crunch

Here’s my alias 20.2 I just built up with some hope shiny parts.

Pretty much done. Just got to fiddle around with the brakes and get them fine tuned and then shorten the hoses. And cut the steerer tube. And of course it just started pissing rain for the first time in about 8 months.

Build in progress. Just got to build the wheels tonight and then decide how short I want to cut the steerer tube.

Bah. It’s N+1 for bikes. Scientific fact. Im at about the same and ride them all! I also picked up a new park Bmx. So that’s filling the gap until the alias arrives.

I’ve ordered a screw on 18t front sprocket onto the trialtech sl forged cranks. I went for 165mm too. So im sure it’ll all play nicely with the hope hub set up. I’ll post pics when I get it built!

So it turns out the 22t sprocket fits fine. But the crank arms hit the chain stays. So I’m going with a threaded crank and a screw on sprocket up front. The alias 20.2 frames are now in stock. Looks like my build should ship out from tarty on Monday. Then I’ll have a furious session of wheelbuilding and then the fun begins.

I sold my Skye last week. Just ordered a nice new alias 20.2 build with lots of shiny parts. I’ll post pics when it arrives and I get the wheels built up. It’s satisfying building ones own wheels!

Hmm. I hadn’t thought of that. There seems to be a fair amount of clearance space. I’ve only ordered half the build so far so I’ll confirm with Tarty before the rest arrives in stock.

Well that changes things a little! I guess I’ll be deleting my shopping cart and starting again with new hubs and cranks. That was the only thing I wished it could do was take a hope hub. Now the question is what to do about gearing. I was going to go front freewheel 18t + 12t rear for standard mod gearing. Im thinking I’d probably use the inspired/sram cranks now. So I guess 22/15 or maybe 22/14. Ill be be happy to run rear freewheel. I certainly don’t miss having my trousers eaten by mod chains. Lol.

Pretty sure that’s one of my old bikes. I sold it and got this x lite in 2002. I got it to replace my 1997 square downtube x lite. I recognise the grips.

I thought it looked like an arcade. How does the 20” wheel compare to the 19” do you think?

Where do you get these frames from? They’re a 135mm rear end?

Ok thanks for the pointers. I know it won’t be great for riding around town, but from age 8 to about 25 I rode everywhere on a mod trials bike without issue to get to riding spots. 5-10 miles was nothing on my monty lol So as long as I can get to somewhere across town it’ll be fine. I’ve got other bikes to go for actual rides! I just know the new comp mods are barely ridable full stop. I find the Skye so lumpy feeling and it’s basically impossible for me to do even simple things like suck up the back end when wheelie hopping up a wall or something. It just feels stuck to the ground. I thought the Skye would be good as a kind of do all fun bike, good enough to ride for 10 minutes across town but still fun at the park or playing on rocks or whatever. But right now I’ll take a slightly less ridable 20” for the fun factor when actually doing trials. Who makes the alias frame? What’s the new 20.2 like compared to the 20.1?

Does anyone know how the alias 20.1 compares in feel to an older style 20” mod, like a monty 221 x lite or similar? I used to ride mods for years. I didn’t ride trials for about 10 years and recently got a inspired Skye team but I really don’t like how it feels. I’m thinking the alias may feel better for me. I want something that is more ridable than the new style competition mod bikes so I can get to the skate park or whatever around town. Who makes the alias frames? How much difference will it make having a 20” rear wheel versus the fat tyre 19”? This is what I used to ride and loved it.

Sorry to resurrect an older thread. I picked up a Skye team last summer and I’m really not liking it that much. It feels heavy and cumbersome compared to my old mod bikes. Spins etc are slow and choppy, it feels like what I always felt stock 26” bikes felt like big and lumbering. Would something like an Alias 20.1 be closer to feel to my old monty? I’m thinking that might be a lot of fun, but still ridable to get around unlike a true competition mod.

I had those exact brakes on a Monty from about 1996. They are basically the same as the regular magura brakes at that time, hs22, but they had a different sized piston custom for trials that made them more powerful but less modulation. The clear hoses were unique to Monty as well. It was a square downtube model just before they switched to ones with the bent frame and no seat. It was a Monty x lite 221 very similar to this one. It was a great bike and they were great brakes.

Thank you. My concern was why are the mod riders still using front maguras, is it because the discs still aren’t up to the job. Hopefully like you say the trials pads make the difference, as my hope tech 3 brakes on my mountain bikes would be a disapointment for trials for sure.

I’m looking at buying an inspired Skye team 24” which obviously is disc only for brakes. I’d like the hope I think rather than the magura mt7 All my other 20” trials bikes have been magura rim brakes, and I loved their massive locking power. In fact we used to tar our rims and made them incredibly sharp. I’ve got discs on other mountain bikes and stuff and they’re good, but not that solid lock up the Maguras give on my trials bikes. How good are the discs on the smaller 24” wheels? Will they reliably lock up solid? On my 29” they are certainly not as strong as a rim brake, but for mountain biking have obvious advantages. I see that even today on the world trials circuits not many riders are running discs. Most still have magura rim brakes. Thanks

Yeh. I’m sure it’ll take me a while to get back into it. It’s been a long time since I last rode trials properly. But I rode mod trials from age about 8.

Great. Thanks. I was just nervous as I only rode mods for close to 20 years. I never liked 26 trials bikes. My first mod Monty was in the early 90s when I was just a kid. I rode Monty mod bikes as my main day to day bike all through my teenage years and whenever I tried a friends 26 it just felt cumbersome and lumbering. Not little and flicky like my mod.

Agh I’m a bike snob. And the Skye is only a couple hundred more than the fourplay team. I really like the hope hubs and stuff so I’d definitely want it with those. So then I might as well get the Skye with the nicer bolt through hubs and stuff, I really like the rear end design in particular I don’t drink or smoke, just spend my money on bikes. Lol.

Thank you. That was my understanding with modern mod bikes. I’ve been racing Bmx the last few years and we had a team night at the indoor bike park last week, and all the time I was there riding a Bmx I just had an urge to hop and spin which is just couldn’t do with the front end heavy race Bmx with no front brake. It was the signal I need another trials bike. I rode trials for close to 20 years so I’m confident a lot of the skills are still there. I’m just thinking the 24” will be more usable as I can ride with my kids on their bikes around town and maybe hit up the skate park and stuff as we play around. When I lived in The U.K. I used to ride in porthcawl a lot back in the days when the Martyn(in)s were riding there. So I used to enjoy the pure trials but with a bit of street type riding thrown in. So maybe a skye team is the way to go. I’m almost the same height at Danny so I’m guessing it’ll fit well

Thank you. The 221ti I think was basically the same geometry. So basically it seems the newer mod bikes have just got a bit longer. I liked the way the 221 was so easy to just lift the front wheel and it felt easy to just balance on the rear all day long. Im tempted to look at something like the Skye team as it’s a bit more useful for just riding around town and looks like it would be fun to play with at the skate park and stuff with my kids. Do you know how the 24” inspired bikes feel for what I would describe as traditional trials in a street environment? I’d guess that’s the best description of how I’d ride. Not so much flips or flatland type skills, more hops and jumps/ pedal crank rear wheel hops to gap and get up/down stuff. The issue is I’m likely buying a bike online as there’s nothing anywhere near me to get one in person. I now live in Canada.

I used to own a 2002 Monty x lite. Loved that bike, and I’m shopping for new bikes and there’s been a lot of changes to newer trials bikes. So im wondering what the wheelbase was of my old bike as a baseline for me to compare against. Anyone know? Thank you

hmm, you obviously dont know much about older trials bikes. those cranks are the megamo team ones. super strong. yeh i know the brakes are wrong. its in canada and i can sort that easily by putting a hope trial on the front. the freewheel too is a good spec. less than £200....