First trials bike: advice please

[Chase]

Hey! I'm Chase, from Victoria!

I'm hoping to buy my first trials bike sometime in the next couple of weeks.
In the last year or so, I've made several attempts to find my first trials bike -- I'd spend about a week scouring the internet, asking everyone I knew, and calling every bike-related store in the phonebook -- for each attempt though, I just ended up getting more confused than when I started.

So, I come here begging your knowledge and advice.
I would just order a bike online, but I have no idea which bike I'd like. From what I understand, there are many varieties of trials bike -- each with their own feel, with their own advantages and disadvantages, each suited to a different riding style. Deciding which bike will feel right for me through the internet sounds like a bad idea, which is largely why my past attempts to get a trials bike have failed.

So the first thing I'm looking for, is a place where I can give a good variety of bikes a test ride. The problem is, where the hell am I going to do that? I can't find any place on the island (I'm in Victoria), though I am willing to travel to Vancouver to test ride some bikes. One bike I definitely want to make sure I test ride is the Norco Manifesto.

If I can't find any places to test ride enough trials bikes, then I will eventually break down and just buy a trials bike online and just hope for the best.

This post is already lengthy enough, so I won't turn it into more of a novel by trying to describe to you what kind of rider I am, as I'm not looking for advice on which particular bike I should buy, right now I'm just looking for a place where I can check out my options. As I mentioned, I'm leaning toward the Norco Manifesto, but am not confident in that "lean" enough to actually just order the damn thing online.

Any information about anything at all is very much appreciated.
Thanks,
- /Chase.

[Rue Calton]

I'm sure Morley or Brett can help you out with some suggestions seeing as there also both in Victoria...well they were when I first met them.
The manifesto in my opinion is not a trials bike that is a street/park bike.
Like you stated there is alot of different bikes with different geo so its really all personal preference....high and low BB, long and short WB, headtube angle, chainstay length etc.. Seeing as you have not ridin trials bike they should all feel strange.

Try contacting Chris at CBtrials.com (250.508.1571) they have framekits and complete bikes for sale.

[BrettM]

Chase if you are leaning towards a Manifesto, then you won't have any luck finding riders on here with one. There are tons of trials riders in Vic, but they ride trials bikes. Join the Facebook group and ask to go on a ride or look for one to be posted and go to it. Unless you are looking for a Manifesto don't bother with bike stores, they don't carry pure trials parts.

You've posted all this before but I believe you should start all over again from the start and go through all the steps.

Explain exactly what you want to ride and how. Pick videos of your favorite riders, riding things that you would like to ride and riding how you want to ride. From there you can be given a solid suggestion.
Decide what you want to use from your bike you have now and what you need for the new bike. Give a budget. It helps a lot.
Next come on a ride and try some of those bikes. Chris @ CBtrials is local. Get ahold of him with this info. He will gladly get a ride planned for you to come on with guys that have lots of different types of bikes. Go on that ride and try some bikes. With the prices this low on bike stuff and having a dealer right in your city this should be the easiest thing for you to do. Follow the advice and stop creating threads over and over again about this.

[Chase]

Thank you very much you guys -- you've really got me thinking about what kind of bike I really want.
I realize now that I didn't have nearly enough appreciation for how different the Manifesto is from real trials bikes. The mobility granted by a seat would be nice, but at the end of the day, sitting isn't what I want to do with my bike, now is it?

Details that you don't really have to read:

I'm hoping for a bike for around $1200 or so.
My ~35 pound Kona Scrap isn't very well suited for trials, so lately I've been riding a Kona Lana'i because it's a lot lighter.
I enjoy basic stuff like bunny/j-hops, pivots, climbing onto little benches and things, and some pedal kicks. I'm looking forward to getting better at the fun stuff like hopping on the back wheel and japslaps and stuff, but I find it pretty tough and uncomfortable on the heavy Scrap, and the Lanai's rear brake is semi-broken which makes rear-brake-intensive moves difficult and scary. I broke the derailleur off both bikes and converted them to single speed bikes (with PVC pipe and duct-tape which, interestingly, is now the easiest part of the bike to maintain).

Anyways, I've been procrastinating the purchase of my first real trials bike for a very, very long time (as BrettM can tell by my posts in August or whenever it was ), mostly because I don't know anything about trials bikes. But now I'm serious, impatient, and frustrated. I want a bike to ride for this spring break.

After reading as much as I could handle about trials bikes today, and browsing CBtrials' stuff, the Meta VTT is looking pretty sweet, and readily available, though I'm definitely going to contact Chris about arranging some form of test ride because I'm still very confused and fickle regarding trials bikes

Looking forward to the world of real trials biking, and thanks again for the help, and for putting up with my newbishness.
-Chase.

[BrettM]

That's a perfect budget. You can get a great bike for that money. Talk to Chris and he can start you off. Tell him you want on his mailing lists. Come on a group ride and you can try out lots of bikes. The weather is getting nicer so they should be happening lots more.

[Rue Calton]

Indeed that is a sweet budget for a 1st time trials bike. You shouldn't have a problem at all findin something very sweet for that price new or used built to the tits so to speak.

[Chase]

Excellent
I talked with Chris, and he's going to introduce me to some bikes on Friday, and hopefully I'll walk away from our little meeting with my first trials bike.
Needless to say, I'm excited.

I'll let you know what happens
-Chase

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Chase]

I met Chris today, and walked away with my new Meta VTT.
Being my first trials bike, it feels so bizarre to me -- in a good way of course
It will definitely take some getting used to, but the balance on the back wheel is incredible!
I'm totally loving this bike, thanks so much for the advice guys.
--Chase.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[BrettM]

Great bike from a Canadian brand. Congrats.

[Rue Calton]

Canadian named and designed...but still China made.

Good bike.