neomember

Couldn't make it work myself

Gas?? Think you joined the wrong forum!!!

oh my god... don't know what to do. Either i get a very cheap dedicated trials bike or make my current street bike feel as trial-ish(and lightweight) as possible. I don't know... the deal looks fishy to me and it doesn't have a freakin' seat I've just bent a rear disk and a dropout two days ago. So i guess rear disk + aluminium frame are not recommended for trials riding. The dropout is made out of a 7mm thick aluminium sheet for the love of god. Couldn't remove the wheel anymore. I've been thinking of buying a DJ Cr-Mo frame more suitable for trials. How about that: Planet X Pitbull http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=8685 + Truvativ Holzfeller Trials Crank 22T http://www.unrealcycles.com/catalog/item190.htm + maybe a HS33 in the back... What do you think about the frame geometry(10mm BB drop???). Looks a bit like a Norco Moment geometry... do you think??? Can't fit a chainguide with that cranks though. Is it possible to bunnyhop without having the chain slipping??

I might be able to get my hands on a new Adamant A2 frame. Never had a trials bike before. I'm just starting. I need to decide quick. I really want it cheap. I have enough bike already. I have two Sun Rhyno Lite rims i can put... maybe i can find some V's. I have a lot of questions... Do you guys know the rear hub spacing on these frames? Can't find the specs anywhere. What would be a cheap drivetrain solution to put on that bike. Can i fit a rear mech? What kind of BB? Do any 1 1/8" fork will do?? Thanks!!

I need to post a video myself. I want people to critic my form. Practice until you can do about 10 backhops(or until you're more comfortable) then learn pedalkicks as soon as possible. Do tiny pedalkicks to regain balance. But try to avoid them by getting a proper form. ... i guess you can push on your front pedal(rolling) just a bit to lift the front as you would do for a wheelie(release rear brake) but i don't really like it.

I have a DJ/Street bike. So i have a 34T chainring in the front. To get a proper gear ratio for trials riding i need to be on first gear which is left most... as you know. Seconth gear and all the others are working fine. I have a perfectly good chainline for third/fourth/fifth gear which is normal. It's not my own conclusion. I've red a similar post on another forum and one guy who seems to be very familiar with the problem was saying that it's quite frequent and just get a proper chainline for the gears you use the most. I think it makes sense to me. Some bikes have this problem, others don't. I don't know why. I would like to know though. Maybe too much friction in the freewheel which loosens the chain on top... so it tries to wrap around the second gear... i don't know. I'm getting a Chris King next week, i'll see. The problem is... there's no way for me to get a 1.15 ratio with a 34T chainring and a 32-11T cassette if the 32T one is not working properly. Gears near center of my cassette that i should use are 24-26T and it is a way too high gear ratio for me. You need to get a way smaller chainring in the front to be able to use those gears. I'm using 34-28T(seconth gear) for now but my bike is quite heavy. I can't get a good punch. I could change the crankset but i need a chainguide. There's not much chainguide in existence for 22-26T chainring. There's only one that i know of 'http://www.e13components.com/product_sst.html' but it uses a BMX bottom bracket. So you're kind of limited with the type of crank you can use. I'm wondering if you can modify the sprocket for ISIS though. Maybe you can buy the whole set just for the chainguide... but it's quite expensive. I could use a 32T chainring also. I think it's the cheapest solution. Jeff Lenosky uses 32T/28T. I guess it should be good for me.

Being a newbie myself, the best advice i can give you is to get on your back wheel with 1/8 of a pedal stroke using your choco foot. Us beginners, tend to have very poor balance so you need to get on your back wheel as fast as possible before loosing balance. I couldn't do it by rocking or using a ledge. I was struggling too much to keep balance. Just practice hopping on two wheels first to get that bouncy/pogo-stick feeling. Use your legs and ankles to do it, especially ankles... not the arms. Backhopping is pretty much the same in my opinion. Another trick is to pre-position yourself properly before lifting the front wheel. Arms and legs bent half way to start with. Keep your elbows locked, head down, do not loose your position while tilting. If done properly it should feel quite clumsy, you should be close to the bike. Go with the 1/8 pedal stroke and catch the bike with your rear brake(one finger). You should remain in the same starting position on your back wheel. Try to do 1-2 hopping to begin with. Try to hop as you were hopping on your two wheels. You will eventually hop backward and have problem leveling your crankset but that's normal. Focus on those 1-2 hops just to understand the concept. You'll be backhopping in no time after that. Hope it helps, good luck!!

I'll answer to myself so it can help others. I've seen it on other bikes also. So it's kind of normal. You just need to get a better chainline for the gears you use the most. Preferably near center of your cassette.

Well... "You buy cheap, you buy twice!!" This is a reality also. I never thought i'd like trials riding this much. I had to spend a thousand dollars on the bike just after a few weeks of riding. The Hayes mechanical brakes were not good enough and the Marz Dirt Jam Comp tops out insanely(horrible noises). But i have a good base to work on. I'm modifying the bike exactly to my liking. The best you can do is to find a bike with most of the components you want and upgrade parts that you don't like. Unless you are an experienced rider, you probably don't know what to look for. I'm glad i haven't spend too much on my bike initially because i would probably had made bad decisions on a 2000-3000$ bike also. Now i know why i need this or that. I think this is why it's better to start low and go bigger as you need it. Even if i had a dedicated trials bike, i would still need a "regular" bike. Trials frame with no seat are a bit too radical for me... yet. I still need the seat to make wheelies. You might want to impress girls! Stay away from Marzocchi Dirt Jam forks anyway!! If you want the car and the bike, you will have to go for a cheaper bike. Maybe a used bike like someone said. I'm sure there's a lot of used trials bike collecting dust in basements somewhere. Probably most of them are mods.

Hi from Canada, You might want to start with a Dirt Jump or Urban hardtail before buying a dedicated trials bike. It might be cheaper too. And if you don't like trials after all you can still use it as an ordinary bike or have less problem selling it. I am just starting trials right now and i'm using a 35lbs DJ bike(Norco Ryde 2006). I'm able to backhop and pedalkick just fine. I have not suffered from the weight yet. Look first for frame geometry and wide handlebars. Good braking, basic setup like 8-speed(single chainring) is nice to have also. Mine came with bashring and chain guide. You should avoid mechanical disc brakes unless Avid BBs. Good V-Brakes will do the job. You will probably have to consider a new rear hub someday when you'll get better. I know i will. One of those Chris King with 72 engagement points. They are a must. I've learned it by myself. Maybe am wrong! The pros may tell you otherwise!!

I've figured that since i'm pedaling backward the mech shouldn't be in cause. The chain shifts on top of the cassette, before going down through the derailleur. But i did try adjust the derailleur/hanger with no success.

Hi, I have a very weird problem on my almost-new bike since i've begin learning backhops and pedalkicks. When i pedal backward while on the first gear(of 8 gears total) preparing for pedalkicks, the chain shifts on higher(smaller) gears. So when i put pressure on the pedal to lift the front i hear scratching from the chain getting back on the 1st gear. I would say it happens 1 out of 3 times. It's a horrible sound. I have a 34 tooth chainring in the front. The Truvativ Ruktion crank has a bashguard instead of a third chainring, my 34T chainring would be a "seconth" chainring and there is room for a smaller first chainring if the holes was drilled for it. So to clearify, i have only one chainring who occupy the space of a seconth chainring(in the middle). What i did to try to solve the problem is to put spacers between the crank and the chainring to correct the chainline by bringing the chainring closer to the frame. While it did help it didn't solve the problem completely. And i think the chainring was close enough from the start. It was at 51mm from the center of the frame before the modification, now it's close to 47mm. I can't see why a bike with only one chainring can have so much chainline problems. So maybe it's something else. It's a Norco Ryde 2006 DJ bike. My LBS is too far from home and the other LBSes are wondering why in the hell should i need to pedal backward. Did somebody experienced these problems before?? Any idea?? Thanks!!!

Hi to you all! What do you think about a Shimano Acera M340 "Smart Cage" rear derailleur. The cage looks pretty short(it has 15T and 13T pulleys, instead of two 11T pulleys... i think). I'm not really looking in saving weight and/or money here. Just want a bombproof setup. Will it be better than a road bike short cage rear derailleur? If not, what would be the best one for trials riding? What about a 3-speed custom freewheel using a 3-speed front shifter(different setup)? Is it even possible? Thanks!!!