Joe 90

Thanks, the chain is new though! That hint of brown is not rust! Its a KMC 710SL in gold. I went for a bit of bling.

There's too much lightweight, flimsy aluminium hardware around these days. Call me old fashioned but there's a lot to be said for a steel frame. (Relatively) easy repairs for cracked/snapped tubes and stiff as. No huge oversize tubing to compensate for the weaknesses. Ok, its heavier but thats just an added incentive to get stronger. So here's my new toy, I was waiting a while but i'm chuffed with it.

I just had a look at that video where you break your wrists, who are your so called mates!? I can't believe they just stand there watching as you writhe around in agony. I know how painful it is to break both wrists at the same time too. ouch

I've been out riding the last couple of days and have been trying out a new wall i'm attempting to conquer. I keep smashing my right ankle on the crank whenever i try this and its starting to give me a limp and is bloody painfull. I'm sure its all down to technique but in the meantime can anyone suggest some form of ankle protection to save my maleolus. I can put up with trashing my shins so doesn't have to be bulky shin and ankle guards. Any ideas? Thanks

I'm 5"10 and long arms seem to run in my family! My original plan when i got the leeson was simply to restore it to its former glory as a project and pass it on to a proud owner but i seem to have got attached to it. I'm more a street fan but why does the longer geometry suit natural? cheers

Right this is probably going to make a lot of you sigh with frustration at this topic but the bottom line is i'm after some advice. I've been riding an onza t-mag but thought i would try a big boys bike so built up a czar (pictured). I also got my grubby mitts on an old leeson clear 660 which has become my next little project. So here's my problem, no need to have 3 trials bikes as well as a kona kilauea. So do I sell the ever-so-long czar and pursue my leeson project, or do I forget the (much shorter) leeson. I have literally only ridden the czar up and down the drive. The long geo felt strange and i'm not sure i could get along with it, which may answer my question. Not ridden the leeson yet. I just wondered if any one else had ridden two bikes with similar shapes and what they thought, especially when moving from 20" to 26". Thanks for you're help.

the cornish coastline if you're after natural. some great places. also bodmin moor, places like cheesewring quarry and the tors. if you're after street - plymouth is about as good as it gets for the kernow folk.

rule in dermatology - if its dry, whack on moisturisers and creams, if its wet, dry it out. If its a dry, itchy eczema type skin complaint I would use the cream, as others have said, applying it at night can help because you're not washing your hands or using them constantly so you lock in the moisture for longer. Putting a latex glove over too may help (as long as you've not got a latex allergy). The only problem is that if you use an oil based substance it can get you're bedding a bid grimey after a couple of nights. You could try putting the cream on followed by a latex glove under your riding gloves. Might cause a loss of grip and some slippage but worth a try. I would also suggest you avoid any strong washing detergents or shower gels or even try changing your washing powder. Soap will dry your skin out more than other stuff so avoid that too if possible and use a moisturising hand wash. If you're at the end of your tether go and see a dermatologist who may be able to suggest a decent steroid based cream depending on what's actually causing the skin complaint. good luck

I posted on this thread earlier then went riding. Funnily enough an elderly chap approached me, must have been 70ish, and engaged me in conversation. He was really impressed and was keen to chat. He also started asking me about freewheels and fixed bikes and manufacturers. Now i don't know if this guy was involved somehow with bikes earlier in life but he was a thoroughly nice guy who was genuinely interested. This is not going in any particular direction but just to say that in my experience so far anyone from any age group will either leave you to it or get interested as long as you don't break what they want to sit on or collide with them. Old folk are great.

I have done my best to search through the previous topics posted on the site but i'm still having trouble finding detailed info on british biketrial events or any other events in the far south west. I've searched out www.ukbiketrial.co.uk & www.biketrialuk.co.uk but still finding details elusive. Basically i fancied going to a trials event as a spectator but having difficulty finding out much in my local area. I see there's a provisional date in late april for a devon event but where can i find location details? I appreciate many of the details will be as yet unconfirmed but if anyone could give me an idea of where the events are usually held i would be grateful. Maybe its just that there are so few events down this way? Sorry if this is old news for most of you but some help would be appreciated. Thanks

You need to be a little careful around the over 70's, they tend to react with fright when they see you leap from heights or when you're balancing on a fine point. Some of them let out muted screams as if they think you might break something. They also tend to put a hand to their mouth or grab their chest. Now this is what worries me, could you actually cause these folk to have a minor stroke or heart attack from the clearly stressful event?! Accident waiting to happen. The 60-70 group are still mostly compos-mentis and a little more spritely. They tend to be impressed. My grandad is 86 this year and he loves it! I think he secretly wishes he still had the legs for it. There's always going to be folk who think you are scruffy little buggers without a job and nothing better to do than break public street furniture but thats life i guess. Most elderly people just want a bit of peace and quiet in retirement!

Thanks guys, now have a fully rejuvinated set of 10+year old maggies! The screw that fits into the piece of metal that the TPA plugs onto had actually snapped off in the piece of metal so had to drill it and get the old reverse thread screw out to remove it but now works perfect. Cheers, thread closed i guess.

thanks for the advice chaps, i'll have a crack now, i'm sure i can find a couple of screws to replace the red knob in my box of tricks. thanks for the offer of repair too, i might give you a shout if i get stuck. Do you ride in plymouth normally? I'm new to trials & not much spare time from work but looking for places to ride, at the moment i'm kind of limited to looe seafront (south coast) & cheesewring quarry near minions, just outside liskeard. Any suggestions? Thanks guys.

I own a set of maggie raceline d's from the late 90's (i think), the ones with the more chunky master cylinders. I recently gave them a llittle TLC, bled them & fitted them to an old kona kilauea. They work great but the TPA has gone on both levers. Not much of a problem with a little adjustment at the rim but I thought I could at least try to get them almost perfect. I've tried removing the blade to fiddle the TPA but the old system seems a bit more concealed than newer models. Does anyone know how i could bodge the TPA on these old levers? or where I could look for replacement blades for pre-2004 models? or can you use 2004 model blades with the old units? & if so where could I get these? Would be grateful for some advice, cheers.

20ml is all you need for front, more like a thirty for the rear. I work in a hospital so they're plentiful, i know that doesn't help but i guess the chemist ones are probably the same. I've never used syringes from magura or anyone else so can't comment on them but the sterile hospital ones don't last more than two bleeds (if using magura blood). I'm not sure if they degrade with the oil but they get stiff and crappy. Not a problem if you can get hold of new ones each bleed but can get costly if paying for them.