Jitters

Never too old, mate! I'm 38 and some other guy from Italy was 56 on here. It's all good! Just mind any injuries a bit better than the youngin's and you'll be good to go. Just gotta be realistitc and you'll be just fine. Now go show my arse up and have your ass some fun! That's what I'm doin. We only get one shot, y'know?

hold... me....

My shoes smell like I've been dead for months.

Thank you for the input, everyone. I don't know if closing my eyes works for me, but I did try it for a few little things. I have concentrated on looking ahead for about 3 feet, as suggested, until I start setting up and get my balance just right - then get a quick look where I want to go and it seems to be working quite nicely. I've pretty much stopped my habit of looking straight down as I roll up to stuff. Cheers!

Hi, Would like to start off with a little success I had yesterday regarding my beginning to nail pedalkick/backhops. Took me forever to figure out, so I guess I'm getting on my way with a great foundation skill finally. Quite pleased about that. I am, however, finding that the distance between 'clicks' on my freewheel is quite large and seems to be giving me a bit of a challenge as far as getting my pedals to ratchet into a good zone for me. I do not know the brand of freewheel. I'd like to consider purchasing a Tensile replacement, but wanted some input regarding these pawls and points of engagement and whatever else may be noteworthy as you know more about this subject than I do. (Searches did not seem to produce what I was looking for) I am assuming that the more points there are, the smaller amounts of ratchetting you'd need to do to get the feewheel to engage. Correct me if I am wrong, please. Do you find that this makes quite a bit of difference, and would it be worth my time to upgrade to a better unit even though I am still a total beginner? Thanks for your wisdom!

Here's more reading. Rather interesting, I'd say. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/...80903112026.htm Here's my prediction. Nothing relevant will happen or it will malfunction. It will be a gigantic waste of time, effort and money - but then again, I'm no nuclear physicist. LOL

I'm on my own for now. Besides this place, and some great tips above, youtube Ryan Leech and others links' mentioned above. Try out http://www.trashzen.com/index.php. Good tips there. The tiny little videos could be a bit larger, but I'm not complaining. If you have others more skilled to ride with, DO THAT. Fastest way to learn and improve. When I used to skate with my mates, we'd constantly try to outdo eachother (probably for some girls that were eyeballing us) and we made great progress that way. By yourself, you only work against yourself, and even though you nail the details, you don't progress as fast - if that makes any bit of sense. Good luck! Oh, and chocolate milkshakes do totally help - some unknown cosmic thing happening there. Just have one a week or so. )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1tYkECCmwU It's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake! Ok, I'll start off with this train wreck. For some reason it makes me either laugh out loud - or vomit - maybe both. Not sure which. Either way it'll hang stupid arse song on you for a while. Enjoy!

Hi all, Noticing a bit of a potential problem that I'd like a bit of advice on. I am still new to trials. I am realizing that as I approach obstacles - say to my left or right side - I tend to look (or stare maybe) straight down at my tyre just before preparing for a sidehop or something. Most times, as soon as I look right or left to my landing area I begin to follow that way with my balance - which usually makes a mess of it. I suppose it's a natural reaction, and I'll keep practicing, but was hoping for a few pointers if others have noticed and worked through a similar issue. Some XC riders have suggested looking quite a bit ahead of myself before I roll up to something, kindof like you would while riding singletrack - scanning ahead on the trail rather that an inch in front of you. Thank you for any input

I slip on my smelly old Converse All-Stars sometimes - if I'm not already wearing them. Just tuck the laces in and go. And I cover the worn out parts with duct tape for bonus points.

Sugarpuffs = good Cap'n Crunch = gooder and I don't sniff my pee after eating either one of them, so I'll just take everyone's word on that.

I started out working way to hard to get the front up. After thinking about it, I realized I just needed to get my arse end over the rear hub more. Made it a cinch. Try sitting back more in stance. Moving the hips around and being fluid seems to make learning everything easier as you let gravity help you out. Just what I've found. Hope that's useful to you.

NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.................. Doooonnn'ttt do it! Don't sign up! My neighbor signed up with WoW and I haven't seen him for months. It's like drugs... bad bad eeeviilll nasty electronic brainwashing drugs! I don't think he even leaves the house anymore! Just soils himself right there and keeps on playing I tell you. OK, it's not that bad. Actually, it looks pretty cool. I refuse to sign up because I'll never leave the house again either. My bikes would miss me so. Have fun!

Hi, It's not too fancy, but here's what I crafted with about 2 hours time while it was pouring out today. Still a bit rough around the edges so still have a bit of tidying left to do here an there. I am still learning, so it should entertain me for a while. Best thing is, I didn't spend a dime on it. All the materials were found or gotten from my neighbors' deck project leftovers. Just thought I'd share. If anyone else has some neat homemade projects they built for practice, please post a pic. I'd love to see em.

Hi all, I'm Gary from South Carolina, USA. Only been practicing trials for about 3 months now. I'm 38 and old as dirt but have been an avid roadie and mountain biker for about 6 years. I purchased a used Zhi zm2 after happening across some trials videos on youtube. Been getting out there as much as possible ever since - to my girlfriend's chagrin. I am simply amazed at what a lot of you can do. I look forward to learning as much as possible from these forums so I can hurry on my way to becoming better at this. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone else around here rides trials, so I'm learning what I can solo. I'm an artist for our town newspaper and also have a great freelance art business. In my free time I produce designs for bike jersies, Tshirts and many other kinds of print media. I use the extra money from this second job to buy lots of bike parts and beer. My other interests include modifying and drag racing my 1972 Dart, cartooning and repairing bicycles of all kinds. That's probably more than you wanted to know. -Tappets

Right on! Looks like he's pickin up fast. I like to watch people learning, cause I'm just figuring out a lot of stuff too. Doesn't make my weak progress seem so hopeless. Thanks for sharing )

Jeeezis, man! You could hide spare change in those wounds! Those are some goodies there. I use the 661s for FR/DH. Light and work great, but yeah they are stinky even though I was them quite frequently. Cheaper than a trip to the doc.

Sorry to hear you're without your ride for bit. Search for threads about installing helicoil kits. The process is cheap and has been gone over more than a few times recently. That'll get you back up to snuff in no time! Cheers!

Being 38, I'm glad to see that too. ) Hey Wile, glad to see you're giving yourself the chance to try new stuff. Never too old until you tell yourself you are. Cheers!

I know where you guys are coming from! That's why I stressed that the holes only be drilled in the last inch of each bar end noting that I, personally, haven't exceeded that. I don't think there would be a lot of stress in that area as most of the weight from your palms rests a few inches inboard around your thumb and index finger even during hard landings. I know there are lighter bars out there, but for those who like to modify things just because they're on a budget or just for the fun of it, I think it's an option. Maybe I'm way off base here, but it's worked for me on several bikes, XC, road, and so far the mod. Anyway, it was just something I've tried for fun cause I like to mess with stuff. Cheers )

There's a nice thread about making frames lighter going on right now, but who has some tips on lightening parts? One of mine is to drill holes in the last inch or so of my handle bars on each side. Not too many (maybe 8 5-6mm holes) so as not to interfere with the integrity of the bars. I wouldn't reccomend going to far in, as there's a good bit of stress on the areas closer to the brake levers. Also be sure to clean up any burrs and round all of your edges off with a small round file so stress cracks don't form around the holes. Drill, clean up, replace grips! Good for a few grams anyway and only takes 20 minuts or so to complete the job for both sides. I have more, but figured I'd let others share their ideas.

Oh no worries! Just trying to save you a bit of grief and be a bit witty at the same time. ) Cheers

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo............. WD-40 isn't really made for that. Grease! Oh whatever... Good luck with that.

Penetrating oil shouldn't be anything to worry about. As far as the headset, after inspecting the bearings, did you clean and check the bearing races? It's possible they got some knicks in them or have been damaged. That could cause a grinding noise too. Make sure to grease everything good before reassembly - not light oil or wd-40... auto or bike specific grease. Do some searches as to how to properly adjust the headset tension too. If it's too tight, you'll get poor results and shorten bearing life.

You can chemically strip the old paint and primer off yourself with some tine and a small wire brush if you insist on spraybombing your frame yourself or taking it to a pro. The others are right. pretty hard to get a good finish with that stuff. Do some research into proper primers for aluminum too. The spray can primer you can buy at any store doesn't work so well on aluminum. Take my word for it. One option to consider is an auto paint shop. I have had friends shoot the job's leftovers onto frames for me with great results. They generally don't care because they're gonna toss the paint in the gun out when they're done shooting anyway. Only problem is you have to have it ready to go and you're generally reserved to whatever colors they may be using that day. Good luck!