Rebelistic

I remember perhaps when my FFW was new it did seem a bit draggy compared with the freehub. Now it's pretty good (although my rear disc is rubbing and driving me nuts but that's not the bike's fault). Now I'd say the drag I feel on the 20.1 (trialsy set up) is more from the tires. I do definitely recall thinking in the past how draggy it felt with the FFW though compared with the freehub so maybe I've just got used to it. I also remember thinking my mod tires sometimes felt more like big saggy sacks of wind rather than wheels. It's possible both my FFW and tires have improved in terms of rolling resistance due to the wear (FFW spins pretty freely and the tires are pretty bald, need replacing really). Having said that, the 20.2 streety set up does roll much better. I should also say that I never ride very far, usually take the car and put the bike in the back even to go to a local park.

I ride both an Alias 20.1 for natural/trials and an Alias 20.2 for street. Both similar setups with the main differences being: longer stem, FFW & trials tires on the 20.1, shorter stem (but with more headset spacers to give more rise), freehub and BMX rims/tires on the 20.2. When I ride both regularly I find I can swap between them with minimal problems (still takes 20 mins or so to get used to each one). If I don't ride one for a while though it feels very odd when going back to it. It helps to ride both regularly (once a week or more). It's probably not a lot of help as you ride a 26" street bike but I thought I'd add my experience just in case. I specifically got two Alias frames so I could do this as I wanted the two setups to be as easy to swap between as possible, and to a degree it works (eg pedal ups to rear are near identical, up to fronts not so much due to the stems).

When I went from a 26" bike with rim brakes to a dual disc 20" I found it to be a significant improvement. I never got on that well with rim brakes though. I went for the Hope tech 3 trial and they've been pretty awesome.

Interesting discussion...somthing I have thought about before. I think it is immoral (taking fizzy drink sponsorship) but that is in the context of many normal things we do being immoral (driving a car for example) so I'd say it is ethically dubious but I wouldn't judge anone for jumping at the chance of being paid to ride their bike. A far better alternative to me would be for the riders to be sponsored by bike companies but I suppose Bike Trials is such a small sport that they just don't have the money. It does seem kind of absurd to me but that's life I guess. Redbull even sponsor freediving events (breath hold diving). The caffine would be very bad for the diver's ability.

Happy New Year. Have a great 2019

Hiya. Yeah I live in Leicester and there's one or two others from the surrounding area. Give me a shout if you're riding sometime.

I'm only 10 stone, and think I run around 30 psi. You'd probably want a slightly higher pressure than me to start with. I do vary it depending on terrain though (high for skatepark, medium for street, softer for natural if wet). I think it's mainly down to personal reference though.

Cheers, yeah I think it looks pretty good. Black forks would be nice ;-) I put a 19t chainring up front to give a slightly higher gear. Was a little concerned about clearance but it seems ideal.

Had this bike a little while now and can say it's the best riding bike I have owned. I was riding my Console for a couple of years before and was reluctant to change as I liked that so much but I'm really happy with it.

I'm not sure why mods tend to have shorter cranks, probably more down to convention and aesthetics than anything else (makes the 18/12 gearing acceptable whereas with 175mm cranks it's a bit light). I've decided to run 19/12 with 170 cranks on my Alias that gives me an equivalent gearing very slightly higher than normal as I wanted a more streety setup. Thinking more about it, the crank length kind of changes riding position too (feet closer together or further apart) and range of movement.

Interesting discussion. I have religious friends (Rastafarians, Buddhists, Hindus) who are some the nicest people you could hope to meet. I also know some religious people who hold on to some pretty bigoted views. I'm not sure if religion is the cause of the bigoted ideas but it can't help a person understand things if they hold views that are not only incorrect but also involve harming others (for example what happens to homosexuals in Islamic countries). IMO religious belief or faith is irrational. It makes sense to me to suggest or entertain an idea or hypothesis however to hold that untested theory as absolute fact, unquestionable beyond a shadow of a doubt is frankly nuts and goes against the scientific method of looking for evidence and testing theories. What I really don't like about most religions is this idea that questioning and looking for evidence is somehow wrong. You can't really have a rational discussion with someone who isn't open to the idea that they could be wrong. There is a lot I don't understand about everything (the nature of consciousness and time for example) but I don't think religion is much help. Scientists have a lot of wild ideas such as string theory but they are accepted as theories and subject to change in light of new evidence.

Did this happen already or is it gonna be a future date? I often go Freediving in Chepstow, would be cool to do both in one weekend. Edit, Silly me thought Sep 12th/13th had been and gone lol.

Hiya, Yeah me & Chris are in Leicester but often go to Loughborough. 07411784139, txt me if you're riding sometime )

Off topic but I'd be interested to see more streety mods, for example if Inspired made a 20" bike (for adults) as in therory I don't see why a streety bike needs the larger wheels of a 24". I ride an Inspired Console that I love atm but also have a short (& low bb) mod but that feels way more trialsy than the Console.

There's a few of us in Leicestershire, usually get out about once a week. Give me a shout if you're riding anywhere near (my number 07411784139) )

I've been struggling with manuals for some time. Sometimes they work sometimes not, very inconsistent. I think a mistake I make is to not pop up the front enough so it's then a struggle to hold it up. Then again I often lift too much and loop out. I find it helps if I sort of think about pushing with the feet while pulling with the arms to keep the front up. IDK, my balance isn't too bad but I've always struggled with manuals. I think loads of practice could be the way forward.

Thanks for the info. I've ordered some Spank Spikes off Sponge on the forum. Got my new hubs already so just waiting for the rims. Think I'll get a shop to build these as my wheel builds are never that good.

Yeah I saw those on here...might be a good option. Perhaps I'm being very picky but the Inspired rims are perhaps a bit heavy for rims without eyelets. I'd prefer to have eyelets if there isn't much of a weight penalty. I'm not really sure if they really have much effect on how long the rim lasts or how strong it is though? Cheers, I'll keep an eye out for that.

Hi, I'm thinking of building up some new wheels for my console but seem to be struggling to find much choice of rim. The Spank rims look great but I can't see any for sale anywhere. Does anyone know anywhere that stocks much in the way of 24" rims? The DMR DeeVee looks like a reasonable option but it would be nice to have a few others to choose from.

Almost certainly it is a fixed rear sprocket. If you're lucky it'll be a splined one that's quite easy to get off. Most likely though it's a screw on sprocket that might be hard to remove. If so I'd recommend the tarty bikes method: http://www.tartybikes.co.uk/media/guides/maintenance_freewheel_and_sprocket_removal/m1.html

Yeah crank length will make a difference, you might well find 165 a bit short but it is down to personal preference. I think I used a standard 68mm bb on my omen, not 100%. http://www.omenbikes.com/products/3-frame-omen-twentyfour-black says it's a 68mm shell.

As above, I'd try 18/13. I currently run 22/16 that is closer to 18/13 than 18/14 and feels about right to me.

I still have one of those in my shed. I kind of liked it at the time but I knew very little about bike geo and was a complete beginner and didn't make much progress on it till I switched to an 04 Echo Pure. Compared to the T-Rex the Pure felt like it was cheating things were so much easier. I think it looks nice appart from the mini seat.

I'm 31 and love riding as much as ever, recently switched to a more streety set up. The front freewheel thing is pretty specific to trials and tends to be on the seatless bikes rather than streety ones that usually use a freehub. If you've not had a front freewheel before then watch your trouser leg as it's easier to get it stuck in the chain as the chain is always moving.

Awesome riding, dunno how you can balance so well! Best vid I've seen for a while.