I didn't read all the posts, but from what I did read, there is a bit of
inaccuracy.
Firstly, for biketrials, we don't always lean the front wheel when
doing moves. When you see riders lean to their front wheel first to do
sidehops or when pedalgrabbing, that is the easy way out. Most good
riders would not do that. Biketrials riders can still kick a uni's ass
when they take their front wheels off in many moves, so it's not all
about the extra front wheel.
As for pedalgrabbing and going to metal in general... it's not great
and is considered slightly taboo in biketrials. It degrades the value
of getting up an object if you have to force yourself to go to
bashguard/pedal/crankarm. Especially in the UK, where biketrials
standard is FAR FAR FAR ahead of North America, we are more strict on
ourselves with going to metal. That's for biketrials anyway. But do
remember, without biketrials, unicycle trials would not be as big or
technologically-advanced.. heck, a huge proportion of components that
trials unis use are biketrials parts, and lots come from biketrials
brands! (e.g. Koxx, Onza, Monty)
BUT... for unicycling, pedalgrabbing is a different story... Yes, this
is the only method we have to 'hook' on. But in truth, Danni is right.
In an IDEAL world for unicycling, none of us would need to go to pedal,
and just be able to go to tyre. I believe that in competition for
trials, pedalgrabbing should deduct points, but not be totally outlawed
as not everyone can sidehop 125cm or so like Joe Hodges can.
But that beind said, we should all push ourselves to not use our
pedals. Many of us think 'oh i can just go to pedal', when POTENTIALLY
we are all physically able to go to tyre (it just takes time to get the
confidence to make the jump of course). Like for hopping to rails or
high walls, most of us instantly tell ourselves to pedalgrab because we
can't make it to tyre YET. If going to bash/pedals was as taboo in
unicycling as it is in biketrials, then we would all be much better
trials riders. Part of the reason why biketrials is a more evolved and
advanced sport is because they have tabooed the use of going to
metal... this pushes riders to go to tyre, and [censored] it has
worked very well! The biggest biketrials sidehop is somewhere just a
shade under 60 inches. That's huge... and this would have taken way
longer to achieve if they kept resorting to pedalgrabs.
Biketrials riders could easily go to pedal and get sidehops that shoot
near around 70 inches.... but the vast majority choose not to, and that
is why they are so damn good at hopping high to tyres.
Too much emphasis and thought that pedalgrabs make it easier for you
will only make it harder for you to get higher and better hops to tyre
in general. Push yourselves in training to not have to use the pedal,
and i am sure after a few weeks your riding would improve at a MUCH
faster rate.
To cap it off: just try and do pedalgrabs less and less, and push
yourselves to hop to tyre as much as you can. In a competition it would
be good to give small penalties to pedalgrabs. Joe has talked to Kris
about this in the past, because he too like me, strongly believes that
uni trials can only truly evolve and become great if we go to tyre
more. Sure some of you will argue 'nyeer nyer nyer, trials is free, you
do what you want'... well, to be honest, not really... the theories and
truth of 'trials' is buried deep within biketrials, so if you can,
research it a bit. Because using rubber is TRUE way to get up an
obstacle. Using bashguards/pedals/cranks is just a last resort method
to MAKE UP for not being able to get to tyre... that's why it's done!
it's a LAST RESORT method!
Oooh: for those whining about the fact that bikes have a front wheel to
lean on and complain that it's cheating.. then why do you ride a uni? if
you want to really achieve HUGE things in trials, then ride a bike. By
choosing to ride a unicycle, we have signed a contract to limiting
ourselves (in a sense!), so we should make do with what we have.
First post here in ages... haha, i should start riding my uni more
again.
--
Sponge
MSN: [email hidden]
Quoted message said:*"If you're [censored] at trials, go do flat."- Joe Hodges*
*'TRITON SPONGE' (http://tinyurl.com/2r7jk6)*
-Titanium frames, available in 19", 24", 26", 29", 36"-
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