Swoofty

That might be a pretty good analogy, Ali. BMX racing and freestyle are two very different sports now. Those bikes have completely diverged too and the poor flatland guys are lonelier than the artistic cycle folks. At least for now you can still take a comp trials bike and have a fun street session or enter a street trials bike in a trials comp and not be completely out of place.

When exactly was the high water mark for trials? Being in the US, I have a skewed view of the sports popularity. I've heard it was around the mid 2000s, but I wasn't into trials then. April 09 compelled me to buy my first trials bike (street trials anyway), but I'd seen probably all of Ryan Leech's videos up to that point too. Mid 2000s seems to be about the time street and comp really split, but don't quote me on that. I received some of that 'Danny bandwagon' hate early on and at the time I didn't really understand it. Now I've owned numerous comp bikes and entered trials comps, but I still prefer my street rigs. Like Ben said, in the 13 years I've been doing this, I've only seen trials dwindle. Danny's not even sposored by a trials company anymore is he?

Just in case the Koozer is not up to the task, I also purchased a TMS single speed hub. I've never used one, but I guess they come on many TMS bikes. I can get them for $160 so they're cheaper than a Hope, but only come in black. It's gonna go on the back of my Marino.

I had 2 good rides on the new cheap build this weekend and the Koozer didn't miss a beat. Saturday's ride, the brakes where still bedding in, but Sunday was full throttle. The Bucklos pedals are really growing on me and the Magura MT brakes are remarkably good. $57 hub, $35 brake and $25 pedals, so far so good!

Berd offers a dye kit now so you can have more than white or black spokes. It only works with their white spokes so I'm out of luck, but it's a start.

Those do look exactly the same. They also run $25 on ebay. The alu KRSEC looks interesting too.

I definitely wouldn't trade in my HT ME03 pedals for these, but they feel surprisingly good. They could do with a bit more concave, but they are at least concave. For now the pins are new and sharp so they're very grippy. The platform is also slightly larger than my HTs. I learned a while back that you can make your shoes last longer by changing pedals with a different pin configuration so it eats away a new part of your sole. For that, these compliment my HTs very well.

How about cheap pedals? Bucklos are the undisputed kings of cheap suspension forks so I'll try there pedals too. Nylon body, steel axle and removable pins. $25 and the weights not bad.

I mentioned the endcaps earlier because I've had one of my I9 hubs do the axle musical chairs a few times. It's gone from 10mm to bolt-on and back to 10mm and I noticed that the endcaps are not the same for each application and are different left to right (at least i think). When my axle broke (10mm version), they sent me a new axle and new endcaps, but the new endcaps had the binding problem that you mentioned. I noticed it right away and switched the dodgy one for my old one that fit perfectly. As far as I can tell, the endcaps have no identifying marks on them to tell which axle/configuration they belong to. I have a feeling they might get mixed up at I9 occasionally as well. I'm still very pleased with my I9s despite the hiccups.

I'll admit I've looked at carbon forks on ebay, but I guess that's where I draw the line. The best was when I had an actual trials carbon fork for for sale on ebay and buyers kept asking why it was so expensive compared to cheap chinese carbon forks. That's just testing I'm not willing to do.

The car forums love to savage the "cheap chinese ebay parts," but every once in a while there's a diamond in the rough. I'll start this thread off with my latest experiment; the Koozer rear hub. I've owned numerous Hope single speed hubs over the years and I currently have 3 I9 Hydra single speed hubs and a Profile Elite single speed hub so I do like the good stuff. BUT, sometimes $230 -$450 seems a little steep for a hub that's not going to live on an 'A' bike. So enter the $57 Koozer! It's got 72 clicks and it's not too porky. Will it hold up? Let's find out. The US distributor only had pink in stock and they only come 32h and quick release or 142 x12. The spokes for it are in the post, but I'll start abusing it as soon as it's built up. I want to hear about other cheap chinese finds out there; good or bad.

Hmmm, you seem to have most of the bases covered. Bearings would seem to be next on the list. My freehub side bearing was toasted only after the axle was broken, but I didn't realize it was the axle until after a new bearing. For the Hydra single speed hub, the bearings/kit you want is: TKMB03 TORCH - MTN - Rear Bearing Kit (1x61804, 1x61803, 1x61903, 1x31803) Hope that helps. I would definitely contact I9 before ordering because they've usually sent me what I need under warranty even after the warranty period was up. Don't take this the wrong way, but check your through axle; for tightness and tolerance - ie sometimes the through axle is tight, but there's still some room left between the frame and hub endcaps. Good Luck!

I've been riding the BERD nearly everyday and finally took it off to put it back on the truing stand. It was still true 'enough' but the tension was uniformly down again. I tightened it all back up, true and dish and went out for a sunset ride. Felt more like it should again. Adam and Ali, how long did yours 'stretch' before settling in?

Probably won't be good for us because it'll show the other brands that these bikes don't sell. That's only because this one is a bad example. The proportions are all wrong, the geo is way too mild and the colors make it look like a Jitsie knockoff. Danny's Santa Cruz would be a better candidate as a bike, but who knows; Fabio can move a lot of product...

I left Colorado 4 years earlier so never met that crew. I wouldn't meet Andy for 10 more years in Los Angeles, but he was very inspirational to my riding. He's in North Carolina now; he'll probably see this thread. Good find!

For cable disc brakes, the TRP Spyke is top notch. I haven't checked prices, but definitely not cheaper than a bb7. The drawback of cable discs for me is the strong return springs. Too much finger fatigue for the quick on-off usage in street trials. Still loving my MT5s all around; no complaints.

I have a Rohloff revolver 3 that's a true re-riveting tool, but $$$. I found this Oumers Chain Tool to be quite capable and very inexpensive (at least in the States). It's not a re-riveter, but it has quite a few good features for such a small tool.

I really dig those colors. It suits Duncan.

First ride was today! It continued to lose tension for about 5 days, but now it's been solid for 2 days so off for a ride. The wheel is an Extralite Hyper JF hub to a Light Bicycle Recon 33 28h rim. The wheel, minus rim tape, tyre, rotor and tube weighs in at 550g. I still need to weigh the wheel that came off because it was a waif as well. The first ride felt like a normal stiff front wheel. Psychologically I thought it felt lighter, but not night and day. I'm working on half cabs at the moment and today I was able to pull off more than usual and in both directions. Must be the wheel.

I have a 2010 or so Onza Zoot that lives in Germany for when I visit the inlaws. It needs a new FFW, but I can't remember if it's an ISIS BB or a square taper. Does anyone know/remember? I wanna get the parts before I go so I don't have to wait for the parts through the post. Thanks!

If you pose the same question on I9s website (service@industrynine.com) they'll get back to you quickly as well and usually with a link to the product page.

Well here goes nothing.... Very time consuming so far.

I try not to use the wrong style fork, but sometimes it's unavoidable. I've been running an adapter base cup on my Marino for a few months now with no adverse effects. I think it's fairly common.

Did you try contacting Magura about this? They have a 5 year warranty and they've always been easy to deal with for me.

Thanks for that. I've ordered one of the Hopes. Cheers