DYAKOV

Can anyone tell me the proper/original O-ring spec for both 13mm and 14mm pistons and where I can buy these in bulk (well, when I say bulk I mean 20x seals for a 14mm pistons and 20x seals for a 13mm piston)? Also are they all standard across different pistons e.g. does a 13mm trialtech piston use the same seals as a 13mm racing line or clean piston? I know that there are different materials used for various applications, also there seem to be metric and imperial sizes. Generally 14mm pistons use a 10x2 o-ring, meaning that 13mm pistons should use a 9x2 o-ring, however are these rounded dimensions? Seems like different material o-rings come in slightly different dims as well. It’s just all too confusing to me, so I thought maybe someone on here has the intel… Cheers, Nas

Recently I watched a video telling you how to keep your tools in the shed rust free - place a camphor block (has to be the real deal, apparently there are fake or let’s say lower quality camphor blocks which don’t work) in your tool box which over time will form thin coating on your tools to prevent from rust. I don’t remember it word for word but you can find out more with a quick google search, I’m sure. Never tried it myself but I’m wondering if you could put your bike in a box along with a few camphor blocks and see if that works? Cheers, Nas

Mr Ant! Glad to hear you’re still in the game! I’ll look up Jitsie helmets, from memory they were exactly the dj shape I don’t quite like though..

Hey all, I’ve been using my old helmet for quite a few years now. Decided to treat myself to a new “decentish” helmet. When I say “decentish” I mean a higher end model unlike my decorative £20 BBB but also unlike a £150 worth POC which seem to be trendy these days. It’s an essential bit of kit, don’t compromise on health, buy cheap - buy twice bla bla bla… I know, I know… I remembered that MET were popular a few years back, so I thought an older high end model would be a good balance of quality vs price. So, got myself a MET Roam in size M which has MIPS and all sorts of security features (sorry if I sound dumb, never really been that much of a geek) for £50 which was the closest match to my target price of £75 posted. It all seemed pretty cool in the photos and reading spec online was very promising. Having actually tried it on I find that first, it’s huge and secondly, the straps are rubbing to the back/underside of my ears. It’s comfortable and it’s light, so I don’t notice it on my head but the overall shape compared to the size of my face looks super disproportionate. Straps wise - I’ve actually read the manual that came with it and I’ve adjusted accordingly but no success… Point of this post is to ask for general opinion - have you tried any of the modern, more expensive helmets, are you happy with your choice, are they all generally bigger than a helmet used to be or is it just that model I’ve got which is specifically for mtb, any recommendation on a “decent” cheapish, modern, light weight helmet…. Yeah, basically share your thoughts on modern helmets Oh, and a major point would be - I’m not interested in the street / urban / dirt jump shape. Cheers, Nas

Should post in WANTED mate. I have some green echo clamps with metal washers in a brand new condition - £17 posted if any good

Loved the video dude! Not a single black and white clip or fish eye lens and still made me feel a bit EMOtional… Great riding as always!

There’s something about the shape of this bike which I really dislike and I can’t tell what… Those thin forks remind me of standard steel commuter bike forks except these are straight. And the way the seat stays are so thin as well and where they mount onto the seat tube… I can almost see a sprung seat and rear mud guard being part of the deal - is it just me?

Quick Facebook marketplace search shows these, I’m sure there will be others. Any of them compatible?

Just another thought, you can find a higher wall/bench where you can put your front wheel on, so the bike is stable on 2 wheels but almost in a vertical position, so then it’ll take a lot less effort and just a light tilt backwards to get it on back wheel. Lean backwards slightly and try to narrow down that balance point. In any case, if you feel like looping out you stand taller on the bike and it will fall back forwards with the front wheel back on the wall, try not to let it loop out. I suppose that would be similar if you were to learn a hand stand against a wall. And to answer your question - the correction hop is done so you can “default” yourself back to that balance point that’s stuck in your brain. So you start doing them when you’ve already reached that point, not too soon, not too late.

Hey buddy, I would suggest you break the whole backhop movement in 2 parts: 1) Get yourself close to a curb with maybe 20-25cm/10” space between the curb and your front wheel, the distance would depend on the height of the curb but you can see what’s appropriate just so you’re close enough and your front wheel won’t catch the curb on the way up. As you’re in a comfortable track stand/rocking position with your good foot forward turn the pedals quarter of a turn backwards and then press on the pedals with your good foot forward while pulling on the handlebars to help lift your front wheel and place it on top of the curb. You’ve done that many times before while riding your commuter bike but the idea is to do it while the bike is not moving, so your brain can remember exactly how much of pedal stroke is needed to lift the front wheel. Practice that until you’re feeling very comfortable with lifting the front wheel from a still position, you can also gradually increase the height of the curb to a low bench or something. 2) Second part of the move would be the back hop itself. For this part I’d say don’t even bother using your pedals. As you’re in a comfortable trackstand/rocking position lock the rear brake and lean your whole body low and backwards until the bike lifts up on back wheel. Imagine there is something stuck in the ground and you’re trying to yank it out - throw your ass low, pressure on feet, pull with stretched arms (this is what you’ll be doing for bunny hops as well). You’ll be able to lift the bike on a back wheel but you need to be ready to loop out and jump off the pedals. The whole time your rear brake should be locked. The more you do it, the more your brain will be able to process the move and the feeling of where the balance point is. When you reach that balance point you start hopping. Now that you’ve mastered both moves you can bring them together - good comfortable trackstand/rocking position > quarter pedal stroke to help you lift the front wheel > pressure on your feet, ass low and arms stretched > hopping on back wheel. Everything will be very exaggerated at first and will look bad but the more you do it, the more you will fine tune and learn what the minimum amount of pedal stroke/body movement is needed to get there. Hope that helps, also other riders feel free to correct me if I’m giving any bad tips? Cheers, Nas

I don’t think it’s much to do with the style of riding… Back to my point from the last comment I made - it’s just not an accessible sport, purely from a financial point of view but also in terms of “marketing” and promoting the sport. Trials organisers have a responsibility to share in that matter. Trials has evolved into an almost fully comp/natural riding sport up in the mountains and away from people. If you bring trials back to the streets like the tgs era was and what the shindig guys were doing last year with their regular street rides/vlogs, then you make bikes cheaper to buy, I’m sure that would attract lots of new people into the sport. Watch Charlie Rolls’ London video, plenty of hooks and moves to front in an urban setting - looks pretty cool to me! If you think about it, street trials is definitely more popular than pure trials. Why is that? I don’t think that the top pure trials riders are any less skilled or less exciting to watch than Danny Macaskill, each in their own discipline. It’s just that one rides in the city and the others jump over twigs up in the mountains.

I don’t think that there has ever been a great amount of interest in trials anyway… but I agree with you that big brands need support, it’s what makes them “big”. And being big means that they can persevere through economic crises whereas smaller brands just seize existing. So, if there weren’t big brands like crewkerz, jitsie, clean in the past few years, I think that trials would slowly die off by the time the last of the old stock second hand bikes in use snapped and there were no replacements on the market. In those terms the big brands are keeping it alive but I feel like the price point doesn’t let the sport grow. Imagine a world where you could either buy a Ferrari or not have a car at all, that’s the situation we’re in. Big brands need to optimise and find ways to make their products more accessible because it’s only people who are already into trials that are happy to spend the money. Quite frankly, if I had no clue about trials and my kid came home one day and said “Dad, can I have £2.5k for a bike?” I’d tell him to get lost…

We should thank Brexit for this… I mean, you’re right in saying that there isn’t as decent variety as there was say 10 years ago but off the top of my head the main brands currently are: Crewkerz, Clean, Ozonys, Comas, Breeth, Maestro, Jitsie, TMS + Campmajo in Spain and I’m sure that there will be other local niche brands in China that we don’t even know about e.g. Lykke (briefly)… It’s just that us in the UK are only getting crewkerz, jitsie and clean in stock. The last few bikes/frames I’ve bought have mostly been shipped from Europe: Clean X2 frame from Hungary, Comas full bike from Sweden I think, Maestro frame from Germany, Clean X1 full bike from France…. If you know you want it, you need to be prepared to spend the money, otherwise there are plenty of jitsies on the second hand market here in the UK.

And yeah, the rim tape doesn’t seem too narrow but it isn’t wide enough either. I suppose it’s to do with the profile of the rim, would work much better on a flatter profile… anyway, thanks for the tip! Nas

Cheers dude, already done that on my 20” bike, think I’ll probs go down that route on the 26” as well..