Your Opinion On The Direction Trials Should Be Taking.

[Tom_]

I was just browsing another topic when I saw a post about trials these days being about distances and trying to get an extra few inches when gapping. Well I was just wondering what everyone thinks?

Should trials be about trying to go huge and doing whatever it takes to get those extra inches..

or

Should it be more about getting your riding to "flow" and look smooth, Maybe trying to ride a line (several objects in a row) rather than just one huge object?

Personally I think that people who ride stock (not all of them) tend to be more into the smooth than the mod riders.

Any views on this post here as Im quite interested in what everyone else thinks.

cheers

tom

Edited August 29, 2006 by tom132

[Boris_the_second]

I think it should be about getting bigger and better. Once a rider does something massive like a a huge gap it inspires other riders to push them selfs and to make them selfs better. Getting bigger and better pushes outhers to improve and that what makes trials and any sport grow.

[A!!]

I guess you mean the post i put in the "ur skillz/level of riding" thread

Instead of retyping it out i will quote it in. I just feel that if people just let the whole inches thing take a backseat, and tried to be create with their riding they would improve no end, and they would feel less pressured when riding because you aren't constantly trying to get the extra inch over someone else.

In my opinion this is the one thing that is wrong with trials of recent.

People have become far too obsessed about how high they can go and if they can get that extra inch from tucking that tiny bit more. Yes i know it is a good feeling when you get your highest at a sidehop or tap etc, we all do, but sometimes it just seems people are getting too obsessed about it, rather than trying to ride smoother or more flowing or trying more technical moves, and testing your bike control over different terrain in a variety of ways.

I suppose it is good in a way to be able to compare yourself to someone else, but the best way to do that is go and ride a competition then the truth will tell, and you will be able to see how you compare to others.

I think if you get too obsessed about whats your highest sidehop or biggest gap, it will hinder your riding as you feel a pressure to to get that extra inch than someone else you know, instead of enjoying riding and being creative with the way you ride.

Maybe it is just me who feels like that, but i do think if people thought less about inches and more about creative lines and trying different approaches at things it would help. I'm not saying you should never push yourself or try to go bigger as you would never improve, but just don't let it be the only thing you ride for.

Like i say though maybe it's just me who thinks this , and i'm just too old school at heart

[Chris Elson]

I think that when a line is done so smooth it looks more amazing then if you done something big. To show you are in control of the bike , you have to be smooth, and make a line look so easy.

Good topic mate i like it.

[adamtrials]

Trials doesn't "need" to take any direction?

Trials is what you make of it, if you want to do biggest moves, go and practice doing huge moves.

If on the other hand you think setup hops are the sign of the devil go and get rid of them...

Trials is fine where it is, it's not like we're all going to get AIDS if we carry on doing big moves

or if you decide that big moves are uncool...

Edited August 29, 2006 by adamtrials

[Abdab.]

I agree about the what you make of trials thing but wouldnt you want trials to be as big s bmxing? In spain everyone knnows about biketrials, so why dont the english? If people understood our sport trials would be so much better care abouAnd i dont really t doing something smooth is good, I just think by having the guts and the determination is good enough. Trials is about getting out there and having fun, and I look at trials with no morals and see everything as possible.

I think if less people rode comps and got out on the srteet then trials wud be alot bigger?

Think if more and more people organised demos etc.... Then the public would understand.

[Chris Elson]

Ye i think a good thing about trials is going to meet with alot of defferent riders , and having fun and making friends. I think that trials is becoming more populour , the more demos and shows people do, the more people know about it. I think the only reason that more people dont do trials is because you need alot of determination, i think that some people think that its going to happen over night.

[Tom_]

I have to agree when I first started riding there were alot more riders riding trials. But since then alot of them have quit for bmx. I think this is because they found mastering the basics of trials hard, so they stopped for bmx which only takes a few days to learn to jump and then its easyer to progress quickly.

[GTF]

it depends on the rider.

i like the old school bikes with seats - many people using those is much smoother than the seatlless guys.

stock trials bikes is getting more and more like mods - the latest is mod size dropouts...!

do we really want the bikes look like bigger mods?

there should be a clear line between stock and mods, but the only difference now is that mods have smaller wheels.

don´t get me worng... it´s good that trials is evolving, but this is mountainbike (26") right?

it´s important to show people that we still can do trials with regular mtb´s

[A!!]

Trials doesn't "need" to take any direction?

Trials is what you make of it, if you want to do biggest moves, go and practice doing huge moves.

If on the other hand you think setup hops are the sign of the devil go and get rid of them...

Trials is fine where it is, it's not like we're all going to get AIDS if we carry on doing big moves

or if you decide that big moves are uncool...

I do agree with what you have said, but i don't think Tom132 meant it in that way that is so clear cut you can be either creative and no big moves, or big moves and uncreative.

It's like when skateboarding first came about you had the more longboard style skaters who enjoyed cruising around and flying around bowls, and then it took a change to being an acrobatic sport involving ollies and kickflips down stairs, or big spins in a halfpipe, and with this change it left former skaters behind to carry on what they enjoy being more longboard style skating, the film Dogtown and Z-boys shows all this.

It happens with every sport though because people get involved or do it for different reasons and circumstances, so people end up riding how they like and enjoy if it's either large gaps and sidehops or just being creative or even combining them both.

In some respects i like Trials being a fairly small sport. Mainly because if you are visiting another town or going for a ride and you see a trials rider, you stop and talk and meet new people, even if you didn't know them before. It's like a community really, and i like it the way it is.

I think the difference with Bmxing is that it kind of became a fashion to have a BMX bike because they looked cool, as it had a lot more media attention than trials did in the early days. So a lot of people brought one wether it was to ride around looking cool or to do the tricks and ride it for what it is meant for, and this then gave it more recognition. Then it ended up with games for the playstation and so on, and more people get introduced to the sport very easily.

[Joey B]

I agree with huck_it i wouldn't want trials to progress into a too big a sport because of the great way that all trialers get along and will gladly help each other out. I do Motorbike trials as well and that has the same type of atmosphere where people ride for fun and generally have a good time.

[Tom_]

couldnt agree more with huck it

I think that a combination of both is the best really because you should always push yourself, but try and look good at the same time.

I have to say that at the moment bmx is a sport dominated by fashion, the bikes all look the same these days. In trials no one slags you off for not having a bike that looks like everyone elses. I think that this is good, and if trials gets more media coverage it may also turn into a fasion dominated sport. So I like the indivduality of riding trials, its totaly unique

tom

Edited August 29, 2006 by tom132

[dan c]

i think trials should go in the direction that people enjoy, and develop as other sports do

[Chris Elson]

ye i think that having a seat is a good thing becuase i does show people that we can do it using mtb, but i think that it is a good thing to not having a seat because people look at us more and think that its a different sport just becuase we dont have seats, trials is becoming more advanced , and not having a seat shows that trials bikes are becoming so much more different since it started.

[Saracen Kid]

it should be getting bigger and more wide spread trials is the least done biking dicipline*

*sorced by MBUK in some issue

[GTF]

i think trials should go in the direction that people enjoy, and develop as other sports do

agree!

[Tall_Rob]

True, you need to be pushing yourselves or everyone will just be doing the same soon.

You've got the huge gaps and sidehops of CLS and Damon Watson.

You've got the natural stuff/technical lines by the comp boys (Ali C, Danny Butler, Ben Savage)

You've got the flowing style with bmx lines by Rohan Jons.

Do what you wanna do but you will never progress unless you push yourself.

I myself like to push and get better but also love to spend hours going over little things and trying more technical lines.

But as MBUK said in their 'whats hot and whats not' section - hopping on the back wheel is not hot and flowing is hot.

I quote Mr Staples - "Anyone can be smooth. They just need to do smaller stuff than they usually do"

Try taking a step back and go over easier lines and make them look easy and try adding technical routes across whatever your doing.

Trials is about getting from A to B without dabbing. Some people make it look easy, some people can get up and over huge obstacles. But as long as your having fun and doing what you enjoy, who gives a shit how you do it!

Rob

[A!!]

I quote Mr Staples - "Anyone can be smooth. They just need to do smaller stuff than they usually do"

Trials is about getting from A to B without dabbing. Some people make it look easy, some people can get up and over huge obstacles. But as long as your having fun and doing what you enjoy, who gives a shit how you do it!

Rob

I suppose that is true if you do smaller moves you will look smoother, because you aren't having to really push yourself to your limits, so you end up looking smoother because less attention and strength is going purely into getting up or down etc. But i think you can tell a more natural and flowing rider who has more bike control, than one who is just doing smaller moves than usual and has less bike control in order to ride smoothly.

That is what i meant about enjoying riding. I did use to get pretty angry with myself as i was one of those people who forgot what i first got into and started trials for, and it took me a while to realise why i wasn't enjoying it as much. I was just getting too bothered about how high my recent gap is or sidehop and so on.

But more recently i've just let myself be more creative when i do ride instead of just trying and trying to get a bit bigger at one certain move till the point i get angry with myself. And i have found this way i enjoy it a lot more

Edited August 29, 2006 by huck_it

[26inch]

I think it needs diversity. Flowing street looks good and attracts attention from some backgrounds, like mtb street and bmx, while big stuff attracts less informed people and looks good on tv again attracting money etc

[Greetings]

Should trials be about trying to go huge and doing whatever it takes to get those extra inches..

or

Should it be more about getting your riding to "flow" and look smooth, Maybe trying to ride a line (several objects in a row) rather than just one huge object?

I say it should be about the flow etc. However, without silly people who only go big, none of us would appreciate the riders who don't go big but ride with flow. It's all about contrast I guess. If everybody was riding/trying to ride like Leech or Rowan, both of who have a very unique style, that style just wouldn't be anything special.

[weewillywinky]

trials has evolved as a discipline, and now is a compromise of many variables, such as the latest being 24" trials i guess. there are no written rules that i know of which stops trials from being something else. as long as you enjoy riding trials will all ways be about, whether people ban it or not. it's peoples personal preference which direction they go in and conformity doesn't neccesarily apply to every thing. to be honest i hav't got a clue what i'm on about here, it's just some mildly philosophical bull i aply to every thing, that the world is full of compromises between things and there will all ways be people changing.

the thing which i often wonder is why i do ride my bike whether it be trials or not. i wonder whether it is worth the money i pay for things just to ride, the answer is always sut up and get on with it, but if you enjoy something youll carry on doing it, so i hope i never stop enjoy riding. does any body else ever wonder why they ride or am i alone on this?

Have fun!

[Tom_]

I often wonder why I ride. Its so expensive. But then I get out on my bike and realise why, its such good fun riding and just having fun with your riding mates.

[max-t]

i think that trials is going to become more popular very quickly..it is now and wont stop..i think the sport will eventually become televised more often and therefore making the idea and scene of trials more well known to the public and thus iliminating the "wheres your seat" and "get some oil on them brakes" comments.

i think the designs in frames and components will become more wacky than they are at this present day and will become more expensive due to the increasing amount of people taking up the sport. the price demand for materials for components will also soar up.

one day in the long term the perfect trials geometry will be created!

i would of thought that someone would of came up with a "helium frame" design as well to make the frame lighter but still strong (helium in the frame) and again if that does happen price demands will rise.

i think that these improvements will help with the riders capeabillities and maybe some records will be shatterd.

as for the compotiton scene...more competitors will emerge and attend the events and i think that more classes for the younger generation will be made.even thogh there already a few.

there will be more riders of the female kind (girl riders)<<< which would be great.

i can also see more trials parks being made for the public riders to keep them off the streets.but it would be cool if the coppers accepted our situation and let us ride the streets...bit farfechd but that would be great too that will never happen though

thanks for reading...

max...

[Luke Drewery]

Anyone who has seen my videos would agree that although my moves are getting bigger quite significantly every few months, I am more of a smooth/sane rider who has some style than a go huge rider who has no style at all and lands like a sack of spuds on every move. I have chosen to ride in a smoother way, incorporating manuals, spins and crankflips into my riding yet I still stick to normal trials moves most of the time. This is because drop gaps and big drops bore me, I dont look for moves like that when I ride. I feel that trials needs a 50/50 or smoothness and bigness, although the only riders that go huge and impress me are the likes of Neil Tunnicliffe, Damon Watson, Craig Lee Scott etc as they still retain style, where as unfortunately most videos I watch nowadays have kids doing drop gap after drop gap adter drop gap with a few ups thrown in, as they see it as the popular thing to do, as if trials is a trend. Trials is a sport that should include some originality, and each rider should have their own style. Im not saying there is nothing wrong to aspiring to better riders but I wish they would be a little original and incorporate some other moves into their riding to become a more all round rider.

[rids]

it should be getting bigger and more wide spread trials is the least done biking dicipline*

*sorced by MBUK in some issue

its the most demanding and requires the most effort of all of them

i ride xc and it took time to get to a standard but i don't need to practice with trials u seem to need to be on it Regually or balance drifts