Ali C

I think once a cat gets to 20, it kinda gives up on fighting, there was a bit of meowing, but no ressistance. And no, her tail is just flopping over so it just looks short.

yes, when Andrei isn't falling off, he is rocking these pads, I felt them and they are pretty good. We will we will ROCK YOU!!

lol, it gets on my nerves when people say its parkour on a bike! Trials has been around for about 20 years longer than parkour! I am dead happy for Dan though, he had better become a household name now!

Yeah, I used the Xt arms for a while, they are a bit thinner than avid arms, this means you can set up the brake with the arms closer and pointing vertically. I found the fatter avids tended to stick out more and were easier to catch and lost some power. If the Xt arms are too much, the LX ones are just as good. Don't bother with avid ultimates. I don't think sealed bearings are good for the the application. There's too much crushing force on them and they go rough. This can intefeer with the pads hitting the rim evenly, As for pads, DON"T bother with vee daptors. they are fat (see above with brake arms) and allow the pad to wobble like a magura....One of the main advantages with a vee is that the pads a re locked solidly into place, this gives they even and a long wear life and increases hold. I would recommend some rockpad cnc vee pads as the backings have the strongest threaded post (although the TNN vee pads maaay be out soonish in a vee version). Untill the TNN vee pads come out, the best pads BY FAR were my Joypad material ones. Fatmike now sells them as Phatpads, so get a pair of re-fills. I would also recommend a booster, even if the brake is stiff without one, a booster will double the amount of hold the brake has. Oh, and get some decent cable! Its a bit of a hassle, but go to your local bike shop and get them to order in a 15m roll of their oversized shimano gear cable. Its basicly the same as linear slick cables, but better and you get 15 meters which lasts ages! DEFFO worth getting. I also got a bulk box of inners (100 cables) 4 years ago, its still got plenty left now, I would recommend getting a box too!

my cat was dirty, so I gave it a bath, she doesn't seem to mind them as much as you would think

nice one Dave! Good things come to those who wait.

I have had best luck with the Trialtech Lite chain. It doesn't stretch as much as the KMC Kool chains and I am yet to snap one....ever! Don't worry about pitch too much, thats more for fat bmx chainrings, all freewheels and most (if not all) rear cogs fit both width chains. also, don't think that just because a chain is wider that its stronger, that's not always the case.

people don't realize what a mental sport trials is (mental as in thinking, not crazy). It sounds like you are having a battle with your fear in your head. I feel it takes two things to become good, skills and the positive mental attitude to make your self push and go for the bigger/harder/scarier things. Obviously there are limits. I wouldn't advise people to too far out of their comfort/skill zone but next time you go out, just think positive. you CAN tap/hook/drop higher, you WILL tap/hook/drop higher. Just go out with that attitude and you will be surprised what you can do. Oh, the other thing you need to do is just PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! The more time you spend on the bike, the more comfortable and braver you will become

I want to see all the outtakes NOW!

looks like fun, but I can't really afford it

don't have channel 5

don't have channel 5

a booster makes a MASSIVE difference to the hold! I would never run a vee without a booster just for that fact. PS, try and get a shimano xtr booster off ebay, they are by far the best.

haha, Dave has been hyping this up for ages! All I will say is it was WELL worth the wait!

grinding it wont make it snap

Thats my cat called Tansy. She is 20 years old, I got her when I was five! She sleeps on my bed every night

that can be the case, but less so with good quality spokes.

I find it best to leave the tyre on and just push it out of the way when grinding, otherwise you get gunk from your tyre onto the rim which massively reduces the grinds function.

ahwell, yeah, they can be uber loud! but it depends on the setup I guess. my front vee is on a VERY light grind with koolstop pads. it does make a noice sometimes, but its pretty quiet generally (and works amazingly!)

Its up to you if you want to try it, all I'll say is there's (lots) more to how a bike rides than just rear wheel control. experiment with different positions and go with what you feel best. I have been riding 11 years and I have noticed that all the top riders in the world run a higher front end with a bit bars a bit back than yours, gotta mean something right?

trust me, higher bars make for a better all-round bike. All low bars are good for is making the bike into a pogo stick. Noticed your bars are WAAAAYY forward as well, by all means keep them like that if you like it, but the front end will be easier to pull up and the bike will generally ride better with them either vertical, or with a little bit of back sweep. I have seen many riders with bars forwards, it makes you ride with elbows out which puts your upper body in a much less effective position.

to be honest, I wouldn't be cutting that down any time soon! Thats a low bar and stem setup, if you cut down the steerer it would ride like shit! Bike looks nice though

its fine to re-use spokes, as soon as you de-build a wheel, the spokes go back to their origional length. If they stayed stretched then your spokes would need constantly tightening from when you built the first wheel. as regards to the splitting rim, are you sure thats just not down to the spokes beeing loose at the join? Its not uncommon for there to be a gap in new rim, but when you build the wheel, it pulls the gap together. Grinding it won't weaken it either, it only takes off a tiny amount off the rim, it more kinda moves it around rather than removes it altogether.

yeah, I feel hold is the most important part of a brake too, thats the main advantage of a vee, they just don't slip!

yeah, less maintenace over winter (too much dirt getting in cables) I am seriously considering putting a vee back on the rear though!