NAD1

Looking at 2013 calendar British WTC is 1 day only is this correct? I could only find 'preliminary dates' That is one loooooong @rse trek up north for a 1 day event.

FFS are we really in 2012?? Trials (like everything else in the world) has evolved. Its a fact of life that whats been has been and the glory years as you'll no doubt see them of riding up sh*tty muddy bank, through some 3ft deep mud ruts and through some deep puddles have gone. While we're going back to sh*tty tyres, why not got back to twin shock or better still rigid bikes. Obviously it would have to be air cooled and maybe we could make them weigh in the region of 90-100kg while we're at it................. Obviously all riders would need to compete in wellington boots, wearing a flat cap, no gloves and smoking a cigarette. And before anyone starts, it is not that your views and opinions are wrong.They are very valid for classic bike series, twin shock series and so on. We are talking about the 2013 World Trials Championship - it should be the absolute pinnacle of trials riding with only the very best riders and like it or not has ultra light bikes, grippy tyres, fuel injection and so on. Again its evolution, evolve or die.

Exactly, how many of the top boys are now potentially saying 'do you know what I could do VERY well and earn more money in Enduro or Extreme Enduro' As with the ACU the FIM seem to have forgotten the single biggest (and by some margin) factor for these issues - there is a rather large and ongoing worldwide economic recession which they may or may not be aware of. For the manufacturers - Costs of production, shipping, wages and competing around the world in WTC all going up, up, up every year. The same goes for private teams and privateers As a result they dont want to / cant afford to sponsor and pay for 3 or 4 riders to compete around the world in the top level WTC. The only way to improve WTC is to leave the elite as the elite and for the FIM to focus a lot more time and effort on publicity and PR for the WTC and WTC events rather than just allowing the poor organising clubs (who generally do a great job) to do it all with limited time and resource. Going no stop in the WTC isn't suddenly going to make another 20 riders say 'right, lets sign up and compete in the full series. Now its no stop I'm sure to get nearer to beating Toni Bou' To get new bums on seats (so to speak) at a WTC round the event needs pre event publicity, demonstrations etc and it needs to be seen as dynamic, exciting and amazing enough to get joe public (non trials fans) to want to go along to take a look. Going no stop makes it less dynamic, less exciting and a lot less amazing to watch. So with the current low level of focus and publicity coupled with a much less interesting watch and less interested riders/teams this can only go one way for the WTC. The days of 100 riders in a WTC are long gone and wont return. The sport has evolved. Sadly the governing bodies have not evolved with it. The FIM have introduced Junior and Youth classes which is actually very good but the simple fact is that the skill level of the elite is too high for 40, 50, 60 riders to be able to compete and be competitive. So rather than look at the bigger picture and put concerted time and effort into it they go for a quick and cheap 'fix' and totally balls it up

Can I just volunteer to make decisons for the ACU or FIM?? If so where do I sign up. You bloody well should be able to.... It's literally like the FIM have exactly copied the ACU and organinsed a 'meeting' but didn't want to spend too long actually looking into and discussing the problems, issues or consequences of their attrocious decision making so did a 5 minute round table of sh*t idea's and said "hey, lets implement the worst idea so we can go home before it's dark on the roads"

Question: Quickest way to ruin trials and upset all the riders? Answer: Follow the idiotic decisons of the ACU who (almost) had the balls to admit that the 2012 BTC was a totally sh*t borefest despised by the riders and ignored by fans and reverted to stop allowed for 2013. Wow there's some imbeciles running this sport at a national and international level.

Good signing for Sherco and should win Junior WTC 2013 where does this leave Ferrer?? Jotagas? Ossa maybe

Many of the top riders have always had special boots - especially for indoor trials. Tarres, Bosis, Ahvala etc all did in the 90's so not a new thing One purple pair Bosis had looked ultra thin and trainer like in the way they bent and flexed.

Surely a very early April Fools day???

lol at £70. Robbing b@stards! As above, heat it, bend it back into shape, let it cool and put it back on.

It's essentially the same as the 2012 which is the same as the 2011 bar a few minor tweaks here and there and new stickers. As a result I would imagine it will be (having not ridden one bear in mind) pretty much the same as the last GG250 - nice, light, smooth, progressive etc etc

Can anyone please what the external dimensions are around on these helmets please? My son has a Wulf Sport in size XS and it's huge externally I've seen the Nau helmets and they 'seem' smaller than the Wulf lid. Thanks

Without actually knowing I'd say with 99.9% certainty that Montesa will use the same X Lite as everyone else. If they were any different do you not think that Gas Gas, Sherco, Ossa, Beta etc etc might have kicked off just a little by now? What would Michelin gain from giving them better tyres? No one uses anything other than Michelin so it's wasting money for nothing. They're going to win every single round regardless

Firstly as much of a legend as he is I'm not sure Doug would still beat 3 of the 4 riders TBH Secondly we're fighting for 2nd place against Japan and (I imagine) France and have a stronger team than both those nations. Need to go with team that have ridden frequently at this level and Doug hasn't this year.

Adam Raga's minder is Jack Lee, he's from Higham Ferrers - not very Yorkshire : ) It did also tickle me though Spanish rider with Big Bruno Camozzi yelling at him in French, Big Jack Lee in English and GG factory people in Spanish all whilst he's performing gravity defying feats on a trials bike against the clock with the worlds best riders, worlds trials media and all the UK spectators watching him and the pressure of needing a bang on result to secure 2nd overall I'm WTC That's ability! GREAT WEEKEND

cheers Dave and thanks for your valuable input / advise over the weekend (I assume it was you I was chatting with) Have ordered him some of the Fox boots already. I'll have a nose at the Answer gearand already seen some Fox stuff. Next problem is helmets they all look HUGE. He has a Wulf one which fits fine on the head but the shell is massive...

Apologies that this topic is not specifically Oset related but I figured I'd get the best response and feedback on the Oset forum. Whilst at the WTC this weekend saw loads of the kids riding on the Oset and wondered where the best place is to get trials clothing for a 4 1/2 year old. Looks like the Fox Pee Wee boots are best bet, especially in infant size 10 but what about trousers / shirt?? My son has the Wulf gear already but I saw MOTS, Fox and clice (among others) being worn. Can as Oset rider (or parent) advise where you can get gear this size?? Seen a few places selling Fox MX kit which looks fine but give b*gger all info on sizing other than 'youth small' etc etc Thanks

Got to agree with philrain here. Gas Gas as a general rule introduce new features on the Raga rep and many of these features then appear on the following years TXT bikes. Therefore if they were going to introduce a new frame for 2013 model range you would have seen it on the latest Raga rep. How p*ssed off would you be if you'd spent the extra £££ on a Raga rep in June 2012 only for the standard 2013 model to come out in September (ish) and have a new and in theory better frame?? If Gas Gas are introducing a new frame I would expect it would be on next years Raga rep along with (outside possibility) fuel injection.

The early 90's Aprilia Climbers ridden by Bosis, Miglio and latterly Ahvala were pretty damn special. The workmanship and trick bits on them was unreal. Proper works of art. Tarres' 1994 Gas Gas was also very very trick.

Definitely agree re: ATF, its all I've used in my Gassers. Best bet for draining is to get the bike warm so that the oil is thin and will drain easier and quicker. You'll probably get more out too. Re quantity: as mentioned book says 550ml but that's madness. As mentioned fill to half way or just over half way up the glass window - obviously ensuring the bike is sat totally flat - this will probably equal around 450ml Best bet is fill it, run the bike till its hot, stop it and put back on totally flat surface, wait for oil level to settle in glass window and see where it is then. Re: oil for your petrol I have always ran mine at 80:1 and they're fine although you can run a bit richer if you like but I've never ran one at 50:1 Always make sure you use a good fully synthetic oil and I always use Shell V Power (higher octane) You may need to adjust some of the carb settings depending on how you will run the bike oil-fuel mixture wise and how it has been ran previously oil-fuel mixture wise. Other than that should be fine.

As the FIM say we dont need to see X trial qualifying and only get to see semi final and final with seemingly the same 6 riders and almost certainly the same winner, is there any footage anywhere of Pol Tarres and Jotagas in Marseille? Was looking forward to seeing how bike and rider performed at their first X Trial. Does anyone know is Tarres is scheduled as a wild card at any other X Trials?? Guess we need him to qualify to see him on the TV!

Is that who was commentating Andy?? Don't know him but he's ok in my books. Who was it who always said 'fiasco' rather than 'five'? Always cracked me up 'and Cabestany's dropped a fiasco' seriously, WTF was that about?

Just finished watching, cannot believe Bou didn't drop a single mark in the heat or the final other than dual lane race and a time penalty! He's a machine, just immense! Almost like Schumacher / Ferrari in early 2000's but more dominant.

Watching now. Bou, different level... Thing most impressing me is the commentator. Not gibbering on about when the venue was built and how big the town hall is, not missing half the points dropped like Burnicle always did and most importantly doesn't use the word 'fiasco' like that other goon!! Am liking Motors TV now : )

Eurosport 2 normally (last 2 years I think) show X-Trial final live. Not sure if they are for 2012 or not. They also normally show highlights from WTC a few days or so after the event.

He's on Beta at Sheffield