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Does anyone over 30 still ride trials :(


ChrisBrown81

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I like this thread, so i'm Brett - 31 and have been in and out of riding trials since I was 14/15 (so a 90's boy).

Personally, sod it, if the body is willing and the mind is able, then keep going.. I am 32 in July and currently building a 24" bike and planning on getting a new DH bike later as well. So it will be a year of keep riding cool bikes badly!

Over the years I have been in and out of love with the sport, but I always keep coming back and I love the huge increase on people rebuilding older style rigs. Makes me reminisce over the days when baggy jeans, beanies (instead of a helmet) and key chains were an acceptable part of trials fashion, when square taper cranks were being removed with a crank puller and a 5p piece, when Armstrong cranks that flexed were fine and when a trials frame was 12" /14" seat tube... I could keep going

I digress, keep riding until you can't do it then hang up your wheels and get involved in something like fly fishing

Edited by Brettoll
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It's always interesting asking what those people think you should be doing instead of whatever you're currently doing too - people have some interesting ideas about what could be considered worthwhile...

Funnily enough, i've never even received an answer to the question, but i can imagen the answers.

Just a month or two of regular riding and you'd be right back into it/on it...

Fitness will be the harder thing to get back.

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been following this thread since it started, so good to know 26 isnt considered grandad just yet, looked at hermances bio and i think he was 31/32 and benito was 33, so us older lads can take huge solace in the fact elite riders are in their 30s :dance:

I think elites like Hermance, cousts, ross etc are better than ever at riding nowadays

but the thing is, I heard a lot about how their body are just shot (lower back,knees, shoulders etc)

I hope they ll ride as long as possible while staying healthy

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such a good thread, i myself have been wondering if im to old too ride at the ripe old age of 26, i feel its deemed by joe public socially unacceptable to ride after the age of about 23ish, mainly because when people ask on the street and you tell them they raise an eyebrow, but id much rather ride and do something i see as a good outlet then play football or go drinking every 2 minutes..

its good to see some lads on here been riding like 15 years or so and still enjoying it, personally the past few years iv had a love hate relationship with trials, i love it but unless im pushing myself i easily tire of it, but recently iv decided i think a slight change to my riding may be needed, just to keep it fresh, gonna try concentrate more on style and tech rather then tryna kill myself every 2 minutes >_<

can i ask you lads who are older then me, do you feel like you should of quit by now? my family give me a hard time over riding and i think this is were the idea of being 'too old' has stemd from. your at a physical peak from 21 through till about 35 if you keep youreself in good nick :wink2:

brilliant thread, nice to see some lads with oldschool knees

I was older than that when I started.
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I was 13 when I started, just turned 31, and I'm definitely less flexible than I was ten years ago. I think the main thing for me is I can't afford big injuries like I could ten years ago, I'd ride a 2" wide rail ten feet up back in 2000, these days...not so much.

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I'm 31 now and I'm probably riding less than I used to but I think I'm still improving, I went out yesterday and managed to go to rear on a wall first time when I remember last year spending over an hour trying to get it. I am eating a lot healthier than I used to and I do more climbing and general stretchy type exercises which I think helps a lot.

I definitely think you need to look after your body more but there's no reason why suddenly becoming 30+ should be a reason to slow down, it's all in the mind. You see people 70+ who do amazing things, 30 isn't old!

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Andrew Reynolds was 32 when he filmed this, and sends it down some massive stairsets/gaps (skip to near the end if you don't want to watch all of it). Quite a few pro BMXers are now pushing their mid-30's and riding amazingly well. Part of people's view of skating/BMXing/trials as being something kids do is probably because there hasn't really been a full generation passing through it yet, at least at the level things are at now. I think people's expectations of age are going to change as people realise that they're things that you can keep going with as long as you're enjoying it, and that you can keep progressing even if you are getting older. I can remember when I was 14-15 and riding trials, the prospect of being 20 and still riding seemed pretty strange. I couldn't really imagine what being in my mid-20's would be like and whether I'd still be riding then. Your views just change over time.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Love seeing people still riding into and beyond there 30's... Im 30 this Year and keep Buying Selling Buying Selling.....Stopping starting, I had a 20" Zona a couple of years ago but sold it for a DH bike, But i miss Hopping about so much! going to shell out and get an Inspired in the next few Weeks! it was my intention before reading this post but now im Even more pushed to get one!

Im From Doncaster just going to collect a load of pallets and set the up in the garden to start with :)

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I`m 35, going on 36 this year. More motivated to ride now than I have been in years. Going through a divorce has tought me that nothing, and no one are there until the end. So the importance of doing what makes you feel good is the most important thing ever. I ride a few times each week. Sometimes big, sometimes like a sack of something that don`t ride too well.
I even ride with my kids. My oldest son has an echo 20" with some tweaks to make it easier to ride.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've just got back into it at age 28 and can't wait for the summer now. Plus of being older means I can pick up pallets and make my own trials course in my own garden when I buy somewhere so having kids won't completely stop me being able to ride the bike.

Good on everyone still pushing it. Plenty of over 50 year olds I play rugby against who are still hard as hell. Should be no reason to stop riding because you're getting on a bit. Far better than being sat on the sofa or being a sad case sports follower without your own sport to do!

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Hey. New here and pretty new to trials. I live in the Yukon, Canada. We have great mtb trails and I started riding bikes to lose weight and get back into shape (and keep up with my toddler). I spent quite a bit of time on a road bike last year training for some long races and burnt out a bit on riding but trials has kindled it again. I have always loved watching trials riding. It reminds me of my old skateboarding days where you would session a spot and hang with friends while learning skills. A couple of years ago I took a dirt jumping bike and put a front brake on it and built new wheels for it to try to do some trials. I am horrible.

This year, I just want to have fun on a bike regardless of whether I'm mtbing, road riding or trials. I finally feel like I am getting somewhere with some very basic moves and I am having a blast. It is also a great way for me to ride with my 3 yr old on his run bike. I am 41 (i think… I will have to check with my wife. I can't remember… haha!) and I am moving pretty cautiously with trials because I just don't heal like I used to. I will be begging for instruction over the next while.

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such a good thread, i myself have been wondering if im to old too ride at the ripe old age of 26, i feel its deemed by joe public socially unacceptable to ride after the age of about 23ish, mainly because when people ask on the street and you tell them they raise an eyebrow, but id much rather ride and do something i see as a good outlet then play football or go drinking every 2 minutes..

its good to see some lads on here been riding like 15 years or so and still enjoying it, personally the past few years iv had a love hate relationship with trials, i love it but unless im pushing myself i easily tire of it, but recently iv decided i think a slight change to my riding may be needed, just to keep it fresh, gonna try concentrate more on style and tech rather then tryna kill myself every 2 minutes >_<

can i ask you lads who are older then me, do you feel like you should of quit by now? my family give me a hard time over riding and i think this is were the idea of being 'too old' has stemd from. your at a physical peak from 21 through till about 35 if you keep youreself in good nick :wink2:

brilliant thread, nice to see some lads with oldschool knees

I just turned 33....started riding trials without knowing it in 98....got a real trials bike in 2000ish...quit for a few years...picked it back up and rode until like 2005ish...quit, picked it back up in 2008 and haven't stopped since. I've gone long stints of not pushing myself and/or riding for weeks at a time....but kept a bike or three around.

Being older, it's a bit less about pushing yourself and more about having a good time. I don't really push myself any more, like drop gaps to rails, etc, but I'm riding technically bigger and better now than I ever have...just far less riskier. All of my gaps are close to the ground (like less than hip height) but at like 9ish feet....it's a security thing...I could do a 6 foot gap easily, but the fact that it's 5 feet in the air...eh, no thanks.

Keep riding. "An old dude" killing it is far cooler than a young lad going bigger and farther.....because everybody knows back in the day, "the old guy" was probably gnarly as hell.

Edited by rupintart
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  • 3 months later...

Age is just a number. It's all about how good a job your body does at regenerating itself. You can be completely crippled at 40 or feel like a teenager at 50.

I am 34 and a bit but people think I am 25 if I shave. I normally ride every day if the weather is good, and I feel great. Regular exercise also helps keep our bodies running smooth, so I'd say if you are the sporty kind no age is too late.

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