"respectable" Measurements...

[Jez]

Having been out of the game for some time, I'm a bit curious as to what sort of heights/distances are considered 'respectable' these days. For anything really - sidehops, gaps, taps, owt else you can think of. I don't mean what sort of size moves the big players in the scene are pulling, I mean what does it take you to actually think someone is a little above average?

I s'pose I'm curious because' I ain't got a clue these days - expectations have changed a lot and it's difficult to judge on videos because you're generally just getting the top end riders there (I think, I may be wrong) who do huge stuff as a matter of course. I guess I just wanna see where I am in the scheme of things.

Or is this too close to a 'what's the world's average penis size?' question for everyone's liking?

[Tomm]

I dunno, it seems like with enough practise most people can sidehop 45"+. I can't and I respect myself for that. Although I'm not sure many people respect me for my riding ability...

Nowadays if you can't gap 8ft, tap 48", and sidehop 45", you're not cool. Or something. I dunno. Maybe someone else should answer this one

[tipsy Jock]

I dunno, it seems like with enough practise most people can sidehop 45"+. I can't and I respect myself for that. Although I'm not sure many people respect me for my riding ability...

Nowadays if you can't gap 8ft, tap 48", and sidehop 45", you're not cool. Or something. I dunno. Maybe someone else should answer this one

Damn, i'm not cool

[manuel]

hmmmm

Im deffo not cool.

Balls - and yet I try so hard.

EDIT : Ps average sized penis = make an L shape with your hand ( I have a double jointed thumb )

Edited March 9, 2006 by manuel

[ben_travis]

so you know, going big is no longer considered cool.

all the sheep have decided that if u ride street its cool. and by street i mean big bunny hops and technical stuff. sidehopping onto rails will get you bummed, although its not as hard as it looks.

so do spins, technical rail stuff, and do it good, then the whole forum will bum you pretty much.

it seems going big is not considered to be boring and repetitive, people forget its hard to do so. BUT......the minute CLS/TUNNI/DAMON or any of the guys like that release a video, all the little sheep love it, but then when a more well known forum member says its boring and repetitive then all the little noobs change their mind and go back to following street and wanting leesons/ashtons/cuntis'.....

EDIT: dont get me wrong, i enjoy watching the street side of trials, shrewers, judders, pratt, berridge and the like, i enjoy watching their vids or clips of them. the stuff they do is beyond me. The likes of ALI C and PORTER at the moment have both released ashton vids this week and both were amazing and made me try new stuff whhich is what you want. but there are too many people who think "my god if i get an ashton ill be able to do this". this is not true, in fact its complete bollocks. All the names i have mentioned above are good in their own right and at what they do.

ITS ONLY TRIALS AFTER ALL. just because we ride one way or another it becomes boring. then you get the dicks who come on here who have quit trials who just come on to say how shit trials is. WHICH IS GAY. what type of sad b*****d comes online to do that. if you dont like trials then f**k OFF.

we all have one common interest....we ride bikes in different ways to the normal. we spend shit loads on bikes and go to rides and meet new people. some people need to stop being such sheepish twats and pull their heads out of some peoples arses and enjoy how everyone rides. I personally am amazed at all sorts of different riding. some natural some street, some go big, some go technical, its all cool.

argh this topic allowed me to get some feelings out. i needed to say that.

thats my two peice

sorry im a little upset tonight, so this isnt aimed at anyone, just a trend i noticed.

Edited March 9, 2006 by ben@hulltrials

[Burton]

so you know, going big is no longer considered cool.

all the sheep have decided that if u ride street its cool. and by street i mean big bunny hops and technical stuff. sidehopping onto rails will get you bummed, although its not as hard as it looks.

so do spins, technical rail stuff, and do it good, then the whole forum will bum you pretty much.

it seems going big is not considered to be boring and repetitive, people forget its hard to do so. BUT......the minute CLS/TUNNI/DAMON or any of the guys like that release a video, all the little sheep love it, but then when a more well known forum member says its boring and repetitive then all the little noobs change their mind and go back to following street and wanting leesons/ashtons/cuntis'.....

thats my two peice

sorry im a little upset tonight, so this isnt aimed at anyone, just a trend i noticed.

That just summed TF up.

Good on you beno

[Jez]

I was hoping we could avoid the "big moves vs. style" debate here, but it looks like I should have known better.

I was just using move size as an indicator of skill because it's difficult to quantify 'smoothness'. Height you can measure in inches - but what the hell do you measure smoothness in?

I s'pose this all relevant to time spent riding anyway. Probably certain groups of riders will be doing bigger moves than other groups of riders simply because they've been riding longer; but my point is, I'm trying to figure out what the 'average' is, not what the BEST is.

Blah, I'm rambling. Hope some of it made sense.

[ben_travis]

I was hoping we could avoid the "big moves vs. style" debate here, but it looks like I should have known better.

I was just using move size as an indicator of skill because it's difficult to quantify 'smoothness'. Height you can measure in inches - but what the hell do you measure smoothness in?

I s'pose this all relevant to time spent riding anyway. Probably certain groups of riders will be doing bigger moves than other groups of riders simply because they've been riding longer; but my point is, I'm trying to figure out what the 'average' is, not what the BEST is.

Blah, I'm rambling. Hope some of it made sense.

EDIT: i dont want this to sound like im shouting at you or slagging you. i feel quite strongly about this cos its the ONE thing that pisses me off about this forum. but dont tell me not to use it, because i only really come on here. i ride my bike and work thats my life at the moment, (well it is now me and the missus broke up) im upset and cheesed off so dont take the following the wrong way cheers.

well you should have used the search button then, this has been asked before. thing is, who cares about how big your going, this is my point, all walks of trials are interesting and amazing in their own right.

i have totally stopped worrying about size now-a-days, i go out ride some shit, try new stuff, make a fool of myself, make shit videos, make ok vids, make a website. ALL FOR THE LOVE OF TRIALS.

it doesnt matter how good or how bad you are. size doesnt matter. ride for the fun.

JESUS.

Edited March 9, 2006 by ben@hulltrials

[N.Wood]

Ben = champ.

[Ali C]

I agree with ben, everyone pigionholes everyone into a category.

Back when I started there was just riding, we tried everything. I feel I am the same now as I was then, one day I might like to go and do big taps, gaps and so on, but the next day I might wanna go fast and spin and so on. No actually sod that, if I am out on a ride and I see a nice tap, I'll try it, if I see a nice wall ride, I'll try that too.

anyway, what was the topic again?

I would say a decent rider can gap 7ft, tap 44" and sidehop 43", I wouldnt be dissapointed with those measuments at all, but theres more to distance

[Dan6061]

Everyone has a differnt opinion.

If you find it impressive, it's impressive.

I don't care if people think I'm shit or not.

All I care about, is that I'm trying, and learning

[PaRtZ]

50" sidehop is big

12ft drop big? not sure

Nice words ben

[Mark W]

I dunno... recently (over the past few years) there's been loads of shit in the BMX world about politics; the sort of parts you use, what you wear, etc.

All of this has received loads of coverage in magazines, letters pages in magazines, and then on BMX forums. Yet at all the skateparks I've been to, I've never been made fun of for using a US BB, wearing non-tight jeans, etc. It just seems to be a more theoretical problem that people just sort of talk about that only exists in cyberspace instead of the real world?

Like Ben was saying, when people go out and ride, I think most of the riders I've met just do whatever. That's the whole thing about trials, you can do whatever. Spins 'n' shit one day, tapping the next. It's just 'whatever'. That's why I don't really get how there'll be big rucks on here about what's 'hot or not' and stuff like that, when most people are going to go out tomorrow and just ride whatever? I mean, they made do aa 270 endo to sidehop off 'cos they saw Ali doing one in his last vid, but that's just learning new shit from a video, and that's always happened. Nothing's really changing, people are just doing different stuff, and 'cos a lot of pro riders are still experimenting, it seems people kind afollow what they do. But it doesn't matter though, 'cos you can still go out and do whatever you want tomorrow? The whole "Big is boring" thing again just seems to be an internet thing, 'cos no matter what type of riding you'll do, you'll be trying to do it in as 'big' a way as possible, whether it's 'big' 'cos you 360'd off instead of 180'ing, or 'cos you tapped 50" instead of 45". It's just the nature of it all really, it's just progression.

Meh, it doesn't matter either way I guess.

Equally, don't really worry about measurements. Just watch 'pro' videos by people like Benito and Hermance if you're worried about size. They're still going biggest in a variety of different terrain, insated of just street, and they're a bench mark you can use if you want to see what's possible. Otherwise, don't worry about how many inches behind someone in Stoke or London or Plymouth or Southsea you are for your sidehops, 'cos it doesn't mean shit. I'm not particularly good considering the years I've got on me, but my circumstances are different to everyone else in the same way your's will be. It's impossible to judge yourself against others in terms of riding times or whatever, so just push yourself. That's the name of the game.

[Jez]

It's funny how that seems to have got up everyone's noses without me meaning it to

Anyway, I couldn't really care less whether people think I'm good or shit or whatever - I was just curious to see where an oldschool bloke like myself stands in the scheme of things. Back in the day I reckon I was regarded as a reasonable rider. Not great, but not shit. I was just wondering whether that would still stand or whether I'd have slipped into the 'shit' category (not that I give a rat's ass if I have, I only started riding again a month or two ago, I thoroughly expect myself to suck for quite a while).

I suppose if I got off my fat ass and actually went out and rode with someone instead of just pottering around the industrial estate after work I wouldn't be asking this question

And I do ride for the fun of it. Not because I wanna impress people or anything else, just because I like how it feels to make a bike DO stuff it wouldn't normally do. There's nothing quite like teetering on the edge of a drop or landing something perfectly. I ride for the feeling, man. There's also the self-improvement aspect that appeals to me, but to be honest the rest of it is just a bonus. Whether people think I'm good or not is irrelevant - if I wanna ride, I'll f**king ride and sod the rest of 'em

This was just a curiosity question rather than anything else.

Hope that's made things a bit clearer.

And on the subject of the videos...who cares? It's trials. If it impresses you, watch it. If it doesn't, don't. Don't listen to what others tell you, everyone has their own mind, don't be led by others. I happen to find CLS's videos equally as fun to watch as Felix's for example. It's an entirely different style of riding, but it's still impressive and inspirational. Natural stuff just doesn't do it for me personally (mainly because I think no-one's really made it exciting enough yet in terms of filming and editing), but the gist of it is: if you don't like the program, change the goddamned channel! Don't sit there watching it and bitching about it, YOU have the remote, not someone else.

I reckon that was my in-built trend-hating device speaking out there. I've never been one to go with trends and I ain't about to start. Now if you'll excuse me I have a rear V-brake to adjust

[Tomm]

Back in the day I reckon I was regarded as a reasonable rider. Not great, but not shit.

I remember a time a while ago when I saw someone (Danny Smith) backwheel 48". It was an absolutely amazing achievement. No-one I'd heard of had broken the 4ft barrier, and it just seemed unattainable. Bearing in mind that the world record for bunny hop on a stock was about 43" or something. It seemed so superhuman, and that was only 2-3 years ago.

But now it seems that anyone who tries hard enough can beat that easily. Maybe I'm being unfair (bitter? ) on the people that can make that height, but I don't think so. I think a lot of it is bike geometry, but now the bar has been raised so much that even if you had been amazing 3 years ago, with the same skills you'd be rubbish by today's standards.

But then again I have no idea how good you are, perhaps you are still amazing, you just never knew it.

Good topic though

[Tony Harrison]

Relevant thead comment: I think Ali C's stated measurements are about right.

P.S.

The pigeon holing comment is (also) spot on, and even those who think they are 'individual' often pigeon hole others.

I've always been laughed at for doing 'tricks' on a trials bike, or having super-high riser bars, etc. Why? Because it doesn't fit in with the 'pure trials' image the people I ride with go for. That's a bit sad to me. My whole attitude to riding is that you should have the bike YOU WANT, ride it how YOU WANT and achieve YOUR OWN goals, not those of the group you ride in. If someone tells you you're doing it wrong, it's usually either because they can't do it themselves.

I think perhaps too many people do what they do to prove a point, or just so they can stick some measurement on their MSN name. For me, it's about having fun, and about doing what I couldn't do yesterday.

When I used to go on big rides, it was all fun, everyone messing about together. Then it got all competitive, and you watch videos, and it's just some guy doing some big moves and everybody else sitting round whacking one off.

[GuyJames]

I'm not sure on inches but I use my bike to measure. Therefore I believe sidehop bar height, gap a tad over bike length and blunt bar height again. All this is from a Echo Team.

PS. my buddy Jason admires our riding, he can't do trials as he has suspension.

[Rich Pearson]

I would say a decent rider can gap 7ft, tap 44" and sidehop 43", I wouldnt be dissapointed with those measuments at all, but theres more to distance

Those are all (roughly) my limits and I would, not trying to be too up myself or anything, consider myself to be a pretty average rider.

Size doesn't make you a good rider. I can probably go bigger than quite a few of todays pro's (not going to name anyone as a I may be wrong and don't want to start an "I'm better than you because..." argument) but the point is, they're all pro's, and I'm not. I can go bigger, but they ARE better riders. Simple as.

Size doesn't mean shit, but the poeple I have the most respect for are those who go big but have managed to justify themselves in other ways and not be stereotyped. Porter is an excellent example. 49" sidehops, 50" taps, etc, etc, and still holds his own in a competition enviroment.

Rich

[boon racoon]

mwahaha. stunts will take over the world!!

[steve sturt]

Just ride......if you're not enjoying it, you will soon realise.

Edited March 10, 2006 by steve sturt

[shovel]

i think it's very silly when politics take over, look at bmx'ing, you can be considdered wack for what clothes you wear, what components you have and the style of your riding

i ride trials because it's fun, i like to be out on my bike and slowly improve. some riders ride big, some small, some technical and others just ride a mixture of all that, everyone has there strengths and weaknesses on a bike

i think it's really crap when people get really critical about this, they're obviously having fun on their bike so who should be critical about the way they do it

i think it's great watching anyone ride, they all have their own standards that they ride to and shouldn't be pressured into comparing themselves to anyone else

[Mark W]

i think it's very silly when politics take over, look at bmx'ing, you can be considdered wack for what clothes you wear, what components you have and the style of your riding

Someone didn't see my post Like I said - that sorta shit goes on on the internet in the same way that on here people aren't cool unless they run 24/prefer street, or so it seems. At skateparks and riding street, I've never had any trouble from anyone about my bike or what I'm wearing. It just doesn't happen...

[Bucky]

I was hoping we could avoid the "big moves vs. style" debate here, but it looks like I should have known better.

yeah i was just thinking that would happen but at the end of the day we all ride trials.

I ride how i like and aint too bothered wether everyone else likes it or not and hopefully everyoen will see that when i get my vids online.

[chrishayton]

hmmm my view on all of this is that we shouldnt be so bothered. up until recently i rode pretty much tap gap sidehop BUT i loved going riding. making an inch bigger tap felt great as i knew i was progressing and i liked that. does that me me a bad person? recently i have being riding with different people and my riding is becoming more varied and learning new moves, not necesarly spins but just more technical moves and i find this great fun too. and combining big moves with tech stuff is even more fun. but if i was still riding fully tgs i would still be having fun.

its also clear people like matt berrige and other 24/26 inch street riders have great fun and feel progression by learning new moves and adding different variations. but neither is better than the other. at the end of the day if you enjoy your riding then thats perfect. we shouldnt be predudice against other riding style because deep down who actually cares?

Just do what you enjoy and ignore the trials forum trends and maybe we can all learn to stop being so bothered about style.

any back to the topic. respectable measurement. gap 7ft, tap 45, sidehop 40 but whats respectable for 1 is different to another.

[steve sturt]

hmmm my view on all of this is that we shouldnt be so bothered. up until recently i rode pretty much tap gap sidehop BUT i loved going riding. making an inch bigger tap felt great as i knew i was progressing and i liked that. does that me me a bad person? recently i have being riding with different people and my riding is becoming more varied and learning new moves, not necesarly spins but just more technical moves and i find this great fun too. and combining big moves with tech stuff is even more fun. but if i was still riding fully tgs i would still be having fun.

its also clear people like matt berrige and other 24/26 inch street riders have great fun and feel progression by learning new moves and adding different variations. but neither is better than the other. at the end of the day if you enjoy your riding then thats perfect. we shouldnt be predudice against other riding style because deep down who actually cares?

Just do what you enjoy and ignore the trials forum trends and maybe we can all learn to stop being so bothered about style.

any back to the topic. respectable measurement. gap 7ft, tap 45, sidehop 40 but whats respectable for 1 is different to another.

It makes you one of the worlds most evil people. Your desire to progress has caused the death of thousands of innocents, and the destruction of towns. Also you frighten cats.

Just joking. Its a very valid point. I think if you want to see how you fare against other riders, the best way to do this is to ride a comp. Or go on a big group ride. I personally dont like to compare mysef to anyone (if I did I would be dissapointed). I just like crashing my way up things and playing on rocks. Whatever floats your boat.

Id say any gap over 6.5feet, ups over bar height, and 32" plus side hops is a decent standard.