Olly C Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 So I haven't rode my trials bikes more than a few times a year in the past few years but recently I've been having the strong urge to get back into riding so I decided to get the bikes back out again.. Now I'm starting to remember the joys of riding trials again and heres why! I go to the shed to check the status of my mod and stock bikes and find both bikes needed all brakes bleeding, I have no bleed kits so I went ahead and bought a magura one from Heatsink Bikes to sort the rear maguras out, upon bleeding the first brake I find that the seal has gone bad and sticks in so I have to replace the lever body with a front magura instead and re-bleed, I then buy a cable disk for the front of the stock as I couldn't be bothered faffing around with sorting out getting the front Avid and Hope disks bled, I set that up once it arrived so both brakes on my stock are now sorted, I'll leave the mod as it is for the time being.. First ride goes well and I manage to get some good riding done, trouble was the front brake has zero power so I was basically left with only a rear brake for that ride, I buy some new pads to sort the issue before the next ride, the day after my back/arms/legs etc are all killing as my muscles arent used to the rigors of trials, most specifically my back as I found I was leaning over so much with my long bike and low stem. I decide to try a different stem and see if that helps, I manage to dig out an old style Zoo! mod stem, it looks and feels wierd at first but turns out to be really nice and helps my body position on the bike too, on my first taster ride around the village I was doing most of the big-ish things I could ever remember doing before and it felt great! ...right up until I snap my mech hanger off. I walk home and root through my spares to find that the guy I originally bought the bike from in 2008 had supplied a spare one with the frame and I still had it, bonus! On that goes Now I find my mech is making a clicking noise like it wants to change gears (I only have one cog) I look down to find instead of a cable there is a spoke holding it in place and its super hard to adjust, I also found myself wanting more power than 18t-16t so I come on here to buy a new 15t cog to solve the problem, that arrives and of course I don't have the tools to take off the cassette lockring etc as I've mostly rode mod, luckily my neighbour does have the tools and I pop off the lockring, I look a little closer at the 16t cog thats on there and find that its dug maybe 50%!! through the cassette body of my beautiful Chris King hub This makes me very sad, I just about manage to hammer the thing off with the help of a couple of chains, both cogs and some help from my brother, I clean it up the cassette body a little and re-fit it with the new much wider 15t cog as I don't really fancy spending £90 on a new steel cassette body just yet! Hopefully it'll last me for a while with the thicker cog not digging into the same place as the thin one but its still not a good look.. After I put the wheel back on I find the chain is aligned much better and the mech now works perfectly tensioning the chain, happy days!! I go out for another short ride in my village and really enjoy getting back into riding, it feels great and I'm doing more and more stuff like I remember being able to, I have one last little line I want to try before calling it a day, I up to back wheel but hear a noise and my HS33 pulls to the grip, I initially thought I'd blown the hose out or something from pulling too hard (who knows?) but check my brake to find my pad has sheered in two and snapped right out! Urgh.. I don't really have any suitable pads spare as I've never run a ground rim before, I rummage around and find some random pads to try out for now, pop them on and clean up the cylinders a bit, tighten up the bolts one side to set up the brake, tighten up the bolts the other side and... SNAP! There goes the thread in the frame on the bottom screw of the brake mount. Oh my daaaaaays, one thing after another!! Going from the thrill of riding trials again to the never ending need for repair is soooo frustrating.. Now I'm sorting out buying a new frame (without a mech hanger) and new forks as mine feel a little dodgy, its either the forks or my headset which.. is also being replaced along with some new pedals to replace old DMR V8's. Anyways I just thought I'd post here and let you all know my experience partly to relieve some of the stress of it all and partly to see if anyone else finds that same thing happens to them! Cheers Olly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikeperson45 Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Haha, so typical. I can't ride because of injury stuff and that's defiantly all the stuff I'm not missing at all, always seemed like the longest I'd get my bike working as I like was around a five day period. Still can't wait to ride properly again for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dann2707 Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Haha I know what it's like. You manage to get one thing all sorted and working great then something else breaks or decides to come out of allignment. I've spent quite a bit on decent parts though lately so hopefully things will go fine, maybe for a few days 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williams Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Yupp same problem here, wrote a topic about it too hehe I bought a new bike and built it up and haven't had a problem since today, wohoo had it for 3 weeks without breakage. Now I've killed the threads inside my BB (how the hell is that possible..) But I reccomend you to take some time and service the bike, like go trough the whole bike and check it. God luck with your riding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan6061 Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 This is why us senior's rarely ride. Good to see some of the old members getting back into it again! You never really stop riding trials... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly C Posted June 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 This is why us senior's rarely ride. Good to see some of the old members getting back into it again! You never really stop riding trials... Cheers, Yea I've never been able to bring myself to sell my trials bikes, either of them! I just couldn't do it unless I was super desperate for the money, they're pretty much a part of my life however often they may or may not be used Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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