Mind Blowing Trials Riding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o

I absolutely love watching this stuff.

The flare off the tree and the nose manual at the top of the stairs were just so impressive.

The bike was interesting, though. Sort of a neat mix of trials utility and real world practicality. Got me feeling the hots for a 24" BMX cruiser-style bike with no suspension and a simple gearset. Like a rear-only six speed. Does such a thing exist?

jg

Wow. That is really cool.

it can be done JG. you can run a bmx style crank with a sprocket and chain guard on both sides. FSA makes a great euro bottom bracket that works with profile crank arms.

As far as a 6 spd rear, you may have to go for 7, as theres not a lot of 6 speed cog sets/derailleurs/shifters around anymore. It has been about 5 years since I cruised through QBP and J&B catalogs though. Those will be your best bet for finding the bits to make it work. I know you can find forks easily. The problem will be if the frame you choose is built for suspension or not.

Suspension frames have a steeper head tube angle by a few degrees to offset the slightly higher front end - this keeps steering from being too sluggish. A pair of "suspension correcting" solid forks in 24" size might be a pain to source, but theyre taller to compensate for the lost height. Without it, steering will be quick and torquey - the equivalent to bumpsteer in a bicycle.

The other option is to buy 24" freestyle bike. Id look for a a Haro backtrail X24 - 24" BMX multi-purpose (street, dirt, skatepark, etc). I have riddin one in anger and I love the feel and its very well balanced for aggressive riding. Lace an internally geared hub into the back wheel. The hub will be expensive to buy and install, but essentially its less modification = faster to get ready to ride. As far as ease of use, maintenance, and durability, Id say thats the ideal set up - derailleurs like to reach out and grab onto stuff when youre riding aggressively. Often times when that happens, the derailleur and the frame play like its thanksgiving and their yanking on the wishbone.

I have a friend with a Montesa trials motorcycle and I've ridden it a few time. It's very challenging and a lot more fun than I expected.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5QJCXkYea8

JG - that is basically what I'm building. Being laid off and recovering from shoulder surgery put the project on hold, but it's going to be a 1x9 gear set on a Specialized P1 frame (rigid, dirt jump bike).

Not quite the trials bike in the video, but hopefully a good melding of BMX and MTB.