MTB Trials...

1703 Views 17 Replies 9 Participants Last post by oicdn, Jan 20, 2004

BurlySurly

Discussion Starter · Jan 18, 2004

Ok, first off, Im new to the board and relatively new to trials (4 months). I post alot on Ridemonkey.com and already recognize some names here from that board.

Anyway, my question is:

Right now im riding a Kona Roast with a 5" dirtjumper and other big Freeride MTB parts for an Urban, Trials, Jumping...basically do it all bike. As it stands, the bike is truly suited alot better for jumping and trailriding, so Im looking for a Chromo Urban, Trials frame that will satisfy my needs, but still give me that MTB feel.
I dont want something overbuilt..ie...243 racing.

Anyone got an opinion on the DMR sidekick?

I appreciate any feedback.

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

WhiteRavenKS

· #2 · Jan 18, 2004

well, cro-mo and Not over built typically dont go well together...

i would suggest the planet x pitbull but its as over built (~7 pounds) as the .243 is. the norco 250 is a a great dirt/park bike but is heavier than even the 243 and would be misserable for trials.

if you are will to go for alloy, the planet x jackflash or something along those lines would be really good for you. then there is always custom steel which would get your weight down and get your geometry dialed. custom stuff doesnt come cheap though....

the drm sidekick is a pretty generic bike. its mean to be a jack of all trades and master of none. if you want a comprimise of strength, weight, price... i guess thats one bike that fits it.

Pancho

· #3 · Jan 18, 2004

Not to tell you what you want, but I would suggest skipping the cheap cromo frames (as opposed to more expensive cromoly frames or custom) and get something more trials specific. Decide if you'd rather have a street oriented frame or a pure trials frame. Either way, I'd say go with an alloy. If you want a more street frame, find an echo urban or planet x jackflash like Kevin said. If you want a pure trials frame, then I'd recomend the Echo Pure or Zoo something or other....

oicdn

· #4 · Jan 18, 2004

Yeah, jack of all trade frames kinda suck. Yeah, they do OK in all areas, but there's ALWAYS something holding you back from progressing at the rate you SHOULD be had you had a specific bike. Ideally, you'de want a bike for each sport, but as we all know that's pretty damn costly. But, I would suggest an urban trials frame. Something that's not COMPLETELY dedicated to trials, but is trials based, like a PX Zebdi(although they say that's a pure trials bike, it really isn't) or like an Echo Urban....if you wanna progress as fast as possible, get a dedicated trials rig. Chances are with good components, it should be able to handle most of the urban you do unless you like to bunnyhop stairs and all that other BS.....and even then, it should hold up OK.

Bloodhound

· #5 · Jan 18, 2004

that question is easy:

You want it steel, not heavy, not pure trials = Norco Team Trials
I cant believe nobody mentioned that until now.

WhiteRavenKS

· #6 · Jan 19, 2004

unless its used, good luck getting one. the moment would be nice until you have to raise the seat up because of that rediculously slack seat tube angle.

cck

· #7 · Jan 19, 2004

santa cruz chameleon, mtb version of brisa geometry, i used it for a while in trials. but koxx is the best for everything. anyway, the chameleon is beef cake and the geometry was good enough, that there was almost no transistion time to my koxx.
or get an evil with dirtjumper fork, (haha corsi)

wned:

Fast Fashion

· #8 · Jan 19, 2004

chameleon is a great bike. that's what i would get.

BurlySurly

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jan 20, 2004

hell_boy said:
chameleon is a great bike. that's what i would get.

Yeah, you know, I like the geometry of that bike, but its missing that all important element....NO CHROMOLY. Which sucks badly if youre a guy that grinds alot as i do. I eat through alum chainstays like Soft Taco Supremes.

How about the On-One gimp? Anyone have experience with that guy?

ErikS

· #10 · Jan 20, 2004

planet-x makes a cromo bike that a friend at my shop rides.

it seams to do all well, and he trys to ride trials on it and isn't half bad.

Trials bikes and "Grinding" bikes are completely diffrent.

Erik S.

WhiteRavenKS

· #11 · Jan 20, 2004

buy an aluminum frame like a chameleon and then add this little thing i call a grind plate to the chainstay- voila- super duper extension to life of frame! anyone that grinds on a bare frame either gets them for free or hasnt thought of protecting the biz-naz.

Bloodhound

· #12 · Jan 20, 2004

WhiteRavenKS said:
buy an aluminum frame like a chameleon and then add this little thing i call a grind plate to the chainstay- voila- super duper extension to life of frame! anyone that grinds on a bare frame either gets them for free or hasnt thought of protecting the biz-naz.

huuuh? :?

WhiteRavenKS

· #13 · Jan 20, 2004

go to a hardware store and buy some metal flashing, basically a strip of metal with a 90 deg kink in the middle of it. clip out small wedges and bend it so it fits the curve of the chainstay. then use some epoxy or jb weld or something along those lines to fix it up to the chainstay. then take another metal plate and bend it to fit the bb shell and cover that up also. bam- extra protection for doing grinds. they are easily replacable too when they get worm down, just rip the old one off and throw a freshy on. now you can grind the pee pee out of an aluminum frame and not kill it in three days!

by the way- there is no such thing as a bike that will ride nice for trials and be able to hold up to grinds. the norco... yeah right, that tubing is not as thick as you think on theunderside of the chainstay. unless you hit pedal/ring every single time, that frame would be toast just as fast as a comparable alloy one. if you buy something like a px pitbull or bomber, dont expect to do much trials riding on it- at least not much past the basics. those are much more dirt/street oriented than trials regardless of how you set them up parts wise.

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Elan

· #14 · Jan 20, 2004

get a Ti bike, SWEET for ginds, highly reccommended by me. or get two bikes, because you wont be happy while trying to ride tow totally different styles on one bike that you try and make do both.

oicdn

· #15 · Jan 20, 2004

Alwaysmad.com did a review on the Evil Imperial. Here's and exerpt from thier review talking about it....

Riding wise, it was unique. The majority of the test was spent with a 5” fork and a 24” wheel secured in the shortest chainstay position. Do not misunderstand us, the ride is unique, but great at the same time. If you get this bike, it is pretty much guaranteed that you will be able to pull stuff you have never been able to before. The super short chainstays and the high handle bar position made getting the front wheel off the ground a breeze. The bike wheelied well and manuals were fairly stable. Our total bike weight was around 35lbs, but the heft went unnoticed when riding slow speed technical trails and urban skinnies. The weight was noticed when performing trials maneuvers, but the bike’s stability when on the rear wheel almost made up for this. As a trials frame it has real potential because when run with a rigid fork it will still have the short chainstays and the head angle will be fairly steep at around 73 degrees. Something to think about.One of the feature that made this bike ideal for urban situations was the relatively steep head angle it maintained when running a longer stroke fork. Most bikes similar in purpose to the Evil Imperial have pretty slack head angles. With the 5” fork, our head angle felt like it was about 70 degrees. This made for an incredibly agile and tight turning bike. When negotiating steep downhills out on the trail, the bike handled well, but was not as confidence inspiring as a bike with a slacker head tube angle. Climbing on the trails was a mixed bag. Seated climbing was awful, but with the bike set up to rider height, the seat was not nearly in the right position for efficient climbing and the Imperial often felt like it wanted to loop out. Standing climbing was a completely different story. The top tube was plenty long enough for all of our riders and with the short chainstays, the bike wanted to leap forward every time power was applied. It was definitely not a cross-country bike, but sometimes that type of riding is required.

Yeah....wierd, I wouldn't think so, but who knows, with a decent light set-up...anything is possible? :ugh2:

Bloodhound

· #16 · Jan 20, 2004

thats probably with a 400mm fork, at that point your bashgaurd will probably be resting on the ground...

Elan

· #17 · Jan 20, 2004

:greddy2: fucking, just forget about it. :slap:

oicdn

· #18 · Jan 20, 2004

Yeah...I have no clue on what rigid thier using or what, but I guess to them it works....but a 35lb "trials bike isn't neato...I'de assume though if you were gonna use it for "trials" you'de use lighter spec parts.....

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

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