For the biker who has to have a bike to do everything. This has to be the last one... I now have the all mountain MTB, jump/urban bike, fixie commuter, and this, probably the most fun bike of all 
It's an Echo Pure frame,
no-name forks (ta to Macbeth),
FSA Pig headset,
Echo stem and Salsa moto super wide bars,
200mm LX front disc (a bit OTT for this but was lying about in the shed),
Crossride front wheel with a Kenda Nevegal 2.1 (again lying around doing nowt)
Echo cranks, bashguard and 18 front screw-on cog,
DMR V12 pedals,
Hope Pro II singlespeed bolt-on hub with Chris King 15T cog, Alex DX32 rim and a 2.5 High roller mounted backwards (you can hear that hub a mile off )
Magura HS33 rear hydraulic rim brake for ultimate hopping power!
But enough of that, the proof is in the pudding and man it tastes good It's soo easy to get up on the back wheel and hop/flip about, I managed 19 consecutive back-hops today, having only ever managed about 5 on the Trailstar, watch out Gazza 
Now I just need to spend the next year in the park down the end of my street training to sidehop and wheelswap higher than half a foot...
See you in a park sometime!
Matt.
Matt,
Did this frame come with a sticker saying "Not intended for jumps" ?
And as you pay off the lay-by they send you the gears, front shocks and then as a bonus for paying in full, a bloody seat and post
It looks cool enjoy
Pikey
Congrats!!
Hey Matt, great stuff!!! looking good!!!
Glad to hear the bikes geometry/equipment helps your trials skills!
How much did that set you back? I've been eyeing some Trials bikes on e-bay...
Loz
All up
about $1500. So I could've bought new for not much more than that, but I've not really skimped on any of the key components for this, which would probably happen with a made up bike. Key things to watch for if you're buying are a good rear hub (say a Chris King or Hope), with lots of engagement points, and a good rear brake (Magura HS33 seems to be the brake of choice) to hold the wheel in place while you're hopping about on it.
Have a look on Observedtrials.net, there's always a few bikes going.
Ta,
Matt.
thats nuts Matt. I'd love to
thats nuts Matt. I'd love to have a crack on that because I've got a Mod echo and would love to see the difference up to the stock version.
bring it on!
better get practicing! aint got time at the mo but will have to come out and play soon(and swap t shirts), nice looking bike by the way
Looks great, i love the 26"
Looks great, i love the 26" trials bikes, especially the Echo Pure's. You've really done it properly too.
The question is are you ever going to ride your street bike again now you have this? I'd love to get one (I've been avoiding ObservedTrials.net for this reason
) but i'm afraid i'd not ride my beloved NS Suburban if i did, as the trials bike would be too much fun... Hmm, if i sold my Santa Cruz i would have room for one perhaps...
...damn N+1!
_____________________________
my Intense 5.5 ~ my NS Suburban
Stable
I have to think about whether to sell the DMR, the only time it'll get used is at the BMX track, and I'd rather spend the time learning to drop 10ft to rear, much safer
I'd love to organise a trials get together, somewhere around the city maybe on a weekend. Would anyone be up for that? I'd love to give a 20" a go too just to see what difference it makes. There's a regular Wednesday night ride in town that I'm trying to get along to one of these days too, check out the Aussie forum on Observedtrials.net if you're keen for that...
Ta,
Matt.
Well I'd be up for a
Well I'd be up for a 'trials' meetup (i think we were going to plan one ages ago actually).
Yeah i have always wanted to join one of those wed night sydneytrials rides, just finding the time during the week is the problem, but i guess i might just plan it and commit!
_____________________________
my Intense 5.5 ~ my NS Suburban
Update
Changed the tensioner to a Rohloff (Bernd...), took off the sticka's and added a brake booster. Next weeks project is to change to proper trials pads and grind the rear rim. For those that don't know that involves taking an angle grinder to the rear rim to roughen up the surface, I kid you not! Just about every trials bike will have this done (multiple times before the rim finally fails, apparently you can manage 20 light grinds on the rim I have if you're careful...) and trials pads are specifically designed for a light or rough grind. Thankfully I have a pro to demonstrate as I would undoubtedly feck it up...
Went for a ride and beer with the Observedtrials.net crew last night, v. cool, had me doing things I only thought about last week, effortless pedal kicks to rear and the beginnings of pedal kicks from vertical, while watching the rest tap up 6ft walls! Way cool
http://www.observedtrials.net/otn4/IMG_0569.JPG
http://www.observedtrials.net/otn4/IMG_0570.JPG
Ta ta,
Matt.
Nice Matt!!
Thats awesome, great to hear you're improving so quickly!!
only...
... glad that you use Rohloff gear!!!
whats the grinding bit? I'm not with it, sorry!
Bernd
Grinding
This should make it clear, scary stuff! Have a look at the very first post...
http://www.observedtrials.net/vb/showthread.php?t=29061&highlight=rim+gr...
ahh..
hhh... Thanks Matt, go gring away!!
Bernd
All this talk of grinding rims,
I thought I had stumbled onto one of Gazzas' other websites
5 posts later...
I'm disappointed, late and lame... much like the after effects of a "rim grind"... must try harder... see how you go with that one
The transformation is complete...
One rim grind later:
The braking performance is unbelievable, forget 200mm discs... the maggies still give you a bit of modulation but if you need it you can just stop completely dead on the rear immediately. Which is fantastic for confidence when pedal kicking and pedalling to rear, almost zero risk of looping out
.
The noise is unbelievable though, applying the rear sounds like a school full of teachers scraping their fingernails down the one blackboard!