Light Or Strong ?

[Mark W]

You could drive a family estate around an F1 circuit, but that doesn't make it an F1 car.

[Alex Dark]

Like what?

Cranks? No. ....with the exception of Middleburns id say really yes

Stem? No. (unless it's a mod, and even then, meh) Most XC stems are too weak or simply not high enough for modern geo trials frames

Bars? Not really. Because of sweep? That's preference anyways. The trend at the moment is for low bars for both xc and downhill, IMO gash on a trials bike

Rims? DX32 isn't a "trials" rim. I wouldn't use anything else on the rear anyways as far as pure trials goes. The DX32 is okay once it's been modded....far better just to get a trials specific rim like an echo 07 front

Headset? No. Nah I agree on that one

Pedals? No. " "

Brakes? No. Weeell Id say maguras are leaning towards trials specific nowadays; as they just don't seem to be used in any other areas of riding with any great popularity.

Grips? No. " "

Hubs? No. hmmm, for a mod frmae I'd only use trials specific hubs...whereas on my stock I'd lean more towards kings or hopes.

Tires? No. I prefer a front trials-specific tyre; a Try-all.

Chain? No.

The only thing you really couldn't do with any other MTB parts would be the frame, fork*, and brakepads*... Unless you go FFW, then yeah, you need trials cranks, but you can still do everything else with "regular" MTB parts and the bike still ride completely "trialsy". Yes you can do it...but certain parts will hold you back i think.

*You could get by without trials brake pads. A grind on some Salmon pads works good enough. Disc frames, you can use a BB7 or anything else and be just fine. Pshhh, it won't beat a grind with some coustsinks that's for sure.

* You could use ANY rigid fork. the only difference is gonna be stiffness. There are TONS of rigid forks out there that have "trials" rake and height. Whether or not they're light AND strong is a whole other topic... Really? I just doubt theyre designed to be put under the forces that trials forks have to undergo, although the Fatty forks seemed to be pretty damned good.

[I am ze best]

Neither, you want something in the middle nothing too light n weak like a dob, but nothing too heavy like a zona zip.

grrrrr

[hdmackay]

You could drive a family estate around an F1 circuit, but that doesn't make it an F1 car.

Hah!

Couldn't have put it better myself.

[Greetings]

What you do is, get the lightest thing you can. If it breaks, know you can't go that light. No sense in riding things that are heavier than they have to be, especially if your riding style can ride light stuff. If it breaks, go the next step up.

Obviously this is all within your budget. And within reason. Don't expect to get a 2lb frame and expect it to handle things forever.

Or, get the heaviest frame you can, if that doesn't snap SELL it and buy a lighter one.

Instead of buying a light frame which usually costs a fortune, breaking it and getting no money out of it whatsoever.

[forteh]

Buy a triton, light and strong

[Alex Dark]

Buy a triton, light and strong

expensive and rare as buggery

[Ash-Kennard]

buy a U6 frame. 06 controls are sick. had mine 4 years. still riding it

[ogre]

Hubs? No.

your limited to kings and pro2s, your right alot of trials stuff is generic gear, but it's a convenience to buy stuff branded as "trials" gear, cause you can expect it to be more suited to the job, makes it a lot easier when things with suitable geometries are laid out for us, instead of needing an extensive knowledge of mtb gear and fanying about hunting for gear.

[rupintart]

Alex Dark,

BMX cranks work perfectly fine for me??? In what attribute do they lend to a bike feeling "trialsy?" And in more cases than not, you can build up a lightweight euro BB, ti axle CHEAPER and STRONGER than trials cranks. Burns aside.

Stems - not strong enough? I seriously doubt an Easton stem is too weak. Also, not everybody likes to run super high stems.

Echo rims suck. They're softer than DX32's and don't hold a grind as good. Not to mention not as stiff. Lets also point out 07 echo rims, are getting far and far harder to get.

Brakes....Vee brakes. Maggies are too damn annoying for me. I ran them in the past, and no real complaints....until you had issues, then it was issue after issue. Ever ridden a clean chrome rim with salmon pads on a good CNC UBrake? They hold just as good as any trials brake I've ever ridden. If you get them dirty, it's a different story, but a clean chrome rim LOCKS. Why do you think BMXers that run brakes all have chrome rims in the rear? And they're moving a WHOLE lot faster than we are, and have a lot more momentum to stop than we do.

Hubs - You'd lean towards a King or a Hope, but again, those are NOT trials hubs. In fact, king voids warranties for trials use. No hub is "designed" for trials, even the Hope, if you notice, trials is supersceeded by the word, SINGLESPEED. I9's are burlier than both, and they have no trials hub either.

Tires...not really. Nobody even makes a trials tire. Well, there is one, and it sucks and is heavy. DH tires work fine for the rear, and you'll notice, most people use XC tires for the front. Do you know how much it costs for a tire mold???? These "trials" tires are simply custom compounded rubber put into existing molds.

Forks are forks, and some work perfectly fine for trials. Do you really think these companies do any R&D on trials parts? We're such a small niche in the cycling community, there really isn't ANY DONE. It's all piggy back off stuff already available. but this is also one area where I will buy a trials "specific" fork simply because it's easier than trying to hunt an off brand that's likely heavier (but probably stiffer).

My Inspired has absolutely the MINIMUM amount of trials parts on it. Not on purpose, but simply because there are things that work just as good, if not better, are lighter, and cheaper. My bike weighs in a scant 22lbs and is burlier than many others out there that are heavier, and it cost me less to build with nothing really in mind for weight savings other than the tires.

None of the above parts will make a bike feel any less "trialsy".

Like ogre said, most every trials part out there is Taiwan catalog parts with their trials name put on it with it being "trials specific". So in all reality, yes, non trials parts DO work. A perfect example is this thread: http://www.trials-forum.co.uk/forum/index....howtopic=146732 Hell, they even made the lever MORE BASIC AND CHEAPER TO PRODUCE.

All that said, if there were a trials shop near me (like all you UK guys have Tarty!!!), I would without a doubt be buying everything from them to support the sport. Many parts off my bike came from Midwestbiketrials and Trialspads. There are things that I feel should be trials specific like the fork, brake pads, and frame...but much past that, no. I support the sport when I can, but when I feel I can find other things better, I'm going to go that route, especially if I work at a shop, I support my shop first.

*edit - holy crap that was a long rant, hahaha.

Edited January 12, 2010 by rupintart