Street/Trials Practice Used to Help out on the Trails

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Street/Trials Practice Used to Help out on the Trails
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Posted: Nov 30, 2017 at 6:45 Quote
Hey Everyone,

Just curious as to what types of street/trials riding people do to work on skills that reflect to their trail riding (that being both climbing and descending). Right now, I picked easy skills like wheelies, manuals (front wheel lift), ratcheting and side hops as I haven't "mastered" those by any means.

Cheers Everyone!!

Posted: Nov 30, 2017 at 8:27 Quote
Trackstands and riding kerbs and similar things for balance control is always helpful.

Posted: Nov 30, 2017 at 9:17 Quote
I started trial 2 years ago after many years of mountain biking and that made me a way much better rider. Curiously, I started trial with my fatbike, because the sun sets earlier in the winter and I ride street few times a week at night. But my fatbike is small and rigid with an aggresive geometry, and except the big tires, there is not a big difference with some dirt jumps bike. Chainstay is also short and make it easier.

It started with little wheely, little manual, small drops, 10 sec track stand, then bigger wheely, bigger manual, bigger drop, infinite track stand, and then infinite wheely, wheely with one hand, long and clean manual, massive drop, infinite back wheel hop, climbing stairs and then a lot of mechanical issues, injuries, bruises, concussion, a broken rib... but a lot of fun and learning ahah

Now, with experience and a little imagination, I see lines everywhere, in the streets and in the trails. I have (and I had) several bikes and riding street trial made me a faster rider in almost every trail, with a hardtail rather than a double suspensions. The majority of riders weigh about what, 130 to 250 pounds ? And a bikes is between 25 and 35 pounds. It's amazing what a simple and quick weight transfer at the right time can do, and with flat pedals.

Also, I watched hundreds of hours of tutorial on Youtube, and that helped me a lot to understand the physics behind the trial.

Posted: Dec 1, 2017 at 14:54 Quote
Not much of a bike handler myself, but I am semi-competent on trackstands, and it's a great skill to have while riding trails. If you commute by bike, treat every red traffic light as an opportunity for practice. Once you find the sweet spot you can stand there forever. It really buys you time in tricky situations on the trails. Super useful for clipped-in riders!

O+ FL
Posted: Dec 6, 2017 at 9:18 Quote
This is something that I want to focus on next year.

Posted: Dec 6, 2017 at 12:01 Quote
A little off topic for this forum, but could you put BMX bars on a street trials bike?

Posted: Dec 16, 2017 at 9:37 Quote
I generally just mess around, learning pivots and side hops opened so many possibilities and learning how to get my bunny hop higher opened so many options on the street, there was this 3 foot drop I've eyed up for months, and I just recently got my bunny hop high enough to get over the rock in front. Out of everything I've done, trials have been the most useful.

Also, you can put BMX bars on a trials bike, but that would make it way harder to do trialsy things.

O+
Posted: Dec 16, 2017 at 9:56 Quote
The great thing about trials techniques is you can practice them most anywhere using your imagination. Start small on one technique and burn it in until you've master it. Curbs and pony fences are terrific for testing skill sets. Any technique learned will make you a better trail rider and you'll find better lines to clear obstacles throughout your riding career.

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