Ali C

because I just chose a random name years ago with no intention of it being used (Butterboo was one of my cats), I have changed my channel name to AliClarkson but for some reason it still shows as the old name which is REALLY frustrating

noted!

ha! Video should be up tomorrow (with more details on my Patreon channel), it's been a lot harder to explain backhops than any other moves I've filed so far haha...I'm dreading having to explain trackstands in a future tutorial

FYI I just filmed a tutorial on backhops which will be on my youtube channel when it's edited (maybe next week)

it's been a while since I set up my insta account, I don't class myself as an athlete but I think the options are limited when choosing.

I use Facebook for my athlete page and that's it. I posted once on my personal page last year. Just yesterday I trimmed down my friend list on my personal page from 800 to around 150 (need to go and trim some more as I was on my phone and it didn't show them all) so that when I browse (which I still do) I'm not seeing a load of crap I'm not interested in...it's so much better!

I do wonder if in the future we'll look back at using athletes to promote sugary drinks in the same way we look back on celebrities endorsing cigarettes. It's a very tricky one...I think Redbull are good at putting their profits back into cool events that might inspire more young (or old) people to take up a healthy hobby, does it justify the risks of a high caffeine drink addiction? I'm not sure. I'm less impressed with other energy drink brands who seem to put less back, but they're also on the back foot and won't have as many people drinking their drinks...again a tricky one and I'm not sure how I feel about it, it can't be easy to turn down a sponsor like that if it came along! I also suspect sugar has cause a substantial more hospital cases than the lack of helmets being worn in sports!

Commencal Meta AM, gorgeous! The Radon Swoop bikes get a lot of praise too...check out the Dirt 100 for a few other options.

the only thing I can think of that makes the newer hex better for street and worse for comps is the slightly shorter wheelbase, but that's only because the chainstays got made shorter which means it's now way better on the rear wheel than the previous one! I will admit that comp guys might prefer the rim brakes on the older one but I definitely think the newer geo is much better for natural riding (one reason why I asked for it).

that's pretty normal, I think most people go though that stage, just carry on and you'll naturally find that you'll start to use the same foot for most moves, sounds like it'll end up being your left foot.

One built up with soft compound tyres and a slightly longer stem would be ideal I think

you just described an Inspired Hex

I've grown up and left any beef I had with Mike behind, now I have a respect for him trying and experimenting with things, even if the bars aren't my cup of tea I think more people should think outside the box when designing bike parts. Good luck with it all Mike

I think the pain could be from just the body not being used to the strain and being shocked by it...trials needs a lot of upper body strength and you sometimes don't notice how hard you work your arms as you're usually pretty distracted by the riding. It'd be like being a marathon runner and then going to the gym and strapping on a weight belt and doing pull-ups with 10kgs...your body will hate it. Best bet is to take things slowly and build up, let your body get used to the new stresses...unfortunately as we get older the more our bodies need gradual introductions to new stresses, when we're younger our bodies can cope quicker. Also take a look at your bike setup, it could be that your body doesn't like your bar position/angles...have a play with the tilt and even look at getting some flatter raked bars if need be.

anyone seen the proposed EU ruled article 13? Seems the EU are wanting to crack down with copyright laws on social media, making anything non original content harder to repost (including memes!). I doubt it'll come to anything but could be a spanner in the works for repost sites like Viral bike page and ridelife tv I have looked at Mikes Instagram and it's quite something! The stories are like I've never seen before....I'm a firm believer in you reap what you sow, my advice to Mike would be to not to rush the process of gaining followers, fewer followers but with a higher quality (more likely to invest in you) are better than loads of followers but are mostly bots or people who won't get invested. Tagging everybody is a good way to get noticed...but noticed in a bad way (tagging every redbull page or other big brands will probably put them off rather than get them interested). I suggest you listen to this Mike

I'd agree with the above with the added notes that sometimes in competitions you're forced to swap feet if a section is taped the "wrong" way...as a result I can do a few things either foot forwards which isn't that important when riding street but I will mention that it does help as a "get out of jail card" if you end up on a line wrong foot forwards or generally end up in a sketchy situation and being able to kick with your bad foot might rescue it. It's not something I'd concentrate a lot of time on, maybe just the occasional challenge to see how many pedal kicks you can do etc, although being able to trackstand either foot forwards is very handy!

3 cross has better rotational strength but radial is stronger side-to-side. Radial is also more stress on hubs as it's pulling against a smaller area, generally it's strong enough for trials stuff. Good luck

what pattern are you trying to build? If it's radial (no spoke crossings) then you can just have them all with the shoulders on the outside if they fit better that way. If you need to have a crossed spoke pattern you can give the spoke heads a tap with a mallet to try and seat them. If that doesn't work you can always just bend the spokes once they're fitted to get a straighter line from the hub to the wheel and build as normal...once you stress the wheel it should dent the alloy enough to then allow the spoke to penetrate more and have the head sit flush. Don't worry about damaging the hub too much, you'll be surprised how much they dent from the contact of the spokes anyway once bully tensioned. Also, the heat won't have any effect otherwise wheels would be going out of tru every time the weather changes

I'd have thought just using a lock nut on the valve would hold it in place?

My advice. Don't change what you do just to try and gain popularity. Firstly it seemed like you tried to copy Ally Law/Ryan Taylor with the rooftop thing and now it seems you're trying to get on the street vibes despite never riding street before. There's also no story, these videos have been so different from each other and with no explanation...people like consistency or at least some kind of story/reasoning why you're doing what you're doing in the video. I may be wrong but that's how it seems. You're a good TGS rider and that's what you should be pushing. That Inspired video just made you look like you started riding fairly recently, maybe if you'd made it into a story with some bits to camera explaining how you've never tried street (I assume?) but wanted to give it a try...then it might have some appeal, as it is you just repeated a load of lines, had un-pulled tricks and an unnecessary intro (trying to be cinematic?). Like I've said before, don't sell out and do things you wouldn't normally do...play to your strengths, try and make things a story and you'll find you'll then attract people who are actually interested in you and will become long-term watchers. Doing click bait videos or trying to do stuff because it's what other people do will only ever give you short term gains and will actually slow down your long term viewership...people can smell fakeness a long way off. Lastly...Youtube is NOT a viable way to make a living unless you get lucky or are able to consistently provide valuable entertainment regularly. I've been making a video every week for over two and a half years, I have the biggest biking channel in Scotland and I can't earn a living from it directly...I have tried to be true to myself, not take shortcuts and not do it for the money, I believe my fans are ACTUALLY fans and I'd rather have 50,000 people who are actually into what I do and value my videos than 500,000 who don't really care. Why are you making videos, what is your goal?

I'd have gone but I had a clash of interests and had to pull out.

I’ve been saying this for years, the UCI sections are dog turd...get up rock, get down rock, get up rock, get down rock, repeat. tbf some sections are worse than others, I liked the vertical posts but even taping out the other sections so the audience knows where they’re going would help. i think Vincent needs to vary up his riding a bit, surly the whole point of being a trials rider is to be able to ride anything out in front of you?? If he can’t ride a seesaw that’s his fault not the sections...has he forgotten the crazy sections in Japan where they had half pipes, swings and rolling barrels?

If it’s any help I’ve just got some Light Bicycle hookless rims and have been running them for the past week with no issues so far while running around 40psi...I’ve not done enything too extreme but I have bashed them a bit. Also Danny’s running the Santacruz rims on his Trials bike which are hookless and he’s running over 50psi and has given them a lot of abuse with no tyre issues either.

so nice!

Mark makes a good point, you have to be harsh with yourself at times and cut out potentially usable footage. I still struggle with this at times but the number of clips I loved but had to cut because it didn't add anything or stopped the flow is very high!