Phatmike

Aww, I was hoping this was a new one! I love watching PCT ride. Do another snow video!!

Endohopper, I'm looking at you! Danny Brady, some other friends and I are heading out to Amsterdam this weekend for a relaxed weekend. We're taking the trials bikes, so will be getting out to nail some lines despite the -10 temperatures! Is anyone out in Holland that fancies joining us? Perhaps for some coffee in the evening.

Don't forget how damn cheap England is to live in at the moment, the country's dire compared to many! Fuel, food and most things are loads more expensive on the continent. It's not just that everything's expensive here, it's that most of us can't afford the luxurious lives we expect to live. Wonder why that is...

Agreed. Looks pretty pimp.

Well done for getting this built! I'll remember to take a visit if I'm ever down that way. It's not the biggest trials area, as you said, but it's a great start. It's a great base model for other councils to start building upon. M

It is possible, and not a stupid idea at all! All you'd need to do is measure up the taper on the forks, or take them to an engineers shop to measure them, to get a spacer lathed up. It would be a simple job with the measurements.

Awesome pics. Looks like a right old laugh - loving the dirt jump with the 4 dig-outs either side! Brings back so many sweet memories of exactly the same scenarios, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the comments guys. The bus line was one of those ones where there was no thought process involved whatsoever. I was riding that spot for about half an hour before the parkour guys rocked up, then I saw them do the rail line up to the bus shelter and instinctively followed! Only spotted the drop gap to the bollard once I was up there, haha. I'm glad there's split opinions on the editing style! We're a long way off making a video that's gonna please everybody. I like the closeups, and we'll be experimenting with those more in future vids - get some cool closeups of tyres squidging, brake pads gripping & riders gurning!

Hey guys, I just received a short edit from a ride in London couple of weeks ago. It was just me riding on my own, but bumped into a pretty cool parkour team and a video crew. They got a few shots and clearly had some fun editing it. No massive riding, but a bit of fun. Check it out: http://store.phatworks.co.uk/index.php/blog/single_post/michael_singleton_rides_london/

If you can get one, they're pretty ideal bikes to ride! I'd go for the 1.2, and spend the cash you'd save on a safe rear hub/freewheel and decent pads front & rear. (It comes with Magura black pads and a shimano rear hub that's not ideal for any real trials use)

Awesome work Josh - nice stuff. Can't wait to have a try on it when it's done. Cya tomoz!

This whole disagreement is similar to the debate as to what we 'should' eat as humans. (Bear with me..) The questions to consider are 'what is human/trials' and also at which point did we start considering ourselves human/trials riders. Going back through Darwin's theory, what we 'should' eat are plankton. But we've evolved since then, we're not swimming around the oceans. We adapted to then eat more plant matter, so is that the answer? How about when we learned to survive largely on meat? In modern times, where society has evolved much faster than we have, the bulk of most modern diets now consists of simple or processed carbohydrates such as potatoes, rice, bread and pasta. Picture trials being what we eat. (For many of us this is pretty much the case!) Whereas I might love to live on fruit, nuts and the occasional chocolate soufflé, others might prefer a huge bowl of pasta. It's still food, it still does its job, but completely different! For me, bicycles in general are about getting from A to B, with more quality, grace or efficacy than we could on foot. Trials seems to be the category that doesn't involve big distances, big hills, skateparks or dirt jumps. For all those constantly whining about this and that not being trials, pay some thought to where it came from. Remember that trials existed long, long before people even knew what a sidehop was. The point is that trials is about skills on a bike, or as Giles Wolfe puts it in MAD shows 'Balance, Precision, Control and Power'. There's no questioning that the skills learned in trials are an awesome base for dirt jumping, downhilling, XC, road, bmx, or anything! Not to mention the other skills that can come with it like photography, videography, design, business or even socialising. TGS riding can be awesome to watch, but sorry guys, it is not all trials is.

What an awesome video! It got me at the first line. Matt made a really good point about the emotional intensity of the video, I was totally engrossed and felt the first video when it came out, but this video did lack the same strong resonance with me. Perhaps we can all relate to going out and ripping up the streets with our mates and a video camera, but having the means to go on tour like this solely with purpose of making a video seems so far removed from most people that they can't relate to it. I do hope it further inspires others (as it has done me!) to travel with trials and to keep doing what we love. I like the point made above ^^, completely agree. Red Bull are in such a position where a few thousand (or million as the case probably will be :wink2:) hits won't drastically increase sales. They've got the stability to be able to really give back to the whole world! Not that I'm an advocate of energy drinks by any means, they are in a great position to be able to make things like this happen (not to mention the Red Bull air races and all those countless other events and media they've produced), and I'm bloody thankful that they've got to that position. Not least for allowing Danny to have the freedom to go and do what he wants and live the life he's dreamed of, but also for allowing us to watch a beautifully crafted 8 minute concentrated version Well done Danny & Dave.

Great, thanks very much! What bb & cranks are you using?

Thanks to everyone that's posted pictures - all a big help. Do any of you object to the pictures being used in some non-commercial research? I could also now do with brake set-up pictures that show the relationship between the brake cylinder and the crank-arm. Especially on frames where the cylinder sits close to or behind the crank arm. On my setup the brake cylinder sits well above the crank arm, but similar pics on bikes with much lower seat stays would be perfect! Thanks again, Mike

I'm going to be there guys. Hopefully my self, frame and forks will make it through the day without breaking!

Based purely on the number of people who have extremely positive things to say about them in the wet (I think pretty much everyone who's used them!) and also from my own experience, I'd stand behind that claim mark. I can remember a Tyketrial at Addingham Moorside - a place with it's own, rainy microclimate, where my brake worked exactly the same from the warm up when it was dry, to the session on the rocks at the end of the day, when us and our bikes were soaked and caked in mud! Every other rider at the comp, it appeared, had big issues with their brakes either requiring so much extra effort due to them not working as well, or just being plain dangerous! Noone else at the comp was running Phatpads at the time.. As far as I'm aware, any other brake pads can't be cut to fit TNN backings as they use a wider recess.

Without trying to be too blatantly advertising here. Phatpads have proved themselves more than any other pad in wet weather conditions, and I don't think there's many people out there that can disagree with their incredible performance in the wet (and dry!) I'd consider asking a few others about them before making your purchase, especially based on whether they're stocked @ Tarty or not! TB have refused to stock our products 'due to loyalties to other brands'. I'd consider this also before ruling pads based on supplier availability. (As a side note, our site has a fully secure online credit card/paypal ordering system) Phatworks was founded on the need for a better brake pad. We encourage you to choose the best pad for your riding! Mike.

So long as the pads are reasonably tight Super Glue is fine. If they're not a tight fit, you'd be safer with Araldite. Although if the pads & backings are at the correct tolerances (few other than ours are, I've found), they won't need any glue at all, which makes taking them in and out so much easier.

I'm running 4x both sides on my rear Atomz hub. The spokes do slightly cross the spoke heads of the 1st cross, although it doesn't appear to be causing any issues and is noice and stiff!

I definitely agree a beasty riding video needs to happen! This short wasn't really about showing off riding, but a chance for a rider to express his views on his riding. Loads of people have trials as a sport or hobby as part of their lives, and work/play/rest outside of it, whereas there are people like Martyn, Ryan, Kenny, etc for who trials is their lives. Looking back, my whole life has sprung from riding trials, all my interests, work, friends, and girlfriends have been because of becoming so absorbed by it. There's the difference, I think. Instead of doing that and appearing in movies, Ryan's out there using his riding 'as a tool for contribution', and is in a sweet position to go out there and do what he wants to do. Not to mention schools are always super friendly to their 'stunt men' for the day - all the tea, biscuits and school lunches you can handle!

Awesome video, thanks for that. Whilst technically 'better', Giles' riding really didn't show off his drive, whereas Kenny clearly had it in him the whole way through. The way he took some of those lines just showed such relaxed but intense focus!

Sweet ride - rather stealthy, although the chain definitely looks like a link could be taken out.. I'm also interested in geo, the smaller wheels makes some 24"s look really, really long. Those pads do look rather phat!

For the record; bike weight = nothing to do with smoothness, providing it's ridden properly!