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Interested in trial biking!


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Hello!

First of all, my English is not the best, don't know all the right terms (especially biking ones), but I'm going to do my best!

My name is Will, I am from Finland and I currently serve in the Finnish army. Anyway, while serving in the army, there aren't much to do in the spare time. Therefore I have been watching a lot of trial biking videos, from downhill to long distance and so forth, to make the time go by faster. Now I have for a while been very interested in urban trial biking (I think that's the term, well, the term I am looking for is what Danny MacAskill is doing - or well - not quite to that extent, but at least the same sort of stuff). But I have ran into some problems. Due to the fact that I spend lots of time here, I really don't have time to go ask any professionals about this sport, so now I decided to give it a go here.

Now, as I said, I am very interested in this, but I really know nothing about this sport, but I really want to learn! Therefore I have some questions I wish someone could answer me!

Question 1: What kind of bike should I get? Keep in mind, my salary here is very, very low (9 euros a day). Therefore I want to find a cheap / fairly cheap one, but one that is still decent. I have been looking at some bikes that I kinda think are good, but I genuinely have no idea if they actually are good or not. The prices of them are not bad at all either. Sadly, the website is in Finnish, so is the description.

Number 1: http://www.nettimarkkina.com/26-dirt-pyora-halvalla/1143130

Number 2: http://www.nettimarkkina.com/hyva-timeless-dirt/1133344

Number 3: http://www.nettimarkkina.com/26-dirt-polkupyora/1138487 (Front break not in place - is that hard to fix?)

Also, I am about 180 cm tall, I don't know how much that affects the bike.

Question 2: How often do you have to repair the bikes / change parts and so forth? How expensive is it in the Short / long run? Are the parts easy to change myself, or do I have to take them to some shop to get it fixed?

Question 3: If / when I start of trial biking, where should I start, and how should I build up from there? I have been watching lots of videos, but most of them start from different points, but training balance seems like the most important one. So, if I started from that, what should I practice after that, and how?

Anyway, that's all I got for now, I will make sure to post more / reply as soon as I find any new info / new questions.

Sincerely,

Will

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Hi, firstly your english is better than my finnish.lol All the bikes you listed arnt specific trials bikes is that for a reason?

This is exactly why I am here asking for help - I have no clue where or what to look for. I thought those were the bikes you used for that.

Could you give me some examples to go after, so that I could search for some on the Finnish websites?

And thanks, basic English goes fine, but when you want to use the nicer and cooler terms, nope, not doing well! :)

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Www.tartybikes.co.uk will give you an idea of what to look for. I got mine off eBay, i don't know if there's a Finnish version? though I learned from experience, try before you buy!! Dig around on this forum a bit, there is plenty of info about 20,24&26" bikes to suit your needs

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Its worth spending some time on the forum, search for Onza Zoot threads, theres generally a lot of discussion about pros and cons of them. Some people seem to say they snap and other seems to ride them happily. how much do you weigh ?

As you like the Danny Mac stuff, stick to looking for a street bike, a Zoot or an Inspired fourplay will be a suitable choice. You may be able to find a 2009-2010 fourplay at a reasonable price £300-400+ (cheaper than a new zoot).

A dirt bike is very different to a trials bike although they may appear similar to the casual observer, it will be much more difficult to ride trials on a dirt bike.

As for maintenance you will need to learn, I find they take a lot of attention, not necessarily replacing parts but trials riding is very stressful on the bikes and they need lots of tlc and to be checked regularly or parts will break / you will get injured. A regular bike shop probably won't have the knowledge or care to understand the hardships a trials bike goes through or that you may be doing dangerous things on it.

The order in which to learn moves is pretty simple, but is open to a lot of choice after a few months:

http://rutube.ru/video/5e6eb2ed114f6e3bb2fc04625ff3fd79/

http://www.trashzen.com/

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Welcome to the forum and to the world of trials.

Hope you enjoy it.

Heres what I started out doing.

1: Just ride around on the bike

2: Go for a longer ride around on the bike.

3: balancing with and without brakes on

4: find a small step or curb/road edge and go up and down it.

5: balance with front or back wheel on a step

After that try on some flat ground:

Pull up/back with back brake on, try to get front wheel off floor.

Then with the brake off, pedal and pull back to wheelie and stop the wheelie with back brake.

After a while,

Balance on back wheel.

Then its pedal kick time...

You could try all that in 1 session or devide it up and change it round. It's up to you.

The more time you spend on the pedals the better you will get. Visualise things in your head will help. Watch videos and keep practicing.

Most importantly, Have Fun :)

Cheers.

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Hey ooo!

Thanks for that info! Very helpful! Thank you!

Also, that video of Ryan Leech is incredible, and very good! I have learned lots already, just by watching it!

About finding bikes, and more info - some luck. I didn't find any new info of the difference between Zoot and Zoot Dual Discs. However, I found an Inspired Fourplay that costs 950e (I might be able to get the price down a bit) and that is located within 30 kilo meters of me.

http://www.keltainenporssi.fi/23389754

Again, it's in Finnish, but all the parts have the same name so reading which parts it has should be no problem. I also want to make sure that it is actually a Fourplay trial bike, cause as you noticed, I have problems seeing what kind of bike is which.

About repairing, is it hard to learn that stuff then? And where can I learn that stuff?

Hello UK_Spawn, and thank you!

I am most certain that I would enjoy this!

Thank you for the good advice, all advice is very much appreciated! I will spend as much time on the bike as I can, but due to me serving in the army, it's limited, but I will try to play with the bike as much as I can!

I am already visualizing how to do it, I only need a bike now I guess! :)

Thanks again to both! Please tell me what you think about that Inspired bike! Should I get it now?

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Dual disk just means it has disk brakes on both wheels.

If where you will ride is very wet and rains a lot disks would be good. If not it dosent really matter.

If you are in the army then you are smart enough to fix a bike. Check things are tight, follow online instructions and info on here and you can't go far wrong.

Hay if you want that bike and have the funds :) then thats your choice... do you want that bike?

Thats how I pick hehe.

I prefer less street more comp style bikes but I ride a bit of everything from street to rocks and I like 20" (small bike)... it would help if you could try a friends bike but I know thats not possible.

Have a look through pictures of people's bike's on this forum and keep reading things and you will know soon what you want :)

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Thanks again to both! Please tell me what you think about that Inspired bike! Should I get it now?

That bike is a good bike to start with for street stuff. Its the older frame 2009-2010 and it doesn't have inspired forks. A lot of the components appear in very good condition, and a well looked after bike counts for a lot, you can ride and not worry about fixing stuff.

However that bike in UK would fetch half of that price I think. So buying from UK and paying the extra postage may be a better option. Obviously if there are less of these bikes about in Finland it may push the price up.

Bear in mind that you could get an element which is almost the same geo new from uk:

http://www.tartybikes.co.uk/special_offers/inspired_element_24_inch_exdemo/c164p11695.html

I dont know how much your budget is, but a 2011 or 2013 Fourplay full build second hand usually go for about £750 +/- in the UK, so also consider this.

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hello and welcome!

First of all these videos and forums will help you a lot if you are alone as a trials rider. so far they could answer all of my concern and question, even about the smallest problem!

about your English there are some people here who I can barely understand their writing, and they born here, lol

So read a lot, get a bike and go! and you will get the rest by reading and by try`n`error :)

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Dual disk just means it has disk brakes on both wheels.

If where you will ride is very wet and rains a lot disks would be good. If not it dosent really matter.

If you are in the army then you are smart enough to fix a bike. Check things are tight, follow online instructions and info on here and you can't go far wrong.

Hay if you want that bike and have the funds :) then thats your choice... do you want that bike?

Alright, that's good to know about the discs, if I ever decide to go underwater biking. ;) Joking apart, yeah, okay, so definitely wouldn't be worth spending 140 extra pounds on that.

I will most definitely follow instructions, just need to do some research and I should be fine, especially with a forum like this. So much help already, such a nice community.

As for the bike, ooo linked a very cool bike, and I think I will go with that - much safer, it's new and it's not that much more expensive. Shipping price was only 36 pounds as well so.

That bike is a good bike to start with for street stuff. Its the older frame 2009-2010 and it doesn't have inspired forks. A lot of the components appear in very good condition, and a well looked after bike counts for a lot, you can ride and not worry about fixing stuff.

However that bike in UK would fetch half of that price I think. So buying from UK and paying the extra postage may be a better option. Obviously if there are less of these bikes about in Finland it may push the price up.

Bear in mind that you could get an element which is almost the same geo new from uk:

http://www.tartybikes.co.uk/special_offers/inspired_element_24_inch_exdemo/c164p11695.html

That bike you linked is probably going to be the one I'm going to get. It's about 900 pounds all together, which is quite a lot, but it's a new bike, and has a 6 month warranty so it's much safer in the end. Also, those bikes could probably be sold for even more over here as used anyway (If it wouldn't fit my needs). So thank you a lot for that!!

Is there anything else (e.g. parts that break easily etc) that I should get just in case, as spare or something like that?

hello and welcome!

First of all these videos and forums will help you a lot if you are alone as a trials rider. so far they could answer all of my concern and question, even about the smallest problem!

about your English there are some people here who I can barely understand their writing, and they born here, lol

So read a lot, get a bike and go! and you will get the rest by reading and by try`n`error :)

Thank you for saying my English is good - didn't expect to get that much positive feedback of it. :)

And yes - the forums have helped me a lot - like you are helping me now! I was so lucky to find this forum, it's the best ever! Such a nice community, helpful and all!

I guess it's like all of them sports - Practice makes Perfect. Just gotta keep on going, sometimes it hurts, sometimes you keep failing over and over - just gotta keep on going! :)

Thanks a lot for the reply!

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Is there anything else (e.g. parts that break easily etc) that I should get just in case, as spare or something like that?

It should be brilliant as it is, inspired are great bikes problems are pretty rare and tartybikes provide really good service. To start all you will need is a set of allen keys, a puncture repair kit and a tyre pump.

At some point you may decide to upgrade a couple of small bits, but I would leave it as it is for at least 3-4 months of riding.

Brake pads may be helpful, i don't know what come with the element but I imagine inspired have selected something suitable. I couldn't tell you what is best for that setup either. Tartybikes will be able to suggest a good pad if you are in a hurry, or read this thread:

http://www.trials-forum.co.uk/topic/179023-best-cnc-backed-pads-for-a-smooth-rim/?hl=%2Bbest+%2Bpads+%2Bsmooth+%2Brim

whats the weather like where you live?

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Hey will welcome to the forum, and nice name! ;)

The inspired element is a really good bike which would suit your needs perfect.

I would say that you don't need to change anything on the bike. The bike is super strong and I highly doubt that you will break anything.

So no spares etc. :)

It's worth it to get a set of Allen keys and a pump.

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The inspired bikes are really expensive. I think you should consider get a second hand bike, it's alot cheaper and most of the times they are really well maintained. I have been riding with he same wheels and front brake for 5 years for example, still works !
It doesn't matter if you don't get a specific street bike. Danny macaskill himself didn't have that for most of his riding career. You can change the height of your bars and you can make a pure trials-bike it as streety as you want.

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It should be brilliant as it is, inspired are great bikes problems are pretty rare and tartybikes provide really good service. To start all you will need is a set of allen keys, a puncture repair kit and a tyre pump.

whats the weather like where you live?

I guess I can buy those over here as well, gotta check some the prices etc.

The weather over here is, I guess kinda like the weather in the UK (I guess). Winter it's cold, spring wet, summer's sometimes hot and sometimes long periods of rain, and autumn: rain.

Thanks again!

Hey will welcome to the forum, and nice name! ;)

The inspired element is a really good bike which would suit your needs perfect.

I would say that you don't need to change anything on the bike. The bike is super strong and I highly doubt that you will break anything.

So no spares etc. :)

It's worth it to get a set of Allen keys and a pump.

Haha, thanks, and yes, it's the best name ever: ;)

Yeah, they keep telling me it's a good bike. Kinda having mixed feelings though - it's also a very expensive one. I might wanna start with a cheaper one maybe?

And yes, I'm gonna get those keys, and I think I should have a pump from years back.

Thanks for the reply!

The inspired bikes are really expensive. I think you should consider get a second hand bike, it's alot cheaper and most of the times they are really well maintained. I have been riding with he same wheels and front brake for 5 years for example, still works !

It doesn't matter if you don't get a specific street bike. Danny macaskill himself didn't have that for most of his riding career. You can change the height of your bars and you can make a pure trials-bike it as streety as you want.

What would you recommend then? I was looking at the Onza Zoot, don't really know any other good bikes.

Thanks for the reply!

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Haha, thanks, and yes, it's the best name ever: ;)

Yeah, they keep telling me it's a good bike. Kinda having mixed feelings though - it's also a very expensive one. I might wanna start with a cheaper one maybe?

And yes, I'm gonna get those keys, and I think I should have a pump from years back.

Yeah definetely the best name name ;)

For the people who says that you shouldn't get it etc are wrong. I promise it's a awesome bike worth every penny. Don't have mixed feelings. If you have the money then don't hesitate, buy the inspired element!

Ah good! :)

No problem btw, nice that I can help! And if you ever go to Sweden, drop me a line if you want to ride or try my bike or something! :)

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Just wanted to mention...

http://www.tartybikes.co.uk/special_offers/inspired_element_24_inch_exdemo/c164p11695.html

One of them is red, and the red one, is mine!

Now the worst part - waiting.

And Will, I might one day, when I dare showing off my skills :D. I also speak fluent Swedish so there shouldn't be any problems communicating. :)

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.

And Will, I might one day, when I dare showing off my skills :D. I also speak fluent Swedish so there shouldn't be any problems communicating. :)

Haha you're always welcome ;) Ah if you want any advice just drop me a line then in Swedish and I can help you better! :D

You chose the right bike!

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