Matt Vandart

I have always sort of made do with the v brakes I had lying around for my bikes with v brakes and the deore ones I have moved from bike to bike are seriously getting worn out so I think it is time I got some really good ones. Anyone got these? V brake link And are they really worth the extra cash? Matt

I sort of guessed otherpeople had done this before but I thought I would post anyway just in case, theres nothing like the feeling of realiseing you could have f**ked your bike up. Yeah I think I will be fitting them like that from now on too. I checked the thread this morning and it's sweet as a nut and amazingly the brakes work fab too, when I got up this morning/afternoon I had a right feeling of dread but it all turned out Ok. Except I fitted the wrong BB, I fitted a cheapy isis instead of the loverly new FSA I had ment to put in. Doh. But I had to check the threads anyway so In the new one went, sweet. Matt

I don't know if this is the right place to post this but ho hum..... I got my loverly new middleburn bashring (£0.99 ebay!) today and so the time has finally come that I could put my middlebeurn cranks on my bike (they used to be on a planet x jackflash which had a bash guard so I only had a spider) replaceing my crappy onza ones. So I resprayed the frame while I was at it. At 9pm I started rebuilding the bike. In my excitement to get my loverly middleburn cranks back on my goat of a bike, the slight damage hidden by overspray in the thread and the fact that I was half cut I managed to miss thread (cross) it in. And I mean really cross thread it, the other side of the BB was touching the frame it looked like an eccentric BB. Stupid I know but being used to doing up massive bolts on my job (threads 2"+) and being half cut on JD I just rammed it in without noticeing until it was too late. Oh shit I thought, it was too late to phone my mate Nick (a most fabulous bike mechanic ) to see if he had a tap for it and being too impatient to go to the bike shop tommorow. I thought how the f**k will I fix this. So this is what I did:- 1. Screwed in the threaded spacer that is on the non drive side until it was all the way in (The outside face about 1/2" inside the BB shell) 2. This then acted as a guide for the BB to go in square as the bearing is sitting in the spacer as it should. 3. Started screwing in the drive side. 4. when it came up a bit tight I unscrewed the non drive side a bit. 5. Continued to screw in the drive side till it became a bit tight. 6. Unscrewed the non drive side. 7. Repeated this until the BB was fitted tidy in the shell. 8. Unscrewed to check that I hadn't just bent the axle. 9. Voila one totally mended BB thread. 10. Fitted it all again the proper way 11.Spun the cranks, Loverly 12. Smiled. 13. Typed this post 14. Back to the JD and coke and finnish my bike building ready for a wet rainy ride tommorow (I had better check it in the morning though!) I don't know if this is teaching anyone to suck eggs, but I just thought I would share it in case it helps someone out in the future, say if they had drunk half a bottle of Jack and decided to put their bike back together. My god this post actually looks readable with one eye shut. Matt

Thats£240 new see here: Spyro link Matt

Cool Onza make fab affordable rides all my family have onzas, except my youngest, I say again Joe when are you going to make a good well priced 16" for the youngest rising stars? Start them on Onza and they will continue to ride Onza! Middleagedman the spyrogyra is fab starter bike and you can pick them up for £240 Change the bars for risers stick a brake booster on the back and your away! Matt

Thanks Matt

Is the ring that holds the spider/bashring left or right hand threaded? Ta Matt

No thats really wrong............. it's really hard to keep Turps down Change your pads kook

Middleburn pro bashring £0.99 ebay last night. Matt

I have several titanium pins in my body. 5 in my shoulder 2 in my left knee, 1 in my right ankle, one the length of my left femur, a semi rebuilt hip, a few random screws here and there............ I like lankyri do kickboxing warm ups and look like a right mong for 30 mins, but have no problems with my knees or wrists. I have been riding BMX, freeeride and XC for most of my life (at least 24 years) and have been told once I would never walk properly again. I think it is plain stubbornness that keeps me going and the ability to switch off pain which I learned after smashing myself up on a motorbike and was proper messed for about a year, or maybe it's because I am mostly made of metal Build the muscles up around the affected areas and the joints will keep more stable and less prone to injury. Taking into consideration your age if it is really bothering you I would go and see a doctor before it causes you real problems later in life, believe me arthritis is not fun. Matt

1.Remove the lever by undoing the pivot bolt. 2.Lever comes complete with adjuster and all that shit. 3.Connect a bleed nipple to the caliper end of the brake (leave the brake on the bike with a bit o wood or something between the calipers not your wheel) 4.Using a large syringe pump oil into the system. 5.The piston should push out. 6.If it doesn't and oil pisses everywhere then the seals will be f**ked. 7.Get hold of the bit of piston sticking out the top and give it a tug after removing the syringe and opening the system at the lever bleed screw. (if this doesn't work go with simpsons method) 8.Now you have the piston out the seal can be taken off using a small flat screwdriver, do not bust it. The orange coloured one is only a dust seal and is not part of the pressure system, it's the black one you need, find a bearing supplier near you and take the seal/piston with you they should be able to help you find a new one they are nothing majical and are used in many hydraulic systems just tell them they are off a hydraulic system that uses mineral oil otherwise they will just tell you to contact the manufacturer to save them the hassle. 9.Clean your piston and cylinder out as best you can, you need to get all the shit off or your new seal will soon be f**ked. Replace your new seal by sliding it on from the bottom of the piston with a bit of oil for lube till it is seated in the slot. 10. With the bleed screw on the lever undone push the piston back in. 11. Wind the adjuster all the way minus, bleed through with syringe from the bottom. 12. Clean any oil up from your lever. 13. Test your brake and go riding. Matt

Hey Middle aged man, Check this video of a kid doing all the basic stuff on the flat (good place to learn as you don't fall as far). Kid doing trials Learn all the stuff he does and your well on your way. I wouldn't start off trying to get up things as this can be very disheartening when one fails. Have you got a bike yet? Matt

Alright Jamie hows it going? Showing your anorak skills! Matt

The link didn't work scott, can you post it again? Matt

Have you seen any pictures of it since? Ryan young, he's rad on a motorbike, had his how to vid when I was younger, didn't know he rode bicycles as well. Matt

Middle age man that cycle lawnmower is quite possibly the best thing I have seen for ages, does it work properly? Matt

That guys rad Matt

I thought I would give you all a laugh by posting a picture of a shit 'Trials bike' I made when I was about 16 Shit isn't it I think it was an old rebel frame which had twin top tubes bthe bars were dead straight and the brakes were shit. I coudn't get the stem to fit so I just hammered it in with a sledge. I don't know what I was thinking with the seat only I remember cutting it off completely and sticking a bit of foam on the platform that the twin top tubes made quite convenient. Needless to say it was an endo death trap. I soon went back to using my BMX and took the cranks off and put pegs on the back and me and my mates used to use it to ride down a really big hill in the local park (with your feet on the back pegs and your head tucked down for better aerodynamics) I think we even took the brakes off. How we survived that I don't know. On the subject of old bikes, do any old fogies remember the weird 'trials bike' that was featured in a mountain bike mag (Maybe MBUK) at about the same time (about 1990ish) that had a big wheel on the front and a small wheel on the back? Or did I dream that one. Matt

This is very sad, I read about it in MBUK and then saw this sticky. I offer my deepest condolences to his parents, a loss of any child is a terrible thing. I saw the tribute video on Clean Bikes and me and my youngest son Curtis (7yrs old) watched it, seeing such a little fella with such talent, riding so well, really helped my son because he only rides trials with bigger kids and grown ups and to see Ben doing backhops and riding up stuff helped him see a small kid can do it too. He's been riding our course in the back garden straight after school everyday since and he really has come on leaps and bounds. Ben has really inspired Curtis. Thank you Ben Matt

I am in fact also an old fogie (34) and yes I do ride, you spoon, why else would I be on a trials forum? There's no tits on this site. Go for it Middle age man, be ready for pain, youre probably not as bouncy as these young wippersnappers and don't expect to be as good as them either! I came back to trials after riding BMX and freeride for a couple of years and have found it much easier on my poor old bones. Best advice I can give is think like a kid and then you won't get a case of "the fear" and pike out of things. Have you come into trials 'cold' or been riding other stuff? And 39 aint that old anyway. Matt

Hmm, I was just about to post asking this question as I am in the middle of making a rear disk bracket for my (Pink) Zoot ll I have made the bracket just havn't welded on yet. Is there anyone out there that uses a disk on the rear as preference to rim? If someone does and they think that it is better could you tell me before I get the Oxy-fuel bottles out? Matt

Can you post a foto (from chainring to driven gear) then maybe you can get some help. Unless someone has had this problem and happens to read this then you might not get useful help. More details like your gearing set up may be of assistance to effect a remedy. Matt

This trails-UK sound shit.

But your only 3yrs old. Well I'm 36 this year does that mean I have to stop now? I was in a skatepark riding a BMX a couple of years ago and this kid (about 14) turned to me and said he was going to see a new band in Alexander palace.... Black Sabath, so I was chuckling and going Black Sabath new band, and he says to me "Oh you probably wouldn't have heard of them cos your too old. Your only too old when your bones don't heal anymore and considering the amount of titanium I have surgically implanted in mine that won't be for a while. Although I was quite out of breath today after 6hrs riding with my kids. Matt

Paypal are fukin wakrs. I think it is perfectly acceptable to inform other people of shit service whether it is on the internet or not. If someone told you not to go to a pub because it is shit, no-one would bat an eyelid, if they believed that person was saying that the pub was shit because it was shit and not because they had knocked up the landlords daughter and they didn't want to go in there, so they told their mate that it was shit, when really it wasn't shit but was really a good pub, with excellent service, the best pub for miles, but the landlords daughter had told her father and he was up for a shotgun wedding............... What I am trying to say is if the shop in question doesn't want people going on forums and telling other people about their shit experience with them then don't give a shit service, it's basic modern business and I for one am glad that I have been warned of this pisstake so it doesn't happen to me. Has anyone noticed that my last post was in the future? The time now is 21:02.