Which bike to buy as a beginner (small budget)?

[ZioPera4316]

I've always wanted to do street trial, but never had the bike, I only have my dad's trial motorcycle that got me into the trial disciplines and an old MTB and I can do surplace and a few rear wheel hops on it. Now I wanted to get myself a street trial to do things properly but the thing is I'm really on a small budget and the best offers I found were for a onza zotta pro (black and purple) and a echo mark 5, both in the picture and both for £335. If I want to do primarly street trial should I go for the onza that's a proper street trial but seems very old or should I go for the echo that's a bike trial but it's in literally perfect conditions?

Also could someone explain to me what's the difference in wheel sizes? (I'm 1,68m tall)

[La Bourde]

Hi and welcome,

 

A trial comp bike like the Echo pictured is not suited at all for street/trials.
It does whether spin nor roll easy, it is almost impossible to bunny hop, making street moves much more difficult. It will be good to learn the trial specific moves though, like statics, sidehops, etc. These moves are the basics and being able to execute them well will make you a much better rider later on.

But maybe you will get bored with this bike... Trials is very specific and for example, sometimes as a mountain biker, I miss the feeling of speed (which is less the case in street/trials).
And even riding on a sidewalk with this kind of bikes is a pity ... The position is horrible, the rear brake loud, the freewheel has a lot of drag.

I really appreciate to ride on a comp bike, but it is so specific to this discipline and street/trials are so good nowadays, it makes sense to buy one only if one really wants to improve and train specific moves or if you only ride comp trial style.

By the way, the spec is great. Although, the Echo rear brake is not so reliable and the stem looks quite long for your size.

 

If you are more interested in street trials, go for the Zoot. The bikes has nice parts on it for the price and as a beginner, I expect you won't stress the frame so much the first few months (or do you have a BMX/dirt background?)
You can later update the frame and thus become a solid build.

As for the wheel size, 26" rolls better on obstacles (does not get stuck into holes), requires slightly less precision on bars or small obstacles, but is more difficult to spin (e.g. 180°) or to move.