shamus

just something that others haven't really commented on: saves your brake mounts, less stress on bolts and clamps as the load is equally distributed if u have a brake mount which is quite 'proud' from the frame material then a booster is a good idea. i used one on my monty (25" with adapter to 26") purely to save the frame! on my echo though it doesnt seem to make much difference, just nice to ahve the reassurance and helps to protect the crossover from trailing feet and bails

get em off however you can gt85/wd40 whatever. then clean em up (white spirit minimal amount wipe around usin cloth and screwdriver in cloth) then put some zip ties in end of grip (ratchet side to bar) you'll probably need around 5/6 spaced around, then force grip on over zip ties, completely dry. once its on yank the zips out and bobs your uncle, grips on fully flush and dry, that way there s no chance of throttle. then zip tie the grips on again make sure you use pliers or similar to fully tighten em and then cut them as flush as possible otherwise i guarentee u'll cut youself on the extra surplus top tip - melt the end with a lighter to make it rounded and not sharp. does the business!

arent those the situations you love? they mouth off when its a few of you then up rolls your clan (hahaha) happened down the skate park a while back bout 4 of us an around 25 lil scrot's/chavs given it stacks with the whole 'lets have a gooo meeeeht?' then up rolled the group we were meetin.... enter bout 20 guys all on bmx's and suddenly we had the park to oursleves until they started chucking bottles :/ everyone decided enough was enough and started towards em that was a funny end to the night for us they crapped it and scarpered.

yeah the shorter stem puts you more central on the bike, and putting higher rise bars means you are less strected out across the bike, meaning there is more scope for body movement. the smaller wheels also make it 'flickier' because there is less rotating weight creating a gyroscopic effect. to see what i mean spin up a front wheel while holding the axles by hand. then try and twist/turn or rotate the axle. its hould resist the change in its rotation plane. because ofthis same effect a 24" feels better to do moving stuff on as this has a less pronounced effect. i dont think its solely the wheel size, shorter stems, higher bars as mentioned also different head angles and forks with very litlle rake contribute to make it feel more stable

get rigid and you'll learn not to nose it in so often best around for durability will probably be the bombers. if you abuse forks then that would be my choice

you'd think 2 sizes for isis and 1 for square would be enough but the FSA bolts are different to my old raceface and truvativ ones so trial and error if you cant get any to fit, check the threads witha a gauge or, easier if its out the bike take it to a workshop (bike/car/motorcycle) and get them to do it they prob will for free unless they are stuck up. or a hardware store which sells bolts (always find a smaller one the big outlets tend to have muppets behind the desk) and the guy behind the desk wil prob tell you what thread (tpi) and bolt diameter you need. then you can ring a bike shop and check before you order em. shamus

3x is the amount of times a spoke crosses another spoke (from the same hub side) on its path from the hub to the rim, 3x is 3 crosses. 4x is 4 crosses 3x is the standard for wheel builds, and probably best in most cases. unless you are a particularly hard rider and side load/twist your wheel a lot or weigh a fair bit then 4x is unnecessary (plus its a pain to lace up) are you buying the parts from tarty because i got a wheelbuild from them the other week and it arrived absolultely spanking, perfectly round and dead straight unless you are competant and happy building wheels, its worth the price of getting it built proffesionally because with a little careful maintentance it'll last helluva lot longer

gods own truth, was getting worried! helps to ensure you dont cross thread as well as the non DS will ensure the DS goes in nice and straight by supporting it!

ride a bmx for about 3 months til you can manual at warp speed down massive hills transfer skill to trails bike and laugh at how quickly the front snaps down when you feather the brake. seriously the best way is to learn on something else before a trials bike otherwise the scary high balance point will seem really alien. i can manual my echo with a 135mm stem on it, its just a case of comfort and being confident in that position the best advice i can give is straight arms! once you have given the front a big yank like you were going to hop, but as soon as you have pulled up drop ur arse right out the back feather the brake if you've gone to far and are looping out. extending/compressing the legs will control the bikes position. soif you are struggling to hold the front up drop your arse right off the back legs extended, or too high and tuck right in just dont buzz your ass on the tyre cos that hurts (provide good comical value for your mates though) hope it helped anyway. im back to doing uni work now so signing off ! also watch as many people as you can who can manual really well, examine technique and copy i manualled everywhere, literally everywhere! until i could actually do it well enough to be satisfied now i pull massive ones in front of cars down my hill at warp 9

nah, crossers are the way for commuting! high position means you can see the tw@ts who decide its a good idea to change lanes when you are filtering between cars! then when it opens up they are plenty of fun without having to risk your lisence to cameras and coppers.

wu-tang clan- shame on a n**ga and that was class, loved the variation

zip ties work well, put a load in the grip then slide the bar into the 'nest' of zipties and slide the lot on, still requires a bit of grunt though. or just be a hero and do it without anything... .... and struggle and struggle and struggle and then resort to hairspray which gives throttle grip whenever it gets damp

rainbow! that would be fun or pinstriped

could be a bit of welding swarf fallen into a tube and sitting in end near bb, but i've only ever seen this in steel frames/ tubular cranks. prob just a destroyed bb take a peek and see whats goin on

giro semi mx!? halfway between pisser and an xc lid, that said it does warm up in there, so i just keep my hair short:D loads of protection on back of head (which is the area i've hit the most to be honest goddam slipping brakes)

yeah as mentioned by others before, the idea is low maintenance. thats why the bmw tourers use this sytem, they have a sealed drivetrain so grit/dust/water doesnt cause deterioration. it means that the 'long way round' guys can ride those bikes around the globe without having to keep fitting new chains/sprockets and slide plates (on the swingarms of almost all motorbikes). this reflects on the stresses caused to the engine and gearboxes, i have heard of those GS1200 things doing 200-300 THOUSAND miles with no major drivetrain/engine work just routine maintenance! imagine never having to replace a stretched chain on a road racing bike for example! it also means that there are less exposed moving parts for things to get caught in (like baggy trousers or shoe laces which is ideal if you are renting them out for example)

split my jaw down to bone on the bmx (this seems to be a re-occuring thing with those tiny bikes) never had a serious injury on trials bike or motorbike (touch wood) but im just about the only one from the 3 main people i ride with who hasn't had faceplants leading to internal stiches inside their mouth just stiches and cracked ribs:D

how bout the half link chains used in bmx? like the shadow conspiracy one and many other follow ups. you can use them to get a very close tension before having to use any tensioners but when i rode one on my bmx i do seem to remember a tendancy to peel the outer (?) plates away where they join the next link

i started off going the 'wrong way' got bored of hanging my mech so often so ditched thats technique learnt the other way instead, now going higher then i could before (but still only about 5 pallets )

single skin!? as in single-ply maybe, heavy duty as mentioned above stronger sidewalls, so less tye roll, more bounce and less pinch flats. everyones a winner!

weight!? thats gotta add a fair bit, one sided as well and ye changing the direction of power via bevels can produce really weird torque effects and twist things in new ways meaning the frame would probably have to be massive to deal with the stresses. works well on the BMW tourers mayb we could have something like this if we are going into this technology http://www.christini.com/awd-technology.php all wheel drive!

exactly but sometimes its a little awkward still. well shaped and strong tyre levers are a good shout, try putting them under the tyre at very small spacings to reduce the effort you have to put in. (had this problem with my honda and this technique saved me, so simple yet it worked!)

LUSH! love the speed and aggression. fully commited!

well yeah a duller note then the surrounding spokes would indicate a looser spoke, so thsi would need to be remedied in the wiki i think there is a guide to wheel building, or just google it there are loads out there with step by step guides. thats the best shout i reckon

grab two spokes just above the cross over points and squeeze, the tension and movement should be the same around the wheel and on either side. there is normally very little movement on a properly built wheel but some movement is not fine as long as its an even amount all the way round another method if you have a fine ear is to 'ping' the spokes and listen to the note then you can just 'tune' the wheel in a similar way to an instrument