Going Trials

[Cellmember]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to trials looking,wanting, am getting into it, currently looking at grabbing myself a 24" Trials most likely from Inspired, I've had my eye on the Fourplay Team or Sky V3. I'm coming from a freestyle bmx background been riding for roughly 11 or 12 years mostly park some street and dirt. I started to notice trials a while ago maybe a couple months back just going through certain videos on youtube and them showing up in up next, the first video that ended up catching my eye was from Danny Macaskill, I just remember watching the video with a crazy thumbnail of him up side down going over a rural farm fence of some sort, ever since then I started checking out more and more trials videos which eventually I came across Ali Clarkson and Duncan Shaw and a few others, and I'm just hooked, the type of riding that you trials guys do is pretty unique to say the least and I just love it and would fit me perfectly. 

I've been researching all types of parts/ brands etc that go into a trials and I'm pretty happy with what I see as it's not too dissimilar from bmx which is quite good as it's not that difficult or confusing going into it as if I were a newbie I'd be completely lost, that goes the same with anything else really, so it's pretty easy to understand, I think the only thing I have to look into more are the disk brakes as bmx freestyle only uses U-brake but so far so good. 

Glad I found this forum and cannot wait to get further into this, that's my piece glad to be apart of it.

Cheers

Edited May 17, 2018 by Cellmember

[Mark W]

Good call   Sounds like you've thought it out pretty well and know what you're getting into which is the main thing.

One other thing I'd suggest is maybe looking at something like the Inspired Arcade too.  It's a little more BMX-orientated than the Fourplay/Skye, so could be worth checking out too.  I rode a 'proper' trials bike and a BMX, and found the Arcade bridged the gap really well for me.

[Cellmember]

On 5/17/2018 at 6:18 PM, Mark W said:

Good call   Sounds like you've thought it out pretty well and know what you're getting into which is the main thing.

One other thing I'd suggest is maybe looking at something like the Inspired Arcade too.  It's a little more BMX-orientated than the Fourplay/Skye, so could be worth checking out too.  I rode a 'proper' trials bike and a BMX, and found the Arcade bridged the gap really well for me.

Ah yes the Arcade, It has a 25+ BB and a 74.5 HT angle compared to the FP Team I think I'd like to try out a lower BB/slacker HT maybe ? I have to do more research, being that the FP is 10+ BB and 73 HT angle and or the Sky V3 at 17 BB and 73.5 HT angle.

I don't expect the Trials to be to similar to a bmx riding wise, I know trials are suppose to be quite different and I'm completely fine with it as it'll be quite fun for me to experience the differences in discipline. Then again I do know that the Arcade frame and fork being full 4130 should be stronger if I'm correct than the Fourplay and Skye so that's going to have to be something else for me to consider is it/will it be that much of a difference in strength and is it needed for me ? I do like the look of the frame on the Arcade as well as it looks and reminds me of a bmx which is nice and I also like the way the Fourplay and Sky look all of them are very nice bikes. I think I will seriously consider all three to be honest because I hadn't taken into account the strength part, thanks for bringing that up. 

How do they measure the BB heights ? I know bmx is from ground up to the center of the BB is it the same for Trials frames ? And I do know that even some bmx companies would use the same system for the Trials but I never got around to actually seeing how it works.

Mark/ any one who sees this, do you happen to have any suggestions/ reason on what BB height, HT angle, chainstay length and wheel base would be more appropriate for Trials and why ? 

What about TT length and ST angle are those taken into account ? 

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2018 by Cellmember

[Cellmember]

I just checked out Macaskills Santacruz custom, that thing looks so good, wonder how strong it would be and how well it rides due to it being nearly all carbon. Interesting.

[Mark W]

Alrighty, there's a fair bit to answer with that!

The Fourplay, Skye and Arcade should be tough enough for pretty much anything you can throw at them.  They're not really an apples-to-apples comparison, but essentially the Fourplay/Skye are pretty bulletproof so even though they aren't steel they're still stiff and strong.  In all honesty, unless you're doing some big moves or you're a total basher any of them should be fine.  The Fourplays and Skyes feel stiffer due to them being alloy and a bit chunkier in terms of tubing size, whereas the Arcade has a slightly different feel due to the nature of steel.  They're not mega flexy though, it's just a subtle difference in feel.

BB heights on trials bikes are measured differently - they're measured from an imaginary line between the centre of your hub axles up to the centre of the BB axle.  

Just like with BMX there's no 'right' geometry, it's largely personal preference.  To me the Fourplays/Skyes feel a bit too compact for my liking, but I can see why some people would like how they feel (and they clearly aren't holding people back).  Most street trials frames have broadly similar geometry and will be a good compromise between trialsy moves and more BMXy/streety moves.  CS have been getting shorter to tuck the back wheel under you more so you get more 'pop' for bunnyhops and also more stability on the rear wheel.  BB heights fluctuate a bit depending on what the style of riding will be like.  The only real differences are things like HA - the Arcade is a bit steeper to give it more of a BMX kind of feel.  The higher BB (to the Fourplay/Skye) and steeper head angle make it a bit more twitchy, again similar to how BMXs now are going for shorter CS and super steep HA.  

TT lengths aren't really used as the difference in triangle shape is so varied on trials bikes that it's fairly useless.  That's why the reach measurement is used (measured from centre of the BB to centre top of the HT) as although it's not perfect it gives a reasonable comparison from frame to frame.  Similarly, ST angle isn't really measured either as that will generally be tweaked to give optimal tyre clearance and so on.  With BMX the ST angle is more important as that will give you more of a read on what the TT length will really feel like, but that's taken care of with the reach measurement on trials frames for the most part.

[Cellmember]

12 hours ago, Mark W said:

Alrighty, there's a fair bit to answer with that!

The Fourplay, Skye and Arcade should be tough enough for pretty much anything you can throw at them.  They're not really an apples-to-apples comparison, but essentially the Fourplay/Skye are pretty bulletproof so even though they aren't steel they're still stiff and strong.  In all honesty, unless you're doing some big moves or you're a total basher any of them should be fine.  The Fourplays and Skyes feel stiffer due to them being alloy and a bit chunkier in terms of tubing size, whereas the Arcade has a slightly different feel due to the nature of steel.  They're not mega flexy though, it's just a subtle difference in feel.

BB heights on trials bikes are measured differently - they're measured from an imaginary line between the centre of your hub axles up to the centre of the BB axle.  

Just like with BMX there's no 'right' geometry, it's largely personal preference.  To me the Fourplays/Skyes feel a bit too compact for my liking, but I can see why some people would like how they feel (and they clearly aren't holding people back).  Most street trials frames have broadly similar geometry and will be a good compromise between trialsy moves and more BMXy/streety moves.  CS have been getting shorter to tuck the back wheel under you more so you get more 'pop' for bunnyhops and also more stability on the rear wheel.  BB heights fluctuate a bit depending on what the style of riding will be like.  The only real differences are things like HA - the Arcade is a bit steeper to give it more of a BMX kind of feel.  The higher BB (to the Fourplay/Skye) and steeper head angle make it a bit more twitchy, again similar to how BMXs now are going for shorter CS and super steep HA.  

TT lengths aren't really used as the difference in triangle shape is so varied on trials bikes that it's fairly useless.  That's why the reach measurement is used (measured from centre of the BB to centre top of the HT) as although it's not perfect it gives a reasonable comparison from frame to frame.  Similarly, ST angle isn't really measured either as that will generally be tweaked to give optimal tyre clearance and so on.  With BMX the ST angle is more important as that will give you more of a read on what the TT length will really feel like, but that's taken care of with the reach measurement on trials frames for the most part.

That definitely helped clear things up on how the geo works on a trials, thanks Mark for taking the time to explain it to, really appreciate it. 

I might be leaning more toward an Arcade to be honest, thinking of building from the ground up as well, I will compare parts/prices to complete/build up and see what comes out cheaper.

Out of curiosity what Trial setup are you running ?