Rich Pearson

All I could comment on is that I bought an old pair well over 18months ago, and they've been on two different bikes, with two different stems, and they're showing no signs of snappage. I'm not the heaviest rider in the world, but not the smoothest by a long way. Rich

I snapped mine and to my knowledge there was no warrenty from thewoollyhatshop.com, where I bought it from. I've really gone off those brakes now... Rich

I'm pretty sure Edd Tongue had a very big hand in the New Street and Old Road BMX's, and Matt has always been good mates with Kris, so I wouldn't at all be surprised to know that they'd had influences on the trials frames. In fact I think it was after having a go on Edds 24" Ashton that Kris and his dad got to work on the 609. Not sure about the story with James and the Leeson he snapped. Clive was pretty sure it was because the frame was taking lots of front end orintated stress, i.e, front taps, front hooks, heavy drops (and most people know how large James goes sometimes) so Clive said he'd try and make a few tweaks to the standard 660, basically beefing up the head tube for the new style of riders who were putting lots of abuse into the front end, but he did say it would take a while. I guess he's finally got round to it. People have to remember, the 660 was never meant to be a production frame, it was designed, right down to the bone, to be the the exact frame for Kris, and Kris is an increadibly light/smooth rider, being very comp and natural orientated. Rich

If you want to travel a little, west bay in south dorset (nr weymouth) is definately worth the trip. West Bay Heres a little clip I did as a Leeson Trailer last summer. Theres also some quite good street riding if you get bored, but the natural there is nuts. Rich

That's probably one of the most beautifully crafted responses I've ever heard (seriously!) On the subject of what Clive will and won't do on a frame, my advice; LISTEN TO THE GUY!!! I had to beg clive to put on some disc mounts so as I could run a rear avid mechanical, and anyone want to guess what happened? Snapped frame two months down the line... But he repaired it for free, another bonus! The thing with the seatpost/tubes; if you look at a "normal" leeson with a mini seat (like mine) you'll see that the seattube is tapered (gets wider at the bottom and narrower towards the top). Not sure how the physics works, but this is one of the features which helps to create the now legendary Leeson feel/stiffness, and transfers stress and load directly into the strongest part of the frame, the bottom bracket. I'm pretty sure thats how it works, but as I said, I'm sure Clive wouldn't go for it if it wouldn't work. My Leeson is one of the shortest ever made at something like 998mm, which I love because its small enough to be bashed around like a moto-trials bike (I used to ride moto-trials), but also feels quite flicky like BMX, and is just as lovely as and all round trials bike. Looks like Clives going to be busy for a while... Rich

Yeah, Brian was the delegate for quite a while, then Terry Graves (Hampshire Series organiser) took over as Brian was having difficulty with it, but he quickly took it up again. Looks like he's passed the torch on to a younger representitive. Good things should come of this. Rich

Thought I'd put up mine plus the few others I hadn't seen; trialskings.com video; July 03 Song; The cardigans (I think) - My favourite game video; Korn Song; Blind (I Think) video; dannypromo song: The offspring - Want you bad video; burnout Song; Greenday - Burnout South West Trials Crew video; All I Want/Original Leeson Trailer Song; The offspring - All I want (live) video; Dig/Westbay Song; Mudvayne - Dig video; Rich Original Song; AFI - Girls Not Grey Video; WHISKEY/Hampshire series Song; Metallica - Whiskey in the jar Video; Dragula song; Rob Zombie - Dragula Video; South West Trials Crew Volume 1 Song 1; AFI - The Beginning/Miseria Cantare Song 2; AFI - Death Of Seasons Song 3; AFI - Dancing Through Sunday Song 4; Hive - Ultrasonic sound Song 5; Papa Roach - Not Listening Video; SWTCVOLII/Got the Life Song; Korn - Got the Life Video; SWTC2(3)/Fight Song Song; Marilyn Manson - Fight Song Video; indoor_riding Song 1; CKY - Frentic Amnesiac Song 2; CKY - Attached at the hip Video; Fire Juggling Song; AFI - Bleed Black Video; Points Of Authority Song; Linkin Park - Points of Authority (original, not from Reanimation) Video; Before I forget Song; Slipknot - Before I forget Video; Leeson Rich/Leeson Trailer 1 Song; Oasis - f**king In The Bushes Video; SWTCBoom Song; P.O.D - Boom Video; SWTCII Song; Muse - Stockholm Syndrome Video; SWTCIII Song 1; Muse - New Born Song 2; Papa Roach - Broken Home Video; SWTCIV/Reload Song; Rob Zombie - Reload There you go. Pretty sure they're all right, but might have a made a few mistakes. Rich

I think letting only six riders from each class enter the indoor trials is a brilliant idea, as it will give people the incentive to ride harder and better in the outdoor comps. I know I'm going to be trying to get in there... Provided my ankles are healed by then I should be able to enter all of the comps. Are people still allowed to come and watch the indoor one even if they didn't qualify? Would be a fantasitc video making oportunity... Nice work Matt, see you in May. Rich

Bit of a differnt one I hope... I only learned to ride a bike when I was ten years old, so a bit later than most people. One of my mates sold me a TY80 trials motor bike about six months later, adn I new I wanted it but had no idea what to do with it. My mate then explained about trials and I started going to a couple of comps one it. If you saw my score sheets, you'd probably be cinging with some kind of hystria; I had some kind of repetition at least... I came repeatedly last. In every comp. For some reason I stuck at it and when I was about twelve I got my hands on a fantic 80. It was a bit more my size and had some more oomph to it, but it was around then that I realised I just didn't have the physical strength to keep at it, and slowly lost interest. Then my dad (a Volvo owner) got an invite to come to some open exhibition Volvo were having at Bike Live 96', Newnham Park, Plymouth. There was some guy there called Martyn Ashton jumping around doing a demo and getting loads of attention. The whole journey home I just couldn't think of anything else except the way he could sidehop about 30 inches off the ground. Got home, got out my old Trailbreaker Shogun, and tried to bunnyhop. Bought a copy of Tricks and Stunts. Started to get better, Shogun got stolen (why would anyone want such a crap bike as to steal it...) bought a Trek 6000 with rigids and 32t bashguard, snapped it, bought a Specialised P3, sold it, bought a Saracen X-Cess, hanging in my shed, replaced it with an Echo ES2, met this guy at a comp called Kris who said his dad made bike frames, snapped the Echo, bought a Leeson Clear 660, started making pro-mo videos, met a bunch of guys that was to become the South West Trials Crew, never looked back. Hope that wasn't too boring, but thats basically my life over the last 8 years. Rich

All I know is that I WILL be riding on the 14th of may, and riding hard, and I don't care where. Rich

Very sweet dude, just one question; I'm building myself a street bike and was looking at one of those e.thirteen chain devices, and I was wondering if the clear outer ring acts as a bashguard of just a very pimpy guide? Cheers Rich

I don't know who you are but I new DJ, I was at his funeral, I cried my eyes out, and he wouldn't give a damn where we had a ride on the day he died, he'd probably be flattered that anyone thought to remember because he was one of the most humble and kind people I have ever met, and you really have some nerve coming out with that kind of shit. Rich

Just thought of another one; when you're out riding the streets and someone starts coming towards you. You feel bad because they look as if they're going to tell you off, then they come and say how what your doing is really cool and how stoked they are to just watch you ride. People who just stop in the street and tell you what you're doing is amazing. Doesn't get better than that. It also really means something when someone you've never met says stuff like this ^^^. People like this make me proud to be a part of this sport. Rich

Bit off topic, but was anyone at nass about three years ago, and there was this guy who had snowflake lacing on his wheels. Literally, the spokes were wrapped around each other about six or seven times. I have no idea how long it would have taken to build, how monstrously hard it must have been to true, or in fact how long each spoke would have had to have been, but it looked damn funky. I think he was riding a brisa or something... honestly can't remember, was pretty drunk at the time... Rich

The whole idea (to my understanding), of lacing a wheel radially, is to save weight, and you will save quite a lot, the spokes being so much shorter than having them laced triple cross. You're alright having the wheel laced radially witha non-disc hub (which yours is), and using a v-brake (whcih you are). NEVER, NEVER, NEVER EVER try lacing a wheel radially and then use a disc brake, at least not on both sides of the wheel. I have personally ripped spokes in half from the forces of a disc brake being used on a radial wheel. Talk to a professional wheelbuilder like tarty who can explain a bit more about it, but the long and short of it is that yep, you should be fine with it. And I think it looks really cool, so there... Hope that helps Rich

I thought the best bit was at about 3:41 seconds in, when Hawzee flies up about a ten foot high almost vertical rock. I know the camera angle could make it look a bit bigger than it is, but I can't think of many people who could do that. Sweet video all round. These are the people who got me into trials, and I'm probably not alone on that one. Rich

I've been in a wheelchair for the last month so the best thing about trials I would have to say is cherishing the hope that I'm actually going to be able to do it again. But really just keeping my bike in as good a condition as I can, getting new parts, haveing something to be proud of. Oh, and those times when you go out riding on your own, nail something massive, and no one saw you do it, and then for some reason you can never do it again... Rich

Provided my ankles have healed I'll be there (plus CharlieChadwick possibly), and willing to join in the party (also happy to contribute a few crates of booze plus video documentation of the day...). I'll PM you closer to the time just to check where everyones going to meet on the day. Count us in. Rich

Pretty sweet man, just you wait though, when these damn bones have got their acts together and renitted themselves you wont know what hit you... grumble grumble... and theres no better reason to jump out of a window than being completely pissed up... but it does hurt a bit. Oh, and the water was around 25 feet deep, and the air temperature was about minus three degrees celcius... Damn cold in other words. Rich

Pretty damn cool, some savage crashes. Erm, right at the very end theres a like one second clip where someone says "he did that earlier" or something. Am I really seeing what I think I'm seeing there? Just wondering... Rich

I'm on broadband (576kbps) and its doing it in a little over ten minutes... Will edit when I've seen the vid. Rich

"No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it." Same old stuff keeps coming up. Thanks for trying though. Rich

WHAT?! Come on man, I've got two broken ankles, how the hell am I supposed to produce a video?! Just kidding, would be savage whoever uses it, not to say I won't someday. Will have to check it out when you put it up. Rich

Yeah we spoke loads about it, you were really helpfull but we just couldn't seem to fix the problem. Just in case you might have thought of something, when I open up the FTP program and try to connect, it always came up with an error message saying something like "cannot resolve ftp.trials-shack" or something like that. Rich

Just watch a whole load of videos and really have a look at what the top riders do to make their vids look good. Craig Lee Scott shows off his professionalism by doing moves again and again but shooting them from different angles. Ben Rowlands seems to just have a knack as to which effect to put where and how to make the footage and the editing fit with the music. Matt Berridge is just really good at picking the right music to fit his style of riding. Have a look on this section of the forum at the topics which have recieved the most good replys (or any in fact) and see what makes those videos distinguished from the others, e.g. TRA, Craig Lee Scott, Glasseye, Boon, being really arrogant and not at all modest the South West Trials Crew, and anything else that may not be popular, but that you just really like. In the end its your video and the person that has to like it most is you. Hope I've been helpfull. Rich