lselph Posted April 30, 2008 Report Share Posted April 30, 2008 All: I am fairly new to trials. I have been studying up for a couple years waiting till I was able to get my first trials bike. Got the bike. love it to death it's everything I ever wanted. End of the first week on the bike I have a buddy over (4 wheeler rider mainly) and he decides to try some wheelies. Short version he gets into trouble doesn't grab the clutch and doesn't let go of the throttle. Result Rear fender minus about 3 or 4 inches, and the bars are bent all to hell. He lived. On to the important stuff. I take the bars off and proceed to bend them back (this was hard to say the least). Now the weather has gotten nicer and I am logging a lot more time on the bike and my hands are not enjoying a long day on the bike. I know a lot of this has to do with hand strength. I have a motocross bike I ride pretty regularly, and a Harley that I am on just about every day the sun is shinning. I know from starting motocross riding that if you death grip the bars you burn out the muscles pretty quick. I am still working on not doing that but it's fairly hard when my body position is so far forward on my hands. So finally the question...... Are my handlebars shaped incorrectly and this is causing discomfort OR am I just a little tall 6ft and some risers would be good, OR am I just a wus who doesn't bend his legs enough while riding? The bars are pretty straight but I wonder if they originally had some angle back to the them. I don't ride with anyone else who has a trials bike yet so I have nothing to compare to. I am still playing with suspension to determine what is correct I know I am pushing the limits of the stock spring (I weigh 215 lbs) and to get anywhere close to proper race sag I have the preload quite cranked up and I think I am still sagging a bit much. Anyway I have read countelss information on setup and know I either over load the preload or get the heavier spring (Or loose 25 pounds HA). Any help or suggestions are welcomed! thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swooshdave Posted April 30, 2008 Report Share Posted April 30, 2008 Are my handlebars shaped incorrectly and this is causing discomfort Yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
putrid_fruit Posted May 1, 2008 Report Share Posted May 1, 2008 Hi and welcome lselph. First thing, and this is important, are your bars steel or the more recent aluminium alloy type? if they are the alloy, then bin them and buy new ones. The old alloys fatige and if you have give them a good bend in one direction and then bent them back they are almost certainly very weak (compared to new). If they let go at exactly the wrong time, you could be very badly injured indeed. If they're steel. your good to go. But please replace the aluminium alloy ones. About the position, get along to a trial meet and talk to someone, they're all great people and most will be happy to let you have a stand on their bike (probably not running) after the meet to get and idea as to a normal bar position. Cheers, Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firstgear Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 Spring. at 215lbs you should be fine with the stock spring.(unless 2T Montesa) In the past I have removed the stock spring from my new bikes and measured on a spring rate machine. I would then go up 15% stiffer and have a new spring made. Be careful on going to stiff since it could shift loads and cause failures to mounts or bolts. You should not need to preload your spring anymore than 75- 85% for your weight. To much spring and it becomes very difficult to hold a line on the rolling rocks. I have learned to actually start with about a 50% preload on the spring and ride for 30 minutes. If I feel its to soft I go up one turn then ride again etc. When you preload to far you will feel the bike want to pitch you off line easily. I'd say to error on the side of soft. Lets just say I wish I only weighed 215 so I have to really pay attention to the suspension on each bike I get. It usually takes a couple weeks to get it right then everything breaks in and I have to tweak it again. The Montesa 2 strokes I rode seemed very soft in the rear, I used to go 15% stiffer on those. I now ride Beta's and have left the stock springs in place and preloaded to about 80%. Handlebars.The average bend for a pair of trials handle bars is 820mm (width) 100mm(height) 48-50degree (sweep). Personally I am not a fan of risers or using a bar height of over 106mm. I am 6'3", unfortunatly I think its all in the kness being bent more which will help to look up and take weight off the bars as well. These are my opinion's and everyone has one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copemech Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Agree, the bars need to go! Iselph Just simply set the rear sag to just about 0- to 1/2 inch with the bike standing on its own and unlaiden.(static sag) Cannot recall but seems like you were from "up north" PM me and I will give you a heads up on some new bars at a reasonable cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grindrod Posted May 15, 2008 Report Share Posted May 15, 2008 Ryan Youngs DVD covers all aspects including bike setup, it is worth getting a copy, I followed his setup guide and the bike felt completely different!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lselph Posted May 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2008 Just got the new pro taper high bars... plus misc. other stuff.... AND the Ryan Young training video. Got to watch some last night but will be working on setup and lots of other stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swooshdave Posted May 16, 2008 Report Share Posted May 16, 2008 Excellent. Let us know how it goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.