Thoughts on 24" vs 26" and picking a new bike

[Arizona]

Hi All, 

Hope this finds you well. I'm getting into street trials and don't have anyone locally to bounce ideas off of so I thought I'd ask here. I'm trying to pick out a street trials bike and would like some help on wheel size and frame choice. For starters I've been looking at the Inspired bikes (but am open to others). I'm 6' 1" (1.85m) and 200 lbs (91kg). My background is in mountain biking with a 29er. My DJ is a 26" and I've been playing around in my local parking lot for a few months and would like to move to something more trials dedicated and with a front brake. The ultimate goal is for my trials bike to help me develop skills I can transfer to my mountain bike but I'm also open to trials becoming my main focus. 

So with all that being said, here are a few basic questions I have. Again, I have basically zero knowledge: 

1) how important is 24" vs 26"?  

2) If 24 is reasonable I can choose between fourplay., arcade, and flow. Any thoughts on how to make that decision? 

3) A lot of the brakes discussion I seem to find is older. Any thoughts on MT5, MT7, and Hope Tech 3 Trials? 

4) On a mountain bike a new rider can, after a few months, tell the difference between an $800 and a $2,000 bike but it would take much longer (in my opinion) to tell the difference between a $4,000 and a $8,000 bike. Where do my above questions fall in that example? 

Thank you for any thoughts you may have on the subject. The street trials scene doesn't seem to be too developed yet out here so I appreciate the comments! You guys rock!

 

[La Bourde]

Hi,

 

Like you, I came from MTB as I started to ride trials.I still ride a lot of enduro/all mountain, pumptrack and sometimes bikepark, skatepark, dirt ... I own 650b and 26" and even a 24" race bmx.

1. Most of the people I ride with use a 24" Street/trial, so I had the opportunity to test one. I don't like 24" street/trial. It is nice for rotations,but I have the impression it is even less a normal bike. You will let roll a 26" more on obstacles than a 24". You will hop more on a 24". But I think a 24" is still reasonable, it is more a personal preference.

Another anecdote: I had two 20" race BMXes and as I said, I now own a 24" race BMX. If I had to pick one again, I will go for the second 20" BMX. It was difficult for me to adapt to the 24" (after many months it is OK though), much more difficult than to the 20". I guess the problem is, that the difference between a 26" dj and 24" bmx is too small. On a 20", my body directly noticed the difference and adapted.

I am 1,78m.

2. Can't help you on that one. Only thing I heard was that the Arcade is more like a BMX (easier on the front wheel), the Fourplay is really stiff.

3. I hate the Magura lever. It feels weak and not stiff. A lot of riders change for a Shimano lever. But the brakes are great, powerfull for sure, more powerfull or at least less progressive than the Shimano (even Saint). I use Shimano Zee with Trickstuff brakepads and I am really happy with. The Formula Cura 4 pistons have also a good call.

4. In trial or street/trial, the geometry, the weight and stiffness make difference. But honestly, an Inspired flow with the right bar and stem will be much better to ride than a skye with the wrong components.

You need good brakes and a good freewheel. Now the cheap freewheels are good enough and you can use mechanical brake or even V-brakes and have a more than decent breaking.

Strong wheels are also important as soon as you start to ride well. 

So if you envisage an used bike, you can buy a recent one (2-3 years old) mid range, much cheaper and swap the parts that don't fit you.

I guess the difference between a Skye and a Fourplay is really small, between a Flow and Fourplay not that important, but between a cheap Onza and Fourplay, you will have to swap a lot of parts and the geometry will make a noticeable difference.

 

 

 

[Swoofty]

I came from years of MTB as well, but I went straight to 24" street trials. The compact maneuverability of a 24" is really incredible and one trip to the skatepark will show that unmistakably over a 26". However, for the last 3 years I've been riding 26" (Czar Neuron 26) and have to say that 26" street trials is highly underrated. I 100% prefer my 26 over my 24 now except for the skatepark environment. Sadly the choices for a straight up 26" street trials bike are extremely limited, but there are some older 26" MTBs that are worthy conversions, although they won't match a modern Hex/Czar. 24s are great; they roll around fine and they excel at spins and quick combinations. For you at 6'1" stay away from the Skye unless you just have to have one. All the steel 24s just feel heavy after you've been on an aluminum street trials bike. My vote goes to the Czar Neuron 24 or 26; I've owned both and they were hands down the best bikes I've ever ridden (I'm 5'10").  Inspireds are overpriced new, buy those used so you can upgrade parts.

 

Check out James Barton - all his new videos are on his DJ bike and it doesn't hold him back at all.