New member intro

[bigtrialjumper]

Hi everyone

Just thought I would introduce myself and my bikes ad I'm sure I will be asking for some advice in the future

I'm living in sunny Cornwall, and have recently purchased my first trial bike, a basic Onza Rip just to learn on and will upgrade as I need

 

It's pretty much stock at moment apart from upgraded pads but still V brakes, but will be hopefully upgrading at some point to HS11 or HS33

I am a big stocky bloke and my usual ride is a modified Voodoo Shango dirt jumper (upgraded crank and bearings, arms and DMR pedals, plus a 25t front instead of a 28t), and obviously has hydro discs both ends etc but the BB is very low which is ideal for single track and pumps etc but coupled with a heavy cromo frame and fork and enduro tyres, means its not ideal for back wheel hops etc!

 

So have been thinking about a trial bike for a while and took the plunge

I will be swapping out the slight worn and bent onza cage pedals for platforms either the DMR V8 or a set of Salt ones I have just as with size 13 feet they feel a bit nicer!

 

Only thing I need to replace on the onza soon is the BB as it has a little play in it

Are they a 68 x 120 BB on these? Square taper?

Seen a VP BC73 68 x 118 and 6x122.5 which should be close enough? (1mm or so shorter or longer each side so minimal difference to chain run?)

[isitafox]

Welcome! 

Firstly the BB will be 68x128 most likely and I'm assuming square taper with it being Onza's budget bike (the general standard for trials is splined even though the rest of the bike world ditched it years ago!). 

If I'm honest I wouldn't bother upgrading the brakes, a well setup set of V's with decent pads (check out Tartybikes for a good selection) will be just as good as maguras and they tend to be a bit poorer when fitted with adapters for V mounts anyhow. 

Best practice would be to get the basics drilled and if you're sure you want to stick with it sell the bike and buy something with a better spec. 

The Onza Rip was always a budget beginners bike, no hydraulic brake mounts and a 20" rear wheel instead of the standard 19" so not really much point in spending too much on it other than to keep it rolling smoothly. 

If you decide to stick with a mod (20) then go for something with magura and/or disc mounts and a 19" rear wheel. Otherwise there's the 24" market (predominantly street trials based) or 26" (street trials or high BB seatless bikes) to move to. 

[Justin1998]

Hi i am also new here, I have been riding for about 3 years, but I had a break due to a knee injury, now everything is fine and I continue to learn new tricks and just enjoy riding.

[Saracanderson]

This is my second time on here, was on here back in 2012 I think with a spray can yellow onza T-bird and now I’m back into trials with a Saracen MAD phase 1.3 in Liverpool 

[Lexxisriennnl]

Hey there! I'm new here. Haven't ridden for a couple of years but want to start again. Hope to receive support and inspiration here. 

[Matt_71]

I would be interested what you think about a trials bike vs jump bike?  I see a few people on this forum use jump bikes for street trials.  Have you found a great deal of difference learning new tricks on the trials bike compared with your jump bike?

I’m looking at my first street trials oriented bike, but I was wondering if I’d get more use out of a jump bike.  
 

 

[aener]

There is some crossover between the two, but it's really not as much as you might hope.

You can do some trialsy lines on a DJ, but it's about 200% extra effort and trying to learn trials moves on it will be an awful lot harder than trying to learn them on a trials bike and it will hold you back a lot longer and probably instill you with bad habits.
You can ride jumps on a street trials bike, but it won't be comfortable. I don't ride one so I can't comment too much, but the lack of suspension, steep head-angle and other geometry differences make them... well... just a different kind of bike!

I'm interested to know which bikes you've seen that give you the idea some people do use DJ bikes as there's a few things that might have mislead you:
It's just their DJ bike which they use for DJ.
It's a very specific bike for an edge-of-the-bell-curve type person like James Barton.
It's actually an old-school trials bike, which were closer to DJ bikes than modern street trials bikes.

I won't say don't do it, but if you actively want to ride trials as a hobby, getting anything other than a trials bike will make it more difficult or just downright unpleasant.
If it's a cost thing, look at second hand bikes. There's loads of entry-level Inspireds floating around, which are genuinely good bikes and you can sometimes get a bargain. Entry-level doesn't mean bad. The frames are often just the pevious generation's premium model, and the parts are aimed at being functional rather than super light or bling-bling.
If you don't know what you're looking at, post links to options that interest you here and people will tell you what to look out for or whether it looks like that one has issues. Depending where you're based, there could well be someone nearby who can help you out in person, too.

[Matt_71]

Thank you for your feedback.

I plan on visiting the trial academy in Cambridge and hopefully hire one of their bikes.  This will give me an idea what a trials bike feels like.

The build I saw on here was a Giant stp,  which was modified for trials, looked pretty good.

 

[Robust Robert]

I`m also new here! So, nice to meet you, igtrialjumper