What Is Trials?

[Sam Nichols]

What is trials?

It's funny how the sport appears to clash in that a UCI rider has no need for tricks, sure he may learn them because they are fun, but they have no real value to him. He needs to get from point A to point B without dabbing. A street rider will feel that tricks are very valuable to him, he looks for style and finesse whilst still making it from point A to point B.

Both riders will agree that they are riding an almost different discipline yet there is a similarity... They both are riding over a section. Sure one section is marked with tape, the other marked with the words 'see if you can gap that and pull a 180 at the end'. But, they both want to make a maneuver without dabbing... Because of this there really is no difference.

You could argue that the street rider is complicating trials, there is no need to add 'BMX' into the sport. Which is why many UCI riders will feel they are 'purists'. Equally though, a street rider may feel himself superior to the UCI rider with a quote I once read 'If you can pull an Xup you're already better than most UCI riders'.

I suppose if you take it back to it's roots, most disciplines probably evolved from either extreme mountain bikers or BMXers. Now i'm guessing people didn't start hopping on the back wheel because they wanted to make it down a large hill. They probably started hopping because they wanted to show their mates a thing or two at the bottom while they were having their sandwiches.

So maybe this element of showing off is where trials came from in the beginning? Maybe pulling tricks is where it's at because that is what trials is all about?

Hell I don't know enough about the history of the universe to make a valid point, in fact to be honest i dont even know what my point is. I guess what i'm trying to say is that neither discipline out does the other. Watch a Craig Lee Scott video and your jaw drops. Watch a Matt Berridge video and your jaw drops.

If you can't appreciate both disciplines then maybe you shouldn't even be on this forum? Long bike, short bike, big wheels, little wheels, risers, flats... These are all variations of something beautiful. A trials bike.

Trials is like cake, it's very tasty... But add some chocolate sauce and you lose some fans of it but gain others, add strawberry sauce and you lose those fans but some other people start eating it. We all eat trials differently but at the end of the day it's still trials.

Group hug.

[Dr. Nick Riviera]

matt always get brought into the discussion , but lest we forget , some of the trials kings were also bloody good comp riders. and watching back through matts older videos, he could've shown some of the uci boys a thing or two.

trials is puzzle solving in my opinion , just through different methods

[Has anyone seen my shoe?]

lmao random.

Some of the points are well presented though like the cls and berrige videos.

Theres always going to be insport rivalry though.

And the point about 'So maybe this element of showing off is where trials came from in the beginning?'

Isnt this where most bike sports started?

Being a BMXer wont inprove your quality of life, wont provide food etc...

Good points though, bit random

[Sam Nichols]

I guess in a round about way that's kind of my point (both of you) there is a definite bread of rider that spreads across both proving that there really is no difference?

[ben_travis]

i think some people take the street vs uci thing way too seriously. Its a problem we have to over come, in fact i quite like the banter with some of the more streety people, but those who take it seriously are just f**king weird. i mean after all, its just a bit of fun for most of us.

I like both sides, if i could afford a streety bike as well i would have one, although i doubt i would use it as much. as you said, both riders u mentioned are awesome, however if there is this big divide, what would you say about james porter for example, probably one of the most amazing riders on this forum, yet he mixes technical more streety stuff with uci big taps, hooks etc.

i dont give a shit about whether i ride UCI or street, both are fun in their own right, its what each person goes toward, people just take the divide to seriously.

[Ali C]

I am with ben.... I tend not to worry myself about all the differnent styles.

One day I like to ride streety, go off to the skatepark etc

one day I might fancy riding rocks (most days )

one day I might fancy trying big taps and sidehops

one day I mig..........well, you get the idea

Like I said, dont worry yourself about what or how you ride, as long as you are riding its cool.

[Ash-Kennard]

i just go out riding, and whatever I approch, i just go at it, don't think about it, just get on with it. do whatever suits for the thing your doing. my style on natural has spins and lots of endos. `so like i said, just do it(nike logo )

[mat hudson]

We all eat trials differently but at the end of the day it's still trials.

you just made my day

[Tom Rigg]

I have to say, hit the nail on the head there, i myself am a very UCI influenced rider yet i love to watch the streety moves, it impresses me so. i agree that its the same discipline just alot of variations. Group hug indeed

[Mark W]

To be honest, this "divide" seems to be largely confined to here? On a ride, I've never heard of anyone not ride with someone 'cos they're "too street" or whatever? And I don't think anyone I've ridden with has consciously gone around working out whether they were "UCI" enough? Most people just try not to go to bash/pedals when doing stuff, which is like the only similarity to UCI anyway I rode like that before I even knew about the difference between BIU and UCI, so I wouldn't say it was that big a deal.

Anyway, point I'm making is that "in real life", this isn't a problem at all?

[JT!]

There's always variations in every sport. Eg. Running.

Respect peoples styles and deal with it.

[Sam Nichols]

Anyway, point I'm making is that "in real life", this isn't a problem at all?

I get you. I guess I'm getting a distorted view of the trials community (because of this forum). The fact that I live in guernsey and I'm practically the ONLY trials rider over here, that rides regularly anyway. My only contact with the trials community is from the forum and thats why i thought this.

Maybe it's just banter? It seems more serious than that to me. Perhaps people just enjoy winding each other up?

I think it's time I took a tiny break from the forum, or at least look at everything from a slightly different viewpoint. I'm not really sure why I made this topic or what I hoped to do, but it's been helpful for me... Kinda selfish, but thanks anyway