Daviesdt

Mmm, never posted a bike before, would have to look at postage if you are serious. Can let it go for £200, can sort photos in due course and get spec but let me sort out a new bike first! Be in touch.

If you wait a few weeks you can have my 2012 inspired element as looking to up grade!

Fair enough, those will be in tapped holes then so ignore everything I have said about washers. Have you replaced the chain ring or undone it a few times? May be best to get a complete set and replace the lot if one has worked loose. Look up manufacturers recommendations about torque settings for the bolts and use a torque wrench to put them on again. May also be best to put a bit of copper grease or Molly paste on the thread before putting them on, it'll help overcome some of the friction on the threads when tightening so you actually preload the bolt and will prevent them rusting tight incase you ever want to get them off again. Don't overtighten though, if you strip the internal threads on the ring you have to replace.

Or use some Nord lock washers, they are very good at stopping bolt self loosening in my experience but only tend to be available for larger bolt diameters......

In my experience putting some kind of gunk on a bolt thread doesn't actually stop the tension coming off the bolt, it'll stop the nut unwinding fully and dropping off but not keep the bolt tight. Only real way to stop bolts coming loose is to properly preload them (torque them up). Bolts can only be undone 2 or 3 times before the threads smooth off and they done bite as well together and then no amount of preload will keep them tight, you usually have to change them at this point, or at least that's what the likes of F1 teams do.

.....that..... The shirt......the f**king t shirt....... (Shudders)

The thing I found with the stock is it acted as a stepping stone for me, always wanted to aim for the street trials but was struggling to progress from scratch, couldn't figure out back wheel balance point most of all and crawling Around was hard. Had the stock which eased me into things to the point where I have recently got back on the inspired and while not brilliant, things are making way more sense and starting to come along. I actually find that the inspired is making trials on my full suss make sense, ok, not exact Danny and wee day out making sense but I can stand my MTB up on the back wheel now and hop around a bit, manuals too on my MTB. That was one of the reasons I started trials was to get better at mtb but as a side effect, I actually really like riding trials now! I agree at some point you have to just pick one and train it but in terms of early development if one bike is easier to do something on than the other, learn it on that bike then transfer it to the other when you understand it better. It's all small steps I guess, especially at the beginning.

But in the meantime you figured out which bike and style of riding was right for you.

Nicely put, now can we get back to the smut and innuendo please?

I see what you did there... nice.....

Riding trials isn't a sign of a mid life crisis, wearing spandex and riding road is though. Trash Zen is the other good starting point. Learn to track stand first in my opinion. Think the video link Isitafox posted up above is actually on the forum somewhere, should definately be available to view on youtube.

And here was me just going to admire the trials potential of Lee and craggy quarries....!

Battleship. Definitely! Think my full suss is same weight as my inspired and it's a much bigger bike, which kinda shows how tough inspired bikes are, found it hard to learn on as a result though which is why I got an echo 24. That thing is feather light. Getting used to the element now though, think when the new four play comes out may be time to upgrade.

I like the tank remark about your four play, that's pretty much how i regard my element! Damn good bike though! Couldn't bend it if i tried!

@Ross McArthur for real? That's interesting news. Don't live far from the 'home of British cycling', though it's mostly just set up for the Spandex wearing roadies with some BMX and MTB bolted on the side. Have you heard anything specific about what they might be doing or did you hear it from a man in the pub whose mate once knew a guy who mopped the toilets at the velodrome!?

Don't think there is enough of it around for it to be accessible to general riders who'd be willing to give it a go, most folks get into mtb, BMX, or even road riding (shudders......), Not trials cos where'd you see it in this country? Seems to be a big scene in Scotland as seems to be enough riders to get something going, round my way, not so much. Think it needs more things like the red bull Street light sessions to get going or for British cycling to adopt it (be surprised if that happens) to get it going where people can try out a bike and sample some basic skills. Till then it's always going to be niche. Think you just gotta get on your bike and ride for yourself, if you are lucky enough to have a group then so much the better.

I can't get up and over that concrete block with the flags on....... Something i still have my eye on. Nice vids, nice riding. Finally got my bike back out last night and went the quays, felt like ages since i been out, rusty ain't the word.

Yeah, grind the rear rim. I have an echo mk 4 with the TR rim brake but on a smooth rim, most of my riding was last year was during summer months so was fine but started getting a bit wet, looped out a few times and the echo has been sat in the garage since. I need to grind it but have been a bit lazy as i have an element 24 too so been using that while its wet. If you are getting the echo but plan on doing natural trials you might want to think about tyre choice, my echo came with holy rollers which are great for street type stuff with sharp edges, find they dont grip so great on logs and rocks etc. The echo is a good bike bike the way, seriously light and geometry that allows back wheel stuff to become very easy. I find the stem length on mine a bit long to do front to back wheel swaps on though so on the look out for a new shorter and steeper stem to go with my old creaky stiff back but hey, thats getting old for you. I cant comment on the echo pure, never had a go of one. as for 26 versus 24, not sure really. Had a go of a 26 pure trials and opted for the 24 as felt a bit more agile, bit easier to stand up but didnt want a mod as they look a bit weird in my opinion. The 24 inch gets around just fine for what i want to do with it.

@niconjthat must be a killer on the climbs!

@niconj that sombre single star, there is no derailleur on it, is that a fixed gear MTB? Hows that work then!?

Rolling to Dr Dre, nice!

Sweet. Look forward to a few trials vids from Sam then.

@DeersSlayer I have 4 bikes and eyeing up a fifth, it's driving the missus crazy. The ideal number of bikes is one more than you currently have but one less than that which results in divorce

It was definitely more 'bike' than pogo stick wasn't it?

I've got an echo 24 inch and an inspired element, I find I chop and change between the two depending on my mood, right now it's all about about the street trials. I've found the street trials converts more readily back to MTB than the echo as position for riding and the body movements are more similar. This is something that I definitely want out of trials is more ability and control on my stumpjumper on tech stuff and lines. That said, I have found learning some skills on the echo a little easier as it is just built for things like back wheel hops. All in all the street trials I think will get you further with generic riding skills whilst the echo will suit static stuff better. All personal choice really but don't think you have made a mistake with the flow, give it time. However, everyone has room for more bikes in their life surely...!?