Rumplestiltskin

Usually get to ride in the space between uni exams finishing, and starting work for the summer; two weeks of riding from dawn till dusk. Not this year though. Have to go on a two week Geology fieldtrip to the highlands. Now I like Geology ( :$ ), but not enough to choose climbing up and down several moderately sized mountains just to look at an interestingly shaped/coloured/glittery rock over the chance to ride. It would be great if I could bring my bike; would be the best natural in the world, but obviously I can't. And to make it worse, tonnes of folk in my class are discussing bringing a cricket set. Two weeks of cricket?! I'll be lucky if I don't take the quick way down the mountain by jumping. This kinda belongs in the angry thread, but it relates to a period of non riding, so here it is.

Waiting on a new chain. Really bloody frustrating cos I haven't ridden in ages.

Mine too. They were a bit harsher on my hands whilst bedding in, but that wore off pretty quick and now they're fine.

Does anyone know any companies that'll anodise a part if you send it down to them? I was thinking of getting a Heatsink bashguard anodised, but I haven't been able to find anyone that'll do it.

A BMX, stem, bars, 2 chains, 2 DMR Tension Seekers, a mech, pedals, hubs, several individual v - brake arms (as in half of several different pairs). Dunno where on Earth the others've got to! Cables and Magura hosing, and a tonne of widgets like star nuts/headset caps and crank bolts.

Wouldn't foam grips be more practical than having to chalk your hands up before/during rides? I get really sweaty hands when I ride (gloveless), and a set of foam grips sorted it out perfectly. They just soak up all the sweat so grip isn't compromised at all. Best upgrade I've made to my bike I reckon.

That was ace. Loved the flowing camera style, it's definitely needed more often in trials vids. Great skills as well.

£365

Sunshine. 10/10. A truly brilliant cinematic experience.

The Postal Service Rise Against Sadie Hawkins Dance Billy Talent

A hook is usually used to get up an obstacle too large for any other kind of hop. You jump up the wall as if you're going to hit it vertically, going high enough for your front wheel to 'hook' over the top of the wall. Your bike will then be effectively hanging vertically on the wall with the front wheel over the top. As your front wheel hooks over the wall, your back wheel'll hit the wall; you have push it away instantly using spring from your legs, and by pulling on the bars to lunge your weight up and over the front wheel. You've then basically got to lunge forward enough to roll the bike onto the wall. These two movements are pretty much simultaneous, the aim being to use the bike as a lever against the wall to generate the force to get up it. Check out Neil Tunnicliffe and Damon Watson's vids for hook examples and (hopefully) you should get what I'm on about! A tap is for fairly big obstacles ( but smaller than hooks) that can't just be pedal hopped (say maybe anything over bar height depending on what your pedal hop limit is). You approach the wall at a fairly quick speed, bring the front wheel up, and as you do, bump it against the edge of the wall, lunging the bike upwards simultaneously, using the rebound from the impact to throw you up. As the obstcales get bigger, you might eventually have to hit the wheel below the edge, on the vertical surface of the wall, but the technique is pretty much the same. Taps'll be in pretty much most trials vids, but I think a lot of Stan Shaws vids (on the Tartybikes website) have them in. Strath.

Make sure you give the scally a good beating whilst you're at it!

I'm at uni just now so living in a flat. My garden is therefore... the street! I'm pretty lucky with the street I live on though, cos my flats down the road from a huge Bank of Scotland office with an awesome set up of walls, benches, rails and steps to muck about on.

Good effort mate, that was brilliant. Loved the fall down the hill where your shoe flew off into the road.

OK... the title needs a bit of explanation. Basically, which component (if any) has moved from bike to bike as you've progressed, because its never broken, let you down, looks too damn good, or is too expensive to replace? I've a few trusty bits and pieces that were present at the beginning, and'll probably be there at the end. My Middleburns, Raceface stem, and trusty front D521've been on pretty much every bike I've had and I'm so chuffed with their performance, I've never replaced them. Which bit of componentry has stuck with you?

DMR V8's. Cheap, durable, easily maintained and great looking.

I run water in mine - have done since the first time i bled them, and I've never had any problems. Add antifreeze if you want, but I haven't noticed a problem in cold weather and I don't use it. With the water in constant motion through constant pulling of the lever whilst riding it'd have to be bloody cold for it to freeze or solidify slightly in the hoses anyway, and if the weather was like that, you probably wouldn't be out riding!

Nah, the bashplate isn't essential, but if you're not 100% sure that you'll never come up short on anything again, it'd probably be a good idea to run a bashguard over the chainring, just so you don't have to keep shelling out for new ones every time you land on them.

Depending on the hub you've got the movement could be caused by loose cones maybe? If the wheel remains straight between your forks but moves laterally to the left like a bead sliding along an abacus, it might be the hub cones are loose - I had a bit of hassle like this with Shimano hubs when I used to run them. If the movements more like a move to the left then back to a straight line, the wheel could be buckled, or the QR's bent (although I think that might just permanently incline the wheel to the left). Maybe its just knackered and is slipping out of the left hand drop out cos its not tight enough? Its probably nothing out of the list above, but it might be worth checking for them just in case.

Usually use some kind of skate shoe - DC's at the moment. I used Converse Allstars for a while and the thin sole was brilliant for extra feel, almost like a pair of Ribos e.t.c for half the price. Problem was the canvas bodies weren't padded enough and didnt reach my ankles so I was always caning them against my cranks when I sidehopped. I wouldn't really buy specialist trials shoes unless I was competing or something, they're pretty expensive and its not like they have the dual purposeness of trainers - you'd get some pretty funny looks in the pub if you went out in them...

Go for the Middleburns - had mine for years and they're still perfect. If you get the ISIS ones you'll probably never have to buy another set of cranks in your life. Several of my mates have run the Tensiles and they've cracked within about a year or so.

Most of the square taper cranks I've had have rounded off really quickly. I'd probably save more money and get ISIS ones, and a seperate freewheel as it works out as better value for money in the long run.

Carling, Snakebite and Black, Magners, Hoegaarden, Leffe or Fruli (you can get it in scream pubs as well).

Adamant A1 and Flybikes Barcelona.

A Saracen X - Tort. When I was about 14 it seemed like the coolest frame in the world. Looking back now, it handled like an oil tanker with the steering shot out, and looked like it fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. Then I got a Giant Team Trials which was brilliant, probably my favourite out of the lot. Got an Adamant right now, but hopin to change soon because the high BB really isnt good.