The Basics

[Maintenance Justice]

Its been just over a year since I started at Tarty Bikes and riding Trials! What a whirlwind of a learning curve it’s been from not being able to back wheel hop to doing stuff I wouldn’t have even thought of a year ago.

Making small but consistent improvement has been the goal and getting in a minimum of 2hrs riding a week for the past year has really helped. Not shying away from moves has been really rewarding! I find sidehops really hard which means I do them more than anything else! Drops still scare me but I always make sure I squeeze in some big ones one every ride. 
 

It just goes to show you can still make great progress even if you start later in life, you just need to chip away at it instead of the long days riding the veterans did in their teens.

Goals for next year? Bar height side hops, proper up to fronts and rolling gaps.

Our little local riding group @tuesdaynighttrials (TNT) has had some great after work sessions with some big names and legendary locals all out together so more of that next year! Watch this space for a TNT trials comp in the North West…

 

 

[Maintenance Justice]

It's been a while!

I've been riding quite a bit since the last video and making some progress. I'm looking to develop a 'style' - I'm at the point now where I feel I've got the basics down enough to start riding in a certain way rather than just doing the usual moves over and over. Of course I'll never stop practicing but there are a handful of riders I really admire and they all have one thing in common, one or no brakes! I really like the smooth style and the way these riders tackle obstacles. Rather than the normal 'comp' style of to front everything there is a lot of rolling and fluid movement rather than jerky power moves which I really like in natural Trials.

To that end I've taken the front brake off the mod. No way am I going to attempt riding with no brakes at all but I thought this could be fun experiement. I switched the bars to a street style bar with much more rise in a more upright position, without the front brake to pivot around with I need to swivel on the back much more and I can't put as much weight on the front wheel whilst being unable to lock it on tricky terrain. I've also found I needed to let the tyre pressure down a good few PSI, without the both brakes to 'sandwhich' the bike into a grippy position you're relying much more on the tyres hanging on with friction.

First impressions are...good? It's kind of like when I learned to juggle. Maddeningly frustrating then when you do get some success it's weirdly compelling and makes you want do more and be more ambitious. It's also helped tackle the 'faff' with less opportunities to correction hop. If you're going to get up something it's better to just get up there quickly which often means rolling up where possible or doing a quick wheel swap. It's surprising how much you rely on the front brake for balance, it almost makes it too tempting to correction hop all the time with the wheels locked and without it you just balance - this is a major plus in saving energy. In fact I did a full session the other day and finished with much less fatigue in my arms so an interesting point to note.

I'll continue with this on the MOD for now (still full stoppers on the stock) and see how it progresses

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by Maintenance Justice

[Maintenance Justice]

More front brake-less riding!

I'm really getting on well without a front brake, I don't find it a hindrance for most things. Some moves are definitely more difficult but not impossible, and it has its benefits in other areas (rolling up onto ledges for example or gapping across to two wheels). Generally, the new set-up seems to suit me - certain bike set-ups seem to 'click' mentally, sometimes for no logical reason, and it's the case this time too, so I'll run with it.

I'm getting a bit more confident at larger gaps. Rather than being a one off 'lets give it a go' during a ride, I find I'm starting to do them on a regular basis. I still need to stop that annoying habit of hopping backwards slightly before take off, but hopefully I'll stop that in time as I get more confident. It's more of an over compensation I think in preloading before take off, I need to get comfortable in just compressing down and forward before going for the jump.

Still battling with side hops - it's really frustrating as I've analysed the technique so much! I know exactly what I need to do, but teaching my body to do it is proving a mountain to climb. I'm improving slowly, but I think it's the tuck and roll forward of the bars that's not quite right. I feel like I'm not tucking enough to draw up the rear wheel and that I need to push the bars forward to keep centred on the bike when I land. When I do make it onto a ledge I've found I'm quite far foward compared to better riders which sometimes means slipping a pedal and being quite cramped on landing. I have found that hopping into a preload helps a little, I guess because it forces me to preload more than I am doing when I'm static. It also feels a bit better mentally taking some momentum into something, it feels like you stand more of a chance of getting up it! I'll practice this technique a bit more and hopefully it will translate to better static side hops.

Lastly I've made the upgrade to a Hope Pro 4 converted to 116mm and it's ace! Really enjoying how it feels - definitely a noticeable improvement on rolling resistance and the engagement is great. It's really apparent when 'kick rolling' the bike forward, especially up to ledges, the bike carries momentum better which, with practice, I hope to take advantage of to ride a bit smoother.

 

A terrible picture of a lovely product....