Yellow! Newbie here!

[stalled]

Just thought I would introduce myself to you guys (no punt intended!)! I couldn't find a sub-forum for that but please feel free to move this topic if there is a more appropriate location.

I am a 30ish year old from Portugal, been rinding BMX in and out since about when I was 18yrs old, Flatland to be more precise. For those who don't know the discipline, it's the least popular, way behind Street or Park, it's also the most technical and probably the more challenging of them all. Most people still call it just "freestyle" which is very imprecise.

I rode and learned some tricks during my college years but over the last 10 years I've just been doing it now and then for nostalgia sakes, time is at a premium either because of work restrictions or family ones and sports and hobbies end up being thrown down the priority ladder. A mistake, I know. Nevertheless I do not want to stop practicing some sort of radical sport and I've never really let Flatland of the menu and have always enjoyed Trials and that is what brought me here and now.

So these I believe are my options:

Tight-budget

I actually own an MTB too, a Scott Voltage YZ4 from the 2000's, bought used a couple of years ago and ridden very little since then, half a dozen times maybe, it was meant to be a commuter to ride alongside a friend or my wife and I now understand that what seems to be a Dirt oriented geometry was probably a poor choice, here it is:

The suspension is busted, I have to buy another one, I don't believe it is even serviceable, this was a ~$300 bike when new I believe, the stock suspension fork is probably a very entry level product.

On on hand the geometry of the frame does not feel that far off from a modern street Trials bike and with some mods could it be done? I am not aware of the used market prices for disk brake setups for example, mods may get expensive pretty quickly. The drivetrain I believe could be re-arranged to be a more reliable single speed one.

Budget

I love the used market opportunities, unfortunately people seem to swap parts too often and most times that barely get to the explore the limits of their durability and functionality so good deals can be made especially on a budget. Unfortunately where I live, Portugal, Trials is almost a non-existent activity, I only ever recall seeing someone doing once so you get the picture but I must admit, I have never met another flatlander personally. This means I would probably need to convince someone from a foreign country (like the UK!) to ship it while paying for high shipping too.

I know that building a bike from zero usually costs big bucks, even using used parts has to be done properly in order to avoid getting too close to a new bike price. I would basically need... everything? A frame, rims, stem, fork, seat, cranks... this can get expensive very quick.

New complete bike

I could consider the purchase of a 24", maybe 26", I'm 5'9 so not especially tall but I am most concerned with the geometry of the bike. I hate the look of the 20" options, they are too Trials specific and to my eyes, very, very ugly and I already have my BMX so... I am also aware that a Trials bike will never be a perfect commuter but as I have researched the "street Trials" bikes look more ordinary, even with the crazy frame geometry with very steep top tubes.

Downsinde? Are there even entry-level, sub £500 options? All I see are bikes that cost upwards of £500, very far from the sub £200, 20inchers I find locally.

 

With this in mind I would like to try it without shelling out a huge some of money. My main concerns are obviously the lack of time and lack of enjoyment, the first I can deal it, the second is a bit harder because if I try to sell the bike locally, it will not be easy.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Cheers

Edited March 18, 2020 by stalled

[dk2]

Velcome...any bike will do, you be able to find some second hand old school bikes around 2-300...good luck..

[Richard86]

I'm in a similar position.

I'm really keen to back into Trials, so I've taken an okeyish Mountain Bike, bought a new "old stock" Trials Frame (Zona Zenith) from Ebay for £60 and I'm in the process of swapping all the parts across. 

Cheapest way to get a Trials bike really if you have the time and tools, and it will have at least a few gears and front suspension for the time being so I can still use it for bike rides with the family. Not sure how I'll get on without a seat, but I might fabricate something to deal with that..

There are extra costs however, my frame only really takes a 4 bolt rear brake so I've bought a Magura HS33. I'm also pretty sire I'm going to need to upgrade the rear wheel as that will likely break soon. I also bought a new BB and headset as these weren't great on my MTB. Oh and wider bars.

If you go down this route, parts come up cheap on eBay if you keep looking.

If I ride it enough to break more parts I'll invest more money. If not, then not much money spent.

[stalled]

Yeah over the las few days I have done some research to get to know the specificities of these bikes, Street Trials versions at least and I am in the process of purchasing a sub-€300 24" dirt bike that will give me a similar geometry to a specific Trials frame and 90% of the components required to have a working bicycle. The only upgrades I will be doing right after I get it are some wider and taller bars and longer stem, spec-wise very similar to what I see in some Trials parts site so hopefully I will end up with a reasonably "modern" street trials setup.

My moto will be the same as yours, ride it, see how much I progress and then, if the frame holds up well, In the long term, I may consider getting a fully steet trial oriented ride, until then I just can't justify +€1000 for a bike that will always be too limited ti how you can use it.