Ali C

might be of use

I have NEVER snapped a brake cable! Thats 4 years overall of riding trials with a rear vee and the last 2-3 years with harsh riding. How many popped hoses have I had?.......Many. Of course braided hosing pretty much stops it though.

I work at Tartybikes (your jelous I know it!) I do a few different jobs, answer phones, take orders, place orders (occasionally), build bikes, wheels, deal with returns and of course pack and dispatch orders. Its pretty cool, its ace when you get a nice happy customer on the phone wanting advice and they end up with the perfect part for them. I do have a qualification in art and design as well as graphic design, but its been so long since I have done it I am no good any more. taraa

that sucks sam! Did you only notice when you came to get off the train? Where were you traveling from? I'll keep an eye out.

Few pics from today's ride, was good, loving the sun! Half pedal tap Anal lining up for a pigeon And up he goes Mong sidehop Mong sidehop to rear Jim lunge to rear Anal rail gaps And Jim And Mong And Me Gayboys in harmony 180 gap Will trying bin to rail Anal making it Gap from wall to thin bricky thing Hope you like, cheers to all for coming out Ads

being sponsored has its good and bad points. Bad: You might have to run parts you don't like you always have to act in a professional way (even if people are slagging you or the sponsor off) You can't modify any parts your given Good: cheap or free parts, maybe travel money depending on the sponsor Get to use/test/give input into new parts before the public do get to travel either doing comps or doing demos, I had a nice 4 day stay in madeira in a 5 star hotel all expenses paid recently (depends on the sponsor again though) makes you feel special Personally I love my sponsors, without them I couldn't afford to travel as much as I do and have as much fun.

I disagree on both counts

I chose to use vees when I won a french round of the world championships, came 3rd overall in the world that year in expert. I also ran vees out of choice when I came 4th in the Euopean Champs in master category as well as the time I came 8th in the final of a UCI World Cup round.

no

magura good points: pretty reliable mud and grime doesn't effect them as much good bite lighter Magura bad points: When they go wrong, they are harder/more expensive to fix. hold power isn't the best pads wobble so you can feel them knocking and they wear oddly/get rounded corners loud not much modulation unless with smooth rim and black pads Vee good points Unreal holding power, MUCH better than a magura more modulation even with a grind easier to pull than a magura more adjustable pads don't wobble and are easier to change can get the rear wheel out without deflating the tyre can get spares nearly anywhere in the world for cheap Vee bad points need more work to keep smooth can be expensive for a top setup not much bite (from my 3 years experience) heavier looks worse initial setup can be tricky Don't be fooled when people say maggies have more power. They may indeed have more bite, but vees are like clamps on your rims when the wheel is trying to roll backwards. I used a vee for 3 years, although I have now moved to an Echo TR brake just to see if they are any good. so far I like the bite power, but I am still shocked by the lack of holding power.

ankle, no probs, I can't promise about his neck though, I am going to get him to learn flips next week! Are you going to let Baxter (try to) drive your car again?

for my next trick I'll make a black hole in my front pocket.

I cut my tyres for the extra grip it gives rather than the weight saving, although, if your looking for a top world placement in a UCI comp and saving weight on your bike could be the difference between winning and loosing would it not be worth it? If your the sort of rider who carries their bike onto a wall to throw yourself off it, then sure, saving weight is silly as it will take longer to hit the floor then

I'll be there with iolo

which is almost as stupid as having a threaded bar with nuts either end as instead of crank bolts, looked like right ankle killers!

expensive year!

on street the roll wont be as noticable (I presume thats what your riding as all the single ply tyres I have used were un-rideable on natural because of how much they folded)

I recken you teach yourself better core skills when learning on a stock. Nothing like a bigger and heavier bike to teach you how to use your body weight and technique to move it around!

curved and straight bladed forks are the same rake (wheelbase is the same) so it just comes down to looks.

I don't remember that being posted! wassgoinon? Glad you finally got a frame though,that should be a good ride I want to hear your voice again soon.

technique!

deffo get a sprung one, they are simply better. The Mr Control and 4-Jeri tensioners are actually pretty good! One piece of advice I always give is check how tight your chain is when its the shortest it will go. If it only pushes a cm or so below the rear cog, then you can generally use a single wheeled tensioner with great success. If the chain is really slack, I would recommend a double wheeled tensioner like a Rohloff or Tensile as it improves the chain wrap around the rear cog and reduces chances of the chain skipping.

low bb is good for: taps gaps (well, holding on to them when landing) roll downs bunnyhops manuals 2 wheel balance High bb is good for: hooks back wheel control possibly sidehops Personally I think +6 makes a bike feel like a pogo stick, it makes it hard to hold onto moves when you land, loops out too easily in gaps. However, a low bb +1-2 is harder on the back wheel and can feel a bit slugish. I think you would get on really well with a +3 - 4 high bb

trialtech cranks are a good bet

Nearly, still lacking in grammar though.