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Adult beginner needing advice


Dex

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Hi, I’m seriously wanting to start riding trials but am getting confused as to what bike and spec to look out for. Im 5,7” and on the wrong side of 15 stone. 

I ride a lot of trails on my mountain bikes and but have to travel distances to do this as I live in the West Midlands and I like the idea of practicing my bike skills nearer to home after work without having to travel. I’m unsure as to what size frame I should look for, wheel size and is there any rookie mistakes I should avoid that put people off? 

Any advice is really appreciated as I don’t personally know any one who rides trials.

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4 hours ago, Dex said:

Hi, I’m seriously wanting to start riding trials but am getting confused as to what bike and spec to look out for. Im 5,7” and on the wrong side of 15 stone. 

I ride a lot of trails on my mountain bikes and but have to travel distances to do this as I live in the West Midlands and I like the idea of practicing my bike skills nearer to home after work without having to travel. I’m unsure as to what size frame I should look for, wheel size and is there any rookie mistakes I should avoid that put people off? 

Any advice is really appreciated as I don’t personally know any one who rides trials.

hey man, im in the west midlands, where abouts are you? first thing you need to decide is which wheel size to go for, 20, 24, 26. 20s are good to start on as theyre nice nd bouncy and twitchy, teach you a lot of things. would suit your height too.

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thanks for reply, I’m based in Worcester. I’ve been looking at second hand onza’s as they seem reasonably priced. Any experience of these? A pro would be nice. Any other makes you’d recommend or any other advice you’d give a nearly 40 year old about getting started? 

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1 hour ago, Dex said:

thanks for reply, I’m based in Worcester. I’ve been looking at second hand onza’s as they seem reasonably priced. Any experience of these? A pro would be nice. Any other makes you’d recommend or any other advice you’d give a nearly 40 year old about getting started? 

i think i can speak for a lot of people when i say i had an onza at one point :P i had a  4 onza limeys, loved them. a lot of 20" onzas can be a realy bad spec though, look for hydraulic brakes etc or post them in this thread if you arent sure. advice wise, start off with basic balance moves first, it will help in the long run. im based in coventry 

 

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I'm your height, about 13 stone, and started trials about a year ago in my mid 50's.

I wanted to improve my bike skills as I do a lot of Enduro style MTBing, and fatbiking in the winter (4 months of snow here in Ottawa, Canada.) The trials skills have helped a lot!

I started with an Inspired Flow Plus (24) street trials, then added an Echo MK5 (24) comp style. The Flow is more similar in feel to my MTB & fatbike, except smaller in all dimensions. The MK5 is much lighter, but feels so different from the MTB & fatbike. I've never tried 20" bike, but my guess is it will feel even more different. Personally, instead of the MK5 24" I probably should have bought a 26" pure. But I'm happy with my choices.

I'm going to try to learn more trials riding this summer, so I'm also going to try to get down close to 11 stone.

Edited by DeersSlayer
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1 hour ago, Dex said:

I'm trying to keep my budget as low as possible for a first bike, for around £400-£500 what sort of spec do you think id be able to find? 

 

good. the second hand market is cheap these days, youd be able to get a pretty top spec bike for that sort of money.

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I'd definitely advise getting a bike that's closer to the type of bike you're used to! That means avoid getting a 20", reasons being:

A 20" wheeled bike will feel WEIRD! It'll not feel like anything you've ridden before and will ONLY be good for trials, nothing else! This means it'll be harder to transfer the skills from bike to bike.

I'd recommend picking up a 24 or 26" bike, it'll feel much more like an actual bike, you'll adapt to it quicker and the skills are easier to transfer over to the MTB, it'll also be usable in more situations like pump tracks, skateparks and general transportation.

They are slightly more expensive than a 20" but check on ebay and you'll find something pop up sooner or later, although if you have the money then Tartybikes have a decent range of bikes too.

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