La Bourde

Hi, on the race model, the fork shaft is tapered and the headtube is designed for tapered fork. This shall improve the stiffness and maybe also the longevity of the frame. On the cheapest model, there is a straight shaft fork. Because the cheap model uses a semi integrated headset cup at the bottom, you can later build an external headset cup (for example EC44/40 from Hope, about 30 GBP) and tapered fork. But this comes with two drawbacks: the external cup is 10mm higher, so the head angle will be slacker (-0,5°) and the bottom bracket will be slightly higher (+3-4mm). I have a tapered fork and I use to have a straight fork on my bike. For sure it is stiffer, but for my riding level, this does not make a big difference (and I weight 65kg). The difference is bigger on mountain bikes were the suspension forks are much longer (a2c value) and thus the lever longer. With a 10mm lower head tube, one can lower his chest even further for some huge gaps to front. If you plan to sell the frame after some months or riding, I think the tapered version will be easier to sell.

Try every session something different. Don't try something out of reach, but try a small variation of a line you already master: changing the approach, come with a different angle, etc. Spend money on bike parts that makes sens. I had really crappy parts on my bike, that prevent me to ride as much as I wanted. For example, I had a TryAll bar that I used many months, despite it hurts my wrists. I hesitated much too long before changing it... I think the current parts are much better than it used to be years ago, but still sometimes it make more sens to spend extra money to obtain quality and durability.

I have different types of pedals on my bikes. - One Up composite - Fireeye Hot Candy - Federal Command plastic - DMR V6 nylon - Wellgo MG1 - Xpedo Spry - Shimano Saint PDMX80 The One Up have so much grip ... amazing. They are really wide too (the pins are very long), pretty thin and seem to be very reliable (no problem with them after many years). They are my choice for enduro or DH. The Fireeye are cheap and overall a good choice, but the seals are not so good. I was skeptical about the full plastic pedals (Federal Command plastic and DMR V6 nylon), but I prefer to ride them in street/DJ or Trials. Somehow, I don't need so much grip and with these pedals I hurt my self much less. Only two drawbacks come to my mind: grip with wet sole and longevity. If my sole is wet, I will prefer to have metal pins. The plastic pins wear quickly out too and are not so strong. I like the DMR V6: cheap, the form is really concave, long pins ... a good budget pedals if you don't ride in wet. Overall, I prefer a nylon body: it has more grip than an alloy body (that will get blank with time and wear), it is strong enough and light. Thin metal pins have a lot of grip but they will destroy your shoes quickly. The most grippy pedals I ever rode are the DMR Vault. Two friends of mine ride them, but they are so bad for the shin ... no way!

A friend had some 26" Spank rims (Oozy) on his DJ bike and the tyres popped off many times. He hurts himself twice while riding pumptrack. He tried several Schwalbe table top, changed to some other tyres but the problem remains. He ran a ot of pressure (at leaast 60psi/4bars). So he changed the rims for some with bead bites and since then everything is fine.

You are definitively not insane. The repetitiveness of those tricks is really boring. To me, comp trials is all about clearing obstacles. But street trials adds another dimension, the creativity. I like to find some new lines, some variations of them. I like to play with the obstacles (with my reduced skillset). Some riders like Flipp, Ali C and yourself amazed me for their creativity. Unfortunately, the normal guy does not appreciate the difficulty behind this kind of lines. He will prefer a big 360 tap drop. Please continue to have your own style! I love it so much! And keep in mind that Danny was one of the first guys who throws some BMX moves...

I partially agree with you guys. I think trials gives bad habits too. I have also problems at jumping, this is my weakness on a MTB for sure. I really noticed that riding pumptrack. I used the wrong motion. And I can't remove my hands from the bar too! But on the other hand, I think trials helps me on technical jumps, that require one to be really active (you can either use speed or an impulse). Here is why: The motion differs from the bunny hop slightly: the steps stay the same, just the execution periods change. I understood this recently. The first steps of the bunny hop are to lower your chest/body (1) and then to push against the ground (2). Then you move your upper body backwards to lift the front wheel (3). But if you want to go really high, somehow you have to "push against the ground". As you do during some static hops too. When jumping a kicker, you will do the same. But the pushing (2) is more relevant in this case than pulling from the bar (3), due to the kicker and the angle of your body with the bike/ground.I understood this while trying to bunny hop higher. So trials helps me a lot there. As soon as I understood this, I did some progress in DJ. I am still not good, but at least I think I understood the correct motion and it works well on some doubles on the pumptrack . One other relevant aspect: in DJ, you have to move your hips forward, to land front wheel first and to fly a nice curve in the air. This is similar to a bunny to front. You have to drive the motion of your bike. Trials helped me to get a better impulse with my legs on the jumps. I noticed this on jumps where the impulse has to be really quick (for example on a jump directly at the end of a berm) This is based on my experience and as I said, I am not a good jumper. So please feel free to correct me!

My best advice: ride even more and don't stop riding! Don't use to aggressive grips (pattern too present). Also wash your gloves as much as possible, so that dust,sand is removed from the glove surface.

It is a pivotal combo from KHE bikes Exib. Unpadded so very light. No longer available I think

Look sooooo nice Really nice neoretro build, I really appreciate. I build an Orange Zero like this, it was also really nice to ride.

Two french pro riders (Clement Moreno and Yohan Triboulat) were complaining about the Pro IV SS. Can't recall what was the problem exactly though.

As Mark said, most flat pedals are using IGUS-like bushings. I use my OneUp for almost 3 years now, I rode in really muddy or dusty conditions with. No problem at all.

I ride the OneUp Components Comp on one of my bike and they are my favorite pedals. No problem with them at all, not too expensive and really wide. There is an alloy version of them, but to be honest, I prefer the plastic one! I have also some Xpedo XMX24MC, amazing light, wide, but I am not sure they will last long (thin magnesium body) The Vault of a friend are also amazing, but the pins are so long, not sure I want to ride them on a trial bike.

I don't know how good this pedals are, but CrankBros did not have a good call for MTB products. Maybe it is better now, but some years ago, many of their products failed quickly (clipless and flat pedals, dropper post, wheels, etc.)

Some really nice lines!

Hi ! randomly found this edit: Never heard of him before, but I really appreciate his style. Good taste of music too! He has some more videos on his channel, but I did not heck them.

Is Jitsie not trying to fill this hole? Their prices is pretty good and the specs OK. They focus on comp trial but maybe we will see a real street/trial in 24" soon? (I don't consider the current 24" one good for street/trials, but I never rode it - I had a yaabaa 799 though and it felt really like crap)

One thing I don't like about the NS/Dartmoor is that the brand use fully integrated headset bearings (on this case IS42/52) in alloy frames. I had a Devinci Troy with integrated headset and to me, this is a really bad design (I think this was not an issue with the build quality of Devinci). The surface in contact is really small andhaving steel against alloy is not good. In addition, the aluminium used for headset cups is much harder than the one used for frame. And also you might have some galvanic corrosion. After many months of riding, I had to machine the headset again because the bearings alter the frame. Maybe I used to ride with a slightly loose headset, but this would not happen with a semi integrated design. But I think the NS or Dartmoor are a good choice for the price. I had some NS stuff (and from octane01, the cheapest brand of NS) and a Dartmoor frame. The build quality seem not to be as good as top brand, but it will do the job. NS has also the Surge, it is their hardcore freeride hardtail in steel. Heavy but will last forever! Rear axle is 135*10 unfortunatly...

The maxle has already a bad design. It it so difficult to put the right load with this system. But in combination with your fork, it is even worse and I can't understand RS here again. What about safety? The following video maked me worried about what RS is doing. I had a Boxxer years agos where the axle would get fuc&*d even if you take care as much as possible when using it. Then I had some of thoses maxles and like you I mulched the sides of the cut-out in the axle. I mean, sometimes you have to close it again while it is full of mud ... we are riding mtb not on the road! I use an alternative from novyparts (he did the first steath axles, long before One Up). This guy is a really magician, he tuned forks and shocks really well and he always had nice products (first trigger lever for Reverb, 15mm direct mount stem) https://www.novyparts.com/produits-novyparts-suspensions-vtt/axes-de-roue/ I am really happy with his axles, they are light and yoou can put enough load with.

It is a really sad news. As you said, this guy contributed to trials a lot, just though his website. I recall reading some tutorials on thrashzen 15 years ago! I think a lot of us progressed due to his work. Thanks for that Julien!

Really good one again ...

I guess it was for advertissing purpose. Getting a production slot in Asia is indeed much easier for Yt than for Crewkerz. I did not want to blame the trial companies, I just wanted to highlight that some bigger MTB companies may produce a specific frame just for a different purpose. I think it can be a cheap way to get a lot of coverage. Some MTB Youtubers, while they aren't the most talented riders, are sponsored by some big brands due to their media exposure (e.g. bkxc or Paul the Punter). Media coverage is so important now Merida also produced a street/trial frame based on the tubeset of their dirt frame: AFAIK, only three frames were built. Maybe will Marin do the same for Duncan based on the Alcatraz? I doubt, but who knows.

YT uses to produce a slopestyle frame in carbon Only 25 units were produced. The whole bike cost 3000€. That is pretty cheap for the really small amount of unit. How many units of a trial frame are produced? 100, 200?

Waw! I didn't know he used to ride trials comp. I was surprised how balanced he was when jumping on the rail. Amazing to see how a versatile rider he is! Street, dirt, slopestyle, trial ... Really love that! Hope to see more from him soon.

Hi, Jakub Vencl is a slopestyle rider. Sometime he rides with Vašek Kolář. He built a dirt jump bike as a steet/trial bike. He did some nice moves in this video with : Nice to see more people riding trials.