Zoo_Monkey

im having confidence issues as i seem to have hit a brick wall in my riding. so recap - i got my first rig at the apr 2005 bike show (zoo pitbull) I cant say iv been the most dedicated rider, there has been afew times iv gon a month or two without getting out, however aside from that iv mastered afew bits but i still suck quite badly over all. in short, trackstand- not bad, endo, backhops, bunnyhops (bout 2 foot), front pivot(180), rear pivot about 90, general hoping on the spot, pedal kicks, gaps (bout 3 foot) drops (bout 4-5foot) All this stuff is pretty basic - what i want to learn is how to climb stuff I can back wheel about a foot maybe 1foot+ on a good day - which is quite embarrassing with the effort I put in to the crumby move I feel like im not jumping enough or something, I kind of stay more or less where I am with my body and suck the bike up under me i bust my shoe apart riding tonight so am not in a good mood - can anyone shed some light on the matter or direct me to some thing that enplanes where I have gone wrong (i learned most of my stuff from trashzen and dirtytricks/leach trials vid) thanks - sol

got a base as my back up / street rig. and i have to say sometimes i like it more than my pitbull - not all the time though. works so well as a street trails rig if you get one run it with d521ns and fast roling tyres, short stem and riser bars makes such a sweet bike

nice bike the unfortunate rule of thumb for 2nd hand bikes is.... 1) get the full price of the bike (maybe 1000 quid) 2) halve it (so 500 quid) 3) then minus ten quid for every month is is old (so maybe 440) that's about what you can expect to get for it - obviously the figures above are just examples but its a rule to use. hope that helps - Sol

np dude - each to there own and all that

thanks for the vote of confidence - only took me 20 mins to do want that much of a big deal, its more functional than anything else keep my bike in one pice like-init

lol yea i know they were abit pricy - but i was in BNQ and didnt have time to go else-where

thx for all the input - just orderd a planet x one from CRC cheers everyone

check this out, just finished it about 10 Min's ago new downtube guard recipe - 1 sheet of chequer plate (enough to make 5 of these) = 7.99 one hexagon grip rubber mat = 4.95 cable ties = 1.49 i think it looks sweet as, the hexagon rubber keeps the weight down and the chequer plating looks the nuts let me know what you think! - sol

thx for all the positive vibes - i'm so looking forward to it all (fly march the 25th) ill prob get just any old soft bag as they all seem much the same. its nice to have reassurance that they are up to the job - anybody else got any info on bags or traveling for that please feel free to post sol

the time has finally arrived, I'm going to aus for a year (waves flag) but i need a bag for my trials bike so..... inevitable boring question which one. iv looked around and they all look the same bar colour and some are hard others not so hard however the price varies from 50 - 200 squids! whats the difference! so anybody with some experience of bike bags throw in a few pointers? plus before anybody says it i probably will get what i pay for and if i pay 50 squid i will get the rather swarve on-one bag in pink from CRC, on the other had why is the Dakine one on wades worth 100 more of my precious notes? thanks for reading - Sol

check out my zoo pitbull, http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/?op=viewℑ=701134 i used to run the zoo stem but i found the long frame hard to ride, so i got the echo hifi stem from tartybikes with it i could instantly bunnyhop about a foot higher and had loads of control on the back wheel true you need oversized bars but its a good example of the geometry i would recommend, have a look at the planet x beam me up stem - very similar

i use the RB designs one on my 2005 Pitbull

i use bones speed cream (or you can get a copy called speed oil) its very thin bearing lube used by skaters and roller hockey players on there bearings, it makes a hell of a difference trust :lol:

oil wont freeze - water mite they will only freeze if they are left out in the cold - ie a garage or out-house if you keep your bike inside there is no problem, and they wont freeze whilst you are riding unless you live in the north/south pole you can use 50/50 water anti freeze if you can be bothered, or boil the water and add a pinch of salt which will lower the temperature at which the water will freeze i use water - never had any problems and i was out riding in the recent snow and ice. trust (Y)

i run my pashley street/park/dj with a v-brake it just fits round my 2.4 dmr moto on a planet x bmf i used to run a tecktro but every time the cable stretched a little after a ride or two it would rub on the tread. i now have a avid single digit with longer arms, its fine but id never get a 3 in there! and esp not a gazza! as has been said - a 3 for dj is over kill :lol: you don't need it, and a gazza? :lol: you want to look at halo twin rails, dmr moto's and maxxis holy rollers or anything 2.2 - 2.4 with a similar tread pattern - run at 60psi+ trust :D

i have an ipod nano - they are great, people say they brake but so does any electrical equipment if you fall on it phones cd -players all brands of mp3 players will all brake if you treat them like crap, fall on them, sit on them or stick them in the wash. the problem with an ipod is they are so small you can do things with them in your pocket, so people jog - skate - ride and live with them in there pocket the nano DOES scratch easily, if you get one get a case from day one and DONT remove the stick-on plastic screen guard, its there for a purpose :lol: however you can re polish a nano (or any ipod) get a really soft cloth and some braso, braso is a very fine cutting paste and will give any hard plastic a mirror finish with some work aside from that - they come with a cool colour screen + games like a mobile phone - not bad for the cash i have never used a mp3 player that performed better (Y)

from personal experience i find short bikes more "chuck-able" and easier to bunny hop on, but with a long bike you can go much bigger - i think its all to do with leverage - imagine the bike is a big crow bar (not sure if that's how you spell it) - and you are trying to use it to lift the back wheel (and you for that matter) the longer the frame the better leverage you get - the higher/bigger you can go - but then to reverse the equation - if you are pivoting on the front wheel and the bike is really long - you have a lot of bike to swing round you, so it moves slower and is less responsive, but if you have a really short bike it will snap round quickly. you can probably see how this applies to many trials moves - hope that helps trust :P

OK maybe it was a little bit of an exaggeration - especially if you miss that one dry day on the autumn months because you are fixing your bike. (and given the choice id prefer to be out riding any day) but setting up a bike just right is like an art form - i love it (and i thought it would be a pretty cool topic)

i don't know if its just me but i love building trials bikes (or any bikes) there is a certain satisfaction in getting them just right for you (and even more when you can tailor them for somebody else). i love maintaining, building and especial bodging repairs - almost as much as riding trials! am i alone here :P

ill see what i can do, ill have to look for a pic first.

thanks all :P i appreciate your confidence in me

eaisest way = web design, get hold of macromedia dream weaver and knock yourself out. if you have the creative flare thats all it takes. html coding is all but dead because so many programs will code for you (like macromedia) its the desigh people pay for. set yourself up as a basic web designer you will need, dreamweaver + flash + photoshop + a vector graphics program like adobe illustrator or Corel draw (i prefure corel). make a few dummy web sites so you are sure you know what you need to do and put the word out everyone wants a web site - charge £200 for 10 pages and + £10 a page after that for the first few, these will be family and friends of friends ect.... then use the money to host your own site advertising your skills then - you are a web designer use www.123reg.com/co.uk for registering sites use www.hostroute.com/co.uk for hosting (if you can aford it get a 5 site resellers account and charge people and extra £100 to host there site for a year) and you can do things like this www.gifthouseint.com (my last conqest) oh and you dont have to go to work ever again!

im hardly ever on msm - i have to work most of the time (self employed) but if you want me to i can photoshop you anything just gime a rough description and ill sort it thisevening

nice bike - when i opened the post i was dreading another anodised monster but it looks realy swarve

no problem any time