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Inspired Flow 22" Unboxing and Testing


Max F

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Kind of forgot to post it on the forums, but here is the video of me unboxing the brand new 22-inch Flow and giving it a little test.

The discount code for Tarty has already expired now, unfortunately.
 

 

Edited by Max F
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Will be interesting to see how this works out - Looking at you are on it size wise you do look at the upper end of it's design. I am a similar height to you and ride a 24" and an alias and struggle to choose between which i prefer as the 24" is better for bigger moves but the alias is super flicky and fun. Out of interest was it a more normal looking bike that pushed you towards this rather than something like the alias as looking at your riding wanting to mix trials and spins the alias could have been right up your street.. Let us know how you are finding it and have fun :-) 

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All this sizing crap is only designed to sell more bikes guys. Not for the greater good of small people. Not once in any of Max's (viral) videos did I hear him say his 24" bike was too big for him. Now there's an option for a smaller bike, Inspired makes up a trick graph and all of a sudden the bikes too big? Did you pay full price for the 22" Max?

Vertically challenged Marc Caisso was a top 26" comp rider and was a total boss.

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5 hours ago, Ross McArthur said:

Not once in any of Max's (viral) videos did I hear him say his 24" bike was too big for him.

I've got e-mails mentioning it repeatedly from him.  Direct quote from an e-mail over a year ago:

"Here’s one example that’s an important topic for me:
My first Trials bike was the original Element and since 2015 I’ve been riding the silver Fourplay. They’re both great bikes and I’ve always recommended them to people asking.
However, I’m only 1.70m tall. And I more and more feel like the Fourplay is too big for me and the riding I want to do.
[some stuff removed]... If you ever decide to make a 20" bike for adults that’s a true hybrid between Street BMX and Trials bike - I’d be happy to be your test dummy."

We've also had other riders message about them too.  Guys like Yuki Kishi also show that there's a gap in there between riders who are too big for a 20", but are a bit on the small side for the 24". 

At TartyBikes we often had issues with working out the right size for kids too, where basically a 20" with a long stem wasn't quite right, but a 24" with a 70mm stem wasn't ideal either.  The 22" fits that gap really well, because that's exactly what it's designed to do.  As a side note, Flipp's currently running 22" wheels on his Alias.

People talk about the quick turnover of riders in street trials who get inspired by seeing videos, get a bike, find it's hard then quit - having this 'stepping stone' size means more riders riding bikes that are better fitted to them, rather than having to ride bikes that aren't that make learning trials harder.  How is that a bad thing?

Your point about Caisso is about as valid as you saying Max didn't think his Fourplay felt too big.  Back in the day everyone was doing street on 26" bikes, so does that mean people shouldn't have bothered with 24"?  While I imagine most of the sales of 22" Flows have been for younger riders, I know of a few older riders who have bought them because they want that in between size as well.  I don't really get how that's different to 26" to 24"?

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I guess for me I was riding a pashley 26mhz at 13 at I’d imagine about 5 foot 2 - obviously there is a massive range of heights you can ride any bike at whether that’s a giant on a mod or someone vertically challenged like me on a stock!
 

However when I was starting, more choice in styles and sizes of bikes would not have been a bad thing, choice is always nice and may help new riders get involved and stick easier. I don’t necessarily think inspired doing some marketing and producing some different models is a bad thing - hopefully it allows them more sustainability as a business and a longer future if they can sell more of a range. I guess if it doesn’t work they’ll have learnt something and can bow out of the 22” test.....

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11 hours ago, Ross McArthur said:

All this sizing crap is only designed to sell more bikes guys. Not for the greater good of small people. Not once in any of Max's (viral) videos did I hear him say his 24" bike was too big for him. Now there's an option for a smaller bike, Inspired makes up a trick graph and all of a sudden the bikes too big? Did you pay full price for the 22" Max?

Vertically challenged Marc Caisso was a top 26" comp rider and was a total boss.

Didn't think it would happen this quickly, but you've uncovered the grand trials conspiracy.

If anything, Inspired's sizing chart displays rather wide ranges for each bike to sell to more people, not the opposite.  Just look at the Hex reaching all the way down to 160cm and now imagine Yuki Kishi riding one.  How many of his usual tricks would he still pull off?


To be honest I felt quite rubbish on my 24 over the last year.  I wasn't progressing anymore.

The e-mail Mark quoted was two or three years ago and that was around the time when I started seeing decreasing results from my practice.  And it's logical if you think about it - put two people who are 1.70m and 1.85m tall on the same bike and they're going to have totally different leverages, reach over the axles and positions on there.  At some point moves need too much power.

I could have gotten a Skye or newer Fourplay for shorter chainstays, but that would have been a small improvement for a lot of money.  Now I have a ton of improvement for affordable money.  It's been a while since I got this much joy out of every ride.  And yes, I received a discount.  From Tartybikes, not Inspired.  And it was me who approached them with the intention of buying a Flow 22. ;-)

13 hours ago, Matt24. said:

Will be interesting to see how this works out - Looking at you are on it size wise you do look at the upper end of it's design. I am a similar height to you and ride a 24" and an alias and struggle to choose between which i prefer as the 24" is better for bigger moves but the alias is super flicky and fun. Out of interest was it a more normal looking bike that pushed you towards this rather than something like the alias as looking at your riding wanting to mix trials and spins the alias could have been right up your street.. Let us know how you are finding it and have fun :-) 

Running a 110mm x 30° stem now it feels amazing and nicely adjusted to me.  I am indeed on the taller end of the spectrum for this bike, but in my opinion it's suitable for riders up to ≈1.75m, depending on their preferred riding style.  I compared the little machine to a couple BMX bikes - if you put them side by side, a lot of things kinda line up - like wheelbase, chainstays and the reach from bottom bracket to grips.  So, for streety riding, it's not far off what a BMX bike would feel like even for slightly taller people.  And BMXers do insanely big moves on small bikes too, sooo... we will see what Yuki and I can do. :-)

The only two things that put me off getting an Alias were that you need to run a really long stem (I think), which is bad for barspins, and that I prefer having a seat.  The geometry looks pretty dialled, just the +70mm BB maybe wouldn't be for me, I don't know.

Edited by Max F
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1 hour ago, Max F said:

Nice, maybe it's not as disadvantageous as I thought.  That's a smooth barspin as well!

Just to add some context: Tom's a freak :lol:
I tried to learn them for about three years and only ever landed two.
But maybe having learned them on a bike where they are easier is a big help. He learned on BMX, so maybe they'd be easier for you than me because you can already do them.

After I stopped trying I rode with a BMXer for a while, and I COULD barspin his BMX, but still not a mod.

My head angle was less steep back then though. Not sure if that's a factor.

Edited by aener
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  • 6 months later...
On 1/28/2020 at 5:50 PM, Max F said:

Kind of forgot to post it on the forums, but here is the video of me unboxing the brand new 22-inch Flow and giving it a little test.

The discount code for Tarty has already expired now, unfortunately.
 

 


great job on the video.  Over at 22-Inch BMX, we are stoked that Trials riders are trying 22” also.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1398743663757067?multi_permalinks=2442359899395433&comment_id=2442504712714285&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic&notif_id=1596984811784710&ref=m_notif

Edited by cmc4130
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