Jonalong

My 2 cents!..... I think the easiest way to learn is to.... Ride along at a slowish pace and do an endo , then as you bring your weight back to bring the back wheel down, keep that momentum going to lift the front wheel up - as you do this you should try and jump straight into your first hop - then once you are up just practice to keep the hopping going! Its best if you keep the momentum of rocking back and forwards to do your first hop, instead of immediately trying to balance on the rear wheel and then hop - go straight into the hop! you will probably only be able to do 2 or 3 hops for ages (like me) but you will get it in the end!! Just watch videos on youtube and really think about what you are doing and you will get it! Dont give up!! (hopefully that at least kind of makes sense!!) This is a vid of me practising I posted up a couple of months ago when i first started trials - you should be able to see the (newbie) technique i am using which should help you to get started http://www.trials-forum.co.uk/topic/173517-another-newbie/page__p__2404671#entry2404671 Jon

Just a quicky... I have a brand new set of these ... http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fit-bike-co/shiv-ii-fork-ec019443 Will they fit on this??? I'm just curious!! If so I may give it a go! Cheers Jon

Thanks mate, I agree! Its been a great little bike so far, I will upgrade soon, will probably wait till this one breaks first though! I'm not sure really, i think i bigger bike would definitely suit me better than a mod! As for the progression, i have always messing about on bikes for years, and watching loads of videos on youtube helped! thanks though

Great vid! Some really nice riding there! I was over at Portland a few weeks ago with a couple of mates on our mountain bikes, an old couple walked past us and the (must have been 80-90!) old lady said "oh your not the ones without any saddles are you?!" To which I responded, nah we aren't that mad!!! ..... One week later my bike got stolen and i signed up to a trials forum and started trials biking. haha, the irony :$

Ok mate, thanks for the advice! Yeah I'm loving riding trials! Always been a dream and now its turning into reality I might give that a go, i suppose it depends on whether i should change it when i get a new stem!

An update: I've had the bike for a couple of days now, and nothing has broken so far! Think I got quite a good little buy, the bike is in great nick, only looks like its been ridden a few times, and spent the rest of its life in a shed, brakes work well and pads are still pretty good There is play in the headset, I think I will probably get a new one, any suggestions? A better pic... Someone mentioned about getting a high rise stem and bars.... I cant see where exactly to measure my stem, but I think it is a 160mm one, can you see in the pic below if that looks about right? Can anyone advise on what size fitment mine will be, and what size I should be thinking about increasing it to, as I think and extra size to the bike would definitely benefit me as I am a lanky f*cker! A pic of the stem... My mate recorded a clip of me riding this morning when we were out, I'm pretty happy with my progress so far a I only started trials a few days ago and have only been out a couple of times! ...My back, shoulders and hands have taken a bit of a bashing! Nothing spectacular in the vid! Any advice greatly appreciated Jon

Thanks again guys, do you have any more info on the Echo mate? Pics or anything? I've noticed you are from Lancashire though which is a bit of a trek! Ok, ill try and avoid a low end Onza if that's the case, glad I came on here for a look first! Cheers Jon

Nice one for the excellent reply mate, I've had a chance to look at your links now too and they have really sorted me out! Much more confident about getting a 20" now. That bike in the second link has sold now! Dammit, must have been a good'un! I'll keep searching, You'll probably see me posting in the injury thread as soon as I get my hands on one! Once again, Cheers Jon

Hey guys, my mountain/dh bike was stolen recently, and has given me a kick up the A$$ to get myself into trails biking! I'm now in search of a cheapo first bike until I have proven to myself that its something I'm going to be able to do long term! Theres a fair few on ebay... any tips on anything I should be looking for? Will I be able to get a proper feel for trails biking with something like this? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180857014720?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_500wt_1286 or this? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220998517968?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_500wt_1286 I'm 6'3" so is there any reason for me to go for a 20" or 26" or in the middle? I cant seem to find a huge amount of advice on the web, and this forum looks good, so any advise is greatly appreciated! Is there anything different maintenance-wise to what I would be used to with a full sus bike?? (except for a significant lack of parts!!) Many thanks! Jon