Target

What rear hub is that, and how have you fitted it into Crewkerz through axle dropouts?

I've had a 24" Triton with a very similar geo (1040, +50, 367), and that bike was really fun to ride. It was definitely more on a trials end of the spectrum. Compared to the Echo 24", it was a bit more bunny hop oriented because of the lower BB. It felt like a smaller version of an old school stock. If you've ever tried a 24" pure trials bike and loved it, and enjoy trying some street-trials stuff from time to time, I think you'd love the Jitsie 24".

Crewkerz 26" in size S, but it's a bit expensive. And it's always a good idea to borrow and try different bikes before buying something.

24" is great but unfortunately this wheel size is not as popular in trials as it was 5-7 years ago. So tyres, rims, frames, forks choice for 24" is quite limited. As for the Gu, it feels very long with 1075 wheelbase and 73 head angle, longer than some 26" bikes. I would suggest some short 26".

In theory, through axle for hub improves stiffness comparing to standard axle with bolts. But do you really feel the difference when you ride? What's your experience with Crewkerz or Clean through axle hubs?

I also find the pad play annoying. Racing Line aluminium backings solved the problem for me.

After twelve years on 24", I wanted to try a new wheel size. To make things more interesting and challenging, I decided to implement an idea I had been thinking about for a long time - going tubeless. Tubeless setup Getting punctures and snake bites is a pretty common thing in trials. I can recall some gaps and drops with sharp edges that I avoided doing because of the risk of a pinch flat. Meanwhile, a lot of mountain bikers ride tubeless setups with a sealant that repairs any punctures by itself, sounds like magic. There is also a cool thing called tyre inserts that is used in downhill and enduro to protect the rim and the tire when hitting some rocks, and to prevent the tire from ripping off the rim. Inspired by Ali C videos with tubeless setup on a street trials bike, I've decided to give it a try myself. Usually, an MTB rim is sealed for tubeless setup with an adhesive tape: Gorilla, Stans, Tyvek, etc. I've made several attempts to use Gorilla tape, watched a lot of manuals, all seemed nice and sealed, but all attempts failed: the air was leaking in different points around the rim cutouts. After reading mtb forums and especially fat bike forums, I found out that a lot of fat bikers have troubles with adhesive tape for tubeless setups too. Either it didn't work for them just after installing, or the setup failed after some period of time. Fatbike rims are very similar to trials rims: wide, single-layered, large cutouts for saving weight. It looks like adhesive tape doesn't stick well to them because of the cutouts: sealant and air sooner or later find their way between the tape and the rim, the leakage starts, and it doesn't seal by the sealant afterwards and only gets worse. It turned out there is only one reliable way to seal a non-tubeless ready rim with cutouts: so-called "ghetto tubeless" when a tube is cut around and stretched over the rim, so that all the rim cutouts are sealed, and then the excess material is cut after the tire sits in place. Also, there is a modern variation of this method - a latex strip and a tubeless valve are used instead of a cut tube (the "Fatty Stripper" solution). So, in order to seal the rim, I've used a TPE (similar to latex) strip about 0.5 mm thick on top of normal rim tape, and it worked perfectly: the setup sealed instantly. As for the valves, I've used some Presta valves cut from old Schwalbe tubes. There’s one really cool thing that became popular in recent years in the mountain biking world: tyre inserts. It gives a lot of benefits with practically no drawbacks: - Protects the tyre so the rim cannot cut through the tyre when the wheel hits some sharp edge - Protects the rim from impacts - Prevents the tire to be blown off from the rim - Makes pumping a tubeless tyre and sitting it to the bead much easier even with a small pump The only disadvantages I can think of are: - Additional weight - Inserts may be difficult to install As one can imagine, there are not so many tyre inserts available for wide 20" rims. So I've used a DIY solution that seems to be popular, more or less reliable and customizable for any rim size - backer rods. It's a cord made of closed cell polyethylene foam. It feels dense, much more dense than a pipe insulation or a yoga mat, but less dense than some heavy duty tyre inserts like Cushcore. A nice thing about tubeless is that punctures are fixed with the sealant from the tire, so you have nothing to worry about and might not even notice that you had a puncture. I've used around 60 ml of Stans sealant for each wheel. The weight of my tubeless setup is basically the same as with the tubes. For example, for the front wheel: the latex strip is 25 g, the tyre insert is 30, a valve is 7, and a reasonable amount of sealant could vary from 30 to 80 g. That sums up to 90-140 g for tubeless setup, while 20" tubes weigh 100-150 g. The only advantage of the tubeless setup for trials supposed to be forgetting about snake bites. So I'm going to test it properly on different kinds of obstacles and see if it really works. Some photos of the process A rim with a normal rim tape that is necessary to protect the latex strip Heat bonding the TPE strip edges Stretching TPE strip over the rim, making a nice sealed surface Tire insert is made of a backer rod cut in half. This is how it supposed to seat over the rim to hold tyre beads and to prevent tyre/rim damaging One bead of the tyre is installed, it's time to install the insert. The insert diameter is smaller than the wheel diameter, so that the insert sits tight and holds the tire. Second bead is installed. It's better to use some soapy water when doing this. Adding some sealant through the valve Pumping the wheel. Sealant starts to seal the leaks. After some period of time, all the leaks are sealed. Now it's time to cut the excess strip. Bike The idea was to get a functional and lightweight 20" bike for cheap, in order to try this wheel size. Also, I wanted to be able to get a truly top-spec mod in the future by changing a few components in case I stuck to 20" size. That's why here you can see a weird combination of a heavily used frame with a rewelded disc mount, chainstays grinded because of failed sidehops, and lots of dents, cheap heavy spokes, used alu fork, and in the meantime expensive handlebar, brakes, and a front hub. Spec Frame and fork - Frame: Born Sun, painted black, bashguard mount removed - Fork: Echo SL Front wheel - Rim: Hashtagg - Tyre: Jitsie Reverz - Hub: Jitsie Race Disc - Spokes: Sapim Leader - Nipples: Sapim 14 mm alu Rear wheel - Rim: Hashtagg - Tyre: Clean Koala - Hub: Echo SL 116 - Spokes: Sapim Leader - Nipples: Sapim 14 mm alu Brakes - Brakes: Hope Trial Zone - Pads: Jitsie - Rotors: Hope V2 160 mm Drivetrain - Cranks: Echo TR - Freewheel: Jitsie 108.9 - Bashring: Trialtech Sport Lite - Chain: KMC X9-73 - Rear Sprocket: Echo splined steel 12T - Pedals: Trialtech Jack Carthy - Bottom bracket: Trialtech Sport Lite - BB bolts: Ti M15 Steering - Stem: WAW Ultimate 155 mm, painted black, re-anodized bar clamp and top cap, ti bolts - Grips: Pro bar tape - Handlebar: Clean Carbon K1.2 690 mm - Headset: Born Weight: 7.26 kg Geometry: Wheelbase: 1008 mm Chainstay length: 350 mm BB rise: 85 mm

Looks really cool! It would be really nice to see some photos on some less colourful background. What is the weight?

Switching from 90 mm rise to 110 mm rise will definitely affect your riding, but how exactly - it really depends on the angle of your bar (do you set it vertically or roll forward?), and on your riding style. But I highly recommend to try 110 mm rise. If you like newschool front wheel moves - you will love it. Worst case scenario - you'll sell the handlebar.

Does anybody have any experience with these tires? Which of them is the best in terms of: - traction (on dry and wet surfaces) - snake bite resistance

Crewkerz through-axle disk hub is definitely heavy, but there are some major pluses: more rigid front and simplicity of the installation. Personally, I'm a big fan of light components, but I'm considering Crewkerz through-axle setup. Also, I think that in the next few years we will see through axle hubs from other companies as well.

You can probably ask Echo dealer in your region if he can order the fork from Echo. There are also Extension carbon forks for street trials, but they are heavier than pure trials carbon forks.

Nowadays, 20" bikes usually have disc rear brakes, and 26" bikes have rim rear brakes. So what is the best type of a rear brake for a 24" trials bike, rim or disc? There was only one way to find out... About rear disc brake: (I have been riding rear rim brake on 24" since 2008, so I compare mostly with the rim brake setup) Disc brakes are standard for 24" in street trials, but pure trials is a very different thing. When it comes to disc brakes in trials, one of the first things that comes to mind is the flex between rim and rotor. It feels terrible if the flex is significant. I tried to make the flex as little as possible: stronger spokes, maximal spoke tension, hub where disc mount connects directly to the flange, strong symmetric rotor, no adapters. The result is pretty satisfying. There is some flex, but not much, about a few mm. The tyre deformation feels much more significant than that much of a flex. A real advantage of this setup is much more controllable breaking than with the rim brake, that does really affect riding, and in a good way. The hold is a bit better with a disc than on my previous rim setup. I also like that hold doesn't get worse in dusty/wet conditions, which was the issue with the rim brake. Not sure yet which setup I like more, disc or rim. But at least disc setup seems to be a working option for me, not just an experiment. About the frame: 1075 mm - it's really long for a 24" bike, 20 mm longer than my previous Echo 24". Gaps and pedal ups are easier on the new frame, but switches have become much more difficult. There are a lot of situations in trials when you carry the bike by the top tube. It's much more comfortable to hold the top tube without the hose outside. That's why internal routing was a must. So I had to cut hose holders from the frame, and put some stickers on the place. Spec: Frame and fork - Frame: Gu 24" 2019 (made internal hose routing, cut some holes on the bottom bracket tube to reduce weight) - Fork: Rockman Carbon 24" 4-bolt Front wheel - Rim: Neon Single 35 mm - Tyre: Schwalbe Rocket Ron 24"х2.1 - Tube: Schwalbe 7C - Hub: Verzin SL - Spokes: Sapim Laser 2.0-1.5-2.0 - Nipples: DT Alu Rear wheel - Rim: Neon Single 47 mm - Tyre: Schwalbe Fat Albert Rear 24"х2.4 - Tube: Schwalbe 7C - Hub: Jitsie Race 135 disc - Spokes: Sapim Race 2.0-1.8-2.0 - Nipples: DT Alu Front brake - Lever: Trialtech Jack Carthy - Slave cylinders: Echo TR - Pads: TNN Belaey with Racing Line alu backings - Racing Line alu fittings and grub screws - Clamps: Echo TR with Ti bolts Rear brake - Brake: Hope Trial Zone - Pads: Jitsie - Rotor: Hope V2 180 mm Drivetrain - Cranks: Born CNC 2012 162 mm - Freewheel: Jitsie 108.9 - Bashring: Trialtech Sport Lite - Chain: KMC X9-73 - Rear Sprocket: Jitsie Alu 14T - Pedals: Trialtech Jack Carthy - Bottom bracket: Echo Urban Ti - BB bolts: Ti M15 Steering - Stem: Neon Wing 150х30 with Ti-bolts - Grips: Pro bar tape - Handlebar: Clean Carbon K1.2 690 mm - Headset: Echo tapered Weight: 6.97 kg Geometry: Wheelbase: 1075 mm Chainstay length: 368 mm BB rise: 75 mm Head angle: 73°

I also have the same question, but as far as I know Rockman doesn't produce them anymore. And I wasn't able to find this fork for sale anywhere on the internet. It looks like you have only 2 options: 26" carbon fork (Echo or Crewkerz), or aluminium 4-bolt fork.

How have you managed to change the color of all anodized parts? Is it just paint, or it's re-anodizing?

Don't look for opinions on the colour, build the bike the way you like! Personally, I love the frame colour (maybe because my frame is also orange anodised). I'd get rid of the red rockring though.

I guess it's time for a little update. The frame has finally cracked in the headtube area, between the bottom tube gusset and the headtube. We decided to remove the gusset and material with the crack, and make a carbon patch. It was just an experiment, but it went quite well. This happened in September, and the fix is still holding fine. I thought the adhesion between carbon and aluminium would be an issue, but it is holding surprisingly strong. Now I have a new frame waiting to be built, so I do a lot of static hooks on this old one to find out how long this fix gonna last

The rotor mount on the hub is what concerns me. It is built to handle braking in cross-country, and forces when you do pedal up to front are much higher than that. But Extralight makes high quality products, so maybe it will be fine. Sounds interesting anyway. Will it be 24" or 26" wheel?

I made PU clamps of a piece of polyurethane, it was polyurethane for shoe repairing that I bought years ago for making brake pads. The guide is made from alu tube and 1.8 mm spoke centered in the tube with grub screws. I don't have any guide, but I can send you some drawings if you want.

Have you ever torn the brake hose or broken the fitting while riding? I have, and a few times. One time it happened during competitions. I don't know how I managed to press the fitting using bare hands, a pedal and a lighter, but after that I decided to build this tool.

I never liked the idea of installing rim brake fittings to the brake hose using a vise and a hammer. It would be so much easier to have something similar to the chain tool, that can press the fitting into the hose. Also, you don't always have vice and hammer with you The are some tools on the market for installing disk brake fittings, but they don't seem to be compatible with magura rim brake fittings. I found only one tool for installing rim brake fittings, but it is designed for usage in workshops, therefore it is large and expensive. So I decided to build the tool myself, and make it in a portable, pocket size, so I can put it with a bleed kit and a bottle of fluid, and have it with me just in case. Quite satisfied with the result, the tool works really nice. Using it is pretty simple. At first, you put the fitting with the guide into the hose Then, you install the hose with the guide into the tool And fix the hose in PU clamps of the tool using allen key Now it's time to start pressing the fitting into the hose The fitting goes into the hose really smooth, no extra efforts needed And it's done!

I'm using Echo frame without a booster, and it does flex. A booster could help. However, on the front I use Rockman carbon fork, and the front brake feels very solid and stiff, but front brake performance is also poor. That's why I don't think the flex is a main cause of a bad hold.

Hi there. I've been using Neon single wall rims for 2 years, and still can't find brake pads that works properly with them. I've tried TNN LGM, TNN Belaey, Rockman Blue pads, tried light and medium grind (tried different grind angles 30-70 degrees, normally it was 45 degrees, and i'm sure the grind was sharp), tried to re-install and adjust brake cylinders many times (pads are parallel to the rim surfaces, and the setup looks fine), tried to rub down the pads so that they are perfectly fitted to the rim surfaces (because rim surfaces are not parallel to each other). The problem is, the brakes don't hold well, even on a fresh grind. They work fine only with a tar, but it wears out quickly, and doesn't work in the wet. My current setup is: Echo TR brakes, Neon single wall rims, Echo TR clamps, TNN Belaey on the front and TNN LGM with Racing Line alu backings on the rear. Why is the brake perfomance so poor? What pads are you using with Neon single wall rims?

Hi guys, Just want to tell you how the bike holds up after 2 years of riding. Overall, the bike is fine, and I haven’t broken most important parts. Here’s what I’ve broken or changed: Echo Ti freewheel. Have broken 2 of them. Switched to Jitsie 108 recently. KMC Z610 HX chain. I change them every 6 months. Thinking about going to 9-sp XC chain since it works fine for plenty of good Spanish riders. Schwalbe tubes. Have changed about 8 of them. I haven’t noticed significant difference between 100 gr, 130 gr and 170 gr versions. Brake pads. Switched to TNN LGM on the back and Belaye on the front with Racing Line backings. I can’t say I’m satisfied. Holding is not that great even on a fresh grind! I have to use tar. Maybe it is because of the material of Neon rims? I’m going to try TNN ADM. Maybe holding will be better with Jitsie rims? Echo brake levers. As expected, they started to leak. I’ve changed cylinders and bleeded the brakes with Trialtech fluid. New cylinders also started to leak, but with Trialtech fluid you don’t have those terrible smudging stains as with oil. I just add a bit of fluid once a month, that’s all. Racing Line Alu brake fittings. Have broken 2 of them when crashing on rocks. What I still use and don’t like: Schwalbe Rocket Ron and Fat Albert tyres. They are slippery, especially on wet surfaces. Also, it’s easy to get pinch flats when riding on sharp rocks. However, they are fine for street spots and dry roundish rocks. Unfortunately, there are very few 24” tyre options. The weight of the bike is 6.59 kg at the moment. I ride about 2 times per week and do all the stuff I want including hookups and all kinds of wedgings and switches. Riding is so much fun when your bike is light and controllable, really love it!

I've protected aluminium threads by covering them with silicone sealant. It worked perfectly.