F-Stop Junkie

Also the second shot is pretty dull and needs a damn good cropping. He hit a good moment, but a bad angle IMHO.

Wow, there's a phrase you don't hear every day...

If you do any kind of track driving, make sure your insurance covers you! Somewhere like Bruntingthorpe, there are small gulleys and stuff where - if you are unlucky - you could roll your car. Tell the insurers this without arranging prior coverage, and you ain't gonna get paid.

God Bless Singletrack!

Any objections to me coming along? I won't have a bike so I may slow people down, but I'd like to take a few snaps along the way...

I've been riding on and off for over ten years. During that time, my interest in riding and gone up and down. Some days I couldn't get enough, others I really didn't want to ride. Throughout this time though, my interest and love of the sport has never deminished. Recently though I've struggled to ride. A certain amount of frustration at my lack of ability, and not having insurance for my bikes has really made me very concerned about having them around. Now the insurance issue is cleared up and I'm living in a great area for cycling. On top of that, having a street MTB has kept my interest in riding, and given me a different outlook on things, as has my Inbred. I've been lucky that I've been able to keep all my bike and kit during this time. It's good having them around as it reminds you that you are a rider, and that you should be going out and having fun in the mud. I can't wait now to get out riding, go up into the hills, hit the trails, and perhaps sign up for a few YMSA comps during the year. We'll see. If you have to sell your bike, for whatever reason, then you have to. If you can keep hold of it, do. You'll be thankful in the future.

Dave, I never doubted for a second that you and Ad were any less lovely than before. Your reputation isn't for nothing! I just like having fun, interesting things to read when I should be working

I know what you mean, but then it's easy to forget that fitting a headset takes time, facing a BB shell takes time... That time has to be paid for, especially if prices (and therefore profits) are being kept competitive. Not to mention wear and tear on tools and so on... I think there should be a chassis option in the workshop section. A complete price for fitting a headset, stem and spacers, facing & chasing, and spinning in an BB. Then when it arrives, it's just a matter of bolting on a few bits and you're ready to ride. How come there are no large stickers for sale? Team items only? My only complaint - such as it is - is that it feels more like CRC than On-One. That is to say that professional may have made way for impersonal. It's nice to think you're dealing with Ad & Dave than the Tartybikes Machine churning out orders. I'd like to know more about what's going on, virtual warehouse tour, Ad's new bike, owner's rides, that kind of thing... Chris

At the moment, only to my competition shots, though I do post stuff up on here... National Champs shots You won't like them.

I'm not keen on that style of photography generally, and I think the Urban Exposure site is just an example of that style. I don't get the 'lifestyle' MTB shots where heads are missing or the framing is crazy, but just my opinion )

Sorry Andy, but it just leaves me a little cold. I like the clean, minimalist layout, though I would have enjoyed a bit of commentary on each shot A lot of the shots I would say were mis-framed, or lacking an impact. An ordinary photo in black and white, is still an ordinary photo. On the whole, they're good, just not great. It lacks the impact of something like Urban Exposure, but then I think that style of photography is a lot of photography for photography's sake.

I know someone who drilled through his steerer at alternate 90 degree angles to save weight on his road bike. It didn't snap on him, but I wouldn't...

Sorry for this, but... [pedant]You can not over utilise a link. If you're getting max download speeds, then you can not accelerate it in anyway. For vids that come down at 4K/sec, this may well work, but not all FTP servers have download resume turned on, so this may not work, and may interfere with other legite downloads too.[/pedant]

Rich, my apologies. You were so quick off the mark getting your shot in that it was much earlier than everyone elses and I didn't spot it last night. As there's an even number of action shots currently being voted on, I'll bring your shot in on the next round. You'll be included!

Zero drop means that it's in line with the axles and does not drop below that point. That'd make it 13" on a stock, 12" on a 24".

I don't see why we can't run these on a more regular basis. Perhaps have a semi-annual free for all, and then bi-monthly themed comp if people are willing to run them!

In case you haven't noticed, at the top of this forum is the 2006 Photo comp. Please nip up and have a look and a vote. You can leave comments too about the pics! Feedback is always good on images like these you put up for general scrutiny!

But don't you see that companies who do very little R&D or just copy existing designs can charge less because their overheads are reduced. What that does is remove money from companies who do try new things and advance the breed. If Koxx didn't charge the prices they do, then the Vinco wouldn't have come into being, and BBs would all be 13" off the ground. It's only by them taking a leap that other people have followed. Generic frames - like the Zona - are cheap, but not cutting edge. You lose the frills and fancy. You pay less, you get less. For consumers, it's dimishing returns. Pay £200 - get a good frame. Pay £400 - get a great frame. Pay £800 - get a slightly greater frame... It's good that trials frames are generally cheaper, no doubt. The days of proper trials frames (Pashley, Echo, Zero) being £400 and everyone who couldn't afford that rode an X-Tort are long gone. With lower prices though, come lower margins. As with everything in life, you can't get something for nothing.

As far as geometry goes, mark points for your axles, BB shell and head tube. It's then just a matter of joining the dots. If it's for a degree programme, then you'll probably have to look at manufacture and production techniques. Here you can consider the cost of doing a bike in carbon fibre, and how durable it would - or more likely wouldn't - be and why. Also for design studies, look at other ideas from mountain bikes, motorcycles and mototrials bikes. Why wouldn't a single sided fork work? Also for production methods, compare someone like Clive Leeson who builds stuff himself to order to someone like Echo who produce in big factories in the far east. Don't forget to do some critical review of existing products. Pick out details like seat vs no seat, the structural benefits of a big XTP-style machined head tube, or building a space frame like the 26GHz with very specific structural elements. Look up the Ruthless trials bike, a great starting point design wise. One thing I would do though is concentrate on one specific area of trials. Come up with the ultimate competition bike, or street bike. That will allow you to present you finished work in a very focussed manner, instead of pointing out design features with contradictory uses. I'm sure other people will suggest what to do with the actual structure of the bike.

'have to rape' - a somewhat chilling phrase. Dave, what you're saying is that they 'have' to overcharge the customer. In reality they're setting a price which covers all their costs (not just production!) and is fair. Nowt wrong with that.

What tosh. Lower prices are good, for some people. What reduced margins also do is reduce innovation as people can't afford to try out something which costs more money to build. Introduce a new design, geometry or paint scheme and if people don't like them, you're left with a warehouse full of them. Take something that people already buy and sell that, then no such worries. Without people buying higher priced framesets, I doubt we'd have XTPs, Ashtons, Coustelliers, Vincos, fancy Echos, Onza Limeys and Pashley 26GHzs.All of these frames feature something new, or pushed a little further than before. It's only once the market accepts a design like these that we see Czars and so on. Also from a consumer point of view, would you look at a Czar frame and think "I wish I could afford a real XTP"? I know I would... I suppose ultimately it's like cars. Some people drive Bentleys, some VWs and others Skodas. Each saying they have the best deal, but if you're happy with a Skoda...

I think they'd be good for natural/comp riding too because they're not heavy, very dependable, and feel so incredibly stiff. Although they're bulky rather than spindely they look heavy, but all the hollowness helps no end. Slightly concerned about clearance issues though. Maybe that would only affect extreme frames like the Onza Limey - for example - compared to the woodstock. I wonder if clearance details can be gotten from Shimano...

Yup, time to dig up an old thread... So I'm planning on fitting some Saint cranks to my new ride, with an E-13 supercharger bashguard modified to fit. Ok, so it won't be super small like a Middleburn pro thingy, but it'll be good enough for me. Having fitted some already to my jump bike, I know that they're certainly light enough to qualify for trials bits, and very well made - not to mention bombproof. My question is has anyone used these or Hones for trials? They have an odd profile which may cause them to catch on things, but it'll be worth it for the extra stiffness. BTW, if you don't believe they can be stiffer, I've got Middleburns on both my trials bike and XC bike. These Saints make Middleburns feel like wet noodles. Well worth a try if you can get a go on some.

I don't know where people get this idea of a geometry being copyrighted. If that was the case, every new frame would need people to examine every other frame on the market to ensure they didn't encroach on someone else. If I took any bike on the market and copied the head tube length and angle, BB position and axel positions, then joined them up however I wished, I doubt anyone would notice, let alone complain. If I rebadged an existing frame as my own, then people may whinge, but I suspect that the factory would have permission to reproduce the frame within it's own portfolio, so if I brought out the Ratcliff Python, then I wouldn't expect solicitors on the phone complaining. Now some people say that "well X is just Y but tweaked a bit." That's the case with most parts ordered out of a catalogue! I've sat down with people who have looked through a couple of catalogues and come up with this frame, those dropouts, that machined BB yoke, with geometry as we wish. Companies don't look at a new frame and think "That's great, we can't improve on that", most thing "That's great, but it would be better if we put an internal headset on it, and an inch on the top tube." That's where the geometry tweaks come from, a desire to make their product better than everyone elses, not to avoid litigation. Is it ethical to rip off someone elses design? That's a matter of concience and pride. Is it inevitable? Certainly. If something comes out which is revolutionary, it'll become the norm within three years as design features are included on other bikes. If Acme Bikes have a frame and see that everyone wants a 30mm BB rise, then the following year, they'll include a BB rise. Not copying another design, just fulfilling customer demand. I personally think it's great that there are so many details that keep coming through on trials bikes from all manufacturers. From new headtube designs to Vinco style bikes. In the product life cycle though, there will always be a period where something is very new and exclusive and can be charged at a premium. It'll then become more widespread, and the market will push the prices down, and then after an amount of time the design with become a commodity and it can then be sold for very little money as all the development, marketing and tooling has been paid for As with everything, someone will pay for the latest and greatest, ten times as many people will buy the same thing three years later for half the price.

Maybe, but Matt Tupman said the scoring for the championship allowed you to miss a round and not be penalised.