La Bourde

Amazing effort! I like also that you detail your components choices. Wish you a lot of fun on this bike.

Small updates :-) Some months ago I bought a new headset from Shadow Conspiracy and some plastic pedals from Cinema. I lowered the bar by removing 8mm spacers. I had to change the front tire and went for an old Kenda spare. I eventually found a NS Majesty Park frame. According to the specs, it has the same geometry as the Spark, but should be lighter. I had to double check the weight of each frame: the NS is indeed 400g lighter! I had two sessions on the new frame with exactly the same components and I did not notice any difference in the geometry. I compared both frames, one next to the other and only the seat tube of the NS is longer and the junction with the top tube higher. That is all! Ok the tubing and the quality is overall better on the NS. Riding the Majesty feels so similar ... Manuals, bunny, 180°, pedal up. It is the basically same bike. I mean if there is any difference, it is so small, that the rider condition will impact much more the riding! I was expecting a difference in stiffness, but to my surprise, I have the impression that the Majesty is as stiff as the Spark. The first few meters on a bike, I really notice the difference of weight and weight distribution. I had the impression the rear end was lighter. Somehow it felt snappier, more responsive. A nice improvement. Today I changed the bar for a lighter one, put some new grips and change the stem for a 80mm long one, still with 17°. I removed a 4mm spacer, the bar is slightly higher. Overall I saved more than 550g with this new build. The first few moves in the garage shown me that the stem change goes in the right direction. The bike is easier on the front and there is more room for the body. I felt I had a more central position on the bike.

I have the impression these components are not really develop with crashing people in mind. The shifters are quite exposed, the cranks as Jamesb noticed seem to be quite harsh for the ankles, the derailleur looks like it want to snap the frame already... But I never was a fan of SRAM components.

The Jitsie is a strange piece of bike. It is like a comp bike bike with 24" wheels and a seat. Not sure this is what you are looking for. You can look for something like a giant team trial (version 3, which is more modern), or a Planet X, Koxx Code, or a 26" alloy street/trial: Inspired Hex, Element or Extension Drax if it fits your budget. Maybe a Monty 230 Urban fits too. Have a look at Ali C's vlogs, he rode different kinds of bikes and you will see how he adapts his riding style.

Hello and welcome (back), Modern comp bikes (stocks and mods) are now so extreme, that no one wants to cruise with this kind of bikes. They are really loooong with the weight shifted forward. I own one (a Crewkerz Cleep 2) and I really to "ride" with. But it is completely different type of "riding". It is better for natural, sidehops, front moves. Street/trials bikes suit you better. They are short and their geometry is closer to the Orange Zero's one. I owned one and I love how short and maneuverable they are. It was a dream in manual. The 24" bikes are easier to rotate and for riders who prefers BMX tricks. 26" street trials bikes (Inspired Hex, TMS Silex 26, Extension Drax) are slightly better for trial moves. They roll better on uneven surface and they are longer than the 24". They are quite difficult to find used and the market is so small, that there is sometime no dedicated parts. For example, there is no specific tubeless tires. I built a 26" street trials based on an Octane One Spark frame. It is a street/park frame, but the geometry is close to an Inspired Hex. It is quite close to my old Orange Zero, but heavier. Aluminum frames are much lighter and more responsive. Another possibility is to get a 10-15 years old comp bike. An Echo, Ozonys, Atomz, Koxx (XTP short?) for example. The bottom brackets were lower than now (+30/40mm instead of +65/80mm) and they were shorter. But maybe already too high and too long for your taste. Your style and your budget are the keys. If you really want to ride a lot of natural, go for an old comp bike (or a modern one and try to adapt) if you think than +30mm will be OK. Else try to get a 26" street/trials. If you want to try BMX tricks, go for a 24", but it will be much more difficult on natural surface.

I appreciate to see you ride a modern comp bike! But I appreciate even more, that you ride the same frame as I do! The Cleep 2 has a recent geometry, but the frame is quite heavy compared to the Jealousy. Maybe 400g (0,88 pound) heavier. Would like to see your reaction when you get back on your street/trial

Hope the rider was not injured! Looks really nasty.

That is the way it should be to obtain the maximal leverage. I never owned a Xtr lever, but I had LX (with a 3 positions servo wave) and Avid levers (with a similar system). I never had problems. You will notice that the brake will feel more spongy this way, but this is to expect: applying more force leads to a higher deformation. That is why we recommended a better cable or the use of a brake booster.

Hello and welcome, Nice to see another trial addicted guy! Your setup is quite good:the lever is top and the brake arms good enough. You don't need to change something here. On the xtr lever, you can adjust the pulling ratio. The part holding the cable shall be as close as possible from the pivot. You can adjust this with a screw if I recall correctly. But consider changing the brakepads for trial specific pads. The compound is much softer and give much more bite and hold. It makes a huge difference! You won't have to grind the rim, as long as you ride only when it is dry. Grinding makes the brakes even more powerful, and it is the only way for rim brakes to perform in wet conditions. Another upgrade can be linear cables/housing like the Odyssey slic cables. They improve the feeling of the brake, the lever feels less spongy. It make a big difference too. A brake booster can also improve the feeling by increasing the stiffness of the couple frame/brakes. I don't know if this frame is stiff enough, it can be the case though. I prefer to have a slight spongy lever to prevent arm pump. But it is a personal preference maybe. Another small improvement: shorten the distance where your brakes arm is attached to the cable so that the adjustment dial of the lever is closer to the lever (one or two rotations could be left) Finally, you can buy better grips. Arm pump is amplified by shocks. Consider dual density grips. Edit: Ali C. already listed the most important changes

Were because and neon two different companies at all? Would be nice to know who was behind each brand...

I created a thread to share my experience: I used the version for tubes. Too sum up, I was quite happy with, but there was two major drawbacks: 1. I used a schwalbe tabletop to save some weights (to obtain with the insert a weight similar to the holy roller's one). Due to the stiffness of the insert, I had to reduce the pressure to get a good feeling. Else there was a dead feeling, the bike was like planted in the ground. But the thin sidewalls did not like this and the tire did not last long. The tire did also collapse during a manual in a turn, this was somehow difficult to control. 2. Due to the design and the low pressure, a lot of energy is wasted in the tire deformation. It is incredible how slower you get. I completely underestimated this. My bike used to roll as good as my comp bike with its new freewheel and the HS33 rubbing. I would like a street/trial bike that rolls well, so that I can go on the pumptrack or just roll :-)

Hello, After experimenting with the Taunus Armor insert, I would like to try a tubeless setup for my rear wheel of my street/trial bike. What tire do you recommend? Is an insert required? My rim is a DT FR 560. I was considering a Maxxis Ikon or Crossmark II. With my previous tires. (Tabletop + insert, holy roller), I often had problem with sidewalls getting open, cause I rode with low pressure and regularly on stones. On my comp bike, I have an old Maxxis DHR tubeless and the sidewalls are much sturdier (two ply). I don't get pinch flat either. Any recommendations?

Amazing video as always! Such a different way to ride, a great source of motivation! I really appreciate the precision moves (the side to side wheel displacement,the 180s), removing correction hops and being so well balanced on the bike give such a nice flow! It looks so easy to accomplish, but every experienced riders knows how many tries are required... That is why I like your edits. It is not everything about balls like some Austrian blond rider. It is more about creating flow using precision, on creative lines full of difficult and tricky moves.

Oh and there is this solution too: wolftooth roadlink https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/roadlink This is like an extension of the rear mech hanger to allow usage of wider range cassette on a road bike. That shall do the work.

You can replace the upper pulley wheel with a smaller one: a 10t instead of 11t shall slightly increase the clearance.

I don't know how good is this Reverse tensioner. Did you consider the Rolhoff ? https://www.rohloff.de/de/shop/produktdetail?tt_products[product]=605&cHash=9ef08bf21b365a39a9d7503c8109781c It used to be the best chain tensioner years ago. The range of supported chain line is quite wide.

With a friend we train on a narrow curb, that is higher than the pavement on both sides. It is quite long, maybe 30 meters. There is a slight slope, so that one does not need to pedal in one direction. This is the easiest setup, the one you train on first. Going up is more difficult as you have to be able to pedal or at leat kick regularly while moving your knies. The most important is to lean your bike to the side you are falling off while you try to maintain your upper body at the same position. Do not try to turn the handlebar. Look at Ryan Leech, is upper body is always perfect above the rail and his knees and bike are floating around under him. Use your knees and lower slighty your hipps to create a space for the bike under you. I noticed, that when I have to lean the bike a lot, I pedal backwards quarter a rotation to make even more place...but then I have to switch once my feet back again. Sometime you will do a "dog piss" (removing one foot from the pedal) and in this case, dropping your chest somehow helps.

Hopefully with the upcoming bike industry crisis, the companies will focus again on niche products and passionate people instead of benefit. At least I think it will be easier for small brands to obtain production capacity. But maybe I am too naive.

Regarding the stem, you can use your smart phone to estimate the angle. The length is the distance between the center of both tubes (fork steer tube and bar). Take also in consideration the width of your bar: the span of your arms influence a lot the height of your chest. Regarding the freewheel, a good cheap one was the tensile with 60 clicks. Maybe you can find an used one. Other recent freewheels are quite expensive but the quality seems higher.

Welcome! As Ali said, you can learn trial basics on almost all kind of mountain bikes. But for 80€, you definitively didn't do something wrong here. The frame was repaired, right? Chech regularly the new weld, it is difficult to repair an alloy frame correctly. You can go with hs11 or 2005 hs33. They are quite cheap. But V-brakes are fine too, as long as you use good brakepads (dedicated to trial), cables and housing. For your information, Sunn had horizontal dropouts for this frame (and other of this area like forestjump, tzar, etc.). Difficult to find though. For me, the first upgrade will be the brake pads then the cables/housing of the rear brake and then a good freewheel (this last change being very expensive)

I think this bike could be a fun all rounder. As you said you can jump with, but also have fun at the skatepark or just during commuting or chilling through the city That is why I recommend you to go for a front suspension like a rock shox Reba or sector with a travel reduced to 80mm. The weight is close to a Rebate. The stiffness of the fork won't be great. Maybe you can buy an EC44/40 headset bottom cup to fit the tapered version of the fork. It makes a big difference.

Heal up soon! Fingers crossed for the surgery.

It is somehow funny that one of the best brakeless rider (if not not the best) recommends some brake pads (Don't get me wrong, I know he gives a lot of good advice. )

I agree with you. I think consistency in feel is more important that a solid feeling. If your bite point varies, it is really really annoying. The cable actuated disc brakes of my street/trial are a little spongy. The HS33 of my comp trial not at all. But due to some dents in the rim, the rear HS33 bites sometimes sooner as I expect. It makes manuals or rolling on the rear wheel more difficult. Too me, the solid feeling just allows you to be more confident - I admit I bought BMX cables and housing for my street/trial and it is one really good update, cause the rear brake was really spongy. I have the impression that having a too solid/too firm brake also increases arm pump. Basically you have to be able to hold the same pressure while your hands/wrists are moving. Any thoughts?

Hi, recently I was regularly trying to true the rear wheel of my stock comp trial bike. Unfortunately I noticed that the sidewalls are slightly bent at different spots. The wheel still holds, but I guess I will have to replace the rim soon. What rim would you recommend? My current rim is a Bonz Pro Light. I am a light guy (around 65kg, 140lbs) and I am not so powerful. I will describe my level as intermediate (my landings are sometimes far from smooth!). I think the Trialtech Carthy wheel is too strong/stiff for me. I am not obsessed by the weight of the components, but only if it makes sens. Does this rim ride much better? Can I expect the wheel to be longer true? I found the Hashtagg rim quite interesting. Any thoughts? Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate.