Ali C

yeah, after running Shimano Hollowtech cranks and steel cranks I wouldn't want to go back to ISIS. Myself and Mark have been running steel cranks for a bit now, Mark as he said has the micro drive style and I went for a splined drive setup (Tree sprocket). Neither of us run bashguards and it hasn't been much of an issue we have been mostly riding brakeless though so I guess that might mean we are less likely to slam down on our sprocket.

I'm offended that you are wary about my concept of geo To be fair, I mostly take Mark's advice anyway haha. Send Marino an email rather than fill out the form, that way you can explain every detail you want rather than be restricted by the form. Trials rider seem to be obsessed with wheelbase! As I said, wheelbase is not important, that doesn't tell you how long or short a frame is going to be. you could make a frame with an 1100 wheelbase but make it feel shorter than a bmx if you put a 100mm bb on it and a 60 degree head angle. Take a look on Tartybikes and find out what the reach is on your current frame, that's the best way to find out how long or short a frame is going to feel. If you just put a steeper head angle on your bike (pivoting at the lower headset cup) then that would keep the same wheelbase but increase the reach by roughly 10-15mm. If you want more reach then it's a case of lengthening the front triangle.

I saw a marino with a 130mm headtube and even that looked a little odd, it had a higher seat tube length than an inspired too. If you just want it to fit and are not worried about looks then go ahead, but it will look very odd and perhaps won't be as strong (spacing the tubes so far apart effectively is turning the front triangle into a square). The low bb will make is more stable for manuals, but is that a good thing? It will make spins harder, that includes turning while manualing. If I was you I would find out what rearch you wanted and give all the angles you want and don't worry about the wheelbase, that is the least important measurment you can give. the wheelbase will be whatever it turns out to be once the important stuff is done.

not really What do you want the bike to be better at? I can't see many advantages from a lower bb? And are you serious about a 180mm headtube length? I can see why you would want to do it, but man that will be one ugly duckling!

how you think he's got a nicer style than Danny is beyond me!

questionable

that seems to be the unfortunate outcome for a large volume hand made tyre. Best bet is to make sure it is all seated correctly and possibly adjusting it at a low pressure before pumping it up.

if you run harder than normal trials pressure, punctures are not so bad. I run around 40psi and only get punctures if I really mess up. Having a heavier tyre on the rear upsets the balance of the bike too in my opinion.

would have though it would be best marketed for snow bikes and the like. They ride on really soft snow and sand then come to ice and rock, changing the tyre pressure would give some benefit in those cases, prolonging tyres lives and making riding less of an effort with drag.

bike looks amazing Ben, I had the same idea for brake mounts, good to see they work, the dropouts look neat too

awesome stuff guys!

big stuff!

not a huge fan, seems to have made everything harder to read

I lace up the wheel and while there is some thread showing on the spokes I drop a bit of chain oil on and it will be sucked into the threads. It's quick and you only get the oil where you want it.

for all intents and purposes, 0.02mm is perfectly 100% straight.

depends what your idea of perfectly straight is. A lot of it comes down to the rim, if the rim is shit then it may be impossible to get it straight, if it's a good rim you can get it pretty dam straight. Not sure if patience is the ykey, I've managed to build a wheel in 15 mins that was within .02 of a millimetre straight and it's still going strong now.

Yes you can. Don't forget to stress the spokes too, the more you do it the less likely the spokes are to come loose.

tough luck I'm afraid, get one side straight then don't look at the other, I find that normally works

the thing is if your frame is meant to have 26" wheels its likely to have long chainstays and a low bb, the longer chainstays won't be much on an issue, but it won't be taking advantage of the smaller wheels, but the low bb could be an issue, you may have to run shorter cranks to make sure you don't clip them. Personally I would stick with what ever wheel size a frame is designed for.

this isn't the official video you know?

I use spray paint to stick my grips on so unfortunately airlines won't do the trick. I go for the old spoke with the end filed smooth slid under the grip and the remaining spoke bend at 90 degrees, a bit of meths and turn the spoke, works well unless your grips are really stuck down then the only option is to cut them off. but yeah, spray paint (or lacquer) for the best grunt.

yon't stop you from getting them you wannabe

nice riding which the effects ruined. that's perhaps a little harsh, but when watching it I found my attention was being drawn to the effect rather than the riding and I honestly believe riding should always come before anything else. As a result of the effect I can't really remember the video at all, not exactly the result you want at the end of a video.

saw "Leon" the other day. I thought I had seen it before but I think I confused it with another film. anyway, I saw it had good ratings and indeed it wasn't shit. I really like Jean Reno and Natalie Portman (was a bit weird seeing her so young). I thought the acting (or script) was a bit off in a couple of places but overall it was pretty decent. 8/10