OAP

Cheers Ben. That would be appreciated. I may try & rally a few potential contenders off here, if you think it's worth a try? Be good to get some older riders togeather.

Thanks for the info Ben. Sadly i'm a billy no mates, when it comes to trials. Maybe a few 30+ riders will pick up on this chat and be tempted. Hopefully sooner rather than later... I'm nearer 40 so I may not have a couple of years... ..

Sounds like it was a great event. I've been to watch a couple in the past year. I noticed from their old results they had an over 30's class/award. Does anyone know if they still have this? I've never competed,but if they did, i'd fancy a go at dabbing my way round

Well I didn't expect that many replys... looks like lack of time is an issue for a lot of us. I suppose this will become even more common as the trial population ages and riders in their teens/20's, get to older!! Hopefully they will still be riding. Thanks to Ali for the good tips... duly noted. I'm going to try and meet up with some riders when I move to Yorkshire. But grabbing an hour when I can isn't always convenient for arranging to meet other riders. Good tip regarding riding longer lines. I was managing a trip to Blackstones after work in the summer and with the help of gaffer tape markers, i made sections for the evening. Gaffer tape was removed when i left for home. Always found that enjoyable. If i did get a bit carried away with the expectation of my ability Like most have said, having fun is the priority. I tend to take stuff a bit to seriously, I can get a bit obsessed with stuff until i achieve... but that's my nature and it has it's advantages and it's what i find most enjoyable Anyhow enough of my ramblings.... back to work Cheers all.

Running my own business, doing a house up and a missus, don't leave me all that much time for riding. I'm trying to progress my standard of riding (mainly on natural) but i don't get a lot of time. My solution is to ride for about 1 to 1.5 hour a day or every other day since the clocks went back. It's an hour in the local quarry from 7.15am till 8.15am before work. My question is does anyone else have the same problem? What your thoughts?

Inspired my new avatar...

Cheers fellas that makes it all a bit clearer. I will try my stem lower. Sorry Ali i'm guilty as charged when it comes to back hopping... . I like riding natty and will be like zebedee when I'm back on the Yorkshire grit.

I've just been scrolling through some images of the pro's bikes here and I noticed that most have hardly any stem spacers (stackers) if none at all. I was looking to see if they had, because surely the more spacers you have the further back you will be pushed when on the rear wheel, or the lower you would have to have the front, when on the rear wheel, increasing the load on your upper body (the problem I have). I realise the images are older and geo trends change, but am i thinking along the right lines...? I am going to run my spacers above my stem for a session and see how it feels, but was just after some clarification? Cheers all.

Loved that ... Talented riding... but i could'nt help but wonder if he was poking fun at all the herdy gerdy twirly street riding that's the fashion at the moment

!!!BALANCE!!! I know that sounds like stating the obvious, but don't fall into the trap of getting fixated on being able to 'bounce on your back wheel' For a start there is no such move in trials. Any bouncing you see undertaken by experienced riders, is usually a small correction hop/s, to maintain balance or shift to a position for the next move. So learn to balance on two wheels first, then balance on the rear. This WILL make you a better rider in the long run. If you decide to go for a mod (20") bike I'm going to be selling my trusty echo fro about £200. If your interested PM me.

Thanks folks for the responses. Some more musing on back protectors for those who are interested to discuss (or for those who are just bored of Ryan). Firstly ..thanks Mike for the links. I had seen the Forcefield back protectors when looking round the internet. They look good, not sure if the full jacket type thingy would be a bit warm!! Back protectors seem to be popular with the snowboarders, mx'ers, and DH MTBers. Apparently there are tow types of injury sustained, direct impact and hyper-flexion of/to the spine. Or something like that, please correct me if i'm wrong. Something like the Leatt neck brace protects against the latter and that type of injury is more usually sustained in higher speed sports than trials. Soooo i think a protector designed for direct impact is more suited to trials? any thoughts would be welcome. As i said it may not be something I wear all the time, just put on when trying a new tricky line or if the weather/conditions are a bit foul. If I hardly noticed i had it on, then I may probably wear it more. Apparently they have improved loads in recent years, and a lot of people other non trials forums clan to hardly notice they are wearing them. I suppose the key would be to try a few on, if anyone knows of somewhere? Tarty don't stock any, so I guess they are not that common in trials. Which is a bit mad considering the risky situations we put ourselves in. I suppose it may be related to the age of the average rider. I thought I was invincible at 16!!! But now knocking the shit out of my back and hobbling around for a week whilst trying to run a business has made me think otherwise. But not riding is NOT and option. Cheers.

Cheers Andrew Yeh I was thinking similar. I don't want something that will restrict me. I had one years ago when I raced MX, but it was a right big clunky thing. They have improved loads. From what I remember the kidney belt was the restrictive bit, but a lot of the ones around today seem to make this part detachable. I was looking at this POC bloody pricey, but can't put a price on your back.

err yeh

I took a fall last week, not that big, but I landed on my back on a rock. A week later im hobbling round and it made me think about getting a back protector for trying new lines that are a bit sketchy or when I'm out in the wet. I mainly ride natural. Has anyone ever tried using one? cheers

Stunning riding. The best vid I've seen in ages.

No worries. I find it helps to load your forward foot when balancing. Which you will find useful when you get back outside!!

Winter is a good time to get your balance nailed. As long as you have enough space to stand on the bike your sorted. Try these... - Track stand - good foot forward wheel turned to good side, good foot forward wheel turned to bad side, bad foot forward wheel turned to good side, bad foot forward wheel turned to bad side. Look around don't just stare at one spot. - Balance - Both wheel forwards, good foot forward, bad foot forward, backwards revolution to swap between the two, squat down to touch your ass on rear tyre and back up again, try not to rock just move front wheel but as little as possible. The above is for beginners. If you are a beginner getting the above dialled should keep you occupied for a good chunk of the winter. I stick some videos of trials on the laptop for some inspiration and to stop the boredom. I figure an hour a day is better than not riding at all. Hope it helps.

It's good to practice three methods... 1. Balance with brakes on, load your good foot release your back brake and allow front to come up. This is done mainly by the load in your good foot and leaning back. The back wheel will roll forward slightly as as your front comes up. 2. Balance with brakes on. Lean back, keeping brakes on and pull up front end as you straighten up to meet the bars as they approach vertical. 3. Balance with brakes on. Load good foot. Bunny hop with a slight kick of the cranks and a bit of extra pull on bars. The front will come up and you back wheel will hop forward to end up where the front was. 1 - is nice steady way to raise the front, but limited on uneven surfaces where real wheel cannot roll easily. 2 - Uses energy but is good when your cant afford for the wheels to move. 3 - Uses energy, but is good when you need to swap wheel positions such as on a boulder or very uneven surface. Practice all of them Hope it makes sense.

Should always be one finger. I raced motocross bikes for years and only ever used one finger. I ride trials and xc with one finger. If it's hard work or your brakes don't seem as efficient with one finger, then it's brake quality or (more usually) brake set up.

Log and river sections look slippy as hell. Awesome riding by all in those conditions.

Cheers all. Adam thanks for the tip, i will try that this evening. JD, thanks. Yeh i normally bleed my brakes as per revolvers guide. It is great but, it's not too easy to cover the bleed holes with rubber gloves on. I use gloves because my a mate of mine who is a mechanic recommended i don't stand for ten minuets with my hands in a bath of antifreeze. So i submerge the whole lot including a wide bore syringe and draw the fluid through, then remove and replace everything while it's all still submerged. I'm guessing from Mark and Adams advise that it's the new splitter (and levers) that are giving me grief.

Thanks Mark. I was puzzling over that yesterday when bleeding the system. I did a bath bleed, drawing the liquid through with a syringe (also submerged). I couldn't get my head around any other way of doing it. I removed both blanking bolts from the slaves, then put one back in and drew more liquid through. I tried this because i was wondering how to avoid just drawing liquid from the opposite slave. Or i could just be being thick...!

Hi Folks Just upgraded with some new levers HS33 long (05) and put in a trial tech hose splitter. Re-bled the system twice with a water & antifreeze mix. I used more antifreeze than in the past and my brake feels spongey. Is it possible to use too much anti freeze? any one experienced a similar problem? cheers.

Looks like he did it more than once!!!! the guy in the first part of this clip does not dive out of the way ......

Cheers JD. If he is still trading them I'm keeping my fingers crossed he has some pre 05 lever blades. I tried using the email feature on here but got no response.