Jere_h

Started riding trials last year and this is my first trials specific bike. Bought the frame brand new early this year and built the "thing" leaning to the yellow wall in one of the pics there. It basically had all my old dirt jumper parts I could use for some sort of trialsy moves. But things escalated quickly during the summer as the bike was starting to feel horrible to ride even for a beginner, and I started to realize that trials parts are trials parts for a reason. First of all the cheap Nukeproof freehub blowed up pretty quickly, forcing me to buy a Hope Pro4 and build a completely new wheel also because I hated the narrow rim. That actually was the best decision ever as my learning ramped up like a rocket when I could actually trust the drivetrain. Another good decision was changing the Zee brakes to Maguras and forgetting the horrible wandering bite point and pad knock of Shimanos. Also I'm very happy with the latest stem-bar setup, keeping the bike streety and trialsy enough at the same time I think. The frame graphics were so 2000's in a way that wasn't even fun anymore, so I ended up stripping the whole paint off and gave the frame a quick brushed finish. Looks pretty interesting with the huge amount of welds it has. Very ugly but beautiful frame at the same time! Currently the only things that are still there are the Hussefelt cranks(10 years old?) and the front wheel and rubber.. and the ugly old seat of course, that is horribly heavy. Probably going to toss it and buy a Inspired seat soon. Now I actually have a new Echo pure that I thought would be my new main learning tool for pure trials. However I've actually started using Monty more and more lately, as I've found out I can do nearly the same things with this bike and even more. Lack of confidence is my worst problem when learning new scary stuff, and this bike just feels much more comfortable 90% of time. That said, I've decided to go for a 2019 Hex frame kit when it's available, since streety geo definitely seems to be more suitable for my mindset. Would really like to stick to Monty, but the frame is damn heavy and the chainstays are seriously long at 405, bb somewhere around 0.. which probably makes it feel even heavier on the rear wheel. But let's play with this bike as much as possible before the winter comes.

Feeling stupid now. So the slipping issues have been back for a while more or less and certainly the rim is now straight enough so I can't suspect it anymore. I think Mark was right so it wasn't the rim at all or just part of the problem. I've now noticed that during a series of hops and continuously holding the brake locked pretty tight it just suddenly "modulates" at let's say 5th hop. So of course this got me thinking the easiest possible cause which is air. Even though the lever feel is actually really solid..? However the left slave cylinder has clearly leaked behind the pad. Actually suspected this because the left piston was very lazy to move and came always late. Sometimes it doesn't move at all if the right one is not pushed against. Not sure though if air is the reason for pistons not moving equally, but there is certainly a leak. A new brake that is leaking right out of the box or some days later, happens to me basically every time for some reason. How can quality be so bad in these things. I think I'm going to try a hs33 now, also because of the ability to use water based fluid, but probably will like the lever ergonomics more who knows.

Thanks for the great responses, solved a lot of things. To the brake slip issue.. I believe now it was due to several reasons, the rim being only the main cause. Yes it seemed like the joined section was the major problem as the rest of the rim looks true enough. Checked it out and clearly the outer edge had more elevation than the inner, making quite a difference to the contact surface angle in that spot. So actually the angle was more the problem rather than elevation change I guess. Tried to carefully bend it outwards to line up with the pad and it's way better now. So far I was able to ride fine without any surprises today. I also realigned the pads to make sure they're ok, not sure how much this affected. The pads are the original Echo cnc yellow ones. I think it definitely feels like their hold could be better, meaning I seriously have to squeeze the lever over the bite point every time to make sure they really hold. By the way it's getting colder around 5 to 10 celcius here and definitely not sure if they are good enough for cold and slightly wet weather. Probably need some sort of softer pads for winter? However now it seems to work at least more consistently. Just feeling that I need to separately think about the brake to lock it up properly every time, or it may slip at some point of the rim where things are not 100% aligned. With the chain tension, I've just tried to keep it as tight as possible with a healthy amount of slack. It certainly has some precession though, of course on the front foot side lol.

Been stalking this forum for ages and finally it's time to sign up and post, now as I consider myself as a trials rider. I've been pretty much breathing trials the whole summer and so incredibly stoked to feel the progress. Started last summer and used few months learning rear wheel hops and pedal kicks on a Nukeproof hardtail which gave me pretty solid base to start with a more trialsy bike this summer (custom built Monty 230 urban). However now after few months intense training and quick progressing to a certain level, I had to admit that the Monty isn't the easiest bike for a beginner even though I kinda love it still as it's pretty cool build. It certainly seems like these geometry things affect a lot more than I wanted to think before, main problem being the 405mm chainstays. Now finally two weeks ago I decided to buy a new bike to get rid of the chainstay issue and boost my learning as the summer is too short really. Definitely not saying that I couldn't learn with the Monty, but it's unnecessarily exhausting and the sport itself is already hard and scary enough for sure even with a good equipment. After realizing that the new Hex frames (the bike that I actually want) are not going to be available before the real shitty weather comes, I made a quick decision and ordered the cheapest Echo Pure, just to try how it feels and if I like it or not (bicycle trials in Finland is a very rare thing so couldn't ask to try one). Still as a more saddle bike guy my main concern wasn't the pogo geometry at all nor the lack of seat, as I actually ride 99% natural stuff all the time and wanted to learn solid trials skills. The worst crisis for me was mostly the rear rim brake thing, after getting used to MT5 from the beginning. After four days on the Echo I'm starting to notice the advantages of a pogo geometry, and actually really liking it (disliking the disadvantages at the same time). Now what I seriously don't like is the rim brake, but not in a way I first imagined. So here are the issues: 1. The echo TR rim brake lever feel is very heavy compared to disc brakes. It's almost getting me an arm pump even though I got plenty of motocross background. The brake doesn't feel faulty, it just feels like there's a tight spring in there. I've been thinking if HS33 has a similar feeling or is it more like MT5? Or is this just a rim brake thing and they are all heavier to squeeze? 2. The brake slips occasionally, of course in the worst situations.. The reason is the rim (Echo double wall, quality grinded by the shop) that has a short bend right where it's joined together. I've built a wheel for my Monty and noticed the Jetset rim had a similar bend around the seam that was impossible to get rid of by truing and had quite a lot of elevation (didn't bother me because of disc brake). The Echo rim looks like there is no visible seam though so it's probably welded, but the bend is still noticeable and making the brake horribly inconsistent where the spot is. Is this just the Chinese cheapo issue or maybe a common problem with trials rims? This is seriously moving me back to disc brake frames as I've completely lost my confidence after nearly slipping to death three times in a row today. 3. The echo 108 click freewheel sounds a bit creaky (brand new) and has a bit of play sideways, I guess this is normal? I have a Hope pro4 trials hub on my Monty and the whole drivetrain actually feels quicker engaging and more solid than the Echo with more clicks.. This may be also due to the lack of sprung tensioner in Echo though, so the chain is always running a bit slack. Would be definitely cool to hear some knowledge about these issues!