Jitters

Great to hear! I'm gonna try steve's trick of the torx head next time I run into this problem and I don't have any extractors handy. Sounds pretty good to me. Thanks!

Where is all this about drilling it out and helicoiling it coming from? sure it works, but for me, that would be my NEXT to last resort for a simple snapped off bolt. The LAST resort would be the filing around the perch to get some pliers on the bolt. Wow... Guess I'm making too much of it. Steve's advice about proper drill bits is spot on too. Remember to drill slowly into metal also, adding oil for long jobs. So how did the bolt removal go? Any news yet? Now off to change that burned out lightbulb with a hammer...

I'm quite impressed! I can only hope I'll learn a fraction of that after a year's worth of practice. Nice work!

I see what you're saying, but allow me to back up a bit knowing that I'm not looking for it to be a dedicated trials bike. I'll ride the mod for that. Just something that's sturdy and can handle a bit of jumping about, maybe some drops and still be ok on the trails from time to time. hope that helps.

Hi all, So I've unloaded my FS XC ride and was considering some options for a bike that would work relatively well for light-duty trials and some reasonable XC riding and light duty jumping. Hardtail with a low top tube, sturdy frame and at least a rear cassette would probably fit the ticket. I am looking at a Specialized P.2 cro-mo, which might work. http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=34012 Any other suggestions?

Another option is buy (or borrow) a bolt extractor. Looks somewhat like a tapered drill bit - and the grooves go opposite. Not very expensive, I'd say. Start with your small pilot hole like zoo!! suggested and get it as close to center as possible. No need to drill much. Put the tip of the extractor in there and twist it back out. If the extractor doesn't bite, you may have to drill a bit bigger pilot hole and try again. If the bolt isn't in there really snug, you can sometimes get away with drilling the pilot hole and getting a small Phillips head screwdriver in there and backing it out. You shouldn't have to retap the threads or helicoil anything if you go this route. I use bolt extractors all the time on rusty engine and auto bolts with great success. Good luck!

Yep, helicoil kits are great! Just be careful to drill the stripped hole out nice and straight and don't wiggle the bit around as you drill. Don't wanna eat up too much material or set it in crooked. I've helicoiled a set of crank arms with great results. Good luck to you!

Sometimes a "Please" will help. Try that.

I have a beat up zm2 with v-brakes all around. Picked up some gooey pads and did a light grind on the rims, which seems to work right nice- even wet. Mind you, I'm only learning - so no deadly gaps or big stuff yet, but does anyone else just stick with the rim brakes front and rear? Lately I've noticed that most places (in Canada - which is closest to me) seem to be offering forks, hubs and whatnot that only support disc brakes. I'd like to invest in a stock bike next year and wanted to know if there is a real advantage to disc brakes over properly set up mechanical v-brakes with a grind. I don't want to get into the Megura or simlar hyrdraulic brake set ups. I'd like to try to keep front and rear the same so my trips to the bike store are simple. Most of my disc braking experience comes from my XC Rush on 160mm Avid mech. BB5s which seem smooth. but that doesn't seem condusinve to trials brakes. Thanks for any useful input!

I haven't made a proper intro yet, but right now I ride solo (as no one over here rides trials of any sort that I know of.) Road biking - I try to ride with groups, but mostly by myself. Same with mountain biking. Probably 'cause I'm too slow to keep up with the jack rabbits and too fast to hang with the slow pokes. It's kinda nice and peaceful most of the time though, I gather. I'd love to have someone else to practice trials with. Kinda makes you work harder to outdo the others. I recall from my skateboarding days before my limbs started falling apart, we'd always try to one-up eachother and really go places with our daring and whatnot. Chicks dig scars - or something like that. (reaches for bottle of Tylenol)

Sans pedals, that bike would be seriously fun on a mach 10 nightime paved downhill run after a few pints

I was looking for some XC vids on Youtube when I happened across some trials clips. Kept looking into it and, before you know it, dropped the seat on my XC hardtail and started trying stuff out. Saved up for a while, sold some old mountain bikes and parts and got a somewhat beat up zm2 which I'm still learning on. I'll graduate to a stock bike next year sometime after I figure a few more things out and save up some more. I'm hooked.

38 here. Only just gotten into it. Sorry I've missed out until now. Love road biking and screwed around with XC and some light duty downhill for years before I found this. Right on about never being too late. Now just where the hell where did I put my bifocals and cane? ... Cheers!

Sad to report, but haven't had much of a chance to practice this past few days, but came up with an ice-breaker of sorts while I had a few minutes to play around. Whenever I'd hop in place (on both wheels) I'd release the rear brake and pedal forward a bit each time. Sort of a way to get used to the quick release while the tire was in the air. Worked quite well as a confidence booster. Gonna give it a good try while practicing the back hops this evening when work is done. Let you know how it goes )

Hey some great feedback here, Thanks! I read a lot about bike setup before I got my mod, so made use of those tips and set up it for one finger braking while i was putting it together. Learned how to set up the brakes proper too and ground my rims a bit shortly after i had it. Good advice ti-mig-guy. I suppose, when watching vids, you're right about the stall that I never really noticed until now. I can do stalls for a bit too, but I figured I'd hammer out the hop thing a bit more so I can do 5 or 6 hops almsot every time. I'm getting a tiny bit better with each day. Hey full monty, I am noticing that it helps if I really throw my hips back over the rear hub. I have to drop my ass end down a bit and concentrate on shifting the weight back while pulling my arms towards my chest and staying relaxed. That seems to work quite well for me, but I have to think about the whole process each time. I'm hoping it should become second nature with practice. basically that's just like wIbBs said. Good stuff! Thank you everyone! Gonna get right on it after work!

Hey all! So I'm quite a new at all this, but I've been working pretty hard and have been finally getting 5 and 6 hops on the rear tire and I'm pretty excited about it. I think I'm on the right track. ) Problem is (as I've read on Thrashzen and other places) the pedals keep ratchetting backwards and all. Eventually my non-choco foot slips right off and my good foot is way too high to jump up proper. Any practise poitners for that? I know I'm supposed to quickly release the brakes while hopping in the air, but can't seem to manage the effort for fear of letting the rear tire slip out and cause me all kinds of grief. Any good feedback would be greatly appreciated, as many of you have been there and done that. Thanks for a great forum! No one around here rides anything but XC and road bikes, so I'm kinda on my own. -Gary

Wait, I know the answer to this... 42

As far as the sidehop to right thing, I naturally do the same. No big deal, but I now force myself to work to the left when I'm practicing. It sucks and I can't manage simple stuff for a bit, but (I think) in the long run it will be mandatory to be good at learning everything going both directions. That doesn't really answer any question about different tensioners though.

Hey, Are you going to paint the fork and rims to match? I'd say go with the pink if you make it all match right on. Otherwise, I'd vote for the white. I was thinking of spraying mine in some kind of olive drab, like the old military green color. Maybe throw some white stenciled numbers on there for good measure. What kind of paint and primer (or base) paint will you use? I'm only asking because I've had rotten luck with painting aluminum frames. It seems you must find a particular kind of primer for that or the paint won't stick all too well. -Gary