Matt Vandart

And therein lies the problem all along. Matt

Just take stroll over the bridge and casually pocket this one. I was just thinking of getting a kings one as it looks nice and tucked away from danger but after the above posts I'm back to indecision land........ Matt

Every penny. Matt

Thats a bit out of order, losing a business is not a fun thing to happen to anyone even if it is his own fault. Other people will be affected whose fault it was not, customers, his family etc. I opened a shop and chose to close it late late last year as I saw this recession coming, even though I chose to close before I lost too much money it still caused problems with my other businesses which had to carry the can for that one. I did make sure all my customers were happy first. Tarty is an excellent business model and the guys that run it are on the ball and extremely good at what they do and seem like nice guys too. But don't forget your local bike shop for tubes and shit like that otherwise they will go under and that is not a good thing for anyone. It means more Halfords for one thing. Diversity means choice, and by loosing businesses you are loosing choice. From what I read on here and heard first hand the T-UK experience wasn't a good one, but who complains when things go right, you just don't hear about it in a proper ratio to bad shit. If he was trading for a number of years then he must have been keeping some people happy otherwise this would have happened ages ago. Matt

That really is the point though Mark. When me and the kids went to see Martin Ashton on the relentless tour in Abberystwyth he was doin "Trials stuff" and people were loving it, but when he cracked out the 24 and started doing flips the crowd went mad. They just didn't get how much harder it is to ride in a controlled manner as used in trials than to just all out go like f**k and flip it. Now I can't do flips, but a mate of mine in Swansea that is shit hot on a BMX, did his first flip, he said it was easy once he had the balls to do it. That was the hardest bit. Now I've seen him do mad shit, like doing free fall 40 ft drops down the side of a quarry into a seriously small runout with a river to jump over about 20ft away from the runout, and just do it, like that. I said to him, "Ed, how the f**k do you have the balls to do things like that?" His answer. "Well I know I'm going to do it some day so I might as well do it now" When I started riding trials again, I rang up Ed and asked him if he wanted to give it a go. His answer. "No way man, last time I tried it I fell off a bench and nailed myself" WTF? The point I am trying to make in a very round about way is, trials is hard, no two ways about it. It's hard to learn, it's hard to create new things, and it's hard on your body. The general public just don't get it. Ryan Leech says the most popular part of his show is the high jump on one of his videos, and he sounds really puzzled when he says it. This is because he knows that some of the other shit he does in his show is much harder and the public just don't understand and that puzzles him. Anyway I'm babbleing now, I'll shut up. Matt

Thats a fab idea withthe Ipod vidoe malarky, so obvious now, sometimes I can be a right div. Best thing you can do MAM ( ) and Richard is just get out there and ride it, you'll soon work out if you want to change anything, practice trackstands in your kitchen while your waiting for the kettle to boil or the living room when it's raining and watch the telly at the same time. The more time you spend on your bike the easier everything gets. You get to a point where you feel as comfy trackstanding as standing on your own two feet. Oh and build a little section in your drive/garden this really helps. This is the one I built in my garden, it's not too high, the highest bit is just under 3ft, as my missus kids use it too (they have their own lower one up on the patio), but it's just right for me as I have only got back into trials in the last 6mnths or so after a big spell out of it so I didn't want to make anything unachievable to knock my enthusiasm. I tell you what I forgot how fit you have to be to ride trials aswell sweating and out of breath after a few hours on this! Anyway. Matt

Brisa I've wanted one for ages, got a frame coming in the post from e-bay, can't wait to build it up, I've been collecting stuff for ages. Matt

It used to be all pink. It was my birds. And yes that is a 180mm stem, it was fab with that stem. Matt

f**k I forgot what this topic was about. Glad it finally got there and in in one piece Rich, f**king stoopid parcelforce. Ben, awesome man, do you think you could do pedal kicks across some bars like the kid in the video? I can do about three in a row without touching my brake on the deck (without much control I might add), but I havn't the balls to try it up on some rails. Hey I hope no-one has taken offence here, that wasn't my aim, but to see if anyone was trying proper brakeless "trials" in the natural/comp sense. I just think the stuff Chris Akrigg is doing in the 2 videos is more like BMX/mountain bike street style stuff, still awsesome none the less. It doesn't really matter does it, what it's called anyway. Sorry to hijack your topic Richard. Matt

Indeed Matt

I'm sorry, I don't agree, if that was the case then riding a half pipe on a BMX would be "Trials". Riding a bike over an obstacle, is not a good definition of trials, a roadie rides his bike over an obstacle, ie. a hill, now that clearly isn't trials. If you have no context of "Trials" then it is all just riding a bike, or cycling. If that was the case nothing in "Trials" would have developed, the bikes, the techniques, the components, the same could be said for downhill, free-ride,BMX. Bikes are developed specifically with trials in mind, hence the standover clearances, long front triangle, super bitey brakes, short rear end, MOD bikes......... This is a result of the natural development that resulted from overcomeing problems associated with techniques that are almost exclusively used in "Trials" for example When someone can do that without brakes I will openly admit to "Brakeless trials" being a valid statement. Look I'm not dissing the guy, he rips, but I just wouldn't call it trials, the second video is getting close. If in you substitute the rocks in the natural video for wooden ramps and ledges, you could see many BMX and 24" mountain bikers doing exactly what he is doing in most big skate parks, with and without brakes. I'll admit the term "trials" is getting a bit blurred, in MBUK a while back, there was an article on a talented young trials guy, can't remember his name, and I am not aiming this at him either, but they made a big thing about him doing "Squeekers" and tail stalling on the rail of a halfpipe. Things that BMXrs have been doing for many,many years in fact Danny Holroyd does the exact same things in "Leaps and bounds". In this video you can see a guy doing tailwhips and doing squeekers on the flat on a trials bike, does that mean he is doing trials, because he is on a trials bike? Jindabane driveway session. I don't think so. He is doing flatland, if he had done it after sidehopping up a ledge? Yes I would say it was trials, as he has used a technique pretty much exclusively related to "Bike trials". I am not disrespecting anyone that I have mentioned in this post, but I believe that a definition of any sport/activity is required in order for that sport/activity to develop. I am also not one for solid definitions either, trials has developed out of BMX, and at a point ceased to be BMX and became "Observed Trials" or "Trialsin", what these guys are doing is essential for trials to develop in a similar way to when it originally emerged out of BMX and in this way they are poineers in the sport, however I do not think that these videos by Chris Akrig can be labelled "Brakeless trials".....yet. And that, my friends is my rant for today. This is getting much closer and I believe he will be doing "Proper Brakeless trials" soon. Chris Akrigg video I don't even know if he refers to it as "Brakeless Trials" but I have seen his stuff referred to as such bwhich is the object of my rant. Either way he is an awesome rider. Matt

No offence meant to Dr Doom or Chris Akrigg, as it is great riding, I'm more impressed with the outside video, but it's hardly "Trials" is it? Quite a bit of hype over this so called brakeless trials, but BMX has been doing shit like this for years, many of the kids in swansea ride brakeless and have been doing comparable stuff for years, in fact I havn't had a working brake on my BMX since 2002 but it hasn't stopped me riding it. When someone completes a natural section without any dabs, without brakes, then I will be impressed, and will admit to it being brakeless trials not "brakeless like BMX with big wheels" Who cares what I think anyway. Matt

Wont need a booster if you put a maggie on there dave. Just chuck some Vees on the back and go for cable disc on the front. Look for new vee's on ebay theres plenty of deores cheap on there, get a bb7 or onza disc and give it a whirl. Whatever you choose isn't gonna make much difference for a long time, if you go for hydraulic brakes it's gonna cost more both in the short and long term and is much more of a pain in the arse when they f**k up. MAtt

Awesome I finally did it , and got it within 1mm true on the bike with bits o zip tie and stuff. That sheldon website was cool. Thanks for pointing it out Psycholist Chuffed to bits. Matt

Nah it's not. These frames were fairly common about 7-10 yrs ago and they were just cheap frames out of Aisian factories that a few different companies used. You could also buy them like this plain alli with no stickers. Proper piece of shit for anything other than comuting, I should know I had one, I think you may still be able to get them. however the other stuff was worth the money. I wouldn't go jumping off anything too high on that. Having sais that I sold mine to my mate and he got run over by a car on it and it was fine. Matt

It's cool, this is why I started it to get people to say why they use a certain set up. Matt

I'm attempting to build wheels again for the six millionth time, it just drives me nuts........ Failed twice already today I just can't seem to get it into my head, it's like teflon brainwaves, they are just sliding straight out again. Good luck

If we're gonna get into BMX old bits I'll post a picture later of my BMX that I still ride and works well. Your gonna laugh like f**k. Matt

I particularly like the commentary, my monitor is fkd so it sounds like your on helium. Matt

There was aloverly Brisa on e bay last week didn't sell the guy is relisting some time this week, has disc front and back. In what way do they f**k up after a few months? Matt

My girly (Kath) joined this forum and immediately got bombarded by horny teenage trials geeks, this put her off and I don't think she's posted since. A word of advice to you lot, if you want more girls to join trials forum and stay, stop hassling them on their first post, lul them into a false sense of security................... . Not saying that anyone has in this topic, but seriously gunning in with stupid comments is not the way to go. On topic Hello new girl, can't remember name...................oh typical. Kath had a 24" Zoot first but is was plainly not suitable so she went for a mod and improved immediately, I'll point her to this thread. Matt

Yes you can weld it or get someone to weld it and bring the shape back to original with various files. If you cant weld you need someone that can TIG or (GTAW) Also if the crack is really really fine and not opened up much you can oxy acceltelene weld it. If you take this option you will have to remove the paint all around the crack to about 4 inches away to be safe. This is to prevent any impurities getting into the weld. It has to be really clean. Having looked at it again the crack has opened a bit. you need to clean up inside the crack real good and push the metal back into place, you can Oxy/feul weld that but you need to find someone that is really good at oxxy/feul welding, preferably an old guy. not many young welders have been taught how to weld this way properly. Much less than a new frame. Matt

F.S.A Pig Unf**king bustable. Duck Matt

Correct. Matt

Negative, seats are good, no seats are also good. Matt