converting xc frame to trials?

[jekyll]

I am new to the site and even newer to the world of trials riding. Ive been riding xc for about 7 years and interested in riding trials. I have an older specialized rockhopper and was wondering if it was a feasible idea to convert this bike to a trials bike. I live in northwest RI so if anyone rides in this area id like to tag along on one of your rides.:x:

[bouncingbabyboy]

You can learn some stuff on a cross country bike if it is a hard tail. Even better if it has a rigid fork. It won't be long before you start bending rims, breaking hubs, cracking your frame...

Practicing riding narrow lines, track stand, going up small square curbs without slaping your rear wheel on the curb. Maybe even rocking if you keep it gentle. Once you start getting up on you back wheel or hopping on stuff you are going to break things. Then you won't even have a cross country bike.

If you can't afford a Adamant or Koxx today watch the for sale section on this board. People are selling nice bikes on here all the time. Recently people have posted a complete Woodman, a Raven and a bunch of other nice bikes. Save your cross country bike for riding.

[beastoftheeast]

i started on a small xc bike converted to trials that i bought used. not much broke on it except i snaped the axle once. i dont know how much you can do but if your just starting and want to see if you want to get into trials i think your xc bike will be ok for a bit. lower the seat all the way, use some pedals other than clipless(platform is best bet), if you feel the brakes dont work well use tar, throw a bash guard on there. like the bouncing baby said... your best option is to buy a cheap trials specific bike but if you dont want to drop that much cash till your leaving the beginner level thats understandable. once i learned to pedal kick on the xc frame is when i decided it was time for a real trials bike. pedal kicking on 17 inch chainstays=ass suckage.

[jekyll]

Yea the rockhopper has a rigid fork and decent brakes(or at least good enough for nose wheelies and somewhat hopping on back wheel). Also i took off the large chainring and can now use the middle chain ring as a bash guard(well see how long that lasts...ha ha) so for now all i can conjure up is switching rear cassette to a road cassette(not too sure what gear ratios, crank arm lengths and things of the sort) and wider handle bars to get me going for now, but thanx for the tips! but dont worry i have another bike to keep cruising the trails....

[Macleod]

haha. I started on a ridgid hardrock, now several years later it will live on as I use the shock from it to make an urban trials Zebdi.

[stickyworm]

People forget howmuch was done on bikes before trials specific geometry. Many xc bikes have stays as beefy as the stays on trials bikes that won championships 5 years ago. In fact much of thechnology in trials has been applied to xc. Your chainring will last about 5 minutes when you miss your first pedal up, so you'll likely want to get a good bashring, and the most costly thing you'll see is damage to your rear hub until you begin learning to drop. It's drops that will hurt the welds on the frame, but that is mostly because when learning, your technique isn't as sharp and so the bike takes more shock. Rigid forks will help in the future with balance and control. While youre still learning to drop, I recommend using a shock fork until you are able to do it properly. It usually begins with wheeling off a drop and it is so easy to land hard on the forks, this results in more shock into the headset and frame, which results in a broken frame, wherein you shell out the cash for a trials specific bomb-proof ride.

[bouncingbabyboy]

The Specialized rock hopper is a pretty solid frame and will take a lot. Stickyworm is right. You could probably find a lot of rockhoppers in older trials video. It will work better if it is a smaller frame. The biggest problem with older non-trial bikes is that a lot of them have really long chain stays and seat tubes. It's hard to lower your seat when the top tube is against the seat already. If it is a small frame go for it. The new Hardrocks and P series are popular off the rack bikes for street trials for people who don't want to get a dedicated trials bike.