We look into the tightly-knit British bicycle trials scene and asks if Danny MacAskill helped nearly kill it off.
Go on then I'll kick it off.
Trials just looks crap. Sorry.
In the late 90's I was a teenager reading MBUK watching the Martin's and Hans Rey do tricks on MTB's and I thought it was the best. I lived miles away from any actual off-road riding so when I went exploring the urban wastelands, trials riding was the first thing I tried to do. On an undersized XC bike which broke all the time.
Then I switched from MBUK to Ride and Dig, saw Road Fools, and it was game over for hopping around on a spindly, fragile bike. BMX was, and continues to be, a million times cooler than trials.
Competition trials is even worse. Pogoing around on a bike that looks like a broomstick. I know it's skilful and difficult but so is figure skating and I don't watch that either.
I love what Akrigg and MacAskill do but it's not something I'd ever try to emulate. They're basically aliens which as you say makes them unrelatable to viewers.
Trials just looks crap. Sorry.
Got to agree. A trials vid appeared on Pinkbike yesterday and I watched the first few mins. Impressive? Yes for about 20 seconds. Huge amount of skill? Yes. But writing a computer programme or rewiring a house takes a huge amount of skill too and they're about as spectator friendly as trials is.
Plus the bikes are weird. Its on a level with bike football or those people who dance on bikes. Its basically just a circus act.
Big fan of trials, have been trying to learn the skills for the past seven years, I'm now fifty.
Glad to see it get some coverage on Singeltrack World. It's too often an overlooked niche of mountain biking - I guess because of attitudes like those above.
To the above posters, if you have Instagram, watch the following post from scottish_bike_trial_official, featuring Ali Clarkson, I think it's a more mountain-bike-like aspect to the sport. Do you find that better than the UCI style trials competitions?
Before I started watching Ali Clarkson on Youtube, I had the same dismissive attitude to trials as the posters above. It can take time to learn to appreciate, and trying to learn those skills helps.
The UK trials team have a really good presence in the world Championships right now, with Charlie Rolls winning a world champion title recently, and of course Jack Carthy with multiple titles under his belt. Oliver Weightman has also been featuring on the podium recently too, in fact we had an all-British podium recently with Carth, Rolls, and Weightman in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively!
I'm not being dismissive of trials, I've been well aware of it for over 30 years and I started my formative years in MTB as a wannabe trials rider. I actually got quite good at it. My bunnyhops maxed out at a measured 38 inches but I could hop onto much bigger obstacles. I could do those 180 endo to 180 pull around things off big drops. I removed a few headtubes from old GT's and Kona's by doing drops to flat off garages and bus shelters. I still look out for a Pashley 26mhz on eBay.
Then I encountered BMX and was seduced by the entire culture. The mad, bad, dangerous people, the insane riding, the music, the style, everything. Trials has none of that. It's got people in branded outfits doing back hops on logs.
The article is about the status of trials and asking why it's not more popular so I'm not trying to be critical for the sake of it. I'm trying to remember what it was like to be an impressionable youth looking for something to latch onto and be obsessed with. Trials has nothing to offer but slowly hopping around on goofy looking bikes. It's really no surprise that it's gone underground.
I enjoy watching Ali, Danny and the others doing Street Trials but Competition stuff is cool to watch for 5 minutes but it does get pretty dull. Which is sad because the guys and girls doing it are incredibly skillful.
I built a 26" DJ Bike so I could muck about and practice some trials skills about 4 years ago. I think there are some really useful techniques and that lot's of it transfers and makes me a better mountain biker: which is nice ;o)
I'm still crap at trials skills but I've realised that I don't have the time to practice that I'd need to be any good.
I'm still crap at trials skills but I've realised that I don't have the time to practice that I'd need to be any good.
That's the biggest difference for me between then and now. I used to ride every night and all weekend in all weathers. Zero chance (or desire) to do that now but that's how you get good at stuff. Charlie Rolls has his own farmyard with an expert level trials course in it.
I only ride my BMX on jumps once every 2 or 3 months and I'm stuck at a permanently low level of ability. Going fast on a track and boosting jumps at a low level is still more fun than clumsily hopping around on an ugly bike. In my humble opinion.
I'm not being dismissive of trials, I've been well aware of it for over 30 years and I started my formative years in MTB as a wannabe trials rider.
Just to be clear, the meaning of dismissive I'm using is: showing that you do not think something is worth considering.
These are your dismissive negative superficial comments about trials:
- Trials just looks crap.
- BMX was, and continues to be, a million times cooler than trials.
- Competition trials is even worse. Pogoing around on a bike that looks like a broomstick.
- I love what Akrigg and MacAskill do but it's not something I'd ever try to emulate. They're basically aliens
- It's got people in branded outfits doing back hops on logs.
- Trials has nothing to offer but slowly hopping around on goofy looking bikes.
- clumsily hopping around on an ugly bike
But what's weirder than your misunderstanding of the word dismissive, is claiming to have ridden trials on a daily basis and reached a fairly accomplished level in your youth, before going on to say there's trials has nothing to offer young people.
Everyone else is rightly ignoring you. Unfortunately I'm not that smart.
It's not something I know anything about, but there's a nice article up on the BBC website at the moment as we have a World Champion apparently.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgvz14zkjvo
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/czjpz9vkvzwo
I've watched the competitions in the past. With a semi-decent commentator, and getting to see a number of riders attempt the same thing, sometimes in different ways its great amusement. Also enjoy the creativity of the Clarkson and more mtb focused Macaskill videos.
No I've never tried a trials bike but given my frequent poor attempts at hopping about on my mtb I imagine the level of skill, strength and pracitse to get to the point of being able to do anything vaguely interesting yourself is discouragingly high - especially comparaed to the modern beginner friendly plug and play nature of trail centre mtbing.
Interesting to see other's comments on BMX - I wasn't into any of this growing up and came to mtb in my 20s. I thought the BMXers looked dorkiest of all the cyclist subgenres I was aware of (and a poor attempt at mimicing dirt jumpers/slopestylers in an urban/skate park environment), with the exception of the bike polo nerds who were definitely at the bottom of the pile.
I find it similar to flatland BMX - takes years of dedication to get to a good level and great to watch for a few minutes and then just very samey and unless you actively do it yourself I can see how anyone really stays interested in it.
I too appreciate the skills involved... but it's about as far removed from "riding" as someone balancing a chair on their nose whilst juggling is (imho of course).
I actually tried to get in to motorcycle trials; going as far as having tuition, buying two bikes and all the kit. Same as above... it felt like something to pass the time rather than something exciting and fun.
With the benefit of age and having spent my life on two wheels, I now understand that, for me, the joy of being on two wheels* is in travelling through the landscape and scenery... not messing about in a quarry!
*that's pretty much any two-wheeled device 🙂
I agree with the comment about trials and flatland bmx, ages to master but not fun to watch.
But trials could be different, but the bikes look god awful these days, where have the 26inch wheels and florescent hydraulics gone? The small wheeled, stretched out frames with no seat and two freewheels so doesnt even pedal nicely. I think Danny is doing great PR cos his bike at least looks normal.
Reminds me of the pic from the Olympics of the Turkish shooter with no gear versus the others with too much or mad techniques!