[silus2000]

My first day riding my new (used) Zebdi and my wrist has just had it. I was just hopping up the stairs when I felt a sharp pain in my left wrist. I had to just quit riding and go home. I'll probably need a few days to recover. Granted, I have had wrist problems in the past, but I just didnt realize the beating your wrists can take.

I dont really wanna fork out more cash, but I dunno if I have a choice. Can anyone recommend a suspension fork for a Zebdi Mk2 (73 degree head angle).

Thanks!

 

[AndyT]

I suggest you don't run 70 psi in your tires. See what your wrists feel like with 20 psi in the front. Should be nice and soft for you. If I run high pressure I have knee problems, and other joint problems....try out low pressure for a bit..then you will need wider rims...better sidewalls...etc.


or as the cabbie so eloquently put in old school,

"I suggest you stop being such a ******"

 

[Elan]

burn.... yes, low psi has helped a ton for me. when i started riding (with 40psi) m back would begin to hurt bad after some drops... but now i have better technique and lower psi...

 

[ascentrek]

I dont really wanna fork out more cash, but I dunno if I have a choice. Can anyone recommend a suspension fork for a Zebdi Mk2 (73 degree head angle).

Thanks!

I understand completely! I had the exact same issue. I sucked at getting the front end up, so I bought a suspension fork. I got a SID XC (01 model, Red). I think it has 80 mm of travel. Its perfect and light, and you'll get used to riding and landing softer. I just took mine off a few weeks ago. Now I don't have the wrist problems. I think you can find those on Ebay for under $100 now.

Taylor

 

[afrobot]

Brake lever angle and bar positioning can exacerbate, your
limpwristedness.If one hand seems to dominate let the other hand in on the action to build strength.

 

[Cryo-Cube]

low psi is the way to go! a big tire with low psi is almost as good as a suspension fork + its alot lighter.

 

[SteveR1960]

Silus,

what part of your wrist had the pain? The whole wrist? Only below the index finger? Pinky? If it still hurts, is there a part of the day it twinges the most? Any numbness at night? What is your istory of wrist problems?

The reason I ask is that sometimes these wrist injuries are tendonitis and you can mitigate them by sleeping with a night brace (can be bought very cheaply). So my questins go to understanding if there is a tendon problem that is likely persistent or a one off injury that is likely not to be recurrent.

Cheers!

Steve

 

[hydroboy]

If I run high pressure I have knee problems, and other joint problems

I find it easier just to be smooth.

 

[AndyT]

hydroboy I would make you look like a lanky ****** having an epileptic siezure, so I wouldn't talk there.

 

[hydroboy]

It is ok andrew. It was a small joke on my part, we all hear about how smooth you are afterall.

 

[alexm]

Andy, im sure Hydroboy isn?t as smooth as you, and I am gathering from the videos I have seen of you that you are a hell of a lot smoother than me but I don?t see the point in being big headed about it. Let other people make up their own minds on your/other riders abilities. Your one cocky fuck who somehow has a lot of people raping your arsehole on these forums like you are some sort of god which i guess is good for you. You don?t seem like that good of a rider in my eyes (and i know this isn't the reason why these people worship you by the way), which makes me wonder why you bring all this attention to your riding ability on these forums in the first place. You do a lot of good on these forums by stirring up shit and keeping things interesting. Keep it up but don?t be too much of a bullshit artist when regarding your trialsing skill, no one likes people who talk themselves up. :yum:

 

[AndyT]

it was 4 am, I don't even remember typing it. You can see videos soon and be the judge of my riding in the next few months...feel free to be as mean as possible. Raping my ass?? I'm a pitcher not a catcher sweety


ps.. hydro you like to ride kevins balls on bt.com, have you ever bothered to notice comp results for here in CO the last year? I look forward to 2004 as he has gone to switzerland and all those places to train/compete and rides 10x more than me, I know he wants to beat me bad...I'm making up for lost time now tho :bigthumb:

 

[alexm]

well i look forward to seeing the video since the ones i have seen of you so far have been very enjoyable to watch.

Any tips for being smooth (in all seriousness, i am ok when im not pushing my limits but when i am im a harsh fucker.)? thanks

 

[hydroboy]

ps.. hydro you like to ride kevins balls on bt.com, have you ever bothered to notice comp results for here in CO the last year?

An example of me riding his balls would be sweet. I didnt realise i was. Also where can i find comp results for CO? Thanks.

 

[AndyT]

Yeah I have lots of tips- just got in from a ride...so might be a bit scattered (got a flat tire from a 930" thorn then did foot trials for 2 hours).

Ride natural, all the time. The right kind of natural...I'm not talking about a rock garden with flat ground- big connecting rocks, be it grass or hard rock...ride things that will give out underneath you- do everything from/into sand, or pebbles, or very small rocks. As long as they move around you're stabilizing muscles will have to work 10 times harder. Ride this type of stuff, no matter how frustrating, for a week- then go back to riding on some concrete- you should have a lot more control over your bike. This should give you enough incentive to try and ride that kind of stuff regularly.


Monkey see monkey do....don't watch videos of jagged riding styles, watch over and over people you feel are very smooth and you want to emulate. I've always watched vids, over and over...since you can't see them in real life, you just have to pound it into your head. Hopefully you will take something out of it.

Lift weights. Nothing crazy, there are lots of stupid beginner/sport trials riders on certain forums who are total meat heads and think you have to power lift to get good strength. Don't waste your time...technique will always be #1, concentrate on that, but if you have one or two days a week to work on all body lifting try to do it. The added strength will really show off in your bike control. Thats what being smooth is, having complete control over every part of your bike.

Your bike set up and frame will affect how smooth you are as well. The extreme of this is a mod vs stock, everyone is smoother looking on a stock....when it comes to stock frames, I was smoother than kleivard having sex with a lubed up sperm whale on my crescent. It was a 3.4 pound really flexy frame. When I got my koxx it was a 5+ pound stiff beast, I was never very smooth on it comparatively speaking. Right now the woodman is very similar to the crescent, but some of my moves that I have now are very power driven and its difficult to be completely smooth. I personally prefer a softer frame than a stiff one.

Finally, some of it is just natural. I don't know if its mindset, or body type, but some people just cannot be smooth no matter what they try. Others just are. I've seen tons of people who ride urban all their lives be just horribly shady and gooney looking, but I've seen others who have the same background look sexy as fuck. My first year of trials was spent on a loose dirt packed hill will logs on it, I never bothered with rear wheel moves or anything like that till I got to college. Most kids these days just start out trying to drop some 5 foot loading dock, when they should be learning how to roll through a hard set of rocks.

Sorry if I'm rambling :dunno: Time for shower..

 

[AndyT]

ps.. hydro you like to ride kevins balls on bt.com, have you ever bothered to notice comp results for here in CO the last year?

An example of me riding his balls would be sweet. I didnt realise i was. Also where can i find comp results for CO? Thanks.

I'm blocked from there...but staring at pics of his bike and trying to figure out what kind of parts he has etc. Comp results? Dunno, #1 at every one I went to in state except for the first, cascade, on my birthday Koxx doesnt like kickers.


edit:

And for the vids I've put out in the past, those have all been edited really fast on my friends computer, shot with his camera, and shot in 1-2 hours of riding...with my own camera and computer hopefully I'll be able to get some good stuff :dunno: Feel free to slag me when i get them out, expect the first vid by the end of january.

 

[alexm]

Thanks Andy for that, i agree with every point youve made actually.

Most kids these days just start out trying to drop some 5 foot loading dock, when they should be learning how to roll through a hard set of rocks.

i was very much like this when i started riding, we had a video camera with us while riding from the start and we tried to impress the camera as much as possible so we were always pushing our limits on urban. i found natural riding very unrewarding. i just couldnt get far at all without dabbing so i gave up. Nowadays i love natural, urban bores me however we still ride it a lot and we do still film alot. i have changed my riding style from biu to uci style, the majority of things i do i try using front wheel or do things with as short a runnup as possible.

my forearms get very tired in comps too, which results in my not being able to hold the brakes after a few sections. natural is helping this alot, although riding in 35 degree celcius weather is killing me.

i look forward to your new vid, im sure i will learn alot by watching it over and over, maybe some of your smoothness will rub off on me :drool: :yum:

 

[AndyT]

In terms of your forearms...I'm trying to make my own comp once a week, no one comes but thats ok. Usually around 4-6 sections, 2-4 rounds. I just use duck tape and BIU style tape it off (so arrows). A digital watch as a timer. This gives you great experience and will help your arms get used to it...that is if you are interested in taking 15 minutes to set up some gnarly sections (some people take about 5 hours to set up a few poo sections, :dunno: why). All the recent pictures I've been posting from horsetooth are because it was closed for 3 years, the dams were being re-made...now that its open again I have all those rocks 10 minutes from me. I'm very lucky, and realize not many people have that opportunity so work with what you got.



edit: one thing to add for being smooth...if you have the balls, ride with your brakes set up poorly. Just so that they slip a little bit. I would say go full on and try to do things without brakes, but that becomes shady in some situations. However no brake riding is a very good idea to learn how to use your body instead of your hands. Hard to explain :?

 

[ty]

andrew i didnt know that you were doing the comp dealys, i finally got my bike fixed so i would be willing to ride in one of those comps, tho im sure i cant do most of thes stuff that you can

 

[WhiteRavenKS]

(some people take about 5 hours to set up a few poo sections, :dunno: why).

because not everyone has an infinite amount of kick ass stuff to work with at their disposal and they have to put up with other people's (ie, the main race event promoters') bull.