heffergm

I've never bothered setting rider sag. If your spring is about right for your weight (probably 65 or 70N/mm in your case, which is typically what bikes come with) you'll be fine. Another way to say this is if your spring is stock, just set static sag to 10mm and ride it. There's no way the spring or the shock are dead on a 2017 beta.

Like I said, 10-20mm static sag, should be good. Sounds like you're about there already.

Figuring out your definition of springy is tough on the internet, but the bike shouldn't be springy by my definition. You want between 10 and 20mm static sag. At your weight, with the standard spring, I'd shoot for something closer to 10. Then go ride and adjust the damping to taste.

In the CET he'll get to ride against Bou, Gelabert, Raga, Noguiera, Marcelli, etc. There is no better pool of trials talent in one place other than GP. He gets to ride against all the guys he'll be going against in GP in the future, without any real pressure other than to learn. Again, good move on his part in my opinion.

Yeah, that's why I made note of it

This is rather significant: "[Toby] will contest the 2019 Spanish national championship..."

I think it's brilliant. He gets a factory ride, he aims to win the title this time around (presumably on a 2t), and he lets Bou, Raga, Dabill, etc get a year closer to retirement before he moves to GP. Since he looks about 14 years old to me, I'm guessing he's still not even 20. There's zero reason to rush, given that it's basically guaranteed that within the next 4 years Raga and Fuji will both have retired, and Bou will be nearing the end of his career. It'll leave a big gap, and coming off a T2 title and a couple journeymen years in GP I think he'll have timed things perfectly.

Why not! Jan Peters goes pretty well on it. Maybe Beta will use it as a chance to promote the 4 stroke, maybe sling a few custom parts at it. I doubt it, but it would be neat to see a 4 stroke out there other than a Montesa.

They're all like that to some degree. The GG uses a pretty big flange so it's not so pronounced. The Vertigo uses a paper thin one so it's easy to deform (and to over torque the flange bolts).

Western school hours haven't changed in decades. Them getting to school at 8:30 means up at 7. They get back late afternoon, plus an hour of homework, plus whatever other activities (sports, music, etc). Trust me, it's a full day. The Japanese system is all the same stuff just under watch of the state rather than the state plus parents. Pick your poison.

80:1 is very common in trials bikes, especially in ones that lubricate the main bearings with gear oil and not premix (i.e. GG, etc). TRS specs 100:1 in the manual. Vertigo is something like 120:1 per the manual. Just about everyone around here mixes 80:1 in anything else. I've got hundreds of hours on various GG's at 80:1.

Yeah, I know, everyone on the internet is a better rider than me. I'll say it again so the deaf people can hear: the stock gearing sucks for me. I'm not asking about what you think.

Yeah, bad example with the Beta , but you get my idea. It's all terrain... I'm sure if I was in sunny old England I'd leave it alone.

The typical 11/42 is entirely too tall in general, compared to any other bike. First with the stock gearing is easily equivalent to 2nd on a Beta for example. I could see it maybe working well on a 300 with a flywheel weight, but we don't (regularly) ride stream beds, and we don't ride no stop. With 10/42 first is basically 'normal', which is all I'm really looking for. Some others seem to agree: https://www.trialscentral.com/forums/topic/27983-gasgas-pro-gearing-250280-and-300/

So they've likely just succeeded in making me spend 3x as much to fix the horrible stock gearing

Either there was or wasn't a gearing change compared to previous years, which is what I'm interested in knowing. Gearing being a preference doesn't change the answer.

In my largely worthless opinion, 500 hours is about time to do a piston and rings.

Anyone ridden a 2019? Contents in the stock gearing compared to previous years? It looks like they changed the final drive gearing to 10/39, but I'm not sure about any internal gearing changes. I typically take my GG's to 10/42 from the standard 11/42, which is nice since front sprockets are cheap and the stock gearing is way too tall for our terrain.

That I agree with. I think it speaks more to the stratification of skill level that becomes ever more pronounced as section difficulty increases, and how few people can actually get anywhere near that level of skill at all. I think overall section difficulty is just off the charts now. Tone it down. Entice more entrants in GP. As the section difficulty goes down, the advantage the very top guys have will decrease. Scores will tighten up. It won't completely upset the apple cart, but I think it would help.

I'm 43. Like others who are no longer kids, there are a variety of factors that influence what level I'm willing to compete at, among them risk. My skill level alone does not dictate the class I ride. Sorry, that's life. In my opinion this bears no reasonable comparison to anything going on at the world level.

Screw that. If the people behind me are good enough they'll come around me on their own merits.

I'd see it completely the opposite: I'd think a sponsor would love a T2 world championship, whereas the odd top 10 in GP is basically invisible. Obviously we don't know the real reasons he's staying in T2, but let's imagine it's sponsor driven: it speaks to T2 being seen as a worthwhile place to go to win, not just as a place to pass through on your way to GP (assuming you can actually get there). That's a good things for world championship trials.

Lol

It sounds like less of an issue for us here in the States than it does for you, but in general the reason really good riders here ride sections that might be 'beneath' them is simply because they're an aging population, and they don't want to get hurt riding more challenging sections. If I were 60+ I sure as hell wouldn't be taking chances, I'd be out looking to have fun. This is why we have Senior classes that are governed by a minimum age limit, as well as the option to ride as a non-competition entry, where you ride the route of your choice but aren't counted in the overall results. It lets you see how you stack up without 'getting in the way' as it were.

Is there a document available somewhere, or does anyone know, what the rules are governing the bikes competing in the Scott (or the SSDT for that matter)?