Ali C

so cool, loving the parts choice I always loved my 2004 Pure!

speaking of isis bbs, I remember when they came out and it was very exciting!

I also get this to a point, I'll ride spots with people there if I'm doing stuff I know I can do but if I'm trying new things with a high failure rate I do get self conscious if there's people around.

dammit, everyone's going to think I copied Benito when I drop tomorrows MTB trials video!

Flatmate bringing a group of people back to party without warning, had to go sleep in the motorhome, I tidied the flat recently and now it’s an absolute disaster. Not best pleased

100%

This was the first MBUK I ever got.

The deciding factor for me is choosing the bike that's easiest to swap between from your other bikes. I assume your DJ bike is 26"? I'd definitely be considering the Hex over the Fourplay or Arcade for ease of swapping, it'll feel more "normal" and take less adapting to

How was this nearly ten years ago??

maybe!

When being artistic I can definitely see the end result I want before I've started, unfortunately I usually can't translate that onto paper with my hands which is really frustrating! Sometimes I'll be in bed and I'll start thinking of bike products I'd like to make or modify and I can picture the products and the modifications pretty clearly, same with video projects where I have to modify things (like cutting a branch) I can visualise that in my head but I think that's likely because I've seen these things before hand which makes visualising them easy in my head. The thing I struggle with and I'm really impressed is something Danny can do is completely imagine a unique line for a video project. For the video "This Is Drop And Roll" he asked me what objects I would like made/arranged. I just couldn't give him an answer! I prefer just randomly arranging boxes/objects and then figuring out how to ride it, like a puzzle. Danny can picture the end result and then build the obstacles to make it happen and I find that really weird. It's like having a completed puzzle and then working backwards, kinda defeats the purpose a little for me. So I guess I don't have too many original thoughts (other than some art stuff) but once I've seen a situation I can picture it very clearly in my head and modify it with new thoughts.

depends what forks you're going to run...steel forks with a tapered steerer are harder to find if you ever went aftermarket plus they're a bit heavier and 1 1/8th is plenty strong in steel. If you want to use alloy, carbon or suspension forks in the future then go with tapered as they're stronger and more common

Great stuff, you two make a great combo

I'm not sure if I've ever seen his riding (sorry isitafox) so can't comment on his skill level, I was talking generally. I'm glad you agree about the childish part though

video's aside, putting someone else's riding down and claiming to be the better rider for the sole reason to make someone look bad is the most childish thing you can do. No matter what abuse I've had in the past, no matter how much I've disliked someone I never crossed the line by calling them a rubbish rider. People have different skill levels and different levels of commitment to the sport, we were all crap at some point and it's important to be humble about that.

This guy was the most recommended guy I got. I got him early on while he was doing this on the side of a full time job, he now has his own company and employees and charges a lot more than £60 a month to new customers! He's a complete nerd but in the best way possible, he loves what he does and is constantly researching and finding better ways to save people money. I'm very happy to carry on paying him £60 pm

depends what they do, I'm happy paying £60 a month and not have any stress, my accounts were practically sorted in august this last year. all I have to do is upload my receipts to receiptbank and link my bank accounts (including Paypal) to quickbooks and he does the rest, no spreadsheets, no paperwork and he can sort out all my random earnings and find loopholes to save me the most money. Other than my mistakes in the past for not saving towards tax he saves me more than I pay him.

another vote for an accountant! I haven't the foggiest when it comes to taxes so I pay £60 a month for a shit hot accountant who does everything (I still need to submit receipts, mileage etc which I still fudge up at times).

I have never talked to Fabio about figures but from a few insights into the industry I’d guess he’s on at least 100k a year from canyon excluding bonuses but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s on more. Red Bull might be a bit lower but that grows every year and also has some hefty bonuses most likely. His YouTube channel gets hundreds of millions of views no doubt so that’s probably another 6 figure sum there (or close to), his merch isn’t so big here in the UK but every big European event I go to I’d say more than 50% of kids are wearing multiple items of Sick clothing, I’ve no idea how much he makes from it but I imagine it's a full time wage alone. He then has other sponsors like Mercedes and other random brands that will probably be decent amounts on top. Maybe he’s not making a million a year just yet but I would be surprised if he’s not a millionaire from the past few years and along as he doesn’t do anything stupid his wage will only get bigger. The boys done good!

I just assume everyone has an ulterior motive these days so I ignore it all

I know Canyon had offered Danny a deal (but he went with Santacruz instead) so they're keen to pay for those Youtube views. Plus Fabio is HUGE in Germany/Austria so it makes sense for a German company to take advantage of that

With this Canyon deal, his video views, his red bull sponsor, his Sick Series sales and any other sponsor he has, Fabio will be making easily a million a year by now. It makes total sense for Canyon to have him exclusively on their bikes, even if they don't sell his trials model it's still great marketing for them.

yeah

tax rebate!

I think one issue could be that you're fairly stiff on the bike (which is natural until you get the muscle memory later on). Being stiff means you're not using your muscles efficiently and using muscles you don't need to use. Your body is probably being shocked by it and could be causing the symptoms you're getting...I remember I got really painful fingers after about a year of riding, about the time I was doing more backwheel stuff. It does look like you're a bit too steep on the bike too and with a very elbows in position, riding elbows in whilst straining them is pretty brutal on the shoulders, it's kinda like trying to do a bent arm lever in the gym, something most people would struggle to do without much training. My advice? Hold off the backhops for a week and let your shoulders recover, meanwhile try and work on two wheel balance and see about getting a more relaxed posture (easier said than done)...there's no shame in taking a step back if needed and running before you can walk can slow you down in the long term. Once you feel like tackling backhops again try rocking onto the back wheel with an endo and try and find the balance point without hopping, use your body weight, your hips, knees anything to keep on that point...that should help you stop being as stiff and should take some stress off your arms and shoulders. Good luck.