Starting out trials

[Sentiment]

Hey guys,
After seeing ryan leech decimating everything he came across in like a thousand videos, I decided to make a serious effort towards trying to learn trials.
I've got a background in xc and downhilling, very little dj.
Right now, I've got a 04' enduro expert which is of no use to trials, so my main bike for urban shit is a 02 or 03 specialized hardrock.

Is this a viable bike to learn the basics of trials on? From the resources that i've read so far, I think I can expect 4-5 months just to learn the basics of it, riding 3-4 times a week.
As for my street riding skills, I can wheelie a respectable amount (recently learnt), but my manualing skills and pretty much everything else is quite terrible.

Any sort of comment would be great, especially from those of you who recently started (your skill progression and stuff).

[8Lives&Counting...]

Good work mate! I'm pretty similar to yourself, but maybe a few months ahead. I decided to give trials a real go when I had a kid and couldn't spare the time to go for epic trail rides.

I started on a DMR trailstar I had but if you're serious I'd highly recommend going to a good trials bike sooner rather than later, there's always a few second hand on here, it'll be much more fun and you'll progress lots faster.

When I started I could already trackstand and do a few other simple things. Now I ride trials three times a week and find every time something clicks a little more or I get a bit more confidence somewhere. The hardest thing I found was getting backhops going, that took ages but one day you'll manage to go say 4/5 hops and it'll just go so much faster from then.

There's a few good vids out there, I liked Leech's Mastering the Art of Trials" (or I'm sure you can find a fair bit on YouTube...) and riding with mates who don't mind helping out is really useful too, even the best trials riders are still trying to learn stuff!

It'll probably be pretty hard on the back so make sure you stretch to avoid injury too, back injuries can really give you the shits.

Just keep at it cause it's the coolest thing you can do on two wheels and in a years time you'll be doing six foot gaps no bother :bigthumb:

[jak442]

You can learn on anything, but I think your progression would be a lot better on a trials specific bike. At the very least a stock frame outfitted with mtb parts and a really good v-brake out back. If yer on a budget then http://www.marinobike.com/ might be right up your alley, not the prettiest in the world, but haven't heard any horror stories. A few have been posted up in the media forum and I'm thinkin real hard about one of his 24inchers. Or you might find a frame in the FS forum here.

I come from a BMX to urban freestyle background, but have been on a road bike for about 5 years and this: http://observedtrials.net/vb/showthread.php?t=36152 is my first trials bike.... go figure?

Progression has been about as I figured which is almost exactly what you've figured(from the sound of it). I'm about 7 weeks in now and it's goin pretty well.... my testicles seem to be my biggest limiting factor at present, but I learn a little more and get more comfortable every time I ride.

It sounds like you have realistic expectations and are willing to put in the time. I would also recommend putting in a little money on a proper trials frame. I know full well that if I'd started this on something I already knew how to ride, I'd have ended up just doing what I already knew how to do.

Ohhh and...... Manuals and bunny hops are fucking hard on a trials bike! Just an FYI

[tubender]

forget the calender and expectations and spend a lot of time on the bike..

[Sentiment]

Hehe thanks guys :p. And yup, I'm willing to spend however long it takes, calender's just there for some reason. I'm only 16, but I'll save up some money and buy myself a decent frame and brakes in a month or two.
Till then, i'll stick to learning the absolute basics on my hardrock. Sorry to hear about your balls jak :$, I'll probably use my padded xc baggies from now on.
Even when i ride xc, my back occasionally hurts on longer rides, so i'll be sure to stretch out and stuff.
Thanks for the help guys :)