psycholist

If you want to check whether the frame alignment is correct, get some string and run it from the outside of the left dropout, around the front of the headtube and back to the outside of the right dropout. Measure from the string to the seat tube/seatstays on both sides. If the distances are significantly different then the frame alignment is out.

Chances are if you file it you'll end up with the mount face at an angle and the brake will always feel horrible. Better to get it properly faced. Spacers won't do you much good there alright. You could add a spacer between the end of the hub axle and the fork dropout (Though this is a pain in the ass when you have to take your wheels off)... It might also make the caliper less parallel with the disk leading to the same issue you'll get filing the mount by hand.

It really brings home how much of an improvement trials geometry is over that of a normal bike for trials. He was doing easy lines and making them look very difficult (And they were on the bike he had) cos he couldn't move around over the bike. Reminds me of when I started riding trials (And it was on a road bike too cos that's what I happened to have). Brilliant entertainment watching bikes being used for a completely different purpose than they were designed for... I bet he snaps a lot of parts ...

If it's an IS mount caliper and an IS mount fork then you'll have to get washers to put between the caliper and the fork to move the caliper sideways to align it - If putting spacers in makes the rubbing worse then there's something badly wrong as the parts genuinely don't fit. Spacers are available off chainreactioncycles. Standard hardware shop washers won't do unless you've very lucky as they're about 5 times as thick as the thinnest washer you get in a disk caliper spacing kit, so you can't tune it accurately enough...

Just be aware that breathing mineral oil mists is potentially very harmful (The lungs can't clear it out apparently), so if you're blasting it out with compressed air make sure it's in a well ventilated area and/or wear a face mask... In liquid form it's safe to drink though it has laxative effects (It was used in the medical profession as a laxative and is still used in the food industry to make jelly sweets shiny - which could explain why I feel a bit weird if I eat 400g of jelly babies in the one sitting ).

Or tree dolla fiddy ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plShzNaq9wk

A lot of forks have a much smaller diameter hole at the bottom of the steerer than at the top (They thicken the steerer wall to reduce peak stress at the fork crown), so hammering the star nut through may not work. What it will do is score all the way down the steerer tube though... If I had to take one out I'd drill the centre of the nut out and fold or break the steel parts so they just fall out. If you use a long thin hacksaw blade (Junior hacksaw should fit) you can cut the star nut while it's still in the fork once the centre is drilled out, so it can be taken out without marking the the fork at all.

Given how small a community trials is, I reckon most groups of riders would be thrilled to have someone new turn up regardless of ability, the only issue that could arise is where the stuff they're riding is all too big for you to do anything on, but you should be able to find some line you can do in most places and get pointers on your riding.

I'd go for the drilling option if you can't hammer the star nut through. The big problem with removing them is that the star nut has steel teeth while the steerer of your forks (Which is very structurally important) is aluminium and will get chewed to bits by moving the start nut around too much... Why do you need to remove the star nut? The only good reason for taking it out is if the threads strip.

Tell that to Hans Rey...

Only reason I haven't polished the grind back is because I'm using these pads - which are pretty cheap: http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_inf...;products_id=88 - almost deafening if the wheel slips they're so loud, but the wheel pretty much doesn't slip at all once the brake is pulled ... I've ordered some of the green ones off superstar earlier this week to see if they're s good - it shames me to say this, but green would go better with my bike... These are near enough exactly the same colour as green echo grips BTW : http://www.discobrakes.com/?s=0&t=2&am...&p=321& Not quite as much hold as the red ones but good as front brake pads...

Might have to get some of them myself - the current grind did for a set of Magura pads in 2 weeks - they wore at an angle though, so they were really only half used (Or nearly completely gone on the back of the pad and barely worn at all on the front). Maguras aren't great at holding the pads level with the rim ...

PaRtZ - you're a very sick man ...

Provided the old cranks weren't loose on the old BB they'll be fine with a new BB... Grease up the splines and the crank bolts and tighten it well, checking for tightness after an hour or so of riding - usually once they get the second tightening they tend to stay tight ...

Hope they rounded the corners of the holes in the rim... Otherwise I foresee a lot of fatigue failures...

I should have mentioned that of course . CrMo steels do resist rust a little better than some other steels, but they're a long way from stainless - composition of 4130 steel (DMR frames are made of this): http://www.matweb.com/search/DataSheet.asp...7487&ckck=1 Composition of Maraging steel (See average figures for all steels in the database at the bottom of the page): http://www.matweb.com/search/DataSheet.aspx?MatID=81726

Having rebuilt one of these rims onto warranty replaced hub this week I wouldn't say these rims are impossible to dent and flatspot - though the guy I was building the wheel for is a grotesque fatty (Hope he reads this - I-LikeMatchesDerFun knows who I mean )...

Once you go over 18% Cr in a steel there's enough to form a coherent oxide layer (Same as what stops Al rusting - Pure Al is pretty reactive, so it repassivates quickly, protecting itself from further damage. There are grades of stainless steel that are stronger than pretty much all other steels (Possibly not quite a match for single crystal superalloys) though - Have a look at Maraging steels... As far as I know Reynolds have a bike frame tubing material based on one of these alloys - it costs more than Titanium but may perform better ...

Try standing on your bike with your legs straight and preferred foot forward and move your ass back as far as you can away from the handlebars. Swap your feet around and try the same thing. It's almost certain you'll not be able to bend as far with the pedals swapped. This may mean that foot choice may initially be a flexibility issue (Or it could be that you start with equal flexibility and the more you cycle the more your flexibility improves with your feet the way you prefer)...

Given the bike is being used for trials and all that is there a possibility the chainline is fine but the chain has just worn out? Before buying new stuff look along the back sprocket towards the teeth of the front sprocket. If you line up two adjacent teeth on the back sprocket to aim in the ideal direction the chain should go, does this point towards the front sprocket? If so the chainline is already correct and you've just broken the chain through other means ...

Nobody's mentioned red Michelin tyres yet - Everyone seemed to be using them back in the day - some still are if you look at the 'Trials Lessons' DVD. They were fantastic XC tyres too come to think of it ... Of course there wasn't much difference between trials and XC when I started - I used the same bike for both too since I could only afford one bike. Back then nobody could wheelie and if you could lift the back wheel off the ground without clipless pedals you ran the risk of being branded a witch . ... And did I mention it was freaking awesome !!!

Try pumping the lever while pushing water through with the syringe from the bottom with the outlet open... Sometime this clear air bubbles out of the lever. Make sure the lever outlet is at the highest point in the brake and make sure you displace fluid from the brake while screwing in the plugs at each end of the system (It's mostly been said already). Check that the master piston in the lever is returning the full way when the lever is released too - sometimes it's slow to move the last mm back, leaving slack in the TPA adjustment.

Get Revolution and Evolve - they have Ryan Leech in them, but they've loads of others too. They're late 90's vintage though, so some of the stuff is quite dated and I'm pretty sure there isn't a single wheelswap onto anything in either video. For a laugh watch 'Out of Section' - It's a trials video, except they're riding street with moto trials bikes... I'm guessing the only reason they didn't get arrested was because they did it in France and didn't kill anyone ... If these don't do, have a look at the video downloads page on the Koxx website and on trialstube/the video section on this site. Some of the old trialskings videos were amazing too...

You could try sacrificing a stanley knife blade and sawing through with that. Probably easier in the long run to buy the cable cutters - you only need to buy them once - a good set will last you decades unless you open a bike shop ...

You can true out buckles because half the spokes pull to each side of the hub. This means a triangle is formed with two spokes for two sides and the space between the hub flanges is the third side. If the spoke holes are offset the triangle sides formed by the spokes don't meet at a point but the principle is the same. Turning the spoke nipple effectively lengthens or shortens the spoke, moving the rim from one side to another. Spoke offset does not affect how easy a wheel is to true (Unless the spoke nipple binds in the hole in the rim because the hole is offset too much).