cursed Posted November 13, 2012 Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 The clubs where I am don't like to advertise trials, "so as not to attract the wrong sort", I've been told in the past! By that, I can only imagine it means: Pikeys that will follow you home to have your bike/van away? ASBO types that will ride illegally on land/roads? So no advertising=no new followers. Nobody knows what trials bikes do or what trials are (unless you are old enough to remember 'Kickstart'), as it hasn't been promoted since the said program (with the exception of Dougie Lampkin making some appearances on Ant/Dec type programmes). As far as the 'risks' of the unsavoury sorts....well they're out there already, and we take those risks already. So, how do we make the sport more popular? Well 'we' as riders don't, as we already represent those that have bought into it, and struggle to find the events or places to ride. How about those that already make money out of the sport do some investment..... Cue the Manufacturers/Importers/ACU. Have these bodies approached TV producers in order to re-kindle 'kickstart'? There's a lot of people out there looking for trials,they just don't know about it yet. The way to tackle this is with demos, demos and more demos. If you have a demo people who are looking for the sport will get interested, go away, research it and then hopefully take part, without the chavvy lot coming a long to events, as there will be some kind of research into how to get involved. I think the NAME of the sport needs to be spread more. When I get asked out on my pushbike what is that, or when I say I ride trials, they are like "oh i dont know what that is", when you reply "Danny Macaskill?" theyre straight with it. It's all well demoing the sport, but people need to know what its called aswell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rij Posted November 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 The way to tackle this is with demos, demos and more demos. If you have a demo people who are looking for the sport will get interested, go away, research it and then hopefully take part, without the chavvy lot coming a long to events, as there will be some kind of research into how to get involved. I think the NAME of the sport needs to be spread more. When I get asked out on my pushbike what is that, or when I say I ride trials, they are like "oh i don't know what that is", when you reply "Danny Macaskill?" theyre straight with it. It's all well demoing the sport, but people need to know what its called aswell! hello a few mentions on here about not getting the chavs attracted to it, but i just don't think its there sort of thing as they like going fast on pit bikes making lots of unnecessary noise and have know idea how to ride or the intelligence/inclination to learn how to They will just get bored and give up, go away ,get p****d and stoned! no worries then!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ham2 Posted November 13, 2012 Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 Ok , Call me Mr. negative but I think we're chasing our tails if we think we can improve the grass roots scene,it's in the past. Whilst I applaud the ceaseless efforts of Baldilocks and the like, with regards to attaining land for organised trials, the loss of easy access,local land for practice has severely handicapped our sport. The tree hugging/ conservationist/ ramblers association/ brigade tuwats have slowly but surely strung us up with their one sided campaigns for anti (off-road) bike regulation and legislation, they are wearing our b0ll0x for jewelery. The poxy craze for mini-bikes heralded a knee jerk reaction from the authorities and we all got tarred with the same brush. Let me expand on the land loss; every good rider I've known(of.... I'm 45) was brought up practicing on their bike in an area within a few seconds or minutes travel from their front door. Now there are even fewer locations for local practice; very, very few people live on a farm or on top of a quarry where they can come home from school/work and push their bike out of the shed and start training immediately. A trials bike is difficult bike to master, it takes time/practice.The vast majority of budding newbies face the prospect of extended travel time and costs before they get some peg-time; the trials nursery pool is shrinking. The irony is, that everyone I've tried to nurture into trials has loved the bike but hated the logistics involved with it. I hope this topic was not started with the aim of encouraging a revolution...the revolution has been cancelled 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldilocks Posted November 13, 2012 Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 but if we all stopped buying stickers for a year we could purchase some land. we also need to get together. In the n east there is a trial park on the side of a go kart track. its not great but its better than shopping. We need more ideas less pessimism ! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diesel Posted November 13, 2012 Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 but if we all stopped buying stickers for a year we could purchase some land. we also need to get together. In the n east there is a trial park on the side of a go kart track. its not great but its better than shopping. We need more ideas less pessimism ! THE FUTURE OF ANY SPORT IS YOUNG BLOOD......OLD HEADS CAN DO THE RULES ....WHAT TRIALS NEEDS IS AN AREA FOR CLUB MEMBERS TO PLAY ON ...LEAGALY.....I AM OLD , WATCHED AT WOBBLERS TRIAL IN FIFE AND WAS MADE SO WELCOME. ..ALSO THINK INDOOR AREA IN WINTER IS THE WAY TO GO,,,HARD TO GET THOUGH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 If we could ever agree and decide upon one thing that would be usefull we could then work out how to make it happen. It seems to me that the recurring theme is accessability either places to do it or ways to try it. A 4 page thread indicates plenty of passion or interest and common ideas. It just seems to me we all do our little bits in isolation whilst better organised sports and pastimes engulf our basic neccecities. Ps have been president of our centre ACU , done lots of positive things etc but it seems to me the ACU is more about racing & speed event & insurances (which of course are important) than facilitating trials in the way we have discussed here, that has always been the case but in this modern world outside influences make it increasingly difficult for the individual to stand up against (or even have a little bit of Kudos with) ramblers , councils, government agencies, developers etc etc. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samy Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 Nude trials. That's the ticket. Strip away your inhibitions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplebeast Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 If you think it's bad across the pond in Britain, you should try it over here in Canada. The market in North America for trials is much smaller than in Europe, so it's doubly difficult to attract new trials participants, since the costs for machines are higher, parts are dearer and harder to get, and there are fewer competitions and clubs around. As a result the profile of Trials is even smaller over here, relative to the exposure that MX, Enduros and the like receive (which is huge). The trick, IMO, is getting the message out to more people, and especially targetting the much larger MX/Enduro/Offroad crowd to convince them to try trials. I'm a good example of this....I bought my used '02 TXT Pro two seasons ago, because it looked like fun, and everything I heard/read said it would improve both my street and dirt riding. It has....greatly! There is a good marketing message there that is not being exploited by the trials community/clubs/manufacturers/etc enough. Trials riding improves all your other riding! Look at who is winning all the extreme enduros these days, and Endurocross, which leverages some of the spectacular trials stunts/obstacles with a spectator appealing indoor format and is growing a huge following very quickly on this side of the pond....all the top guys hail from a Trials background. What convinced me to buy a trials bike was watching videos of guys doing trials sections on enduro bikes....harder, but still the same technique, and also watching my collection of hard enduro vids (Erzberg, Roof of Africa, Hells Gate, etc.) and seeing that the podium finishers were almost always trials guys. I'm the Director and Secretary of the largest offroad riding association club in Ontario, and maybe the largest in Canada, and have noticed that many of our members are becoming interested in trying trials.....once they get exposed to it. Perfect target market, since they all love dirt bikes, family oriented activities, like new toys as a rule, plus have some level of disposable income. But many have never heard of or seen trials. Furthermore, more and more parents are being leery of getting their kids involved in motocross, as the injury level is much higher in that sport, but still want a competitive outlet for their younger kids. There are not as many harescramble/enduro options for the younger kids, but trials works well. At our Family Fun Day this past July, I organized having some Trials dealers present, including a full demo fleet of OSET's for the young kids. Also set up a small obstacle course across from the BBQ lunch area, and we did a half time show while folks were eating lunch. The expert rider I had lined up bailed at the last minute, so I was one of the riders doing the demo, but even with my novice/meagre skills, it was very well received. The dealers present were very pleased by the reception and interest, and have committed to do it again next year and even sponsor our club to boot. I also set up a trials section on our forum, and post cool videos of motorized trials (including the Tubby Team vid posted here), bicycle trials and related stuff, since it does interest many riders, along with notices of events. We had a number of members and their kids attend a trials training session, where they could rent bikes. All that attended really enjoyed it and felt it improved their riding greatly, and a few seem to be continuing their interest in riding trials, and buying a bike. To some degree, this approach is preaching to the slightly converted....since they are all dirt bikers already, but I think that is a great place to start, for just that reason. To attract the larger audience, you need medial coverage. How about some trials demos at the Supercross/Motocross events, which are televised nationally and have a huge following? If the trials manufacturers set up a small obstacle course, included an OSET demo fleet for kids, and did demos in the pit area (without TV coverage) at all the SX/MX events, that would still expose a huge number of potentially interested dirt bike afficiionados to the sport. Local clubs could team up with manufacturers/dealers to put this on. If you really want to get some exposure, get James Bond to do some stunts on a trials bike in the next movie, both motorized and pedal.....or maybe have a younger (read: cool kid) ally or evil one do such tricks. Trials in Skyfall 2 anyone? One of the big issues is the cost of a bike....so having dealers offer "beginner courses" with rental bikes makes sense. As already noted, this has worked in my experience, to help introduce more riders to the sport. Do demos at local fairs/carnivals/events. Make sure you have an OSET demo fleet for the kids (with loaner gear like helmets/boots). Hand out flyers and web addresses with info on how to get involved. One thing I have found here personally, is that getting into a competition is intimidating, and also costly. I have yet to compete....maybe next year! But having to buy a competition license/club membership fee, on top of an event fee, in this economy, is a barrier to getting new competitors. What if, like me, you just want to give it a try to see if you are interested? No....I don't want to pay to join a club just to be able to try a comp to see if I like it. There has to be more of a "try before you buy" approach for attracting newbies to trials competitions. There are also a lot of rules and terminology and the like with trials comps (like with many sports). Having a special "beginner" session where experienced competitors help the beginners get oriented would really help as well, to get them over the intimidating "hump". And promote how easy it is to get involved in a comp too....rental bikes wouldn't hurt either. Forgo a competition yourself, and offer to be a mentor/minder for a beginner sometime. Stop vs. No-Stop? Pretty much irrelevant, if you ask me. That won't help attract newcomers one way or the other. Though there is some merit in the thinking that kids like to be inspired by the big/impressive obstacles/tricks, which leans towards Stop allowed. The WTC, manufacturers and large/established (dare I say cliqueish, set in their ways) clubs won't drive increased participation. Grassroots work to make it fun, inexpensive and easy to try trials riding is what will do it. I'm doing my part, as a 2 year newbie to trials riding.....so stop whining about decreasing participation and how someone else should be fixing this and rather do something about it instead, at a personal level! With all the collective experience on TC, you should be able to come up with many more creative ideas than I have already done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ham2 Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 I can understand that some people just don't want to hear it but we're just re-arranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic, we're doomed Capt. Mainwaring , I've seen the future at the bottom of my tea-leaves. The only positive contribution I can make here is a suggestion to start up a slush fund, with the aim of covering legal fees, to challenge and overturn the previous land access legislation, environmental laws and motorised vehicle restriction regulations. About £20 million ought to suffice, that's just a ball park figure (we'll need a qualified accountant as well...see it just mounts up and up) before we realise that we are p|55|ng into the wind. Once the supply stream of current, experienced, talent is exhausted through natural wastage, then the next world champions will hail from a country ending in ...kzstan or ...ia where there are very few off-road riding restrictions, if any. Conversely if I extrapolate my own hypothesis then the current world and national riders can continue at that level until their 60's as there will be a dearth of up and coming talent to depose them. Back to the revolution comrades, whilst trying to avoid sounding like a bitter Marxist; there will always be a small minority of people who can afford brand new bikes @ £7/8/9/10/11/12K? made in smaller volumes, which is the only way forward for the manufacturers. I also have a more pragmatic, alternative suggestion for the £20 million slush fund.....use it to finance my time machine project. This post was sent from the future: 20:50 hrs. Thursday 15th November. 2016 Yours Sincerely, Angry, of Mayfair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabber Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 (edited) Publicity - Chris Evans currently bidding £50,000 for the 'James Bond dirtbike'. Get Pidcocks on the case to offer to teach him how to ride it. If not Jake does seem to be able to get Dougie's face about. Who better to teach him? Could be done at Goodwood next year. Edited November 16, 2012 by dabber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bilc0 Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Can we not find a better Example than chris evans. I know he used to present the big breakfast years ago, not sure what he's doing now though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wri5hty Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Radio 2 breakfast show. Listened to my millions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj65 Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Publicity - Chris Evans currently bidding £50,000 for the 'James Bond dirtbike'. Get Pidcocks on the case to offer to teach him how to ride it. If not Jake does seem to be able to get Dougie's face about. Who better to teach him? Could be done at Goodwood next year. He's not buying it to ride it. Get one of the top riders (who's good at talking and can clearly describe what trials is all about in a few minutes) to ring into Simon Mayo's show, he has a slot with the sports guy matt, where you can promote a sport that's not well known. Dougie, world champion, MBE, would be the ideal candidate as he's had lots of exposure to the media. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/simon-mayo/contact/friday-fixture/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Publicity - Chris Evans currently bidding £50,000 for the 'James Bond dirtbike'. Get Pidcocks on the case to offer to teach him how to ride it. If not Jake does seem to be able to get Dougie's face about. Who better to teach him? Could be done at Goodwood next year. You might find its a crf? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Biggest problem is a good starter bike like the old ty 80? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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