psycholist

If the 36 engagement hub is a shimano XT/XTR avoid it like the plague. The freehub may last (I have no reason to suspect the freehubs are that easy to break), but every current model XTR hub I now of that's seen mileage (2 for 2 so far) has had the axle snap in about a year with XC use only. Oversized thin walled axles, made from aluminium with threads cut into the outside of them aren't the best for fatigue life... The only Shimano hubs that survive trials use are the previous two incarnations of XTR with 16 engagements (so not great in use, but surprisingly reliable).

You could also try super modified shovel racing... Not great for balance - standard shovel racing is better, but the best named sport possibly ever...

You sound like an actual mechanic ... Do you use the word twat to describe how things should be adjusted with a hammer and eat breakfast rolls several times a day?

Now that's some twisted work alright ... I'm doing this for novelty value rather than to make a bike that's somehow better. I'm still aiming to maintain the reliability my current singlespeed offers though - and I just like obscure engineering .

Running 2 RH crank arms means you're guaranteed to have one pedal come loose whichever way you prefer to pedal - setting the high gear, the one you're likely to use the most as the pedaling forward gear keeps the pedals on. Crossing over a chain where both ends are run to the same sprocket leads to the two lengths of chain meeting in the middle and a pretty unpleasant crunching noise as well as issues with keeping the chain on. Tensioning two chains using horizontal dropouts would also be a problem. This is more an investigation to see if it can be done on standard bikes with existing parts than the pursuit of an improvement over existing designs. The bike I'm thinking of modifying is currently ghetto singlespeed (Rearranged cassette on a freehub with a big sprocket each side of the sprocket I'm using to keep the chain on even while slack to avoid having to retension the chain all the time). It's a 48:15 gear though, so a tad high for pulling away quickly, but ideal for cruising... In terms of cost it would cost be two cheap freewheels (I have a screw on hub around the garage somewhere and a steel BB cup might cost me up to 2 or 3 Euro) and require as little maintenance as the current setup - possibly less if I use a DCD (Also around my garage somewhere) as a chain tensioner and move that along the chainstay to tension the chain rather than having to move the back wheel and readjust the brakes each time...

For trials, unquestionably it's totally useless, for my commute to work which is downhill in the morning, uphill in the evening and crosses a few busy roads where quick acceleration is a must for crossing, it may be very useful indeed - still haven't put one together though - looking for a screw on hub with lots of thread as I don't trust the setup with one freewheel screwed half onto the hub with the other half screwed onto a steel BB cup already holding the second freewheel to last (Not to mind the rear axle strength issue - the compelling reason why geared bikes went to freehub style hubs). It's why I'd love to see freewheels that fit shimano freehub splines (It'd be very useful as a fitting standard for trials cranks and rear hubs too - much less chance of a nasty accident trying to remove them for one)...

If spares aren't available then the hub goes in the bin and you replace it, so internal damage to the hub doesn't matter unless the freewheel is skipping or likely to fail outright (Leading to you crashing nastily). When getting a replacement hub make sure to check whether you'll need different length spokes to build the wheel with a different hub. For wheel building make sure to follow the instructions carefully. Also be very patient - once the spokes are taking tension adjustments over a half turn should be avoided - It will take you a few hours to build. Worth it though as it's one of the biking 'black arts' ...

Funny that you mentioned basketball as an example for an alternative 'safe' sport to play - It's one of the most dangerous sports in the world in terms of injuries per 1000 - more dangerous than MTB and all other extreme sports - read this: http://naysisportscene.blogspot.com/2007/0...documented.html

What hub is it? Usually you'll find chewed up ratchet pawls or a dodgy bearing if you open the hub up. People will have more information if you give the make and model of hub. Also don't continue riding the hub until you know what's wrong - its likely that you're destroying the internals (More than they are already) by doing so...

Staying balanced on a trials bike is about tuning the feedback loop between your body position/balance point and the position of the tyres (If your centre of gravity is always on the line between the contact patches of the tyres you can't fall over). Other sports require balance, but the specific feedback loop needed to stay balanced is different for every sport, so other sports requiring balance will not make you instantly better balanced on a trials bike... If you do a few different sports you will develop better coordination overall though, which is very important.

I whittled a derailleur mounting bolt from a stick in the forest when it fell off a guy's bike - it lasted 8 miles home on the road... Should have photos somewhere, but I can't find them ...

Only potential problem long term is that if you sped a lot of time in the back pedaling gear the pedals/BB will unscrew...

I would guess a lot of people ride trials (And take part in other obscure sports) as a direct reaction to being fed up with being pushed to compete by the existing infrastructure of every other sport they've tried but like pushing themselves physically and mentally without all the politics and stress involved in trying to be 'better' than someone else. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be riding trials or possibly not even MTB's if everyone else was doing it already... The question I'd ask though is not why loads of people are riding trials and not competing but where all the people that used to compete gone and why have they left? In terms of attending events I would turn up to a competition/event if it was near me, but the idea of sitting in a car for hours each way (To get to a trials competition from where I live would involve a flight or ferry though) has put me off - it's a dislike of sitting in cars/spending a lot of time traveling that makes me like cycling so much in the first place. I will however travel about 200km each way every so often for a weekend riding trials when I can stay over in a friend's house and the forecast looks good ...

I've hidden the odd shinjury, but I reckon a lot of the reason I wasn't discouraged was because they mostly had no idea what I was doing apart from riding my bike and staying out of trouble ... Last weekend we did have a random passer by go to the trouble of crossing the road to tell us that what we were doing was vary dangerous - I just said 'I know' and continued... One of the other lads said something a lot more sarcastic though ...

It was just assembled badly - the cable should go through the cap on the steerer. The zero offset forks are a bit of a giveaway that this is not really designed for conventional cycling - I predict handling to be frighteningly twitchy ...

You're trying to guess what will go wrong and investing quite a lot of money in that as well as having a garage full of brand new bits you may never need. If you have a whole second working bike when you break something that you didn't anticipate (Or still feel like going out riding immediately without having to spend a few hours fixing your bike), you're still able to ride... The thing is of course, since trials bikes built sensibly tend to be pretty reliable the second bike may never get proper use... If you've a really light one for competition only that'd be a good justification for a backup bike... But then again I have 3 XC ish bikes (Heavy hardtail with big forks, lightish FS and retro rigid) and nobody thinks that's too weird (Compared to pseudodendronecropaedophilia anyway)... I think I've just talked myself into buying another bike ...

You'll buy a lot of front freewheel for the price of a King hub, and front freewheels need a lot less minding (None so far with my ENO) to stay working perfectly. Only disadvantage to front freewheel is that the chain is moving while you're freewheeling, so the drivetrain will pick up more grass if you're rolling through long grass or if you're wearing baggy pants, you're guaranteed to get sucked in at some stage... If you're running a ratio bigger than 1:1 a rear freehub will have less crank rotation between freewheel clicks (Not a major difference on a stock bike, might be noticeable on a mod)...

Given that I spent £1200 on my trials bike, making it not the most expensive out there, but certainly not cheap by any means and I still had to sit it out for over a week waiting for the cranks to get back to the shop and new cranks to be sent out when the threads in one of the cranks went wrong, I have been considering getting a spare bike... It's not as big a deal for UK based riders where local shops may have some stock of spares, but here in Ireland, my garage is pretty much where it starts and stops for spare trials parts, so if I don't have it I have to order and post takes 2-3 days from the UK. Spending a week without riding trials gives me serious withdrawal... The question is should I get pretty much the same bike again, so I can swap between them without having to get used to the change or should I try different geometry instead.

If you want the loudest brake setup try superstar red blocks on a heavy grind on both ends. Stops well, holds well and is completely deafening - that's what I use and the noise is why I've now bought a disk for the front... I'm giving an ORO K18 a try in 160mm...

One solution is to drill and tap a hole in the bushing the pushrod threads through and fit a grub screw which you tighten against the pushrod to lock it in position - some Hope brakes have this feature IIRC, so it may be just a matter of buying different bushing with this already done... The other option is to unscrew the pushrod and put a drop of thread locking compound on the threads (Loctite do a pile of different ones - get something rated for hand tool removal - http://www.loctiteproducts.com/products/de...48&plid=153 ), reassemble the pushrod in the correct position, leave it set for a few hours and then it should be locked in position.

I just went for coloured parts on a silver frame and fork instead... This bike's colouring could not be described as stealthy anyway - it may have the loudest brakes ever fitted to a bike too (Since I ground the rims)...

I've done this to Hayes brakes and it was a pretty tight fit. My circlip pliers are pretty light though, so they may fit better. I was sorting brakes that had their lever's pulled too far out (From crashing on them), bending the washer that retains the pushrod, so I had the lever more out of the way before going for the circlip. Unscrewing the pushrod with a pliers is a very good idea to try first though.

If you hold the lever piston in place (I used a small screwdriver and some cable ties through the hanging eye on the screwdriver handle and around the brake lever body to press the piston in) while the pushrod is removed you won't even need to re bleed. Hold the lever in while you remove the circlip, tip the lever sideways to allow the washer held by the circlip to slide out (Still holding the brake on) and stick in a screwdriver/something else long and narrow enough to fit to hold the piston in place before you let go of the lever and the pushrod is unloaded. Then undo the lever pivot bolt and take the lever blade and pushrod out of the lever body, so you can unscrew the pushrod with a pliers (If it's too stiff to unscrew by hand).

Superstar components sell a hub called the superleggera which is the same as this but costs £10 less... I have one on my Giant Trance after the axle in my 2007 XTR snapped (Previous model XTR hubs are almost indestructible, the new ones are shite). Not too sure whether I'd trust it for trials, but it's beautifully made and works perfectly so far (A month or two's use). The pick up is only slightly better than a King as it has slightly more backlash before the hub engages... Sounds like I'm being chased by a horde of bees ...

I'm down the Wesht coast in Limerick if you can get that far... Just back from a weekend in Dublin riding trials till my hands got too torn up... Check out the Muff diving club while you're there - there's a town called Muff near you which genuinely has a SCUBA diving club ...