Jez

I'll come if a.) it don't piss down on me and b.) I've got enough time (gotta have my ass outta brum by either 11am or 4pm, unknown which yet)

Seeing Chainspotting for the first time when it came out (and then watching Dirt and Getta Grip in the same sitting). That and a pic in MBUK of Rob Warner doing a wheelie with no front wheel with the caption "Rob's excuse this time was that he left his front wheel at home." That was SOME time ago.

Surprised no one's thought of a hose-down-the-headtube solution yet...surely easier, cheaper, and simpler than one of these?

How To Build A Wheel? Slowly and carefully Seriously, slowly and carefully. Lacing mistakes are a pain in the ass when you realise you gotta go back and redo all the leading spokes on one side or whatever (believe me, been there done that). I've done my rear one twice as per Sheldon Brown's site. That just sounds perverse in some twisted way...

I did exactly that. Trust me, you'll love it. Having said that...having a crap bike to ride can put you right the f**k off ever riding again...at least make sure you ride someone else's rig on a regular basis so that you realise that it's not necessarily YOU that's the problem, it's more than likely the bike. Seriously, I'm an oldschool guy at heart, but that frame is HUGE. Must be like riding mount Everest. Anyway, cheap Avid V's, TA26 is you're going stock or Onza/Saracen if you're going mod, Wellgo DMR copy pedals and you're laughing mate. Seriously, your enjoyment of trials will double and then some with a decent bike to ride it on.

DMR V8s or V12s ideally... But I've got a pair of the Wellgo V12 copies that seem to be OK. I've snapped a bit off the back end of one of them, but it barely makes a difference, and it was a SERIOUSLY bad 'up' that did it. The DMR stuff has an extra bit of metal there that will stop this happening though. I think I've also bent one of the shafts, but it could be my poo crank that's bent, haven't bothered to find out. Having said that, I found that the DMR grub screw pins get fooked well easily, where as the Wellgo screw pins seem to last longer (but aren't quite as grippy - good for bailing, yet just grippy enough for riding). The gist of it being: if you bash the hell outta yer pedals, get DMR; if either a) you're on a budget or you bail a lot, get Wellgo. You can get the V12 copies for the same price as the official V8s.

V's with heatsink reds ***. Cable wise I've got some XT stuff from CRC on and they're doing the job perfectly fine. Something that makes a difference: make sure you have the right noodle - some V's have different front and rear noodles, which can make a big difference to the feel of the brake and how much spring tension you have to run. Grease the hell outta the cables when putting them in as well, and spend a bit of time aligning the pads properly. In a few months you'll be flogging your rear maggie as well

Ffs you coulda left me out... *Picks up award for smallest move in vid and grumbles*

Brum on a sunday is good for me...pick a sunday, I'm there.

Oh ffs I'm gonna have to get my ass outta bed at some sort of reasonable time aren't I? Guess it's gotta be done Cya tomorro ladies.

Mine lasted about a couple months and went away about the time I fiddled with my bar & lever angles...whether that's related or not I dunno. Coulda just been coincidence.

T&S and Chainspotting are still where it's at for me Still got my copies of both on VHS There's also some great ancient Ot Pi vids floating around.

Agreed. Cockpit length. ...Having said that I ride a 2.zero which has a tiny cockpit on it, and I'm 5'11"ish...feels fooking lovely to me. Try some mate's longer/shorter bikes next time yer out and see what feels wrong/right, but bear in mind their bars/stem combo may make a MASSIVE difference to the ride. Probably moreso than wheelbase. The only thing I would say is that it will probably be harder to get the front end up on a longer wheelbase bike because the weight of the front wheel is further forwards = more weight off the back required to counterbalance it. I ain't ridden many long bikes so I'll keep my trap shut

Combat pants. They have wee tie thingies in the bottom failing that, back in the olden days we used to use an animal or kahuna watch strap (MBUK gave out a free one one issue and a coupla days later everyone had em wrapped around their right ankle) Best combo though is combats + massive steel toecap boots. Means yer pants are halfway up yer shin 'Course there's a slight weight issue there...but it didn't stop me

Both my college and my school were walltastic. Road there many a time during my misspent youth. Rode in other's people's schools as well

Loving the Engrish on that site. Ah, the internet... Anyway, when Deng's ass produces a half decent V-brake someone gimme a shout. For now it looks like that brake is still gonna suffer the same problems as Maggies do. Now if he'd made the hose thicker and/or stronger in some way, braided it, given it a splitter crossover wotsit, a new strong ass mounting system, a better hose/cylinder interface, the ability to bleed it with whatever the hell you want and a bombproof lever, I might be interested. For now though, I'm sticking with cables. It wouldn't have been rocket science to include the stuff I mentioned here, surely? OK, maybe taking a risk with a new mounting system seeing as all his frames would have to support it, but still... EDIT: Just had a thought...no one's thought about developing a cable-operated maggy-style brake yet? Theoretically it's dead simple...

Before you do any of that shit, just angle your bars more backwards. backwards sweep lets the front come up a hell of a lot easier IMO, you'd be amazed the difference a few degrees makes. Try it, if it still don't work then risers will probly help.

I ride right hand = front because a) it's how all the bikes I've ever ridden came and I'm used to it. However I think this way is still the best, because at the end of the day unless you do a lot of manuals, the back brake is pretty much just on/off most of the time, whereas I would say the average trials rider needs controlled modulation more on the front than on the back, which is why right hand is better on that brake - I can't feather with my left for shit. I have no control. With my right I can do it though. Of course you can rip the can of worms right the hell open and ask: "How many left handed riders here swap their levers over?" Maybe I'll be proved wrong... Either way I seriously doubt I'd be able to ride the wrong way round now. I've been riding right = front for about 20 years now, so changing it would just f**k me right up. Braking is just a subconscious thing for me, I don't think about it. It just happens. So switching the levers would require some serious concentration on braking for me to ride it...and therefore less concenctration on balance and moving my weight around (which is what I really need to get on top of at the mo). Hence, I would be shit(ter) if my brakes were that way round. How right handed people get used to riding right=back though confounds me. Each to their own I guess. Not having my "strong" hand on the back isn't an issue for me because my V brake doesn't slip (unless I want it to)

With me it's the initial "do I wanna go out for a ride after work or go home and collapse onto my ass for the evening". Once I'm past that and I'm actually out riding it's great. It's rare I have a 'shit ride'. It happens, but meh; rain, how long/hard the day's been and what time I have to get up (if it's a weekend) are the main factors that stop my ass getting out to ride. If it's before 1pm on a weekend it's probably not gonna happen, hence I miss most of the brum rides Thankfully work's calmed down now so I'm finishing at my official finish time for a change so I can ride in the evenings...just annoyed at this damned rain at the mo. Riding in the wet sucks around here, all the walls are those smooth red/black brick type ones, absolutely lethal when wet. What I'd give for a concrete loading bay round here. Although even if we did have that, heatsink reds + wet rims is usually a bad idea

Assuming my ass gets out of bed before 3pm I'll be there...for a bit anyway. Got band practice around 3:30ish

Failing New Street gap, Victoria square, as per usual...

"If you're gonna do something, do it...worry about it afterwards." Wisdom from Mr. Warner.

Usually one finger on each lever, unless I'm doing a stoppie, in which case it's two on the front, although in real terms I'm only really using my middle finger for more control. My index finger is pretty much just sat there because it's awkward to get it back around the bar.