rupintart

Don't tell me there was never a time when you went to do something to save money, and it ended up giving you a massive headache and the job wasn't done up to your par and you wished you woulda just ponied up the extra dough and got it done, as it would have been done by that time anyways. I've learned my lessons SEVERAL times over with cars and motorcycles, that when it comes to things that you're not exactly pro at, or only slightly capable of doing, save yourself the headaches and just let somebody who does it for a living do it in half the time. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving a couple of bucks, but somethings, just need to be left to the pros. You'd never rattle can your car would you?

Time is money.... In the 3+ days it takes you to prep and paint your frame, along with the cost of about $20-30 USD on paint, primer and clear coat, you may as well spend the extra dough on getting it powdercoated, and it being 73864837465987364589732645 times more durable and 2983475632489765837465 times better looking. If you're gonna go cheap and rattle can it, don't even worry what it looks like. Cause even if it looks decent, you'll still be able to tell it's a rattle can. And with cheap paint jobs, they look a million times worse whenever they start to get scratched as compared to a pro job, and it's no comparison to a powdercoat. Even a half arsed powdercoat job looks better than most paint jobs out there. And it's for sure more durable.

The best option is XTR, especially is you're crazy anal. If not, cheap cable and custom cut housing from your bike shop is fine and about the same price.

Just talked to a tech rep tonight. He came to talk about the XX stuff and we really delved into that. But before all that, I asked him specifically about this application, he said no go. He said that he wouldn't tell me that it would fail, but that the bash, although designed to be a "bash guard", would NOT support the weight of somebody landing on it. It wasn't designed to hold the weight of anybody on it, and it wasn't designed to have SHARP HARD impacts like you do with trials. It was more designed to be like a log guard to protect the teeth in a worst case swcenario, but even though it's designed in a DH application, he said when was the last time you saw anybody on a DH bike specifically use the bash rather than preventive measures so you can make it down the course. Kinda sucks, cause although it was overbuilt, he said it wouldn't stand up to the abuse of trials. And I also brought up the whole "how would you know if it were regular use or trials use?" he said each one is marked, and the fact that it has massive amounts of bashing, would likely indicated "other than intended uses". So that sucks.

Disc + horizontal = fail. I HATE setting up disc brakes to begin with, let alone having to fiddle with them because I change the rear wheel position to mess with my chain tension. That's why I loved the Brooklyn Machine works horiz and disc....cause it floats with the rear wheel, and you don't have to worry about playing with the caliper.

Got it like this: It weighed right under 31 lbs before the fork. Put on the Argyle, dropped it to 30lbs even. Rest of my parts came in today, see if you can spot the differences: I dropped 4 lbs from just cranks, bar and seat post (weighed on a fish scale at the shop)!!!! Old parts were no name heaviness, switched to: Easton Monkey Lite XC carbon Easton EC90 seatpost cut down to 2inches below pictured Shimano LX M580 cranks stripped to 32t I don't know know if I'm going to change stems...probably somewhere in the future. I know for sure a Hope is going on the back as soon as the XT kicks the bucket. I have Small Block 8s sitting here in my bin. My buddy is still out of town until the 18th and has the matching front wheel, which is I think an XM719. Currently a D729 is on there. Tires alone I should drop nearly 2 lbs, and the front rim about a pound. So I'm looking at a total drop of nearly six lbs bringing me to 24 lbs. 25lbs and some change is/was the goal, and likely target, but that's a lot better than 31!!!!! A new bike scale is on order as it's broke at the moment, so when the new front rim arrives, the scale should as well. This was originally a budget project since I got the bike for 2 bills, but I couldn't resist the temptation of the nicer parts.

TPAs on Maggies are OK...I used the shit outta it when i had maggies, but with Vees...really, you should just set it up.

Alex Dark, BMX cranks work perfectly fine for me??? In what attribute do they lend to a bike feeling "trialsy?" And in more cases than not, you can build up a lightweight euro BB, ti axle CHEAPER and STRONGER than trials cranks. Burns aside. Stems - not strong enough? I seriously doubt an Easton stem is too weak. Also, not everybody likes to run super high stems. Echo rims suck. They're softer than DX32's and don't hold a grind as good. Not to mention not as stiff. Lets also point out 07 echo rims, are getting far and far harder to get. Brakes....Vee brakes. Maggies are too damn annoying for me. I ran them in the past, and no real complaints....until you had issues, then it was issue after issue. Ever ridden a clean chrome rim with salmon pads on a good CNC UBrake? They hold just as good as any trials brake I've ever ridden. If you get them dirty, it's a different story, but a clean chrome rim LOCKS. Why do you think BMXers that run brakes all have chrome rims in the rear? And they're moving a WHOLE lot faster than we are, and have a lot more momentum to stop than we do. Hubs - You'd lean towards a King or a Hope, but again, those are NOT trials hubs. In fact, king voids warranties for trials use. No hub is "designed" for trials, even the Hope, if you notice, trials is supersceeded by the word, SINGLESPEED. I9's are burlier than both, and they have no trials hub either. Tires...not really. Nobody even makes a trials tire. Well, there is one, and it sucks and is heavy. DH tires work fine for the rear, and you'll notice, most people use XC tires for the front. Do you know how much it costs for a tire mold???? These "trials" tires are simply custom compounded rubber put into existing molds. Forks are forks, and some work perfectly fine for trials. Do you really think these companies do any R&D on trials parts? We're such a small niche in the cycling community, there really isn't ANY DONE. It's all piggy back off stuff already available. but this is also one area where I will buy a trials "specific" fork simply because it's easier than trying to hunt an off brand that's likely heavier (but probably stiffer). My Inspired has absolutely the MINIMUM amount of trials parts on it. Not on purpose, but simply because there are things that work just as good, if not better, are lighter, and cheaper. My bike weighs in a scant 22lbs and is burlier than many others out there that are heavier, and it cost me less to build with nothing really in mind for weight savings other than the tires. None of the above parts will make a bike feel any less "trialsy". Like ogre said, most every trials part out there is Taiwan catalog parts with their trials name put on it with it being "trials specific". So in all reality, yes, non trials parts DO work. A perfect example is this thread: http://www.trials-forum.co.uk/forum/index....howtopic=146732 Hell, they even made the lever MORE BASIC AND CHEAPER TO PRODUCE. All that said, if there were a trials shop near me (like all you UK guys have Tarty!!!), I would without a doubt be buying everything from them to support the sport. Many parts off my bike came from Midwestbiketrials and Trialspads. There are things that I feel should be trials specific like the fork, brake pads, and frame...but much past that, no. I support the sport when I can, but when I feel I can find other things better, I'm going to go that route, especially if I work at a shop, I support my shop first. *edit - holy crap that was a long rant, hahaha.

Who the hell uses a speed dial? Take the time to adjust them right (after cable stretch) and all those little doohickeys are pointless.

In all reality, without somebody wanting to dump a ton of money in finding out what works BEST for BICYCLES, and for which application, it's all pretty moot. Unless of course, you're the one doing the research and going to make the change, there really isn't any way we can expect a company to produce a tubeset based solely on hypothesis without a solid example or prototype. So basically, it's all nice info to know, but is pretty worthless at the same time.

In any case, 60cm is fr too big for you. I'm 6'0" and have the legs of somebody who's 6'4"...I still ride a 58. somebody 5'9" is on like a 54-56 depending on torso and legs. If you hop on a 60, and put short cranks AND a short stem, it's gonna ride like shit.

Whoops, I was thinking cassette body. Got all engrossed in the whole BMX spacing being 116...my apologies.

Like what? Cranks? No. Stem? No. (unless it's a mod, and even then, meh) Bars? Not really. Because of sweep? That's preference anyways. Rims? DX32 isn't a "trials" rim. I wouldn't use anything else on the rear anyways as far as pure trials goes. Headset? No. Pedals? No. Brakes? No. Grips? No. Hubs? No. Tires? No. Chain? No. The only thing you really couldn't do with any other MTB parts would be the frame, fork*, and brakepads*... Unless you go FFW, then yeah, you need trials cranks, but you can still do everything else with "regular" MTB parts and the bike still ride completely "trialsy". *You could get by without trials brake pads. A grind on some Salmon pads works good enough. Disc frames, you can use a BB7 or anything else and be just fine. * You could use ANY rigid fork. the only difference is gonna be stiffness. There are TONS of rigid forks out there that have "trials" rake and height. Whether or not they're light AND strong is a whole other topic...

That's why I said within reason. Use common sense whenever you purchase. There's obviously going to be some companies that have higher quality and thus, are usually stronger. But relatively speaking, i.e all other things being equal, go as light as you can afford. There's absolutely no reason for anybody to be riding a 30lb trials bike for "durability" even if they are hacks. There's certainly lighter parts even a hack can ride, and doesn't have to pay a fortune for either. A DX32 comes to mind. A bunch of other parts like handle bars and stems. Hell, nothing on my trials bike is from a trials company with the exception of the frame and the brake pads. It's not a tank (it's actually 22lbs), SOLID, and is probably more durable and lighter than most peoples bikes. Nobody should get so narrow minded on parts simply because they're "trials" parts. There's so many other parts that work (which is what I'm making the guess that this topic is more or less surrounding), if not work BETTER than the trials specific stuff, you're really at a loss if you don't take other things/parts into consideration. But I totally agree, it's about compromise.

What you do is, get the lightest thing you can. If it breaks, know you can't go that light. No sense in riding things that are heavier than they have to be, especially if your riding style can ride light stuff. If it breaks, go the next step up. Obviously this is all within your budget. And within reason. Don't expect to get a 2lb frame and expect it to handle things forever.

I was figuring the same. I just assumed that since it was rebuildable and you see people using them on their DH bikes, it would be OK.

I know the M952 are a long heralded favorite, but I have the chance to get both for my DJ/trail bike. The XTR includes a BB and both a 5 bolt OEM spider, as well as a 4bolt aftermarket spider. No chain rings. The LX crank comes stock, but is brand new, vs the XTR being well fairly used. Weight isn't really a factor, but they are similar in weight. Is one stiffer than the other? The LX being new and using the external BB design, I would expect it to be able to hold it's own against and older XTR, if not surpass it. Opinions?

Well, all the reps told me they wouldn't warrant it for trials use, but in all seriousness, how would they know what kinda riding app it was used in if taken off of the bike and sent back? There's nothing new about us having no warranties on our parts, there's nothing different here. As for the weigh, if you ever get the chance to hold one, you'll see WHY it weighs so much. There really isn't an economical way to get the weight down. The internals between the AM and FR version are the same, the only difference being in the arms. It's about as light as you can get it without sacrificing strength. It's about as simple as you're gonna get without using some boutique Ti or other metals to make it lighter. Think about the weight of a cable, der, shifter, and some good wide based cogs. Weight of all those combined is pretty close to the hammerschmidt, just distributed evenly across the bike. As for the whole front der thing, yeah, a 32 tooth chainring is a bit large and obtrusive. Not to mention, front derailleurs REALLY REALLY suck.

Yes, I've talked to SEVERAL truvativ reps about it, and we just had a clinic here at my shop. Nobody has broken the production version in the 6 years in has been in testing. This includes the All mountain version as well. If you've ever seen them apart, there is SIGNIFICANTLY more beef than what's found in even an I9 rear hub, and those have immense tensile strength. There really isn't any pawls, it's more like a ratchet that once it's switches gears, there is not engagement. There is A LOT of surface area, so the only thing that could break, would be the spring that causes the star to go from the lower gear ratio to the upper one. And there's not really anything that could cause it to break from a bash. The whole thing can be taken apart and put back together in 5 minutes. Which is usually faster or about as fast as taking apart a rear hub... Yes, it can fit a fat chain. I've ridden two set-up thus far, and I will tell you you can really feel the weight. The AM version is 1632 grams and the FR at 1940. Which is about twice as heavy as your average crank, i.e. the thing weighs 4-5 lbs. The weight, albeit you will probably get used to since it's dead weight in the CENTER of your bike, it's still noticeable. Imagine adding TWO POUNDS in weight to the BB area of your bike, and that's what it feels like. Otherwise, it's super solid and nice to be able to switch gears while in a stop without having to flick up the back wheel or pedal a bit. I would say it's right at home on that frame. You could have a skate park/commuter gear, and a trials gear. And since 24's aren't usually victims of "lowest weight at all costs", it would be awesome to have...I smell a possible trading of an Inspired for that frame in my near future,.

About time somebody put ISCG mounts on a trials frame. Would make for nice use of having a STREET gear and a TRIALS gear.

I had rhynolites and they're a great rim. I was running dual Rhynolites, and still have the one on the front. Problem is, they're not very wide. The DX32 is nice, and the standard, but it's a bit piggy. My rim? I have an Odyssey Hazzard Lite 24". Wide, LIGHT, and LOADS LOADS stiffer than both. Nice hard AL, so it holds a grind a good amount of time. Has a tall sidewall, ALMOST 3 times the width of a Vbrake pad, so technically, you can grind ONCE and use it three times before having to regrind. And it being a BMX rim, it's sidewalls are also thicker than most, as it's designed to hold high psi tires. Which = more grinds. I don't think I'll ever be riding anything else as it's that good.

What's the likelihood of being able to get that frame (i.e. will it ever go into production?). may be nice for us stateside peoples to have a nice mainstream company frame. Haro Lifetime warranty like Giant had on theirs would also be awesome.

Wrong, King BMXs are mod spacing, which is 110mm, just like a BMX. 116 is some shitty interface that only Deng and the crappy trials frames tried to introduce. yes, just swapping the axle out will work, everything else is the same IF you have the SS King, not the cassette version

Should have elaborated. I don't do a drag down the bridge. I do do short hard bursts to scrape the pad/rotor. Haven't gotten the chance to go out again. It's 37 degrees here. I think I'm gonna move to Florida where it's warm...oh shit, I'm already f**king here. This weather sucks.

Well, I think I was just more frustrated with it not locking up at all. I will OCCASIONALLY take it for an urban ride and a brake not holding wouldn't make the ride all that fun... I did the water trick the first time. I'll do it again and see if it does the trick. The descent is about .5 miles and a pretty steep grade, so usually one pass does it. There isn't really shit online about the different pad types other than composition, nothing really about performance comparing the two/three.