My New Old Bike and A New Milestone
Yup... went down to Singapore over the weekend and got me a second hand 20" trial bike! This time around, I bought a Monty 221. The bike is way less than perfect, with welds on previous cracks, one next to the bottom bracket and the other on the rear brake bracket... LOL. Well, the important thing is that I can ride it!
I have been practising on an Echo 26" these past months and have been improving. But progress is slow... LOL. Even my track-stand is less than satisfactory. So I figured that if I get a smaller bike, I will have a much better chance of learning new moves quicker... LOL.
The Monty 221.
My son, Jordan, standing next to the bike for comparison... :-)
The bike relative to the wooden pallets set up for training.
So far, these past two days, I have been having a lot of fun with the bike. Track-stand is so much easier. Pivoting and hopping are less tiring. Also, I have finally managed to achieve another milestone by performing my first pedal kick, and up to two kicks in succession. Still need a lot of work, but my damn right arm is killing me!! Have to force myself to rest and heal up for the next couple of days. What a drag!
I guess, now is the time to catch up on the latest season of Battlestar Galactica. The Cylons await!
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4 comments:
Jack, is it really easier to learn on a smaller bike? How bout BMX? I just got 1 fixed for my girl to learn cycling. Maybe should take it back and use it to learn trials. -Henry
Yo Henry! Hmmm... good question. I have never thought about using a BMX for trial. A BMX is pretty heavy, if I am not mistaken. Having a light bike will definitely help for training trials. The BMX geometry is probably not ideal, i.e. the wheel base (distance between the hub of the two wheels) in proportion to the rest of the bike. Would definitely be difficult to climb trial obstacles.
However, I would imagine that the BMX bike being smaller with a lower center of gravity (i.e. the BB being below the wheel hub.) would definitely help in learning track-stand... and probably magnificent feats of balancing :-)
But then again... I guess it is totally up to the rider... :-) If you have never seen BMX Flatland, you chould check it out here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2LTVhqHAdo
May I buy your frame trial 26 mister ?
Hi Edi,
I am sorry... but I dun think I will be selling my bike at the moment... If you really interested, I can recommend some friends in Singapore, whom you can buy from. Contact them their through their sites:
- http://thenextbike.com
- http://attitudebikes.com/
They are all VERY friendly people passionate about biketrials.
Cheers.
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