F-Stop Junkie

Not leaping to anyone's defence here, but the MacDonalds coffee case is taken slightly out of context. It's not that the coffee was hot that caused the lawsuit, it was that it was excessively hot - to the point of causing serious injury, not just minor burns. The issue with all these personal injury claims is neglegence, and you can not absolve yourself from neglegence. A shop can not have you sign a waiver saying that you won't sue them, then not tighten stem bolts and skewers properly. You would struggle to have a claim against any company which supplied a part which failed - be it trials, cars, motorcycles - because the part is often damaged in any accident, and it's often difficult to prove that the part has not been used inappropriately, or damaged in someway accidentally or otherwise. If you had a part that was inherently faulty - say a magura piston casting with an air bubble in it - and was untouched on the outside, then you could have a case against the manufacturer. However, you can only claim for injury and suitable damages. Say you get £50 a week, and you break your arm and can't work for a month, then you're entitled to £200. You won't get £10,000 or whatever... You also can't claim for what could have happened. If you stop at some traffic lights, and your piston splits in two, you can't say that you could have been brain damaged or whatever. If a frame is shipped with a weld missing - for example - and a rider falls and injurys themselves so much that they require care for the rest of their life, isn't it right that they should be compensated for it?

Not to mention that cracks you download and run are often stuffed with viruses and trojans. Best avoided.

I would start with a good pair of pliers, allen keys, set of good spanners and a good pump. These are general tools you will use for the rest of your life on all sorts of things. Worth spending money on. I would add to that a big adjustable spanner - same reason as above - and start collecting BB tools, cassette tools, etc. Chain whips can be improvised with a length of chain and a vice. Buy these bits as you need them, don't think you have to buy everything at once! Also buy good quality ones. Again, they last a lifetime and cheap tools wear and potentially damage the bit they're connected to. Don't be afraid to have a go, but I wouldn't buy a spoke key until you're somewhat more mechanically familiar with your bike. Potentially you can make things a lot worse rather than better. Get something like the Haynes book - as well as a Magura service guide book - because that will give you a good grounding in the basics, setting deraileuers, adjusting bearings, working with cartridge BBs. The Magura manual is good too and if you follow it carefully, things arn't too scary. Golden rules to follow though are: 1 - Don't attempt it if you don't think you can do it. Leave it to a proper mechanic, then ask them to explain to you what they've done and how. 2 - Don't force it! If a bolt won't go in, there's probably a reason. Force it, and you'll strip threads and break things leading to be a big repair bill potentially. 3 - Don't bodge tools (unless you absolutley have to to get home). You can't make a BB tool out of a screwdriver, a socket set and some string. Many have tried, none have succeded. 4 - Know when to stop. If you've tried to fit a new BB, but you're worried you've cross-threaded it and can't make it go on properly. Stop. Go to a bike shop. They've seen all kinds of people muck up fitting new parts and even building up bikes! People have done far worse than you, there's no reason to be embarrassed. 5 - Don't decide to bleed your brakes (or do any work) the night before a big ride/comp. Yes, it feels a bit spongy, but it works. If you try and bleed brakes for the first time when you're in a rush, you will probably hit problems and miss your ride. Read up on what's needed, give yourself plenty of time, and do it in the morning so you can go to the bike shop in the afternoon if you break anything! People will always show you how to do things if you ask, especially on a ride or on here. Everyone had to learn at some point, and reading the Haynes book and mastering a few of the basics will give you the confidence to try bigger things. Oh, and BB threads are very fine, take great care with them!

But why does it have to be a street video on rocks? Yes, you need coverage, but with careful setups you can get around this. Natural has a lot of potential as I said, but it needs care to shoot. It can take a lot of different styles of editing, and really have a flow all it's own. Simon, MSN me, I'd love to chat more with you on this...

Filming natural is tough, no doubt. I don't have any experience with natural on video, but with a stills camera it's tricky, but not impossible. I'd certainly like to try a natural trial/ride with a video camera as I think there's a lot of untapped potential to do this, but it requires experimentation and development to find a good style which I may already part have due to my six years of stills photography. Street is easy to shoot, but very often doesn't follow a flow or series of moves. It's hooking together a series of moves or a line that doesn't happen often with street videos. The one time I tried it with Adam Read's video camera, I did really enjoy it. I think I'm a frustrated cinematographer at heart...

Find easiest...

Without going into a discussion about copyright, would it be possible to make a donation to Trialmedia alongside the not-for-profit DVD?

Tomm, I think this is one of the few posts I agree with. The rider could be slightly more to the right, but only a bit. Otherwise the sheer simplicity of it makes it really striking. Oh, and don't put too much stock in the rule of thirds, it's naffed up a fair few of my images in the past!

What is 'it'? Ultimately an image is presented and you have to accept it as an image. This isn't a documentation of an event, some beacon of truth. It's an abstract image. The rider could be 2" off the ground or 20', it doesn't matter. It's about the shape he's making, and the reduction of everything else around him so that he is the centre of attention. You don't look at the size of the move or where he is, it's a pure reduction of trials down to the rider and his bike. Could be BIU, UCI, street or natural. It doesn't matter. This is a distillation of trials down to it's essence, and I love it. In fact, I may just get a copy for me wall...

Just a thought, who would put their hands in their pocket and buy a copy of this on DVD? Obviously just paying for a DVD-R and postage, and not any kind of profit for JJ... Seems a lot easier - not to mention more versatile - than having to faff around with downloads. Also I don't have a DVD burner, and I want to watch the video from my comfy couch rather than in my attic...

Andy, it doesn't have to be something taken especially for the comp. Anything good from the archives will do too!

PM 'em direct to me, and I'll do the rest!

Ladies and Gents, after a few queries about it, I've decided to extend the deadline till the end of Jan for entries. All those who have already entered can resubmit a different picture if they wish. All you need to do is PM me your favourite images and I'll sort the polls out. All the details are in the previous thread here, but a quick rules repost: There will be two categories; action and non-action. Action will be as it says. This is for the shots of riders going for moves. Images should have a punch, and an impact to them, demonstrating in a single photograph how great trials riding can be. Non-action is for anything else. Pictures that show non-riding aspects of trials, from still life of a bashring, the people of trials, or the damage which ensues. Editing is free, anything goes. There will be a maximum pixel dimension for the longest edge of the picture of 1024 pixels. Images must be of a suitable quality. That doesn't mean super-high pixel cameras and pro lenses, just that it musn't be rubbish. For the web, a 2 megapixel camera phone may just squeek in, but video captures are right out. Given the potential high quality of entries, this must be considered. Judging will be by poll as per video competitions of old. Users should consider quality of the image (including the technical 'correctness' of the exposure, etc..), the composition, and the impact of the image. The shot can be of a big or small move (for the action category) but big riding tends to have more impact. There will be a second award based on votes via PM to me for 'competitors choice' which will be the best action, and best non-action shots as voted for by the other people who enter the competition. Details will be sent around to those who enter after the closing date. Images can be from any time, not ones captured specifically for this competition. Oh, and you have to have taken the image you submit. Entries sent to me by *31/01/06*, where I will put up a series of topics with a poll in each. Winner goes through. Details with each image must include a name for the image and your real and TF name. Any extra details will be posted alongside the image.

I hope you used lots of water, as washing up liquid has a lot of salt in it. It is a corrosive agent if you have a steel frame... I spray chain, mech and cable ends with GT-85 (as well as odd bolts that have rusted in the past). Also bushings or springs such as V brakes. This gets the water out and stops rust. GT-85 also leaves teflon behind. If you haven't put too much water on or around the bearings then they should be ok. Same with BB and headset. High pressure washers cause problems though as it forces water through the shielding. If they're cup and cone bearings, set aside an afternoon and strip the wheels carefully one by one. Make sure you know what you're doing before hand though, and be ready to nip to halfords for some new bearings if needs be. Same with your headset. Stripping bearings is good preventative maintenance, but also a good way to break something if you get it wrong, or find something which needs replacing. If in doubt, leave it alone or have a proper bike shop check it out. If you have cartridge bearings or a sealed BB, then there's not much you can do. Just replace when busted.

On-One are having a few special offers! Disclosure: I'm in no way connected with On-One, just thought people would like a bargain around this time of year.

Not bad with just an Olympus point and shoot digital...

The website was never updated after the announcement. Given that some people here are exhibitors, and no other news source has mentioned it's back on, I wouldn't get your hopes up!

My problem with this post is that someone who has received parts at a discount or free, and is hence acting as an agent for another company, and therefore is unlikey to want to jeapardise that position for the sake of being impartial. Yes, he's said he's not happy with a couple of bits, but in return for a company's outlay, he's providing them with advertising through this forum. On top of that, much of what is written is speculation "It appears strong", "Echo BB, strong axle". Plus there's a lot of stating what the features are, and why they're good, but not how they're going to affect the bike to ride. CNC'd in built brake booster does what? Look nice? Affect the braking? Don't tell me what I can find out in any catalogue, tell me more. A review is not "This is my new bike someone bought me, it's strong and everything about it is great!!!" I should point out that I'm not trying to be, or have any desire to be, a moderator. I just don't want this forum filled up with pseudo-adverts from every boy and his dog, clogging up the forums and hiding the good posts. Adverts should stay in the top right hand corner, or in the news sub-forum.

How is this - and the Heatsink pad review - not advertising exactly? Got sponsor, got bike, now advertising without buying another banner...

Chilli Video says Earthed 3 is available early december, and it's showing as taking pre-orders. Counterparts is available now. The cinema wasn't full for the MTB films either. I suspect bad advertising was to blame, as I only found out about it on the Match site...

Being in London, I went down to the Prince Charles cinema for the premier of Earthed 3 as well as a screening of Counterparts. Also got to hook up with Aaron Chase and Don Hampton again, which was cool. Anyway, I adore Counterparts. It's very streety and the dirt jumping is about 5 years ahead of the UK scene... The whole thing is just brilliant. Not trialsy, but a good watch and very impressive. Akrigg and ET are in it too, with ET doing a tailwhip - from memory. Earthed 3 is good too, if you're into DH and the like. The jumping isn't upto the standards of Counterparts, but Akrigg's segment is phenomonal. There is simply no other word for it. The technique, style and sheer talent is just unbelievable. If you're prepared to pony up £15 for a 10 minute segment, then you won't be disappointed. It really is that good. What makes it so seminal, is that it's not the size of the moves in itself that makes it worth while - though riding in a tree is cool. It shows the sheer depth of style, class and experience that puts him in a different class to all the young riders who can sidehop 45", but are sketch city. It's all the flow that isn't quantifiable in terms of dabs or inches, but in awe. Akrigg and Ashton are onto something which the rest of the trials world has yet to catch up with, and I think it's a huge statement in their riding that they've persued it as something worth developing and believing in. Huge front taps or big drop gaps are all well and good, if you have the balls. But Chris and Martyn are showing the future for truely classy riders.

Company of their amplitude? Been watching too much X-Games there Si?

That looks to me like a Schwinn Cruiser rear rim, so probably 20"? 24"?

One thing about this though, I'm sure if some of us could store all the bikes we've ever ridden and pulled out the oldies that we loved so much and gave them a ride now we'd be surprised... Those short wheelbases, high frames, narrow bars, seats....

Right, better late than never, a few comments on the pic themselves... Warm cast, a little too pink. The composition is interesting, but where has the rider come from? Where is he going? Maybe it works as an image, but lacks some punch. Having the rider's face covered doesn't help either. Good, nice puncy image. Flash bordering on too bright, but I think you're just on the right side! Only minor criticism is that you've cut off the bottom of his backwheel. Allow yourself a little space around the image and crop. Good focal point in the foreground, but it's too bright (I'm guessing you used flash...) and it distracts from the rest of the image and the rider. Again, the composition is slightly too high, with a lot of unused space at the top of the image. I'd have liked this more if the rider was central in the frame, again there's dead space on the right. Nice choice of lighting though, really bringing the rider out, not putting him in shadow. People watching is a nice touch, but they're slightly in the wrong place. Great rider position, but a wasted opportunity. It almost seems to me like "Is he landing? Is he taking off? Is he going to the ledge? The green rail?" A lot of wasted space around the image again too. And you lost the bottom of the tyre again. Again, very good with lovely afternoon sun, but the rider would look better centered in the frame. You could do a tight, tall crop, but if the camera had pointed slightly more right, then it would look better. This is the kind of shot that would look good in a magazine, with text over the sky (which is blown out, btw). Interesting angle, good execution with tight DoF. Tough shot, but done well. Night shots are tough, and I can't tell if these are super sharp, but it looks good, with good composition too. Too tight, cutting off bits of the graffiti. Nice idea though. And everyone loves a sunset :'()