spode@thinkbikes

LOL. I think I know what I'm putting down as your profile picture on TB

It may well have been. Does that mean we can't? Our insurance for the demos costs enough and covers this too - which is why a lot of people doing demo's don't buy it... (naughty)

Nasty. One more reason why I'm still nervous with that particuar trick

Spot on And Mr Rankin - don't think you're getting away scott free - may be throwing some cash your way to get your involvement too

Where you there?

Dave just finished editing up a couple of videos. We don't seem to get much footage of the demos, and when we do it's rarely the best! Still we've done the best with what we've had. Footage of Tall_Rob, Phil King, Spode, Dave Lowe, Darren Hill. http://www.thinkbikes.com/video/thinkbikescumbria http://www.thinkbikes.com/video/thinkbikesmerrist I don't expect comments - so don't feel forced to

I'm left foot forward. When I side hop to my right, no matter how hard I try, I always end up landing front wheel first and I barely tuck. I level out by pushing my arms forward and my arse down a bit, but certainly not much of a tuck. I take off close to parallel to the wall, and it feels very much like the way I first learnt to sidehop, from the Ashton Tricks & Stunts era. This technique you rely on the front wheel to pivot the back wheel round slightly to get on to the wall. Trying to force a tuck on this technique as I see some people do, is pointless. If your front wheel is on and your back wheel is high enough, it's clean sailing. Now, when I go to my left, which is technically my wrong direction, I can get pretty much the same height, but things are very different. I don't land on front wheel, I land accurately on a brick width wall consistently and I do tuck more naturally. I take off at more like 45 degrees. Instead of relying on the front wheel to pivot me round, as I'm hopping, I'm pushing the bike with my feet sideways - BECAUSE of that fact, your body naturally ends up on the right hand side of the bike, allowing you to tuck. With this method, I can also side hop to pedal with ease - which I can't do when going the other way as I just end up pivoting my frame into the wall. So certainly if I was in a competition, I would choose to sidehop to my "incorrect" direction, because I have less chance of losing traction when my front wheel hits the object, and because I can land on pedal if things go wrong. I consider them both to be valid techniques, esp as the first technique is closer to a wheel swap (or smoke as I like to call them) and so I can smoke about as high as I can side hop to my right. But as hard as I try, I can't go to front wheel on my left, and I can't do the two wheels technique to my right.

I had a bitch of a time. Stuart was kind enough to give me a lift to Swanley station. Where I took a train to Otford. From Otford I was supposed to change to Sevenoaks, change again, and then to Tonbridge. However, there was a replacement bus from Otford to Seveoaks. The b*****d wouldn't let me on with a bike. I did some sweet talking and managed to persuade him around to letting me - but then he took one look at my mud-soaked bike and laughed his head off. In the end, through the use of a friend on the web, I discovered Otford was only 4.1 miles from Sevenoaks. So I rode it. Not that fun on a trials bike, esp. as I was knackered from the days riding, plus the hour I spent riding trials on a ledge I found in Otford

His name is Oliver. He is very annoying, but he is only 8. I'm hoping he'll grow out of it.... I had a great time. I'm fully expecting to come last again, but my fitness level has definetely improved since the last comp, as I was lasting a lot longer However, I don't know if I tweaked something during that ride, because something went in my back later than evening while dancing "the twist" in the living room after performing particularly well at Guitar Hero. Couldn't get out of bed in the morning and had to be dragged off in an ambulance (neighbour climbed through my bedroom window to open the door - hilarious!). Spent the whole day as high as a kite, but I've got a stock pile of super strong drugs now Oh, and did anyone else feel how light Chris' (Zhi) bike was? Magnesium Alloy frame and rims. I think he said it was 8lbs - it felt like it!

All great points Wayne. We are insured for this, and we have enough portable kit that we don't need a central place to do it from. It's pitched in a completely different way to how you're trying to do it - neither of which is the "correct" way of doing it. Every idea has to evolve, and I've already had feedback that is directing me towards some changes. I felt getting something up and going (as we get a lot of interest in this sort of thing, post demos) was the most important thing to do. Plus with the 10% discount, it was bringing something else to the community.

Yeah, not a bad idea. We will be having a trials area built in Penshurst, which we could use as an area for regular training. I've got more ideas on the matter, this is just the first stage.

Because it's not worth our time turning up somewhere for £20 And if it's just one rider, they can always just turn up to a group ride that we'll be at and I'd be happy to help them out It's 20 people at most. Getting 10 isn't that hard, and that's £20 each, which isn't that bad really. You can learn a lot in two hours. And honestly, if everyone was making progress - we'd happily stay longer. We just have to quote a minimum really to cover ourselves. I see it doing quite well at schools. I'm sure pretty much any school has 20 people in it interested in learning to handle their bikes better. You can run it in their school playgrounds when it's over. It's just one more way to try and promote the sport Fo Shizzle.

Hear hear.

thinkbikes.com and tartybikes.co.uk have teamed together to offer trials training sessions, with an added bonus! Now, I'm sure many of you are better riders than we are, but to those of you who are beginners or who haven't even started trials yet, a bit of instruction from riders with ten years riding experience each can really accelerate your progress and stop you from learning bad habits at an early stage. The cost is £195 + fuel expenses, for a minimum of 2 hours training for up to 20 people. We come directly to you! So if you and 19 other friends group together a tenner each, you're well on your way to a decent session. EVERY person who does the training gets a voucher redeemable at tartybikes.co.uk for 10% off the cost of a complete bike. On a £400 bike, that's a £40 saving - well worth paying a tenner for. The vouchers are valid for a year and have no financially redeemable value - although they are transferrable, so by all means sell them on! A complete bike means exactly that, either an off the shelf bike, or a custom built complete bike - a bike without pedals is not a complete bike. So if you think you're going to buy a complete bike sometime within the next year and you know a few people who are thinking the same - why not club together to cover the costs of the training so you all get the vouchers? Even if four riders clubbed together at a cost of £50 each and you buy a £1500 bike - you'll still end up saving £100 extra overall! The full details can be seen here: http://www.thinkbikes.com/training/ And remember, you can still earn a £50 tartybikes.co.uk voucher if you refer us for a demo - http://www.thinkbikes.com/refer/

It's amazing how much difference the stem makes. It's almost identical to mine in spec, but with his huge stem it rides SO differently.

The lack of built in +20/+40 on the rear disc was one of the deciding factors for me not getting one. I use the Simtra ST-1 now, which has +40mm as standard, so I have a 200mm disc on the back with no adapters. I've never liked the idea of adapters. Plus, tartybikes have them on special offer for £299.99 now

Will do

Just got back. Top Knotch ride. Wayne and Kyle were lovely guys and we had a good ride. I'll definetely have to bring my bike again next time I come up

Christ, I felt a little queezy watching that video. I'll have to get a picture of my shins, they have far too many battle wounds. I've started wearing shin pads now though

Right, Kyle from NMC ( ) has agreed to go for a ride in Wolverhampton on Thursday. 5pm at the train station. Should be riding till 9ish as the two guys have to be home. However, if anyone else comes along that can ride until later - I'm happy to do so. Up for another ride on say Tuesday in another place (not Wolverhampton). Telford for instance.

I wear helmet and gloves! And recently, I've been wearing shinpads. My shins are looking the best they ever have!

My girlfriend takes one look at the scarred mess I call my shins, and refuses to get on a bike!

That's a pity. It would be nice to meet as many people as possible!

Ok, well somebody let me know. 07886588941 spode@thinkbikes.com is my MSN.

Well I pop up to Cosford fairly reguarly. I don't know why I've not bothered bringing my bike before. I did ride in Wolverhampon some 5 or 6 years ago... So what's happening? I'm getting on the train Sunday morning