DYAKOV

On that note, I’m sure you all know that in Europe we do have couriers where as a sender/seller you would go and drop off your parcel in their office. It gets weighed, put in on the system and you can choose from the following: - send the parcel and pay for the shipping beforehand - send the parcel and buyer pays for the shipping upon receipt (delivery to the company’s office at the other end) - send a parcel and buyer pays whatever amount you’ve requested as a payment in order to be able to receive the parcel - send a parcel and request the buyer to send another parcel from their end travelling the opposite way. Once available for collection, the two parcels need to be reviewed by the respective receivers at the same time and if both happy, a quick call between the offices authorises the trade/swap - you can also select the option to let the receiver inspect the parcel before they decide to pay and receive it - since everything is dealt with by the courier and in their offices both sides are completely safe - or you can simply use the courier to collect from an address and to deliver to an address by paying for the service beforehand (as we do in the uk) And as a receiver you can: - review the item in your local courier office and decide that you’d like to return if the item arrives “not as described” or if you’d agreed on a price and all of a sudden the seller puts a higher amount for you to pay in order to receive Essentially the company combines PayPal/western union + a courier service but allows lots of flexibility for both sides and usually deliveries are overnight e.g. drop off parcel before 5pm to be available for collection at 9am the day after. Wish we had this type of a service here in the uk…. Cheers, Nas

Just seeing this 3 years later… My name is Nas, I’m also based in Glasgow! I try to ride somewhat regularly - depending on weather and mostly in my back garden - I’m always on the lookout for other Glasgow riders to make friends with and organise some group rides, give me a message if you’re still into trials? N

Following…

You can just make your own dude, there isn’t anything too complicated and you can play with the design (at your own risk, of course). I’ve made quite a few adapters and they’ve all worked pretty well. I’m sure you’ll figure out the dims but one tip from me is make sure you use a pillar drill! Are you based in the uk? I can post a piece of aluminium flat bar and bosses if that helps? Cheers, Nas

I’ve been riding the “new geometry” bikes for the past 2-3 years and I still can’t get used to the geometry (more so on my 20”). I’ve tried a few different stem/bars combos including the following: clean pro stem 142x27 paired with trialtech high rise bars then clean high rise bars clean pro stem 164x27 paired with clean high rise bars clean forged 165x25 paired with clean high rise bars crewkerz 145x20 paired with crewkerz high rise bars tms 180x35 stem with jitsie 110 rise bars And none of these feel natural to me. I had a similar experience on my 26” until I tried comas 130x20 stem paired with clean low rise bars and instantly it felt so natural… Since I discovered that setup I’ve run it on 3 different frames and it never disappoints which leads me to the thought that despite variations in the frame geo a good front end setup will ultimately feel comfortable. Wish I could find a similar setup for my 20” but I don’t really know the “rule of thumb” when it comes to front end geometry, so it’s always a matter of trial and error. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I assume I can’t just run a 150x30 stem with mid rise bars as I would have done back in the day because the frame geometry of my maestro has nothing to do with frames from 10 years ago. Basically, my 26” feels a lot more stable and I feel like the centre of gravity is further back over the rear axle making it almost effortless to stay on a back wheel with my body straight up. Whereas my 20” feels like it’s pulling me forwards, so staying on rear wheel means slouching over the front and a constant effort to keep the bike up (think that’s probably more to do with the high bb). Not to mention that turning the bars forward feels disgusting on my wrists but with that amount of rise I can’t really have them pointing up unless I want that maestro to look like a bmx…. Any tips? Cheers, Nas

I need some parts for my clean bb30 cranks and I was wondering if there are other (non-trials/more widely available) models cranks which have the same “accessories”? 1 - I need the larger outer dia spacer which slots in after the freewheel 2 - I need the 2 thin plastic spacers/washers 3 - I need extraction caps Alternatively, is there anyone who can machine these for me? I have another full set of cranks, so I can provide the original parts that I need duplicated… Cheers, Nas

There was a 20” maestro selling on the forum some time ago. Worth finding the add and messaging the guy, hunk it might be still there.

I remember that old BT Raven frames came with 1100wb but they seemed to be quite fragile.. Also adamant A2 had 1100wb and were solid as a trials frame can be but a bit on the heavy side (there’s currently a full adamant A2 selling on Facebook). They’d have a higher bb rise though. I can’t really think of a long trials frame with low bb…

A guy on Facebook is selling a decent adamant 24” which would be the bridge between street and comp (similar to the 24” jitsie mentioned above) and is going quite cheap at £250 Ono…

Also, they don’t have to be the carthy pistons, if you want to save a few quid the standard ones will work just fine (personally, I’d opt for the carthy ones cos otherwise you’re essentially running a standard trialtech lever setup)

No alloy pistons on those levers. Even though there are ones that you can use, guys from trialtech recommended me to stick to the plastic ones (I’d enquired on that before). Best bet is to change the o-rings and see if that helps and if not, then just get a new set of pistons.

Ok guys, to most of you this won’t seem like a big deal but I’m not a phones kind of a guy and I just got a new iPhone 13 pro max which I found to be quite expensive. Having had my old phone falling off the tripod cos of strong winds and getting dings to the display, I want to make sure I don’t get this one smashed in no time. Can anybody recommend a good heavy duty case they’ve used and happy with? I’m not too fussed about aesthetics as long as it’s bomb proof. Cheers, Nas

For the sake of diy (I love diy) - do it! You’re very unlikely to achieve a precise positioning of the calliper against the rotor, so you might end up having to experiment with rotor sizes / washers etc but if you take your time in measuring the adapter before you go ahead with fabrication, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Of course, no matter how well you fix it to the 4 bolt mounts and the rear axle, it will develop some play, especially if the brake bites well. But hey ho, you wouldn’t expect it to work as well as an integrated brake mount anyway. Keep us posted on your progress and good luck! Needless to say - safety first! Nas

Thanks Mark! I did go on the dpd website but I can’t seem to find my way around it. To start with, they have the dpd official website and a dpd local as well, not sure where to look. Somehow I got to a page where I saw different options e.g. economy, air class etc varying around £20 but the max size allowed was 60x60x60. Then I managed to find an option which was up to 135cm in length and up to 30kg which was great but once I selected that a pop up came up saying that this service isn’t available. I’m very confused with the dpd interface. I will have a look at the other couriers you’ve mentioned above. Parcelforce are giving me quotes of £200 and over…. Cheers, Nas

So after brexit I’ve only received bikes and parts from Europe, never sent one. I’ve got a 20” bike packages up parcel dims: 100cm x 40cm x 50cm @ 10-12kg that I want to ship to France. Can anyone recommend a courier company which won’t cost an arm and a leg to ship? Thanks, Nas

Ok, so I don’t know who the rider was, I don’t know what the bike was, I don’t know what the music was and I don’t know where it was filmed either - haha! All I vaguely remember are clips at a coastal site (possibly Spain) at sunset and a guy riding a bmx for trials (what appeared to me at the time, now thinking 20” megamo). The guy was pulling some decent manuals and 360s but I also remember him doing massive pedal kicks and side hops (maybe it wasn’t all filmed at that beach alley spot), it was very Gerardo Garcia like. I’ve watched this video around 2008-2009 and it was already pretty old, so only the OG’s would know it… Not much help in the description but hoping that someone would have the same flashbacks as me? Cheers, Nas

I’ve got a tech 3 trial zone on the rear and I find it slightly spongy compared to magura brakes I’ve tried on friends’ bikes. I’ve tried tech 3 levers on other bikes and they all seem to be spongy, so it’s not a matter of bleeding or pads alignment. I was wondering if the trial zone levers which have a simpler design would feel better but I guess I’ll be looking for another tech 3 lever based on everyone’s feedback. Thanks, Nas

On that note, is there any major difference between the tech 3 lever and the old trial zone lever? I’ve noticed that Benito Ros is still using a trial zone lever and I was wondering if that’s better suited for trials as opposed to the tech 3 which has been designed to be compatible with all types of callipers? I guess that the tech 3 has more options for modulation with the reach and biting point bolts. It’s also chunkier, so I assume that it has a bigger reservoir and a bigger piston, does that mean it’s more powerful as well? The blade seems shorter than the one on the trial zone lever. I don’t know any of the specifics and these are my observations, I might be wrong. I’m just asking cos I’ve been toying with the idea of building a front brake using the old trial zone lever and the new trial zone calliper but I don’t want to spend the money to only find out it doesn’t work.

Right, so I might have had that happening on other bikes in the past and never really cared much but the older I get, the grumpier I am… So, I noticed that when I’m squeezing the rear brake the rim moves to one side. I don’t think that the frame is flexing and I’ve got a steel 2 bolt brake booster to stiffen it up. The slave cylinders seem to be at equal distances from the rim, pads are somewhat equally worn. Using echo washerless clamps, so unless the mounts aren’t super straight I don’t see why the rim would move. I can only explain that with one slave cylinder not being powerful enough, so the other one pushes stronger but I’ve recently bled the brake and I’m positive that there isn’t any air trapped in the system. Any thoughts or tips? Cheers, Nas

First ride on my latest zoo build. The stem/bars setup is completely wrong for this geometry but I’m doing the best with what I’ve got. Once I feel more confident on the bike, I’ll attempt bigger moves but I’ve had some fun nevertheless! https://www.instagram.com/reel/CkWF2vhjnkuFX2Aq7CAW6KXs1XkBRg9OYqtlhE0/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Hey! You’ve got nothing on us - we have black people, white people, yellow people, basalt green people, orange people, gays, trannies, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, people with split personality etc Joke aside - the trials community is very friendly and welcoming, you’ll have a good time on this forum. That’s in case you actually meant *black* and your phone didn’t autocorrect from *back*

Long story short - I bought a second hand frame which was meant to be in good condition but it came with 4 cracks on it. I’m trying to get it repaired but I doubt I’ll have it back in the next few days and there’s a new trials park opening on Sunday which I want to go to. So, I’m building a spare zoo frame that I have but I don’t have a chain tensioner for it and it’s a 135mm spacing, so snail cams won’t work. I’m not sure if it was Flipp or Ali who used a spoke to make a ghetto tensioner. I really just need it to get me going on the day. Can anyone give me a tip on how to make one? Other ideas are also welcome as long as I don’t need any special materials. PS: I’ve got the chain as short as it can be, so a link shorter means it won’t work and the current length gives quite a bit of slack. Having vertical dropouts doesn’t help either, so I can’t play with the length and go without a tensioner altogether.

As far as I’ve heard magura have some decent hydraulic disc brakes, just don’t go with the cheapest ones. I bought a second hand bike to sell on a few months back and it came with some low level magura brakes (mt sport or something like that, all plastic levers, plastic pistons etc). I must say that the levers felt very firm and comfortable on the finger as well - much better feeling than the hope trial zone I have on my bike - but they weren’t holding well at all. I assume that the mt4-5-7 would have a better bite and they’re worth a try. On a side note, I’ve had bb5’s on one of my old bikes and I was struggling with them at first. It wasn’t until I got new ebc red compound pads and I set them perfectly parallel when I could feel them very firm, super responsive and holding great! Tuning wise, I’d recommend using playing cards - grab a king of spades and a king of hearts and place them on either side of the rotor as the brake calliper is loose on the frame/forks mount. Then squeeze the lever, so it locks the calliper in place (just make sure that the calliper isn’t too far off where it should sit on the mount) and further tighten the bolts. From my experience, the ebc pads didn’t take longer than 10-15min riding to bed in and the bite was amazing! It’s a general rule with any type of a brake - pads make the bite, so if you’re using some generic stuff you won’t achieve great results no matter how well your brake has been set. Worth trying out some good pads before you invest in a new set of brakes. Nas

I think you said it there - skating culture. In my opinion it’s so popular because it’s trendy and not that much because of the actual sport itself. You know what I mean - listening to certain types of music, wearing certain types of clothes, being cool essentially. It’s a lot more street oriented and a way of expressing yourself on multiple levels at the same time, teenagers love to express themselves. When we’re speaking about trials, the street element (incl clothes, music, behaviour) has massively diminished in the last 5-10 years in favour of the sport developing in a different direction. And here I’d disagree with most people who say that trials is a very slow developing subject. If you think about it, trials hasn’t been around for too long, we’re talking about 30-40years history. And in that time you can compare bikes from different eras which look completely different to one another. Have a look at a skateboard or a bmx from the same eras and they won’t have changed that much visually. To further prove my theory, I’m thinking of the peak times of trials: 2000-2006 when trials was a lot more street oriented and closer to the skate/bmx scene in terms of styling. That attracted lots of people into the sport. I remember seeing the logos of Pleb. and ZS clothing brands sponsoring some of the riders; followed by another surge in 2008-2014 when it kind of overlapped with the emo era, pretty much all trials videos had screamo in the background, black and white clips, fish eye lens, riders wore skinny jeans, had emo hairstyles, etc (talking about Damon, Danny Swindlehurst, Ben Lazenby at the time). That’s when bikes were predominantly Deng - heavy and bomb proof. So, we can see that the culture element was strong and it brought lots of people to the sport but the bikes needed improvement. From then on, lots of new brands started exploring alternative designs and started building lighter frames (talking about rockman, because, breath etc). And that’s the latest stage of development in terms of product lines which has eventually led to the creation of the carbon bikes we have today (that’s how I see things, might be wrong). Only the issue here is that by developing the bikes, the accent shifted from the key word culture to another key word comp (dictated by the new shape bikes) and comps are very niche. Now we have great comp events like never before that only people who are already involved with trials know or care about. Speaking about pure trials and not the “inspired trials”. And even then, I feel like “inspired trials” isn’t that street any more. On that note, I love what the shindig guys are doing because they’re promoting that street culture element in parallel to the comp scene. I think that we need more of the street CULTURE and less of the comp if we want to get more people draw into the sport.

Jesus - what a dafty I am! I just read the bottom line of the picture I uploaded. Sorry for the spam!