wind_up

Waynio, you have it so wrong. Please remember that you have only one side of the story and it is deeply rose tinted. Lets take it back to the beginning. You are clearly having a go at the ACU and you feel that it is all its fault. It is true to say that it has a motorcycle background, but it has been more than willing to accept biketrial under its umbrella to help it along. You see, back in the day, biketrials became linked to the ACU for insurance reasons. In the passed people would just run trials when and wherever, without licenses, cheap entrance fees etc, but these were uninsured and so if a something went wrong, such if a rider had broken their leg, they could have sued the organisers personally, and as the organisers would have had no protection they could have lost their house, business, their sanity..... The ACU allowed biketrial to become associated with it as it as they could provide cover at a reasonable rate, with a tough bunch of lawyers to back them up to cover the organisers. Other organisations have also offered insurance before, but none were as competitive or as comprehensive. However, riders had to get an ACU licence to ride in these events, but can we really argue over something that costs £10?!! It kicked off last year when people ran things through the ACU, but ran different rules and ran trials without licences etc. Therefore the insurance for these events were void and the ACU got p***ed off with this as if anything had happened, eg someone had sued, the ACU were left negligent and could have faced a huge bill for the law suit. It sounds far fetched, but it could have and can so easily happen. The ACU decided enough was enough and so changed the rules in the handbook, to mean that those who wanted to run UCI rules, or BIU rules, with/without gears could do so and the rules were so flexible that anything could run and still be insured. It was also decided that it should be made possible for any club to run a trial without having to get permission from and pay fees to Biketrial UK as it was sometimes difficult for people to run their own events. Some people on the biketrial uk committee didnt like this as they felt that power and funding was being taken off them by the ACU unjustly. These people then had meetings with other insurance providing organisations such as the AMCA (which is another motorcycle organisaton) in order to get out of the ACU. At a recent biketrial meeting the issue was discussed about switching organisations, but the decision didnt go to a vote and so by default it stuck with the ACU. One member even left the meeting and thereby resigned their position on the committee. However these same people who wanted to switch to the AMCA went away and did it anyway! Very unconstitutional! Since then these people have organised dates and venues without the consent of the commitee for a british championship, did not attend the official Biketrial UK AGM on 24th February and have put statements on the internet about the existence of a false biketrial uk. Therefore there is still officially one biketrial uk, but this minority have taken its name and have proceeded to set up events without the consent of the the majority of the normal committee. This has given the illusion of there being two committees and two b.championships. These people need to come together and decide democratically the future of the group and work together sensibly for the benefit of the sport, rather than individual ambition. I hope that this gives a clearer context. If I am misguided, please correct me.

you can join the west of england for free apparently if you ride biketrial. they should be having a british round as they always have done and so youd get your club membership problem sorted that way.

how come theres no rounds in devon this year? there were two last year! i particularly liked the 2nd one apart from the strange mix of getting soaked through and also sun burned, but it looked quality. why not there again this year?

firstly, why isnt james porter in the team? surely he qualifies for the junior 26"? secondly, please think before submitting your post, especially if you have commented about how the kids regard what they read on these forums, but have included the words gobshite and bullshit in the post as well. somebody think of the children....! thirdly, accusations that are written could be regarded as 'libellous'; slander is when such accusations are made orally. fourthly, lets not demand supporting evidence for what people write. a forum is a place for free discussion my dear friends, where free speech prevails no matter how incorrect something might be and this place is only meant to be a bit of internet fun. lastly, if joe oakleys dad had really bribed the decision makers, he could have afforded to have got himself on the team too. D'uh!

im just concerned because from my from experience the AMCA is a terrible choice! If they couldn't bear the ACU, did they think of other insurers? Ive got friends who run their own MX club through ORPA - they ran it through the AMCA at first, but changed organisations. They got out of the AMCA because they massively hiked their prices and gave them no back up when they had a rider claim against them. Luckily they hired a good solicitor and they got out of it themselves, but the AMCA did nothing. Poor choice from an insurance point of view and much more expensive than the ACU to run events. will this really add much to the progression of the sport? also, will the prices of the entrance fees change? Best british championship ever? from what i can see there are only 3 rounds organised! not much of a championship so far! what happened to the others? the ones at bovey tracey and hook woods have been going on for years, why stop?

just checked the biketrialuk site. the dates arent up still, but whats this about us not having to have ACU licenses? and what have the AMCA got to do with biketrial? anyone shed any light?

is there going to be a south west series again? theres no dates on the biketrial site either and i liked them! any idea, anyone?

to be honest bro, wearing trousers or shorts with koxx on the label wont be any better to riding shorts or trousers which feature the words 'adidas', or 'george' (from asda (as if you've never looked at the clothes!)). no set of trousers or shorts can be said to be trials specific because the body movements involved are not unique to trials so anything will do. if you buy a trials brand they will be expensive and wont make a bit of difference. i'm afraid ripping clothes from falling on your bum is going to happen riding trials. just take a visit to jjb, or asda (for your george trackies if you must) and get something cheap cos then it wont matter so much when you fall on your bum and rip them. or, brands like north face and berghaus make clothes out off fabrics with a rip-stopping material that minimise this. tip: if you go for shorts, get some that are made of fairly thick fabric so that they dont blow in the wind too much, as otherwise they can blow around and 1) make your legs look skinny 2) reveal little jonny to passers by tip 2: if you go for shorts dont think you can wear tights as a cheap alternative to leggings. it will be noticed and you will be escorted out of the trial....

They are wearing out quickly as you are clearly riding too much! I suggest that you stay inside and eat cake... Trials gloves are so thin and high performance that they are going to wear out quickly. This is something you are going to have to accept my friend unless you want to ride in ski gloves. Having to buy a new pair of quality gloves every few months would not be a crisis for your bank account and they will be worth it. I have a mate who rides motorbikes who used to go through a pair per week! I recommend Raw Sport or Sammy Miller. These are thin enough for good control and are very reasonable in price. Bosco Figures are the ultimate...if you can find/afford them.

Competitions are where it's at! B*lls to street. I find that they make for better riders. You will find that competition riders are still relatively good at street, whereas I know many good street riders who suck when riding in a trial. (Discuss if you wish!) P.S Please remember the spellchecker bro

Is anyone running a KMC Super Light Kool Chain? They have been out a little while and look quality, but does anyone have one? If so, any problems? They will only save a bit of weight compared to a normal Kool Chain, but I need a new chain and they look lush! However, if anyone has had any snapping problems etc. please let me know.

I would not bother with either. Hope seem to be rather unreliable on a trials bike. I would get a Louise. Do not get me wrong; the Hopes are amazing, but only when they work properly. So many people have trouble as they seem so fickle. I swapped mine for a Louise and it always works well, even if it has a fraction less bite than the Hope.

Do not be afraid of your bashguard! I end up on mine about every 3 seconds when I ride. Enough of this UCI stuff! If you really want to be proper old-school and thus really cool then use your bashguard...!

Bunny Hops! In fact, I've forgotten how to tap things as now I use these all of the time. I'm also good at spellign & punctuation: