Fim Minimum Bike Weight Increase 2014? What?

[kettlewell]

Just been looking at the FIM rules for trials and see the minimum weight for the bikes is going up 4kg to 70 kg in Jan 2014. What is the idea behind this?

Is it a case of trying to slow down the evolution of trials by firstly altering the riding rules and now trying to tamper with bike development. With all the manufacturers releasing their 2014 models already and most being around 66 - 68 kg how are they going to make this work for the upcoming season?....Are we due to see the new factory replica models coming out shortly with forged iron swinging arms and stainless steel petrol tanks?

[gasgas249uk]

It's about making real active changes to save our beloved World trials sport from the long and painful death it's currently facing.

The technological changes are wonderful and a benefit to us all, but there's no doubt in my mind that they are helping to ruin the World sport.

I don't like these changes but I can totally understand it. Something needs to be done and thank fully Michaud has had the balls to do something.

I won't need a new bike now

[steve fracy]

If this is true, I could see something like this coming.....in Rally cars, they restriced size of engines, In Dakar they did the same. F1 racing also had to start with some restrictions too. Its all in a ploy to level the playing field. We will see what happens

[marky boy]

They also have minimum weights in push bikes, as a way to try and avoid super light bikes that could be brittle. What happens is that the pros have to fit small weights or steel bottle cages to get the weight up to the minimum as they are all so light!!

Maybe with the FIM ,it is a similar thing of budget control also ??

[nigel dabster]

lead in the bashplate, or under the engine will get around any minimum, but heavy materials or steel instead of ally, doubt it.

If they are serious about this rule, and the enforcement of such, a random test would have been done this year, afaik its never been random.

it is too easy to circumvent.

At the first round in france in 2012 it was "broadcast" that the weighing would be done at scrutineering which it was, for all we know bous tyres were filled with water.

[breagh]

As I've said before the average Wobbler is about 2 stone overweight so 4 kg on the bike is neither here or there.

Be nice to have a tank that you don't have to fill every 10 minutes.

[b40rt]

I can do 2 or 3 club trials on a full tank.

[guys]

As I've said before the average Wobbler is about 2 stone overweight so 4 kg on the bike is neither here or there.

Be nice to have a tank that you don't have to fill every 10 minutes.

I beg to differ.

I'm overweight but I definitely feel the advantage of a lighter bike.

[johnnyboxer]

It'll give the 4RT a chance

[marky boy]

Losing weight off the rider is always the daft one pedalled out. The lighter the bike, the easier to move it, in any conditions....especially if it needs lifting out of a bog. In that instant you want a 'big' rider and a tiny lightweight bike ;-)

Sorry to keep banging on about it, but the cross over is the same......

I weigh over 15 stone and am a lot faster over a 10 mile TT on a carbon bike race bike than I am on a alloy mtb. But....I would be even faster over the same distance if I had a light bike and was not a fat bustardo !!!

The push bike boys often use stick on lead weights.....same could be done for scrutineering.....simply pull weights off for the event!

[rob214]

the sport needs rescuing from technology? message sent from my top of the line latest and greatest iPhone, iPad, samsung 4 50g electronic gadget.

so we attract more youngsters by going backwards to riding dinosaurs? i don't even know what 4kg's mean in the real world but i love my lightweight bike and i want more of whatever is better. i've been riding since 1975 and i can remember how bad those things were compared to my 2013.

i'm not sure about anywhere outside of the US but here kids don't go outside much and the ones that do play soccer where everyone wins and scores are not counted. parents don't want little Johnny to get hurt. video games are better and they keep kids quite so parents can watch reality tv instead of going outside and living.

we're living in hard financel times. bikes even used ones cost a lot. trials never was or will be a popular sport in the US. it's slow, in the remote outdoors and takes years of hard work to master. the ADD generation won 't really like it. the tradional large trials enthuisist countries like spain, france, england are all having financial troubles. i have lots of friends that don't blink an eye to buy a new $400.00 iPhone every year for their 6 year old and spend hundreds on the new game platform every christmas along with every new video game but they can't understand why i would by an $8000.00 bike that only cost me about 3 dollars a week to have a few hours of fun on the weekend AND doesn't even have a seat. most of these parents, fathers i'm talking about are younger than my by 5 to 10 years and are overweight and look older than i do, i attribute trials to keeping fit and younger than my years.

in the world championship the sponsor options are limited more now than ever before so there are fewer paid riders and this makes it even harder for privateer efforts to travel all over the world to even try and compete. i really believe that money is the real reason for the lack of rider attendance. look at the x games well attended spectator wise and sponsor financed but mx sales and participants or down also, why? expendable money.

my 2 cents

rob

[breagh]

We will all have to work harder at grassroots to get more riders.

Trials is like a secret society,if more people actually knew about it would be a step forward.

There's plenty out there that want to ride trials ,they just haven't heard about it yet.

[lineaway]

The weight increases were there all along. For now it will only be directed at the factory bikes. Bring them `works` bikes more in line on what they sell. How far they`ll go in the question?

[africanjon]

Here is my 2cents. Trials needs to embrace technology. Specifically the web for live broadcasts of the world rounds.

I just started riding trials after ear surgery, after 30 years of surfing. Surfing is and always will be a marginal sport, but the pro side of things was saved by doing live broadcasts from remote locations. Finally you could actually see how good these guys and gals were. Plus the motivation now existed to improve and surf like they did. It also showed how much fun surfing was to a non surfing public.

Likewise would'nt you watch live world rounds on the web, what about the Scott or SSDT? What if folks like Dougie Lampkin or Jordi Tarres commentated? As it stands a couple of clips from the world rounds exist and a few YouTube videos. There has to be a medium that shows how friggin awesome this is! Only then will the penny drop, new riders be bought into the fold and older ones kept in the fold.

Folks don't devour magazines like we did growing up, then having read the thing cover to cover 3 times, run outside and try to emulate our heroes. Bou, Raga, Lampkin, these guys are freaks and nobody knows about them because no one is getting the story across!

Cheers

Jon

[htrdoug]

Before motocross instituted weight minimums it was all about which factory could make the lightest,most disposable bikes(Suzuki's 165lb open classer),Technology was not advancing,once everyone could hit the weight limits it forced the manufacturers to develop the suspension,engines,handling aspects,MXers got exponentially better.I don't know if it will go that way in Trials,the bikes already seem spectacular to me,might spur some more 4st development.Hopefully bikes will get weighed after the events,maybe 30 marks for every kilo under minimum rather than disqualifying.