History don't matter the category of bikes. Doesn't matter if dirt bikes came from BMX. It isn't a trial bike and it isn't for same stuff. period.

BMX
chav

Trial bike (notice the frame)
Used to pass different "tracks" where you have to jump on objects and do balancing with one wheel for example etc etc
works the same way as motored trial bikes.
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/ ... tegory=7&date=2011-02


Dirt bike / street
For tricks you do by going from jumps that throws you in the air high.
(look at my bike for example)

DH
Hi speed going on a downhill trail with jumps that throws you miles away. professionally time attacking or whatever it's called.


Freeride
Name tells everything. Most likely to have full suspension bikes with more travel than normal bikes. Bikes go same category than DH but there can also be some hardtrails. You don't race in freeride. Just jump/go fast..

4X bike
Racing on wide dirt track.

That's fien you missed our point (you know it's bad when I agree with Tomba) and we can all live in peace.

Anyways back on topic. Erik you don't need gears as theres no hills in Hollandland.

Quote from rich uk :

That's fien you missed our point (you know it's bad when I agree with Tomba) and we can all live in peace.

I don't get the hatred attitude lfsforumers have. You don't have to take trolling so seriously.

I was saying it's all gravy and theres no hard feelings.

We can all feel the love <3

I think you guys tried to argue, one about tomatoes, the other about cars, and to some degree both of you are right :-). There are many kinds of trails you can ride with different bikes, and nowadays for every produced frame that has a difference of 0,1° in slope angles of the upper tube you get a new name for it. A crossbike is basically a bigger mountainbike (28') with slim tyres, a speedbike is the same frame, maybe not as nobbly tyres and with race bike gears instead of mtb crank and stuff, a cyclocross bike is in between them plus drop handle................... oh how I hate that!

If you really like to go fast get a superlight aluminium or steel frame, if you have money get a titanium one (titanium and aluminium alloy that is, called... titanal over here!!!!!), get lightweight rims and build a single speed bike. I admit these are mostly used by fashion faschists and apple users , but in the Netherhollandslands tey are THE weapon of choice. No loss in the transmission, easy to accelerate and great topspeed performance!
An internal 4 (3, 5,7,8,11,14-) gear hub is stupid and kills power.

greetz

der butz

Be sure to use the clutch when shifting

haha titanal is possibly the best name of anything ever lol

Quote from dadge :

you're thinking street trails this is downhill trails both of which originated from BMX.



i'm really resisting the urge to post an off road tyre and discuss contact areas. lol.

can i just ask a question, cause you seem to know something?

me and my friend bike as a hobby. we do stuff that is kinda in both of those videos (nowhere near as good, but we still have those general ideas). What would you recomend would fit us.

i ride on the street alot, wheelie, endo, jump, drop-off's, and basically just mess around flatland, but we also go through some trails, and jump rocks, and go through dirt stuff too.

so we have a budget, but we can ignore that for now, and get used need-be, what type of frame, and bike in general would we be looking at.

Quote from Tomba(FIN) :

History don't matter the category of bikes. Doesn't matter if dirt bikes came from BMX. It isn't a trial bike and it isn't for same stuff. period.

BMX
chav

Trial bike (notice the frame)
Used to pass different "tracks" where you have to jump on objects and do balancing with one wheel for example etc etc
works the same way as motored trial bikes.
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/ ... tegory=7&date=2011-02
[IMdG]http://www.echobike.com/images/pure/pure-front.JPG[/IMG]

Dirt bike / street
For tricks you do by going from jumps that throws you in the air high.
(look at my bike for example)

DH
Hi speed going on a downhill trail with jumps that throws you miles away. professionally time attacking or whatever it's called.
[d]http://www.spoke.ie/wp-content/uploads/animal-commencal-team-bike.jpg[/IMG]

Freeride
Name tells everything. Most likely to have full suspension bikes with more travel than normal bikes. Bikes go same category than DH but there can also be some hardtrails. You don't race in freeride. Just jump/go fast..

4X bike
Racing on wide dirt track.
[IMdG]http://www.littermag.com/2009/wp-content/themes/unstandard/images/chris-shewmake-commencal-meta4x02.jpg[/IMG]

same as above to you...you also seem to know alot about bikes.

sounds like you could either got for an all rounder which would do a nice (average) job all round. or you could go for two bikes which would be more pacific for each activity.

what would be an all rounder?

what would i search, and what are good places to look?

if you're rough with the bike, go for something with rear suspension. if you like a challenging bike, go for a hard tails. it's not as forgiving as a a full suspension setup but could help you skill up better.

http://answers.yahoo.com/quest ... qid=20080517164608AA3pGpe

a simple tyre change could change your current bike completely. the 3 main types of consumer tyres are racing (thin with very little grooves for max speed), semi racing (hybrid of racing+off road) and off road. these have a bigger surface area for maximum grip. most bikes are sold with the semi-racing tyres as they offer the best performance throughout.

If your doing street and some trials with the occasional downhill/offroad go for hard tail. don't get Full sus. you don;t really need it unless your doing serious downhiling.

Identiti frames are good allrounders as are DMR. short travel front forks (or if you ride smooth maybe rigid front forks)

Identiti
DMR

They are just to help you get prices and see what style takes your fancy. shop around and research

have you ever come from a bike with shocks onto a solid no shock bike? i've never realised how much punishment your wrists have to take. bad times lol.

Yeah it is quite a shock (excuse the pun) but it does make you learn to ride smoothly I used to ride dirt with a full rigid bike. Now I got front shocks i ride smooth but can still use my wrists

Quote from dadge :

have you ever come from a bike with shocks onto a solid no shock bike? i've never realised how much punishment your wrists have to take. bad times lol.

I made the mistake of locking off my front suspension and then riding down a rediculously bumpy, potholed, very steep road at 35mph. I nearly crashed

Maybe I was just riding like a cock, but there was a suprisingly noticeable difference in how much less controllable the bike was with the suspension locked off


Regarding the topic, I generally cba to change through all the gears to get up to speed, so I tend to start off about middle of the gear range and just put in some effort to get up to speed. Although I very rarely use the lower 1/3 of my gears because they only let you do about 6mph whilst pedalling at 5400 rpm.

I have just started riding to class everyday. Been awhile since i have been riding. Using an old Scott Rockwood. Have two more at the parents place exactly the same. They do need some TLC though. Have been meaning to hit some trails for years but i never get around to it. We even have a MTB track just outside the city that i still havent been to...http://www.hamiltonmtb.org.nz/img/usr/plaininnerpark.jpg

this is going to be a tougher choice then i thought.

as of right now i have a hardtail bike with decent forks, and off road tires (love the tires), and i definately have learned to ride smoother, as compared to many people i see.

for my skill i think i need full suspension, cause im not too skilled, and wont focus all my time on biking (and it needs to be strong)
for what i will need it for (occasional fast downhill trail) a hardtail will do me just fine!

all my friends point me towards full suspension, and everywhere else points me in both directions.

tires are replacable with wear, and with my seperate needs, but getting 2 bikes is not very easy to manage.

im thinking get a used full suspension and stick to that.

should i just go face to face with somebody at a bike shop?

Theres no right way or wrong way to use the gearing on your bike....just dont pull a andy shleck :P

Quote from logitekg25 :

this is going to be a tougher choice then i thought.

as of right now i have a hardtail bike with decent forks, and off road tires (love the tires), and i definately have learned to ride smoother, as compared to many people i see.

for my skill i think i need full suspension, cause im not too skilled, and wont focus all my time on biking (and it needs to be strong)
for what i will need it for (occasional fast downhill trail) a hardtail will do me just fine!

all my friends point me towards full suspension, and everywhere else points me in both directions.

tires are replacable with wear, and with my seperate needs, but getting 2 bikes is not very easy to manage.

im thinking get a used full suspension and stick to that.

should i just go face to face with somebody at a bike shop?

good full suspension is 3x more expensive than hardtrail. No point buying shit full suspension bike.
good or even decent full suspension bikes are up to 1000euros easily.

It would help a lot if you just told how much you are about to use on a bike...

chainreactoncycles.com is the best place to buy bike stuff

There is a correct way to shift gears when dealing with front and rear gears, you should try to keep the chain in a straight line, as it helps to prevent the chain from flexing, over flexing will cause the chain to strecth prematurely, which in turn causes un-even ware on the sprockets. Your chain should be checked regually for chain stretch, most cycle stores offer this service for free.

This guide answer most questions.
http://coachlevi.com/cycling/c ... o-bicycle-gears-shifting/

Oh, you should know if your chain is stretched beyond reasonable function, every time you stand to pedal up a hill, the chain slips, and you squeak for a while!

Quote from Tomba(FIN) :

good full suspension is 3x more expensive than hardtrail. No point buying shit full suspension bike.
good or even decent full suspension bikes are up to 1000euros easily.

It would help a lot if you just told how much you are about to use on a bike...

chainreactoncycles.com is the best place to buy bike stuff

that is why i would most likely buy used.

i would be looking to spend around 800$ on a bike, which for used is do-able (my friends have gotten quality full suspension bikes that cheap)

if i got hardtail, that would be much more do-able..then i have been thinking if i should bother with a bike, or just wait for my license to come and use that as my hobby.

The bike doesn't have a regular mountainbike transmission. Instead, it has a Shimano Nexus transmission, which means that it only has one front and one rear sprocket.

when I had gears I used only ones. but there's no harm in shifting. You are 20, you ride a bike, and your parents are telling you how to ride it? Just wondering..

I have the standard 21 gears on mine and I end up using 2 or 3 at most.

I couldn't ride a fixed gear bike - aside from the hipster/apple-using/glasses-with-no-lenses/'more-pure-riding-experiece'-bores* image, not having at least a few gears to choose from would piss me off far more than the reduced need to maintain it as regularly.


*One of the most satisfying experiences of my life was watching some smug tit on a fixed-gear bike with no brakes go into the back of a bus because they couldn't stop in time.