Maintenance Justice

Fair point. I do run a tubeless insert on the mtb and it's made a world of difference, I guess if you're popping tubes every other day this would be worth a try. I'm tempted just for hell of it to see what it's like!

I applaud his enginuity but Tannus came up with a solution for use outside the tube that looks a bit less faff. I'd be interested to see how it works for trials though, might be too rigid. https://tannus.co.uk/armour-homepage#select-armour-size

I spent years racing XC MTB and went straight in with a MOD and got on with it really well - I think if you've done a bit of street stuff on a 26" bike or similar the MODS do feel odd but I found it was so different from what I'd ridden before it was like starting from a clean slate and I adjusted quite quickly. All the advice above rings true, MODs are definitely easier to throw about and it's liberating being able to quickly get to grips with back wheel hops which MODs make much easier

Yea it's definitely better to understand the right technique from the get go rather than just trying to figure it out. So Caps advice was start with your good foot forward and pedal one half rotation. As your bad foot comes forward use pressure and a lift of the bar to raise the front wheel but not too high. As your good foot comes around for the full 360 degrees give a firm pedal kick and pull the bars up to your chest and jump up on the pedals to get lift. Like a scissor motion as you do in a normal pedal hop. I used some lines on the floor to figure out where I would take off with the hop so I could work out how much run up I needed and that helped a lot to hit the ledges in the right spot. I recently bought a copy of TrashZen guide to Trials which has helped explain things well too

I've been working on Wheelie Hops this week. Struggled initially because my technique was all wrong but a few pointers from Cap at work and I reckon I have the basic technique down, just need to go bigger!

Can we take a moment to applaud Charlie for manualing a comp mod like its a 24" Street bike!

I've been linking the rear 'balance section' to get to the table now I'm confident enough to hop off it. Still a bit hesitant but getting better. Thought it'd be cool to see the Tarty Bikes trials area from my point of view!

The Rhyno lites are good, a classic rim and solid. HS brakes will be noisy if you grind or tar the rim. If you use standard Magura pads on un treated rims they'll be mostly quiet but won't have the bite needed for back wheel trials moves. Try them as standard and if you need more bite grind the rim and upgrade the pads. I kinda like the loud Magura noise, it's the sound of Trials ;-) Just have fun with it, try stuff out and go ride and make adjustments if you feel you need to

If its the version with an IS disc mount they were pretty poor, the mount isn't the best and likely to break for proper trials use. Most of those bikes will have been used with HS brakes on the rear. A company called Ryde make solid 26" rims. They're seriously heavy duty and have a big brake track, ideal for HS brakes. They're cheap too. Not the lightest but probably not far off period correct rims https://www.ryde.nl/zac-2000 You can do all the riding you want to on the bike but don't forget it's old and old alloy can crack easier. Older bikes geometry makes certain trials moves harder but it doesn't matter as long as you enjoy riding it!

Sounds like a fun project 1 / 2 - The old skool method was to fit a road cassette and derailleur. A 9spd road cassette with 11-23 combined with a short cage road rear derailleur would work well and fit the bike / rear hub. Shimano SORA would work well and unlike the old days where you had to use an MTB shifter with the road mech which was sometimes not great Shimano now do flat bar shifters for their SORA groupset so the gears will work consitantly! You will have to keep the chain tight so see if you can source a DCD for period correctness. 3 - Those frames were likely designed around a 160mm disc (feel free to correct) and I wouldn't go any bigger. The brake calliper you use won't make a difference, it's the leverage caused by fitting bigger rotors that kills frames. An HS brake would look cool but I would use a booster to stop too much flex and look to grind or tar the rear wheel to help with bite. 4 - I'll leave that to someone with more of an idea! 5 - Good old FSA orbit will do the job fine. External cup 1-1/8" - available pretty cheaply everywhere and will look period too

After getting over my initial fear of dropping off an obstacle on the back wheel at work I headed back to my local park to tackle the bandstand steps again. As I'm learning with Trials it's as much about belief in your ability and taking a skill and being confident to apply it to an obstacle. I had about 20 attempts at this doing one step at a time before trying all three. Obstacles like this seem a good confidence builder, bring able to tackle it one bit at a time before the whole really helps. Physiologically much better than one big do or die move.

Great style, super smooth

I think a lot of people starting out could relate. I had a similar thing with juggling, I had mates who were amazing at it and I wanted to learn but I just couldn't do it at all! I persevered and just kept hacking away at it breaking down the technique to the most simple steps then it felt like every tiny improvement was a victory which kept me going. Eventually I cracked it and the key was to relax, and focus on energy efficient throws doing the least work possible and giving yourself as much time to think as possible. Watching experienced riders you see how they don't dawdle and keep moves as smooth as they can. When I started I wasted so much energy hopping for ages before committing to something or balancing for ages before lifting the front wheel, it's so draining! Recently I've tried to just get on with the section rather than faffing, it helps a lot. You waste less energy and yea you make mistakes but you waste less time too and get more tries in.

Some solid progress today during lunch at the works Trials area. Managed to overcome my fear of dropping off the big table at the back. Now I know I've got it down it opens up a lot of possibilities, just need to gradually ease up the size of the drops! Adam showed a great technique of kicking the pedals to roll forward on the back wheel rather than hop forward, it saves a lot of energy and helps readjust your balance. Good tip Also Stan is still rough as

Probably the most precise approach to brake adjustment I've seen. This would work great for flat mount where calliper alignment is a bit more tricky to get right the 'normal' way

I think you've hit the nail on the head there. It's that moment finding balance then going for the kick up to the rear when you know you're winning or bailing. I think you're right in saying to practice small, I've found this afternoon bending your knees on the back wheel and tucking your hips toward the frame changes your centre of balance so you don't have to lean back as far when hopping up something.

I've recently started riding Trials and although I'm not new to MTB or cycling in general I'm completely new to Trials so starting from scratch. I've been focusing on learning the basics like hopping on the back wheel up, down and across objects. Pedal or 'wheelie' hops, balance, front brake control etc I haven't yet got a group to ride with and like most older riders limited time to practice. I thought it'd be encouraging and helpful to share videos with other new riders to share our progression and tips on techniques seasoned riders do without thinking! (feel free to chime in with useful hints though, seasoned riders...) To get things rolling I've been working on side hopping up steps on the back wheel but struggling to keep it on the back once I've hopped up. I'm also having a mental block with hopping down obstacles to the back wheel. I haven't got the technique right to keep it balanced once I hit the platform below which is fine if you're on the flat but if you're high up, much twitchy bum. Thoughts?

A friend in San Francisco shipped over a bunch of American 'Candy' in exchange for a bunch of British classics (what do you think the Americans will make of chocolate limes?!) She sent pumpkin pancake mix which may well end up in the Angry Thread. Tbc

It works well for me being lanky, I am going to play with some low-rise bars just to what difference it makes. It does make it fidgety on two wheels but once you're on the back it's sweet. As for the rabbit run it's a work in progress ;-)

Very true, I'm mid 30's and I find how I practice is really important. When I was younger I just threw myself at stuff, now it's a gentler approach making sure the technique is right then scaling it up with some rest days inbetween.

My first modern Trials bike. Really getting on with the newer geometry!

I've found technique plays a big part in reducing fatigue. The watershed moment for me was a YouTube vid explaining the effort for hops comes from flexing your ankles and letting your legs do the work instead of pulling hard on the bars for each hop. Something I'd not really thought about before. That helped a lot - getting the bike upright close to the balance point takes the strain off your arms too. Practice practice! I try to ride 3 times a week with a good emphasis on hopping to build strength and technique and it seems to be helping.

9 hrs in and getting better on the back wheel, biggest 'wall' I've hopped up to back wheel so far! Trials is friggin addictive https://youtu.be/OdreS9Iwx4c

Great job @kieran9990 - takes me back to the MBUK days! - love it

Just starting out with Trials after two decades riding other disciplines. I've always fancied having a go and why not in my 30's...finally! Been given a loan of a Meta Mod, put about 6hrs in so far and beginning to get a feel for it. Back wheel control is gonna take some time, any tips and technique critique welcome. I really want to get some height to those hops and make forward progress over obstacles. Cheers! https://www.instagram.com/p/CEezMrWlvCX/?igshid=1ocofmx0mb0cd