New Or Old School?

[Mark W]

That was a little play he was having on some of the stuff near his house, as opposed to a serious vid.

Oh, and he's not getting on with his HiFi. A trials rider? Not getting on with their HiFi? I have never heard of that happening before

[Davetrials]

god there so wank..

i HATED mine.

[Mat Smith!]

Ali hated his I think.

Mat

[adamtrials]

Rav 1996

Please download this video and watch it.

That is some serious old school shizzle!

He must have been a god at the time.

[Davetrials]

Rav 1996

Please download this video and watch it.

lmao that sum old shizwack and quite good for 1996!!!!!!!

rav must be a beast by now?

[MikeCottTrials]

obviously i wasnt around in the old skool times but it cant have been that good, because i did go through a xc bike thing and it was crap all i did was ride around bunny hopping which was fun when your a little kid but i just cant imagine even contemplating it now. xc bikes (more than trials bikes) are always braking and make it super difficult to even do the simplest of moves, no wonder trials was so unknown it looked completely bollocks. also youve got everything else trials forum, better equipement, camera technology has improved so you can watch vids (thankyou tunni, CLS), and everything else cough

Edited May 27, 2006 by MikeCottTrials

[future orange 660]

i ride an oldish school frame: pashey 26 mhz.

i do however like the feel of new school frames on the back wheel but do not find the bikes as practical and capable of being ridden in a more all round manner.

[UrbanLegend]

obviously i wasnt around in the old skool times but it cant have been that good, because i did go through a xc bike thing and it was crap all i did was ride around bunny hopping which was fun when your a little kid but i just cant imagine even contemplating it now. xc bikes (more than trials bikes) are always braking and make it super difficult to even do the simplest of moves, no wonder trials was so unknown it looked completely bollocks. also youve got everything else trials forum, better equipement, camera technology has improved so you can watch vids (thankyou tunni, CLS), and everything else cough

Well for me it's not just about equipment or technology... It's more a feeling. Comparing the bikes is easy now, but back then there was no such thing as "trials specific". What we rode indeed were modified XC/Duel etc bikes, but they were as trialsy as we could make! I can imagine in ten years time the bikes will have evolved even more, and today's bikes will have little resemblence.

I must admit the video "scene" is one great thing about today. However we did have Chainspotting and Tricks & Stunts (countless others but these two will stick in my mind always!) which can never really be replaced for me.

I can appreciate your point of view, but it is almost impossible to understand the times if you didn't live and ride through them yourself.

Really impressed with the polling - can't quite get my head around how old skool is winning! I was clearly wrong, there are a lot more of you out there feeling as nostalgic as me!

Oh and PS - I'd be SO up for an old school comp - been thinking of building up an old style play bike for a while now. I'm sure we could get a lot of interest! Although I don't think I could face running a Shimano hub again lol!! I'll have to find a Ti-Glide or Hope Sport from somewhere! Oh and Yellow Racelines all round methinks!

Edited May 27, 2006 by UrbanLegend

[chrishayton]

Ali hated his I think.

Mat

i think the words worst frame ever, were the words used.

[MasterOfGussets]

obviously i wasnt around in the old skool times but it cant have been that good, because i did go through a xc bike thing and it was crap all i did was ride around bunny hopping which was fun when your a little kid but i just cant imagine even contemplating it now. xc bikes (more than trials bikes) are always braking and make it super difficult to even do the simplest of moves, no wonder trials was so unknown it looked completely bollocks. also youve got everything else trials forum, better equipement, camera technology has improved so you can watch vids (thankyou tunni, CLS), and everything else cough

The '90s weren't the dark ages.

I remember bouncing around on walls back in '99 on a converted Apollo MTB (more of swapping the cranks round, adding a 22t single chainring and putting a bash ring on than a conversion). Back then the only trials bikes I'd seen were an Azonic DS1 and a Planet-X Jackflash with Magura set. (Astounded me at the time). I remember the Jackflash had to have an angle grinder taken to it to get 2.5" tyre clearance.

I remember the shitty generic V-Brake's I had to put up with, too. No bite whatsoever... until we crushed coke cans into our spokes, spun the wheels and voila... instant bite.

I've seen someone saying that anything bigger than a curb used to be fair game. I think the same thing. I doubt half the new school riders would be interested in many of the spots I know of purely because they're not 50"+ walls.

Although, it's good to adapt with any advances in a sport. So I'm not bothered either way.

[thegoofeedude]

I voted for "old school" only for the reason of the happy memories it brings for me, and the truth is I'm not technically that old school! I first discovered biketrials in 1999, after I met a friend who rode some awesome moto trials. I started copying his moves on my Mongoose D40r series heavy-as-heck dual suspension mountain bike from Wal-Mart. I remember the awe I had when watching my friend ride moto trials, and how cool bunnyhopping was, and just how cool and collected and badass you looked when you did a trackstand on anything. So even though I wasn't around biketrials in the 80's or early 90's, I still think I am an old school rider just because I discovered biketrials the way the original biketrialers did- an extension of motorcycle trials.

I remember how excited I was when I finally got the money to buy my first "real" trials bike- a Monty X-Alp with Vee brakes. Back then, hopping up a picnic table was the paramount of awesome riding ability. Mike Bentham was continually blowing me away with his moves on his Brisa stock at Miketrials.com. Watching anybody hop anything more than 26" seriously left me speechless.

Now I ride a really short stock frame (not even really "trials" by todays standards, a Giant STP) and I am no where near as good as I should be for the time I've spent riding. But I'm having fun, and can finally hop up a picnic table .

I definitely think new school has awesome things going for it. I remember when I first found trials-forum and was blown away at how many vids were available! Over here in the US the trials scene is still so tiny, I'm sure it's a lot like trials 4 or 5 years ago for where many of you are. I still have never happened across another trials rider when I am out riding... ever. I really can't wait for the scene to grow here so that there will be "new school" here.

Anyway, that's a lot of rambling, great topic. Love trials, new and old.

[deanie-b]

Rav 1996

Please download this video and watch it.

Thats quite impressive for a bike like that

Must be an ace rider now ?

[Davetrials]

i think the words worst frame ever, were the words used.

and i aggreed with him.

[biketrialler]

Definitely Old school, my first proper bike was an orange zero which was probably one of the last 'new' short old style frames.

Aside from that, the whole oldskool thing was just better because you rode with what you had, whenever you could and didnt really care, it was just about the riding and having fun. There is so much politics, a huge expectance that you have to have a good bike to be recognised and in fact that you have to be really good to demand respect on the big bike rides that its lost my attention.

Im proud to have my Pace RC250t sitting in my garage, I went out on it in the first in a year yesterday...mmm Pace.

Seriously the whole Echo Deng thing is f**king pathetic and I hate the way these companies have taken the trials scene.

[Luke Drewery]

This is a VERY hard choice, as I have been riding for about 3 and a half years now and although that isnt very long compared to some people its seems like decades and I have seen trials change so much.

I loved the old days around where I live, I had a crappy barracuda slum with some maguras on it, and it rode like a crap heap but I enjoyed every minute on it. I would ride virtually 24/7 whether it be on my curb, round the corner on some walls or whatever, it was trials in its purest sense-going out and having fun trying to get up/over things on a mountain bike. There was around 25 riders in my area (within 6 or so miles) and we would all go ride town in a big group and egg each other on to try a bigger/better move. Summers used to be legendary, getting up at 9.00 every morning, have about 10 riders call for you from nearby villages/houses etc and go for a massive ride, getting more people on the way. Back then there were spots that I never knew were there, and the older/more experienced riders seemed to show me new riding spots every day so I never got bored. Things seemed so much more relaxed, so I wasnt always stressing about how big my riding was or whatever.

Now, although I am much much better with a nicer bike it doesnt seem as much fun anymore because I ride on my own all the time, all the other riders have moved on because of cars/college/etc and I have no-one to ride with, it seems like the only way I can share my riding is through videos, which is why I started making them. I feel I dont push myself anymore and my progression has slowed right down, because there is nobody to egg me on, and nobody to compete with. I have to get a 45 minute train ride just to meet some more riders, its all a bit crap now. My love for trials is still there, but all the others things that made it so good have gone...

Oh well.

Edited May 29, 2006 by Luke Drewery

[Mark W]

Seriously the whole Echo Deng thing is f**king pathetic and I hate the way these companies have taken the trials scene.

Affordable parts? Better quality parts? Stronger parts? Better suited-to-trials parts? Wider choice of frame and component geometry/specs? That's not really a bad thing

[biketrialler]

the whole attempt to saturate the market with different brands that are all the same company owned by him. I dont deny that some of his products are good stuff and solid reliable products at a decent price, I just hate the way he's going about it...

i think my main gripe in the whole oldskool/newskool thing was that in oldskool people seemed to be happy riding at the level they are and having fun while improving while it seems that there is a huge expectation for young/new riders to be able to sidehop/japslap up some kind of behemoth to gain any kind of respect. maybe thats an exaggeration, im not sure, it just seems like the attitude towards riding is very different...