Second Bike ??

[Peter Pan]

I'm riding a Zoo! Piranha, or at least doing my best. I've had an offer of an early generation 2010ish Fourplay and wonder if it would be a steppingstone in getting better at using the Zoo! In other words, is the Fourplay more forgiving to learn on, letting me build a base of skill that I can then adapt to the Zoo! Going from MTB to Zoo! (in my fifties) feels like a very big step at times. I ride a mix of street & natural features.

Similarly, or should I get a 20" mod as a steppingstone bike?

Humour me with a reasonable opinion, I know it's a bit like asking if using a spoon instead of a fork will improve my use of a knife.

Edited January 7, 2019 by Peter Pan

[Swoofty]

The best way to get better on any bike is to spend more time on that bike. It's always nice to think that we can just buy something to make us better, but practice is the only real secret. The Fourplay will probably be more fun to just ride around, but it's not a dedicated trials bike. If your end goal is pure trials, the Zoo will get you there. There's also no such thing as too many bikes and no harm in being an all around rider with many cycling disciplines under his belt. 

I'd say it's more spork vs salad fork.

[Sandbugg]

i agree with the above but in my opinion pure trials bikes are more like fish knives and street trials bikes are like cake forks 

[Mark W]

If you're finding MTB to 26" a big jump, you'll find it even more so going to 20".  20" trials bikes feel fairly alien compared to 26" trials bikes, which in turn feel fairly alien compared to most 'normal' bikes.  A 24" bike will feel a little more like your MTB just due to the geometry being more conventional (albeit much better for doing trials moves on than your MTB would be), but as Swoofty said the real way to progress is to get comfortable on a bike, learn how it feels/responds to inputs, and go from there.  If you're chopping and changing too much you'll spend a lot of time re-gaining the feel of a bike rather than making progress on it.