PeterH

Following up, got mine this weekend and have only worn them chasing my daughter around the block and to the store, but they feel noticeably stiffer out of the box. Sole feels grippy as ever and I think they'll be good for trail riding but not as much trials. Also driving a car with a soft clutch spring and these new stiff shoes was a bit of a guessing game, but I got it sorted.

I just ordered a pair too because REI is closing them out as they are discontinued. That said I plan on just using them for MTB, have other Freeriders (not the ocean plastic ones) and find them just a bit stiffer than I like for trials. For me the old skate shoes they made (blanking on the model) were amazing, soft once broken in. Now that they have more of a BMX presence I wonder if better stuff is on the way.

Looks like Kenny has some "prototype" greys for Halloween...

That trials will never get you (or anybody else) laid... Seriously though to keep your momentum/hopping going up and forward. So many times we try and stick things nice and clean when if I just kept hopping forward it wouldn't look as good but you'd stay on whatever you are trying to.

Looks great Robbie! Love the cranks and seat colors next to the blue (I have a similar themed bmx). Did you just work with Reeb or go through the Big Lenowski to make the connection? Its super cool. You doing shows and such full time these days?

I haven't done this in a long time (oh OTN and all the mechanical engineers that had to take one metals class in college/Uni). But as a metals guy I have to chime in here in a way that will likely have no effect on the original issue. Work hardening is indeed rather pronounced it stainless steels and does some fun things to them (try taking a magnet the bend in the spoke vs the straight area, depending on alloy and how much work was done some interesting changes can happen...), but in the case of spokes in service it is not an issue. Work hardening requires plastic deformation (aka when you bend something to the point it does not bend back). So that can certainly happen during wheel building, but should not happen during normal use, unless you bash the spokes hard enough to bend them, but then you are looking for surface defects like the notches and grooves as mentioned. Fatigue is an issue from use, but in my experience with more than a few spokes breaking it once again has to do with scratches and the like on the spokes and going from there or some quality issues around the bend, but not work hardening. Ok I'll stop now, but this kind of stuff really is in my wheelhouse (pun very much intended).

I really appreciate that your "streety" stuff always has a little something unique to give it a very trials flavor, rather than just the hack wannabe bmx on 26" (or larger) that some folks do.

I love how the pinkbike headline (and your bit) makes it sound like the pole hit him. Unless someone pulled it back and let it go (which would be awesome) I think we need a little more victim blaming on this one.

Are you sometimes on a 19" and sometimes a 20" rear? If so why? Just curious

That switch static hook thing was pretty awesome. Pretty stupid, but pretty awesome too.

They wont, but the trails will be more full of people that in my humble opinion have not earned their way down the descents. I imagine the level of dumbassery will increase if anyone can power their way into difficult terrain that used to take a lot more effort. I certainly have not, but I fail to see how the "innovation" of doing something difficult up a crappy chute of rocks is more amazing than watching him dice apart other areas that normal folks could at least try. Watching him "wheel switch" to pedal on a bike that is heavier because it has a motor and battery is certainly not part of the everything that needs changing.

This made me sad. I have been told by folks in the industry e-bikes are the future no matter what you think of them and its unavoidable, but it pisses me off. One of the great things about Akrigg is he was already an e-bike in a way, the way he managed to keep pedaling and applying power on any bike was mind blowing. I'll admit the e-bike seems to amplify that which is wild, but he did it so well on his own. Riding up those stream bed/boulder chutes was impressive because it happened, but I would much rather see him on just super tech trails powering his own way up/through things. The guy will always be someone I look up to and I know you gotta make a buck and its where the industry is going, but I died a little when I saw this.

This feels like a no brainer, Tarty should float you one of the trialtech levers (which have been great for me) and they should do one of those "worlds most interesting man" adds: Flipp doesn't often ride brakes, but when he does its Trialtech from Tarty. And then everyone gets rich.

Thanks Cap, that's pretty much where I'm at, it held for a short ride yesterday with a little higher pressure, so that was a plus.

Having a weird problem and wondering if others have dealt with it and come up with solutions. I have a Monty Pro Race V1 (no orange graphics) rear tire on my mod (Clean rim) and on my last two rides the bead has come off mid ride shutting me down. Thankfully the tube didn't pop, but its not much fun to have to deflate the thing quickly and then re-inflate (especially the spot I rode to and didn't have a pump). The tire is a couple years old and has a wire bead and there looks to be a little kink in it, I'm guessing that is the main problem. I had a similar problem with an OG monty tire way back in the day on my GT mod for anyone that knows what that was, and the wire broke and eventually was coming out of the tire, in that case I had to just get a new tire as I couldn't make it work at all. This time I seem to be able to get a short ride out of it before it goes again. Anyone else dealt with this and have suggestions? I know small batch trials companies are not known for quality control and tolerances and might just be too mush slop, but given I can't get another pro race right now I'm looking for something to help. I've considered other tire seating tricks like soapy water and 80 psi, but am worried that will blow the thing apart. Thought about putting some tape on the rim and then removing it so not to build bulk, but just leave a sticky residue. Or putting some glue on the bead to build up a little more of a ledge to hook into the rim. Thoughts or suggestions?

Are we talking mod or stock here? Ali has the big wheels covered, I'll say what I know about the little. I bought a new mod and it came with koalas, the front is just fine, a little rounder of a profile that I was used to, but seems very good all in all. I was not at all satisfied with the koala on the rear, just too flimsy of a sidewall for me. Background I ride both stock and mod and just came back to mod after a good stint of primarily stock with a Der kaiser on there, so a stable tire is very important to me. The koala had really good bounce, but I found at the pressure I wanted for the bounce and grip it would fold rather abruptly on angled stuff. So I tried a Jitsie next and found it to be better. Not groundbreaking, but just a little more stable. I still had to run more pressure than I liked. I ended up going back to a fairly worn Monty because it is the most stable of the modern mod tires I have found and wish Tarty could get there hands on more. When it finally starts being too slick (when fall and wetness returns) I'll go back to the Jitsie for traction and just run a lot of pressure. The koala is for emergency use only in my opinion, but it depends on your riding style, like everything else.

What part of western NC? I love it there and if the world cooperates hope to visit a cousin in Boone next summer.

I am doing well Tonkery, and riding about as well as I have in a long time. That is indeed my daughter in the background, what a far cry from OTN this is in that I can put this pic up of her and not fear horrible responses. I think she was just a year or two old the last time we hung out.

Certainly not the UK, but here's a quick edit I made over the weekend in the Pacific Northwest. I was short on time to get clips so they are a lot less polished than I would like, but I think you get the idea of what a wild area it is for trials.

The old Montys had silly little notches cut in them that were stress risers and lead to lots of cracking, eventually the try-alls would do similar things. That said looks like pad contact is a little high, is that a 200 and it should be a 203 or something?

Different setup up but there are enough bar to hangfives in here to keep one busy. The fakie, 360, and skinny version are pretty interesting:

I've definitely lost a couple before and still ran it. Didn't mess things up too much, but in theory there could be a little more slop which would cause slightly faster wear and skipping/failure sooner. It might be too late, but tips I have learned are do freewheel work in a box (shoebox works great) and have a magnet there to catch them. If you have another freewheel that is dead you can steal from it, or the balls should be cheap at a hardware store (if you can go to one these days).

First the on topic part. Grips and pedals are the only rider contact points on a trials bike so they really matter (along with shoes and gloves if you use them). That said grips are a personal preference, some folks like big squishy grips, some like thin hard, some foam, some grip tape, some lock on some regular rubber. What you need to do is try some out. As far as things to change go they are pretty cheap. Try one kind for a bit, then try another. My preferences have changed over time and probably will continue to do so. Now to the less on topic part which aener was getting at. In today's day and age it seems to me lots of newer folks think they need the EXACT right part to be able to ride. I would like to thank the mountain bike marketing world for this philosophy, but it is also human nature. We are gear dorks. So someone posts a thread about "which chain is best for their stem length for 1/4 pedal ups starting on mild uphill approaches?" and get some answers. And then some old timer like myself grouchily says "back in my day we rode bmx motorcycles with seized engines and tires made from old bricks and did just fine thank you very much" which doesn't help either. One thing will help progression more than anything else. Ride your bike. Ride it with the wrong parts, ride it with the right parts. Ride it with a fox, ride it in a box. Just put the time in. Yes you can get all the right stuff and that will help, but not as much as just riding and trying different things and then doing it again.

Mark is right, don't meet your heros/dream frames. I finally got a Crescent and it was perfect, but couldn't hold a candle to a modern bike. Sold it for a loss not that long ago. That said the Bianchi colorway always blew me away And I was fortunate to own one of these (but with real tires) and it rode as good as it looked: