at the last Hampshire Terry, who I have massive respect for, was a bit wound up about what was going on and I don't see why people are trying to rip the (already small) sport apart. Dave

Agreed. This is a small sport with quite a few likeminded people riding because it's fun and enjoyable. Only a minority of trials riders actually do comps and all this stupid in-fighting is beyond a joke. Get your %&*$ing acts together people... Ok... I've bought my ACU license (as I always do) and got the form for the BIU license the other day demanding payment of £10 for the BIU, which wasn't what happened last year, providing you only wanted to attend events in the UK. So do I just send off the BIU form with no payment now or what? Also, please clarify who's running which comps... I'd be interested in the Hook Woods comp but not if it's run by the splinter cell who have been trying to charge for licenses etc. Dave

£300 for a fish eye lens?! Jebus guys! So I take it something like this is just the bottom of a bottle and wouldn't produce any good results? Dave

Quick question... these 'Community Officer' types... are they actually police officers? Or are they wannabe police who failed the IQ test and don't want to be a security guard? Just wondering if you can just ride away from them without being in the sh*t. Dave

I have a feeling this kid's gonna be silly good when he's a little older... Good stuff. Dave

As Hendrixmaster said- write a letter complaining about unfair treatment to the chief cuntstable at the station. Make it polite and informative stating why you don't think it was reasonable and then keep your fingers crossed... Dave

Had my 221 Pr for nearly 4 months now and love it. I upgraded to hope trials, a WI Eno and a KMC Kool chain when I got it and have since put my Onza carbon bars on it (only because they were lying around mind you). Rides really well and I think it's likely to last a good bit longer than one of those uber light Ti's... for a fraction of the cost. Only issues I'm having is with the wheels. Unsealed hubs are functional but a bit temperamental for my liking and the spokes don't seem to be stainless so are looking a bit old and tired but that's purely aesthetics. Conclusion: Go for it! You won't regret it Dave

I've heard this stuff before about wheels under 20" and small frame sizes being allowed on the pavement and technically it may be right but the law is in place to allow 3 year olds with stabilisers to ride on the pavements. Whenever I'm riding on the pavement and I see the fuzz I get off and start walking. Was riding in Aberdeen once with Fraz Milloy when we came towards some polizei- I got off and started walking and Fraz rode straight past them and got collared! They told him he should've taken my lead and started walking, just common sense really. On the point of criminal damage, even if you don't end up on bash, you're tyres will still be leaving marks which could be seen as graffiti and again (in theory) you could be done. I've never been properly done by the police for riding trials, on or off the pavement, but have obviously been asked to move on and usually if you're pleasant to them and don't make a fuss nothing usually comes of it. There will always be those evil nasty Nazi's giving the fuzz a bad name but that's life- there are always arseholes out there trying to stop anyone enjoying themselves. Just ride away and have a laugh at his expense (out of earshot of course!). Dave

Someone was telling me that the Sun reported that the car wasn't actually the drivers but was being hired for something like £20,000 a day... Dave

Saw Rich on the bike at the Hampshire comp today and I have to say it looks much better in the flesh. Don't know if it's the angle that picture's taken at or what but it certainly looks more functional in person. Dave

Wet but still reasonably fun! I really don't like muddy comps like that but it's still good to see what you can do and what you can get away with. Ended on 36 I think over two laps. Definite improvement between the first and second laps though which was good. Thanks to Terry and all the observers for coming and standing in the rain for 5 hours!! Dave

excellent use of an Anchorman quote

Are you coming to the Hampshire comp tomorrow Rich? May have to give the bike a quick inspection in person... first impressions are probably best kept to myself!! Dave

I think we can all ignore this post- coming from a guy who's happy with the performance of standard black magura pads on a polished rim... I ran dual disc for a good few years back when Echo first started making frames (the EM2 ~2002?) and only went to a maggy rear after a rather unimpressive outing on a Revell 20" in about 2005. The replacement was a Zoo Python which didn't have disc mounts so I was forced back to a rim brake. After a couple of years riding stock (rim rear) I'm now back on a Monty 221Pr dual disc and love it again. Although I don't exactly do huge drop gaps and the like, for my riding (lots of natural these days and normal ups/gaps etc) I find it ideal. Not sure how long the frame will last (about 3 months and counting so far and all good), but if this one ever gives up I'll be almost certainly sticking with DD.

I dunno... Just the excercise will help reduce excess blubber and I'm pretty damn sure trials works your abs to some extent too. I've even got the six pack to prove it!! Dave

And thou shalt kneel before me and tremble... ooh err missus! Lol, yeah I'll be riding and am still on 20 (Monty 221Pr). Hoping the weather stays (reasonably) good for tomorrow... Dave

Afraid I'm with Dave... Porter was rocking, looking really solid and going big (as usual) and good to see Ed still riding (of sorts) but Ackrigg's just never done it for me and that vid doesn't do much for my opinion on him!! More from James please!! Dave

Really liked that, part 1 more than part 2 but the guy has some serious skills. And, as mentioned above, some droolworthy spots!! First video in a long while that makes me want to go out and ride!! Dave

I'm a bit confused... The whole thing with Direct Debits is that it happens automatically so you can't forget/miss a payment... Also you say they charged you £45 for missing the payment so you asked for £117 from them? Meh, Dave

Gonna have to say The Offspring... with Guns N' Roses a very close second. That's the stuff I grew up on getting me psyched for riding. The Kids Aren't Alright still makes me go off the wall when it comes on!! Dave

Dodgy. As. Fook. Let us know if it comes through ok and we'll all be buying full carbon road bikes (to resell...) and kona stabs from him like there's no tomorrow!