Introduction to bike trials

So you’ve seen your mates ride trials or you came across a video on youtube, and you want a slice of the biketrials cake! You’ve come to the right place.
This section is an attempt at summing up trials as a whole, answering basic questions, and advice on getting started.
Hope you find the intro helpful.
Trials is a largely growing sport, with the main idea being that you get up and over obstacles without placing your feet on the ground.
If a foot touches the ground it is called a 'dab'. Trials is not only competition riding, but it is also a chance to ride street and natural without the boundaries of competition rules.

Firstly, you need a bike, it's always a good start because running about with just a helmet on will raise peoples eyebrows.
There are 3 main types of trials bikes these days…

• Mod - A 20" wheeled trials bike.
  
• Stock - A 26" wheeled trials bike.
  
• 24" - A 24" wheeled trials bike.
  

Deciding on which one you want to ride isn't an easy choice.
If you've been riding cross country / mountain biking, down
hilling or free riding, which 99% of the time is done on 26" wheeled
bike. You're probably better off sticking with 26" wheeled bikes as
you'll be used to the larger wheels and the general feel of a 26"
wheeled bike.
However, if you've been riding BMXs you'll probably want to stick with 20" wheeled bike for the same reason mentioned above.
24" is relatively new, more and more people are riding 24"
trials bikes, and they are becoming more and more widely available.
However, 24" is still developing, and at the moment, 24" trials bikes
are mostly used by people who ride street. I personally wouldn't
suggest a beginner starting with a 24" bike because there are less
bikes / parts available, and there are less people who've had
experience with 24" bikes, therefore there's less general knowledge
about them. Although, these aren’t really good reasons to not ride 24"
bikes, so if you really think 24" is the way to go, go for it.



There are also arguably 3 different types of riding. You won't know
which type of riding you'll be into before you buy a bike and learn the
basics, but it's worth knowing.

• TGS (Taps, gaps and sidehops) Street - This type of riding is
  all about power moves and going big. This area focuses on perfect
  technique to pull off some of the biggest and impressive trials
  oriented moves. Good examples of this kind of riding are the later Zoo
  Videos from Craig Lee Scott and Neil Tunnicliffe, although there are a lot of other riders that are certainly worth watching!
  

• Street - Yeah, there's kinda 2 types of street, and they tend
  to be called the same name. Anyway, this kind of street is usually done
  on 26” bikes, and most 24” are designed around this type of riding.
  Street riders have a much more flowing style, manuals and spins (360’s,
  180’s etc) are used much more often and street riders tend to pick
  lines and combine several moves. You could say street is a more BMX
  oriented side of biketrials. Good examples of this kind of riding are
  shown in the 2 trials media videos, TM1 and TM2, they are feature length videos that show street in its best form.
  

• Natural - Riding on rocks mainly, although natural will cover
  a large assortment different terrain, anything that hasn't been created
  by man basically. There tends to be a lot less videos of natural
  riding, because it generally looks less impressive in videos and the
  small technicalities go unnoticed. However, there are some videos on tartybikes which show some well filmed natural riding, and competition footages is always worth a watch.
  

However, some don't believe a rider should aim to be classed in one of these categories. After you've learnt the basics, you will naturally
prefer one out of the 3, or you might like 2 out of the 3 as much as each other. Just ride what you want to ride for your own reasons, and you'll get on fine.