turbofurball

Well, for me doing trials riding in my O'Neals would be dangerous, the lack of flexibility would put me off the bike and I'd probably bugger up my knees in the process - I only use them for trail riding. Trials boots don't seem terribly expensive if you take your time to find useable second hand ones

I have O'Neal Rider boots, which are an MX/Enduro crossover boot - super stiff but with a lots of grip on the sole. They're very good for the money, too

They're probably fine for beginner / intermediate non-hard Enduro use - they're just a more chilled out EC really. I have an EC250, it can be little vicious in close spaces and I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner ... you might want to ask this question on a more Enduro related forum though, I'm a long way from being competitive!

See, I'd go for a Bultaco because they're well sexy. We got a Montesa for silly reasons but despite it's shortcomings I love the stupid thing Also ditto on getting a currently running complete bike, that can't be emphasise enough! Even if it needs a rebuild at least you know what you're getting

I've been told the exact sound is often dictated by the controller, so it may well vary ... I seem to remember the early EMs had a pleasing non-whiny sound to them. As for the strimmer comparison, they're far far quieter so you could always drown out the sound of the bike by playing a little music while you ride

Replacements will be manufactured anyway, so manufacturing CO2 emissions are ongoing (and in the future may be able to increase the use of recycled materials and renewable energy ... plus if carbon credits ever take off there is the possibility for it to become at least somewhat better over all than it is now), and as I said before nobody is suggesting scrapping existing working vehicles just replacing them when they are at the end of their lives. You brought up the concept of peak oil when you said that humans would either burn all the fuel or choose an alternative. I do agree that petrol is cleaner than diesel, it's one of the reasons I have a (very old) petrol van, however petrol does still generate a large quantity of greenhouse and toxic gases. I agree that electric is the way forward for trials, it just makes sense if it wants to survive as a sport in the modern world, even without taking pollution into account. The particulate emissions from tyres isn't great, but compared to the CO2 production it's an ant to an elephant.

I'm not in a position to enter this year, but may be able to next - is it ok to enter Yellow and then complete some stages in the blue route? Either way, it sounds like a nice system to encourage those who are trying to improve but can only do so gradually!

Ok, so at this point you're willfully missing the points I was trying to make - namely that reduction in CO2 output can be effected through the widescale adoption of electric vehicles, that CO2 production does have a direct effect on global warming, and that no existing vehicles need to be purposefully destroyed in order for that to happen. You're also repeating an old and incorrect idea there about "peak oil"; there's more than enough oil on the planet for use to incinerate our entire atmosphere! As for me, one of the largest attractions to going electric is to avoid air pollution, so just because it's not the case for you, doesn't mean it's the case for everyone - I'm riding around nature, why would I want to fill it with 2 stroke smoke? In the next 5 years I will be converting my TY175 over to electric, and I have begun slowly saving to replace my road bike with an electric one when it expires too.

There's a few big sweeping statements and logical falacies in there, eg. Renewable energy has got to the point where it can, on occasion, provide most of the electricity for an entire nation. Fossil fuel power stations do exist, however there are fewer of them as time goes on despite China building a handful of new ones. The ability of renewable energy sources will improve over time, along with large scale battery systems. If we stick at it traditional power stations can become an emergency backup and nothing more. Many of today's cars will end up in third world countries anyway, and will eventually wear out anyway. So replacing them with an electric alternative gives a net improvement in emissions (especially given the ability to recycle most of the materials in a new car). Nobody has proposed that existing cars be scrapped while they still work. CO2 is used as a gauge for global warming through human intervention because it's easy to keep track of. Having more of it in the atmosphere does increase global warming, although TBH the effects of methane release from permafrost is more likely to finish us off at this point, because that's harder to control than our own emissions. I could go on ...

Sounds like they need some forestry management then! There's been more fires than normal this year, and not all firebreaks are large enough for the conditions that modern weather can make, so this is a problem in many areas

I'm struggling to see where this came from, in relation to what you were replying to ...?

I like trials-ing in stretch jeans and long sleeved running tops made for Muslim women - comfy, works, cheap - but I don't do any hopping about two meters above the ground, so YMMV!

What an odd finicky procedure! Has the carb been really *really* thoroughly cleaned, and put together with a rebuild kit? (My TXT Pro was probably the best kick starter I've ever owned)

Hmm

I guess because they have a few endangered species there (unlike here where it's mostly just ants) Seems fair to me, don't want the last of something to get trodden on just because someone wanted to go for a jog!

So, like BMW bought Land Rover, got their hands on the tech they wanted, and then sold them off again? I guess it would make sense

Do you have a source on that? Definitely not the case around here (and I can't think of any reason why or how that would change) but it'd be useful to know where this is happening

Time to roll up sleeves and get on with electric conversions, then!

What a pity I guess more environmentally friendly pursuits are of more interest to the general public these days

Where in Barcelona do you usually ride? I'm down in Tarragona, but my bikes are in storage now, while we sort out a house with a garage ?

Bon dia

I imagine for many of these events observers may be in short supply, especially on the lovely big sections where they need 2 or 3 people to see the whole thing

Well, they're busy doing *something*

Registered clutchless EM with a removable seat would do the trick for me, so many places I could muck about without disturbing anyone or potentially starting fires, lol I could just about commute to work on it, too

For me it would really depend on what the 55kms were like, and the entry fee, and other factors. What I'd like from a day's trials is a little friendly competition, but also a chance to say more than two words to other people, a nice lunch, and the chance to ride through some beautiful scenery. In the UK people often seem to like going, being super competitive, packing up their van, and going home as early as possible - I hope they're enjoying themselves, but it doesn't really appeal to me. That's probably why at the moment I just want to go riding in the mountains, do a bit of "practice" and have a picnic