Mark W

Awesome style as ever Ricardo!

There was one rule

Yeah, I think it's a similar deal to Sam Pilgrim getting on a trials bike and instantly being able to do some pretty legit stuff. Backwheeling 'The Log' at Barrow Farm was really impressive!

From the outro of that video I see he has firmly got on board with the concept of clickbait. Riding was not shit.

It seems there's quite a lot of really good clips from random people popping up on Instagram these days, and it doesn't always get seen elsewhere. I thought it might be cool if people posted up some decent stuff they've seen in this thread as it might help get more people seeing more gooderer stuff. If not, no worries... Related - this has just been posted by Inspired: There's also Sintaro Otake who I've only heard of through Instagram, but does some pretty cool stuff. This is his most recent video but he's got some gems in his back catalogue: Rick Koekoek's been posting some serious stuff recently too, e.g.:

The classic...

The earlier TR brakes weren't super reliable, but their more recent brakes have been fine. The brakes Craig posted haven't had any issues with customers through TartyBikes as far as I know. They're not the nicest looking things in the world but do the job. That said, if I was going for a disc then it'd be Magura or Hope, and if it was rim brake it'd be a Trialtech lever with some Magura slaves.

From my time in London, bikes on the underground depends on whether the stations have step access or not. There are lines which you were fine on (Hammersmith & City, District and Circle lines being a few of them as far as I can remember - used to take the train to get to Bay66 from South Bank way), but then others you weren't. It is time dependent too though as Ogre says. Cutting about London is fine on trials bikes though. You can usually breeze along in the bus lane or cycle lane if there is one, but I'd occasionally go on the pavement too. Typically though it's so busy there you're better off just sticking to the roads and keeping your eyes peeled. For the most part traffic's never really moving that quickly in central so you can make some moves through traffic without too many problems. So many spots to ride too! You'll have a lot of fun

To be fair, if you're getting spent after 30mins of riding your bike, then that suggests that doing it more should get you fit? Riding 20" bikes doesn't necessarily translate over as well to other types of riding, and from speaking to customers I generally found mototrials dudes got on better with 26" bikes as they feel like less of a jump in style/riding. That said, there's nothing stopping you learning more on your 20". The thing to remember is that the basics all come reeeelatively easy, but then it's just a case of refinement and progression at which point it does feel like you hit a plateau. That's what stops a lot of people carrying on with it, so just keep putting the hours in and you should be fine. Weight needn't be the end of the world - I know of a couple of riders who were over 5 stone heavier than you but did hefty stuff and all with a really smooth style too.

Sorry to hear that G, sucky news.

For a kids bike I can see it being good as it stops the chances of jack-knifing if you turn too much, and removes something for kids to hit their knees on, but for everything else it seems kind of pointless. Intrigued how the headset stays tight though? Usually you'd have the clamp on the stem keeping things in place, but I'd have thought with nothing there it'd be more prone to loosening off?

I wasn't sure if it'd be the MT7s that Crewkerz were using for a while - the standard MT7 pads have a retention pin setup that gives way more pad knock so switching to MT5 pads helps out a bunch. For the Hope brakes, if the Clean pads are similar to the Jitsie/Trialtech pads they should just settle down in a ride or two. If they haven't, you could try what Ross suggested but with all my Hope brakes in the past they've settled down after a couple of rides and become much quieter.

Which brake, and which pads?

As far as I know it was the mount on the frame/fork that was different, not the caliper itself. If you had 160mm rotors on there before with your old brakes you'd just need the same sized rotors again.

If you come from a BMX background and want a slightly more BMX-influenced bike then it's the Arcade. It's got a steeper head angle and slightly higher BB to make it a bit more nimble/agile like a BMX, but still has decent trialsy geo too. The Fourplay is a bit more trials-orientated so it's slightly slackened off in comparison. Similar deal with the spec too, hence the steel tubing on the Arcade, BMX-style cranks, horizontal dropouts and all that sorta stuff. For brakes, Hopes work fine. Don't feel quite as nice at the lever or as powerful to Maguras to me, but the relative lack of spares for Maguras mean that if anything goes wrong you're going to be having to replace either a whole brake or a whole lever, rather than just replacing a specific part of the brakes.

Yeah, I think that will never really leave. That's the thing for me, too - despite me not being particularly thin Nic and her family often talk about how it must be that I don't put weight on and can eat all different stuff but that's definitely not the case. I know that I'm a fat b*****d at heart, and I can eat my own bodyweight in pretty much anything I like the taste of. It's just moderation though, but also having it so your 'normal' (rather than your 'fat f**k deviation') choices are a certain way. After not eating sugary stuff for a couple of weeks I can feel the difference when I'm walking around the supermarket, and what I'm getting drawn to more. That then seems to boost it all too because you start making more positive choices, you recognise that and feel better for it, so you're then feeling better for eating better, and also feeling better about feeling better.

To be fair though, because you did it the right way I'd imagine that "what you want" to eat is now healthier than previously? That's kind of the thing I find with eating - if you get into/build habits the right way they stick way better, and it doesn't become a thing you 'have' to do but just 'what you do'. Semi-related in that it shows that the way you frame things makes a big difference: "[The phrase] I don’t is experienced as a choice, so it feels empowering. It’s an affirmation of your determination and willpower. I can’t isn’t a choice – it’s a restriction, it’s being imposed upon you. So thinking “I can’t” undermines your sense of power and personal agency. The difference between thinking “I don’t” and “I can’t” can be quite dramatic. In one study, students with a healthy eating goal were instructed that when faced with a temptation, they should say to themselves either I don’t do X or I can’t do X. (e.g., I don’t eat candy versus I can’t eat candy.) On their way out of the lab, they were told that they could choose a token of appreciation for their participation in the study: a chocolate bar or a granola bar. Who chose the healthier option? Sixty-four percent of those who said I don’t, compared to only thirty-nine percent of those who said I can’t. In another study, twenty adult women who were working toward a health and fitness goal were encouraged to use either I don’t or I can’t language when they were tempted to lapse (e.g., skip the gym, grab a donut, etc.) On each of the next ten days, these women checked in via email to report on whether or not the strategy was working for them – if not, they were told they could stop using the strategy. By the study’s end, 8 out of the 10 women using the I don’t strategy were still using it successfully, while only 1 of the 10 who used I can’t lasted that long." I've personally found that it rings true for me, and also does in a positive sense if you switch it to "I do _____" vs. "I can ____".

How old is that info? Only reason I ask is that the Skye front triangle has become longer every year, so relative to the Fourplay it's not as different as it used to be.

Heavier, restrict fluid flow and cost more. Kevlar seems to be the better option for most The difference between the Trial Zone and Tech 3 levers are the extra adjustment and strength on the Tech 3 levers. The Trial Zone is a little lighter, but that's the only real benefit. The caliper on a Trial Zone brake is the same as that on a Tech 3 Trial Zone brake.

People in glass houses...

Try harder Tyre on and inflated helps, as does getting a friend involved. Give it a countdown and both try and give the wheel a hard twist at the same time. You need to shock the bond between the two apart rather than just trying to overwhelm it by pulling harder.

That would probably also need a complete change in the structure/distribution of trials companies though. Most companies offering cheaper carbon frames like YT or Canyon don't use the same dealer system as most other MTB companies which is why they can offer that price. It's not the same for the 'big brands', and trials companies tend to use a similar model to them.

It is a bit overkill, but you're talking to someone who used to have a 203mm Avid BB7 on the front of their mod back in the day

Yeah, 180s would be fine. I've got the same setup on my bike at the moment

It'll be the same tyre, just different finish. Same deal as the new Arcade Team bikes featuring a single grey logo: The newest tyres are a touch heavier than they used to be, and the sidewalls feel a little thicker almost. Not a huge difference...