dmc2028372 Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Can someone explain to me if there's such a thing as a recognised British twin shock championship? I've heard of the normandale rounds and the Sammy miller series. What's the difference in the two series regards in severity, roadwork etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Both have roadwork Both have classes for twinshocks Miller series is on about the same level of severity as an average classic club trial Normandales are a step up from Miller in level of difficulty but can vary from event to event. The easiest is harder than the hardest Miller round. Normandales have a class change this year and the twinshock class has been moved from the harder to the easier of two routes, where two routes are used. Some trials may only be one route, but most now have a percentage of sections with two routes. The easy route is still harder than the Miller series. Normandale still has a twinshock class on the harder route but it is a class for twinshocks AND air-cooled monos now. I can only assume this has happened because of the more radically modified twinshocks that are appearing (not many but a sign of things to come?) and air-cooled monos being fitted with twinshocks. If riders are looking to win a championship, they will enter the hard route. If they are doing it on a bike that no longer resembles the original twinshocker or it is modified mono, maybe the ACU have decided to lump them all in one class with monos..?? An attempt to discourage it or just coincidence. Who knows. Of course, this doesn't stop someone entering the twinshock class on the easier route on a similarly modified bike, but I guess the thinking may be that they are less likely to bother going to the trouble and expense of making such modifications and just use a standard twinshock. Or maybe there was no such thinking at all. Who knows. I only know about the class changes because they are on the entry form for the first round. I've seen nothing on the ACU website about it. Doesn't mean it isn't on there but I haven't seen it. There are moves to organise and run some twinshock only trials this year, in different locations. These are seperate from the above two series. A sort of pilot to assess interest with the intention of running a series next year, no roadwork. Discussions are ongoing, logistics etc. whether there would be any interest, a set of sensible rules needs to be drafted, with the intention of 'discouraging' radically altered machines. It would be nice to see a series again like the old Sebac / Falcon series of the early 90s before it got screwed by making it one route. Entries of over 100 at virtually every round and a nice variety of pre65 and twinshock bikes. I used to enjoy that series, happy days. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmc2028372 Posted January 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Thanks for that woody. I've got a fantic 240 that is pretty standard but fairly well fettled. I'm a rider of average centre expert level that's done a fair share of nationals over the years. What would you recommend I have a go at? I assume your riding the normandale harder route? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 I'd have said with that background you'd be fine with the Normandales. They aren't as difficult as a British Championship or Centre championship from the late twinshock era. Up until now, I've always ridden the twinshock class, so that's been the harder route. Pre65 and over 50 riders on modern bikes rode easier routes through some sections when a section was marked out with 2 routes. Because of the class changes this year, I don't know if the hard route will now be made harder, or whether the trials will stay the same as they always have been. I've seen no information on what the purpose of the class changes is. I only rode a couple of rounds last year for various reasons, so I don't know if there was some sort of discontent with the trials themselves. I haven't heard anything other than some murmurs of discontent about how some bikes are being modified. I'm going to enter the hard route for the first event, see how it goes and take it from there. If they're just going to tighten evreything up needing clutch / brake everywhere, which will encourage stop/hop riding on the 'more capable' bikes, which will inevitably go unpenalised, then that will be the end of it for me. I can buy a GasGas if I want to ride trials like that. I don't. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmc2028372 Posted January 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Fair point. I don't mind dropping 30 or 40 on a trial but it is will be taking the p##s if some clever sole, maybe on a heavily modified early 80's yellow bike!! loses a quarter of that on something that shouldn't be there. When is the first normandale round and where is it? Thanks 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 First round is the Phil King at Colchester on Feb 2nd I just found the series regs on the ACU website which has the new classes. On the harder route, the new class G is for machines with air-cooled engines, that's the only criteria. So in other words, that covers twinshocks, highly modified twinshocks, monos with two shocks fitted or monos, including the Scorpa SY 4T monos. Seems reasonable to me, in view of what's happening with bikes. Personally I couldn't care a toss about the classes, I just want to ride my Bultaco or Ossa in trials I enjoy, so it will change nothing for me, unless they make them too tight, as I can see the majority of the entry being modern bikes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 ACU link http://www.acu.org.uk/Uploaded/1/Documents/Trials%20Results/2014%20TRADITIONAL%20CHAMP%20REGS.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmc2028372 Posted January 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 Totally agree. Thanks for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axulsuv Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 Great reply Woody , We need some Real trials Events worldwide , Not X-Game practice ... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 we have plenty of great trials here in Europe pretty much every week in an area smaller than the usa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillary Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 Let me speak for the Lancs County MCC Normandale round on Saturday, August 2 at Brookhouse Brickworks. This will be a one route trial, i.e. every rider rides the same course. In the past we have been able to cater for all riders of all abilities on all machines eligible to take part in this series. Basically, we have straight sections, no tight turns and use a mixture of streams and muddy/rocky sections. Very old fashioned but that's the basic intention of this series. However, I have not ridden other rounds for a few years so can't speak for their events. If you want to judge how popular this trial is, when we ran in March we attracted around 140-160 entries; now that we have to run in mid-summer due to the landowner's requirements, we still attract about 100 riders (summer trials always get fewer entries than winter/spring events). You'll notice that our trial is on SATURDAY, that's because Westmorland will also be running a round of the same series on Sunday, the following day, so there are two trials of the same series on the same weekend with the locations less than 20 miles apart. I would expect Westmorland to run a very similar style of trial, though the land they use is very different. I was ACU steward at their event last year and though a few sections had some tightish turns, it was basically a very sound event and ideal for the style of trial expected in the Normandale series. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axulsuv Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 we have plenty of great trials here in Europe pretty much every week in an area smaller than the usa. But I can't afford to move !!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metisse Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 In France we have a dedicated classic trial once a month, the next one is March, for a six month period, and where ever you live, will have to do hundreds of kms to ride it...Modern trials dont cater for classic bikes, its a political, federation type problem cum argument. A licence depending on federation is 50 euros or 200. You are soooooo lucky in the Uk with the various championships and trials most weekends on your doorsteps.. Dont moan too much it could be a lot worse. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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